Abstract

KIE: Proposals for the use of compulsory legal powers to control the spread of AIDS are examined. Although early judicial rulings have shown considerable deference to the state's police power to promote the public health, Gostin and Curran contend that future judicial complacency cannot be assumed. They consider constitutional and statutory restraints at the state and federal levels on control measures that include the reporting of those who test positive for the AIDS virus, surveillance and contact tracing, personal control measures such as isolation of infected individuals, and regulation of public meeting places such as bathhouses. The authors conclude that strict judicial scrutiny will be applied to public health measures that affect liberty, autonomy, or privacy. Such measures should not be promulgated without searching examination of scientific justification, specificity of the targeted population, and adherence to the principle of the least restrictive alternative.