I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
A 54-year-old Isabella county woman has been charged under Michigan’s HIV-disclosure law.
Valeria Lynn Johnson, of Rosebush, was charged Wednesday afternoon in Isabella County Circuit Court, reports the Mt. Pleasant Morning Sun. She is accused of failing to tell a 45-year-old Traverse City man that she was HIV-positive before engaging in sex with him. Police say she had sex with him six times June 2009 and January of this year.
Michigan State Police arrested Johnson Wednesday morning.
Michigan’s law says that a person who knows he or she is HIV-positive must inform all sexual partners prior to engaging in sexual penetration, “however slight.” Failing to disclose is a four-year felony in the state. In Michigan, it is not a crime to share needles without disclosing an HIV-positive status.
No other disease or infection in Michigan carries criminal liability.
Johnson told the court she had recently moved to Michigan, and owned nothing, “just my clothes.” Bond was set at 10 percent of a $10,000 surety. She told the court she was a recovering cocaine and alcohol addict, and had moved to Michigan from Florida.
Florida law also makes it illegal for an HIV-positive person to engage in sexual activity without first disclosing his or her HIV-positive status.
As Michigan Messenger reported last year, Michigan’s law is seen as “open to abuse.” Some law makers have told Michigan Messenger they would be open to re-visiting the law, although there has been no movement on the law.
And the law has also entered into the debate over changing Michigan’s HIV-testing consent laws. As Messenger reported Monday, activists and educators worry that changing the current law could expose a large number of newly diagnosed HIV-positives to criminal sanctions because doctors are not obligated under Michigan law to tell HIV-positive people about the felony law. That responsibility is reserved for public health officials.
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