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1 Nathan Cisneros & Brad Sears, Enforcement of HIV Criminalization in Nevada 1 (2020)

handle is hein.lgbtqwi/eohcn0001 and id is 1 raw text is: School of Law Williams Institute Nathan Cisneros ENFORCE MENT NATHa Csr Brad Sears OF HIV CRIMINALIZATION in Nevada BRIEF / MAY 2021 OVERVIEW The Williams Institute analyzed data from the state of Nevada about individuals who came into contact with Nevada's criminal justice system through allegations of HIV-related crimes. The analysis shows that: - Between 2011 and 2020, arrests for HIV crimes were double the amount from the previous decade. - Arrests for HIV crimes fall disproportionately on Black Nevadans. Black people are 10% of Nevada's population and 28% of people living with HIV (PLWH) in the state, but 40% of those who have been arrested for HIV crimes. The majority of arrests for HIV crimes involve sex work. Nevada's HIV crimes specific to sex work account for 61% of all HIV-related charges, and 64% of all convictions. Almost all of the HIV convictions in Nevada do not involve any conduct that could actually transmit HIV: These include convictions for sex work crimes (64% of all convictions) which almost always occur without any sex having taken place. These also include convictions for HIV crimes for attempting or conspiring to engage in conduct that Nevada criminalizes for PLWH (36% of all convictions), including sex work. BACKGROUND HIV criminalization is a term used to describe statutes that either criminalize otherwise legal conduct or that increase the penalties for illegal conduct based upon a person's HIV-positive status. Nevada has three statutes criminalizing HIV transmission. Two of the statutes criminalize activities related to sex work (passed in 1987), and the third statute (passed in 1993) criminalizes conduct that is likely or intended to