The Criminalization of Hiv: David Dean Smith - Sunday, January 29th, 2012

I've been wanting to write about this subject for quite sometime now but every time I attempted to write about it, I failed miserably because I just couldnt deal with the deep-seated anger that I had regarding the issue of David Dean Smith, 51, of Grand Rapids, Michigan, who purposely and intentionally attempted to infect thousands of women and men with the Hiv virus. Some estimates state he had unprotected sex with at least 3,000 women and men, not just in Michigan but in other states too, that he at least infected 150+ for certain but that since sexual penetration with Hiv is considered only a felony in Michigan, 2 cases are all he's getting charged for. Really? Well, I have never heard of such purely unadulterated bullshit in my entire life and in my opinion, Smith should be charged with a whole helluva lot more than just that because it totally confounds me that anyone would even think of intentionally infecting another human being with the Hiv virus. 

I simply could not live with myself if I even accidentally infected another human being with this virus and for Smith knowingly and intentionally setting out to infect as many people as he possibly could, well, it simply goes to show you that there are folks who are Hiv+ who are not immune to extremely severe mental illness. Yet the anger and rage I experienced when I first heard of the evilness that Smith committed in the last week of December, 2011, as well as for weeks after, was simply too intense for me to write about it - at least until now because I truly need to cleanse myself of how I really feel about all of this.

When a person with the Hiv virus, or any other communicable, chronic, life-threatening, life-altering disease, intentionally sets out to infect thousands of people, they are identical to some fanatical serial killer going on a state-to-state murder spree where they are no hostages. When a person uses the Hiv virus in this manner they just arent being careless with others and themselves, they are a murderer. For every single attempt that Smith carried out towards infecting others, every single one was its own individual murder attempt. True, for all those women and men whom he had sex with, they are equally to blame for not insisting on the use of condoms; HOWEVER, every single one of those people did NOT attempt to deal out a death sentence to Smith the way he attempted towards them. There is a GIANT difference in that angle folks, so for those of you still on your high horses saying it wasnt totally Smith's fault, you're wrong because Smith was out to commit murder, his partners werent. Yes, people, it really is that simple, that crystal-clear.

In my opinion, David Dean Smith is no better than Charles Manson, Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer and the entire host of serial killers we all have been acquainted with through  national newspaper headlines and television news reports. He is a murderer and not only do I feel that he should be tried for first-degree-murder/manslaughter, I also think he deserves capital punishment. And dont any of you out there say "Jesus Christ, Spice, how can you fucken say that?? Capital punishment is wrong, it doesnt accomplish a thing, and plus the guy is a fellow Hiv'er!" Yes, Smith is a fellow Hiv'er; BUT, with the exception of his disease, that is the ONLY thing he has in common with the rest of us Hiv'ers because the rest of us would not intentionally give our fellow human beings death sentences on a first-cum-first-serve basis.

For the most part I've never been a big fan of capital punishment either, but regardless of whether Smith used his Hiv virus or a loaded gun, or any other weapon for that matter, to put at risk the thousands of people he did, I'd still feel the same exact way about him. I know that when all is said-n-done, capital punishment serves no positive purpose whatsoever. Some people claim that it gives justice to those whom have been wronged or whom have lost their loved ones due to various crimes, as well as satisfies the thirst for revenge for those whom have been wronged; but, in the long run, none of those things really matters anyways because killing another does not undo the crime, nor does it bring those who were slain back to life. In essence, capital punishment simply doesnt change anything.

However, in this one particular case regarding what David Dean Smith did to all of his victims, I do feel that capital punishment would actually be the right thing to do - yes, the right thing to do. Why? Because by intentionally infecting all those people, Smith demonstrated very clearly that he not only had no respect for his sexual partners and himself, but even moreso, he has no respect whatsoever for the concept of human life. He's not someone who thinks life is precious. He's not someone who would even flinch once or twice if he ever found out that he did indeed infect thousands of people with the Hiv virus. And most of all, he's not someone who deserves to be allowed to live for as long as possibly can because guess what? He not only doesnt care about himself nor his actions, but he doesnt care about anything at all. When a human being reaches that point in their existence where they truly feel that way about themselves and others, then they should be required to turn in their membership card to the human race, because their worthiness as a member of the human race ceases to exist.

Look, I dont believe in being judgemental towards others either, but what David Dean Smith was not only wrong, it's unacceptable, barbaric, uncivilized human behavior and to think that anyone out there, even a fellow Hiv'er for that matter, would defend him and say "Well, he has Hiv, so it's okay." No, it most certainly is not okay because normal Hiv+ people do NOT go around infecting others with this disease just for the sheer helluva it. 

Silence equals death alright, but not just when it comes to the battle against Hiv/AIDS but also when it comes to the truth. It perplexes me that out of the 150+ fellow Hiv/AIDS activists on my friends list at Facebook, I am the only one who has chosen to stand up and say something about this. Trust me, everyone elses silence on this issue speaks many mounds of mountains. I already know how some of the others feel "Well, we dont wanna sound like we're criminalizing the Hiv virus/disease!" yet that's the whole point, none of us are - it's people like Smith who are doing that well enough all on their own. As a matter of fact, he's a prime living proof example of that. If people wanna excuse Smith from being a first-class murderer simply because he's Hiv+ like the rest of us, then they are just as guilty of his crimes as he is. Yeah, really. And for those of you who continue to remain silent on the horrible crimes that Smith has committed, all I can say is this - shame on you! Shame on you for not having the backbone to stand up for what is right!

I truly dont know what will ever come of David Dean Smith, for the crimes he has committed against others but Lord knows if I was in charge of his court trials and proceedings, the outlook for him would not be good. I actually had nightmares the first few nights after I read about his case, one in which he was standing on a scaffolding surrounded by me and about 200 other Hiv+ people, all of us standing there with loaded syringes of our own infected blood and right before the nightmare ends I yell out "So you think it's perfectly okay to give others this virus? In that case, Mr.Smith, allow the rest of us to share our strains with you, you nasty motherfucker!!" But even in a nightmare, that's what sets someone like Smith and someone like me totally apart from each other - he's the type of person who would actually try doing something bizarre like that in real life, whereas I am not, because you see, regardless of how distraught, even angry, my fellow human beings may make me feel at times, I still have faith in the human race, I still can see where everyone is worth saving, Everyone, except for those who have zero respect for their fellow human beings. Thank you for reading.

Posted via email from Luctor Et Emergo