UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, JAMAICA

ACADEMIC WRITING II
ESSAY OUTLINE

NAME: DEBBIE-ANN MCKENZIE ID NO.: 1102345

General Topic: Willful transmission of HIV/AIDS should be treated as a capital crime.

Agree or disagree

Narrowed Topic: Willful transmission of HIV/AIDS should not be treated as a capital crime.

Audience: Lawmakers

Purpose: To convince Jamaican Lawmakers that willful transmission of HIV/AIDS

should not be treated as a capital crime.

Thesis: Although it may be argued that using capital crime to respond to willful

transmission of HIV/AIDS is effectiveinhumane, closer examination

shows that if the voluntary transmission of HIV/AIDS should be deemed a

capital crime, this could help to deter people from intentionally spreading

the virus and appeases the victims or victims' families.

Main Point 1

I. Willful transmission of HIV/AIDS should be treated as a capital crime as it deters

willful transmission of the virus.

A. The absence of anti-discrimination laws in Jamaica contributes to unfair

treatment of persons living with HIV/AIDS ("Is criminalizing HIV helpful?",

2019).

B. HIV/AIDS can be associated with behaviors that some people disapprove of

such as; homosexuality, drug use, sex work or infidelity (Kaplan et al., 2019)

C. Adequate protection and remedies can be found in existing criminal laws, and

the stigma of HIV-specific criminalization can be avoided ("Is criminalizing

HIV helpful?", 2019).

Main Point 2

II. Victims or victims' families are appeased with capital crime punishment for willful

transmission of HIV/AIDS.

A. Discourages people at risk from getting tested and makes those who are HIV-

positive less trustful of public health authorities ("Don't criminalize HIV",

2019)

B. It could discourage HIV/AIDS testing, since ignorance of one’s status might

be perceived as the best defense in a trial (2019).

C. The negative impact that criminal law has on HIV testing rates could be a

serious public health threat (Lee, 2019).