Ohio Supreme Court Will Review Felony HIV Exposure Law & Conviction
October 5, 2016: The Center for HIV Law and Policy and the ACLU of Ohio Foundation submitted a brief supporting the petition for Ohio Supreme Court review of State of Ohio v. Orlando Batista, arguing that Ohio’s felonious assault statute: (1) violates the Equal Protection Clauses of the Ohio and United States Constitutions because it singles out people living with HIV for prosecution in response to conduct that is not criminal in the case of other groups, for example those living with other sexually transmitted diseases; (2) compels speech in violation of the Free Speech Clauses of the First Amendment and the Ohio Constitution; and (3) violates the Americans with Disabilities Act for reasons similar to those in point one.