Governor Signs Bills on Ordering AIDS Tests

Under legislation signed Thursday by Gov. George Deukmejian, victims of criminal assaults may be able to find out if their alleged attackers were infected by the AIDS virus.

The governor also signed two other AIDS-related bills allowing California Youth Authority officials to test juvenile inmates for the human immunodeficiency virus and making it a felony for persons to donate blood knowing they have been infected by the disease.

The bills take effect Jan. 1.

The victims-of-assault bill, authored by Sen. Gary K. Hart (D-Santa Barbara), allows the courts to determine the circumstances under which an AIDS test is warranted. The intent of the measure is to allow for court-ordered testing even before the alleged assailant has been tried or convicted.

‘Balance’ Cited

Hart, who has carried legislation to protect acquired immune deficiency syndrome patients, said the bill represents “a balance between the rights and needs of the victim and the due-process rights of the alleged assailant.”

The bill also duplicates many of the provisions contained in Proposition 96, an AIDS-testing initiative on the November ballot sponsored by Los Angeles County Sheriff Sherman Block.

The initiative, however, would require AIDS testing in the cases of all sexual assaults and assaults of any kind on police officers, firefighters or other emergency personnel. Unlike the Hart bill, the initiative also requires that jailhouse workers and officers be informed of AIDS or any other communicable disease known to be carried by an inmate even where there has been no assault.

Consent Required

Current law gives health officials authority to take certain actions to stop the spread of communicable diseases. But it requires the consent of an individual before testing. Current law also requires confidentiality of all disease test results although several bills passed this year by the Legislature and yet to be acted on by the governor would provide certain exceptions.

Under the Hart bill, a crime victim who could have been exposed to the blood or semen of an attacker can request the court to order the accused attacker to undergo AIDS testing. If the court agrees, the results would be provided to the victim and the suspect. Both would also be offered free health counseling.

Some civil libertarians had argued that it is unfair to require testing when a suspect may later be found innocent of the attack.

But Hart said that concern is outweighed by the victim’s fear of contracting the fatal disease. “In addition to the trauma of the attack itself, the victims of assaults which could have resulted in exposure to the AIDS virus are subject to extreme anxiety about the state of their health,” Hart said.

Another AIDS bill signed Thursday allows test results of wards in California Youth Authority facilities to be disclosed to workers at the institutions who believe they may have been exposed to the disease.

The bill, by Sen. Ruben S. Ayala (D-Chino), gives the chief medical officer authority to order testing if the youth in question exhibits clinical symptoms of AIDS or is considered at risk for contracting the disease.

The measure also allows the state to establish separate facilities to house those who test positive for the virus and continue to engage in high-risk activities. The state has already set up separate adult prison wards for AIDS-infected inmates.

Prison Sentences

The blood donation bill signed by Deukmejian provides prison sentences of two to six years for those who donate blood knowing they have AIDS or have tested positive for the virus. The bill by Sen. John Doolittle (R-Rocklin) does not apply to those who donate blood for their own use. Deukmejian also signed a bill by Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) requiring state health officials to draft regulations for the testing of donated human organs.

On another subject, the governor signed two measures to increase dues lawyers pay for membership in the State Bar and reform the Bar’s attorney discipline system.

The Bar dues bill, authored by Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), will increase the yearly fees paid by experienced attorneys to $417 from the current $275. The companion bill, by Sen. Robert B. Presley (D-Riverside), sets up a Bar-run court with judges instead of volunteer lawyers to hear disciplinary cases.