Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1989
Abstract
This article argues that compulsory public powers are justified only if they meet the following criteria: there is a significant risk of transmission of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) virus; the public health response is efficacious in preventing a primary mode of transmission of the virus; the economic, practical, or human rights burdens are not disproportionate to the public health benefits; and the public health power is the least restrictive alternative that would prevent viral transmission.
The author carefully examines the levels of risk posed by behavior which can potentially transmit human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and demonstrates that compulsory state powers have little place in fighting a disease epidemic.
Publication Citation
49 Ohio St. L.J. 1017-1058 (1989)
Scholarly Commons Citation
Gostin, Lawrence O., "The Politics of AIDS: Compulsory State Powers, Public Health, and Civil Liberties" (1989). Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works. 772.
https://scholarship.law.georgetown.edu/facpub/772