The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund has joined three Michigan AIDS advocacy groups in filing a friend of the court brief in the case of Daniel Allen, an HIV-positive Macomb County man charged under a state terrorism law last year for allegedly biting a neighbor during a dispute, The Michigan Messenger reports. Prosecutors in the case argue that an HIV-positive person’s saliva should be considered a hazardous substance.

According to the article, this is the second friend of the court, or amicus, brief filed in this case. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed its brief earlier this month. A hearing on motions by both the ACLU and Lambda Legal’s requests to file friend of the court briefs will be heard on April 26.

The 25-page brief argues that since HIV cannot be spread via saliva, this court case fuels stigma.

“In our brief what we have focused on is the impact of misinformation of HIV transmission, on HIV stigma and how it impacts people living with HIV but the public health itself,” said Bebe Anderson, Lambda Legal’s HIV project director.

Click here to read the full text of the brief.