Criminal Justice
Activists Fear Spitting Man’s Steep Sentence Reinforces HIV Misconceptions
Posted May 19, 2008, 08:19 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss
Gay rights activists are criticizing the 35-year-sentence imposed last week on an HIV-positive homeless man convicted of spitting on a police officer.
Defendant Willie Campbell was convicted of harassing a public servant with a deadly weapon for spitting in the mouth and eye of the Dallas officer, the New York Times reports. The officer has not contracted the virus.
Bebe Anderson, the HIV projects director at Lambda Legal, told the Dallas Morning News the sentence could reinforce misconceptions about transmission of the virus that causes AIDS.
"It's been 25 years since the virus was identified, but there are still lots of fears," she told the newspaper. "We are still facing people losing their jobs and fighting for their children because of fears that are unfounded."
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HIV is primarily spread through sexual contact, the exchange of needles or transfusions of infected blood. In rare cases the virus has been spread through severe bites, but not through mere contact with saliva, tears or sweat.
Campbell was charged under a habitual offender statute that required a minimum 25-year sentence. He was accused of biting two inmates and attacking other officers while in prison awaiting trial in the spitting case.
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