Category Archives: Reports

Michigan’s HIV criminal laws date back to the 1980s, and it is the state with the first known conviction under an HIV criminalization law. The Williams Institute analyzed data from 1991 to 2024 from the state of Michigan regarding individuals with criminal cases alleging HIV nondisclosure under Michigan Compiled Laws § 333.5210 in the state’sContinue reading “Enforcement of HIV Criminalization in Michigan”

Transgender people in the United States consistently experience disproportionately high rates of violence compared with cisgender individuals. This report examines the victimization of transgender adults in California, a “high equality” state with some of the strongest legal and policy protections for transgender people and home to an estimated 263,700 transgender adults. This report examines theContinue reading “Violence and Harassment Against Transgender Adults in California”

LGBTQ people are part of every state and local community in the United States. LGBTQ people have faced a long history of discrimination and harassment by law enforcement and have been targeted by laws that criminalize their identity and behavior. Mistreatment of LGBTQ people by law enforcement continues to the present day, especially against LGBTQContinue reading “Law Enforcement and LGBTQ People”

Pennsylvania has several laws that criminalize or enhance criminal penalties for people living with HIV. Three of those laws enhance penalties for “prostitution and related offenses” based on a person’s HIV status. Using data from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, this study examines the enforcement of HIV-related prostitution and related offenses in Pennsylvania sinceContinue reading “Enforcement of HIV-Related “Prostitution and Related Offenses” Crimes”

During his campaign, President Donald Trump stated that he would reduce pathways for legal immigration and remove immigrants without documentation from the U.S. On January 20, 2025, he signed an executive order, “Protecting the American People Against Invasion,” directing federal agencies to intensify efforts to identify, detain, and deport undocumented immigrants. In the following months, TrumpContinue reading “Impacts of Immigration Enforcement on LGBT Adult Immigrants in LA County”

The Williams Institute examined arrest and court records from Indiana regarding people living with HIV (PLWH) who were prosecuted for an alleged HIV-related body fluid exposure crime. Indiana has six laws criminalizing PLWH spanning both the criminal and health codes. This report—one in a series examining HIV criminalization in Indiana—analyzes the enforcement of HIV-related bodyContinue reading “Enforcement of HIV Criminalization in Indiana: Battery by Bodily Fluid/Waste Laws”

The national conversation on policing continues to wrestle with some hard truths about injustices associated with law enforcement. Often missing from this dialogue is a group that faces disproportionate harm from the criminal legal system: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer+ (LGBTQ+) people. Despite successful mobilization by LGBTQ+ communities and their allies, and efforts byContinue reading “Policing Progress: Findings from a National Survey of LGBTQ+ People’s Experiences with Law Enforcement”