A new report from the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law finds that between 1991 and 2024, Michigan recorded at least 90 cases involving 79 people who were charged under the state’s HIV nondisclosure law. Among those prosecuted, 68 people were convicted of an HIV-related offense.
Before 2019, Michigan’s nondisclosure law made it a felony for a person living with HIV (PLWH) to engage in intimate contact without disclosing their HIV-positive status. The law was reformed in 2019, imposing lesser penalties on PLWH who did not transmit or intend to transmit the virus without disclosure, and narrowing the scope of criminalized conduct. The law also provided an affirmative defense for PLWH who were enrolled in treatment and had an undetectable viral load.
Men were overwhelmingly represented among individuals involved in HIV-related cases in Michigan, accounting for 85% of people involved in HIV-related cases. Men were about 77% of PLWH in the state.
In terms of race, Black people make up 14% of Michigan’s population, but account for 53% of PLWH and 46% of HIV nondisclosure criminal cases. White people comprise 78% of the population, 34% of PLWH, and 53% of criminal cases. As a result, Black people, especially Black men, charged in HIV criminal cases are overrepresented relative to their share of the overall population, while white people charged are overrepresented relative to their share of the PLWH population.
“Michigan has a long history of HIV criminalization. We know that laws like these are ineffective public health tools for encouraging disclosure and reducing HIV transmission risk,” said lead author Jordan Grasso, Research Data Analyst at the Williams Institute. “Moreover, enforcement of these laws further stigmatizes the very communities Michigan needs to engage in its efforts to combat HIV.”
Researchers analyzed data obtained from the Criminal History Record database maintained by the Michigan State Police Criminal Justice Information Center. Data were only available for cases that resulted in convictions or that currently have pending felony charges. Findings show that one-third (33%) of all cases were prosecuted in just four counties in the Metro Detroit area: Wayne County (16%), Macomb County (7%), Washtenaw County (7%), and Oakland County (4%).
HIV criminalization is a term used to describe laws that either criminalize otherwise legal conduct or increase the penalties for illegal conduct based on a person’s HIV-positive status. Nearly two-thirds of U.S. states and territories still criminalize people living with HIV. In recent years, public health and human rights organizations have called for an end to HIV criminal laws, noting that they are ineffective and undermine HIV prevention efforts. By 2025, 19 states had reformed or repealed their HIV criminal laws.
Despite Michigan’s reform, the criminalization of people living with HIV continues. However, there appears to be a change in enforcement in the five years after 2019 compared to the five years before 2019. Since the new law took effect in 2019, there have been 11 cases involving 45 HIV nondisclosure charges. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of the charges were under the misdemeanor “reckless disregard” subsection of the law, meaning that the prosecution did not allege that the defendants intended to transmit or transmitted HIV.
“Michigan’s original nondisclosure law was enacted in 1988, at the height of the AIDS crisis and before effective treatments for HIV were available,” said study author Nathan Cisneros, HIV Criminalization Project Director at the Williams Institute. “Recent reforms have narrowed the range of behaviors that can be criminalized. However, Michiganders can still face prosecution even when no transmission occurs.”
This report is part of a series of reports examining the ongoing impact of state HIV criminalization laws on people living with HIV.