Ending Criminalization News Today

The Black Health 365 podcast dives into the current HIV/AIDS crisis within the Black community, particularly in the South.

Virginia lawmakers establish more LGBTQ protections By CIERRA PARKS of Capital News ServiceApril 2, 2021 GMT RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Democratic-controlled Virginia General Assembly worked in its second year to establish more protections for LGBTQ people. Lawmakers tackled LGBTQ inequity in criminal justice and health care, reforming laws that advocates said were rooted in discrimination and could block access to needed services. An advisory board will be established to continue Virginia’s...

Virginia is poised to reform its HIV criminalization laws. Is the rest of the U.S. next? Dan Avery © Steve Helber Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam speaks during a news conference in the Governors Mansion in Richmond, Va. on Feb. 2, 2019. Virginia lawmakers have approved legislation modernizing laws around HIV exposure. Passed after two versions of the bill were reconciled, the legislation would repeal the felony criminal ban on blood, tissue or organ donation by people with HIV an...

Virginia General Assembly advances bill to modernize HIV laws By Cierra Parks | Capital News Service | February 19, 2021 at 7:43 PM EST - Updated February 22 at 12:06 PM RICHMOND, Va. -- The General Assembly advanced a bill this week that lawmakers say will modernize Virginia’s current HIV laws. The amended measure has passed both chambers, but lawmakers must now accept or work out differences in the bill. Senate Bill 1138, introduced by Sens. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, and Jennifer McClella...

Virginia Senate moves ahead with historic HIV decriminalisation bill Virginia could become the first southern state to decriminalise the transmission of HIV. Senate Bill 1138, which was introduced by state Senator Mamie Locke and Jennifer McClellan, aims to repeal “the crime of infected sexual battery” which the transmission and exposure of HIV is legally recognised under. The proposed bill also aims to overturn an existing ban which prevents those with HIV from donating blood or organs. Vi...

Equality Virginia Executive Director Vee Lamneck on Monday said HIV decriminalization is among their organization's 2021 legislative priorities.