OutLaw is co-hosting the panel “HIV is not a Crime: Film Screening & Discussion,” on Monday, November 18, 2013, at 12:15 p.m.  HIV criminalization, the inappropriate use of one’s HIV status in criminal prosecutions, is a growing and potentially dangerous phenomenon. About two-thirds of all states now have HIV-specific criminal statutes, creating a “viral underclass” in the law based on an immutable characteristic. What are some of the implications of this type of criminal law policy? In what situations does the law consider HIV to be a “deadly weapon” and is it doing so appropriately? What should the remedies for such situations be?

Join Professor Carolyn McAllaster, Director of Duke’s AIDS Legal Project, and Robert Suttle and Sean Strub, Directors at the Sero Project, discuss this incredibly important topic.  Mr. Suttle was prosecuted for an HIV-related crime, and Mr. Strub is a legal expert on HIV criminalization.

The event will be held in Room 4055 at Duke University School of Law.  Lunch will be provided.

OutLaw, the Health Law Society, and Duke’s AIDS Legal Project are hosting with generous support from Duke Bar Association and the Dean’s Blueprint Fund.  For questions, please email OutLaw President Ben Shellhorn.

A .pdf version of the announcement is available here.