Remembering Greg Smith

By John S. James

Summary: In 1990 Greg Smith was sentenced to 25 years in prison for allegedly threatening and biting a prison guard while having HIV. For 13 years he advocated for better prison health care, and was often visited and helped by members of ACT UP Philadelphia and other prison activists. He died in prison in November 2003. On January 29 about 75 members of ACT UP Philadelphia held a memorial demonstration at the home of the sentencing judge in Haddonfield, New Jersey.

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Greg Smith, an openly gay African-American AIDS activist in Philadelphia who was sentenced in 1990 to 25 years in prison for attempted murder, assault, and terroristic threats for allegedly spitting and biting a prison guard while having HIV, died November 10, 2003, in a prison hospital ward in Trenton, New Jersey, of bacterial meningitis, sepsis, and cirrhosis. He was 40 years old. Activists are currently seeking an investigation into the circumstances of his death.

For 13 years members of ACT UP Philadelphia continued to visit and assist Greg, who advocated for better health care for prisoners. Despite an appeal by well-known defense lawyer William Kunstler, and amacus briefs by over 20 organizations, an appeal was denied, and a New Jersey appellate court denied a further appeal in 1993. Greg's first opportunity to apply for parole was in 2002, and he was turned down on November 12 of that year by the parole board. Although Greg did not have a drug problem, the reason given for denial of parole is that he had not attended drug treatment programs. Activists encouraged him to attend the programs anyway, in hope of getting parole at the next possible date, November 2005.

Greg Smith always denied spitting at or biting the guard. The consensus of medical opinion was that even if the bite did occur, transmission would be close to impossible. The Greg Smith case became a key example of AIDS hysteria.

On January 29, 2004, about 75 people from ACT UP Philadelphia held a memorial demonstration for Greg at the house of his sentencing judge, John B. Mariano, now retired, in Haddonfield, New Jersey.

For more information see the ACT UP New York site: http://www.actupny.org/reports/gregsmith.html Also, The New York Times reported the original conviction (on May 19, 1990), and the Philadelphia Inquirer covered the recent demonstration (on January 30, 2004), as did the Cherry Hill Courier-Post on the same day: http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/southjersey/m013004h.htm Also, see Concealed Weapon by Cindy Patton, in POZ magazine, November 1998 -- and a tribute to Greg Smith in the current issue, February/March 2004. You can search for "Greg Smith" at: http://www.poz.com

Comment

I never met Greg Smith, but certainly would have worked with him if he had not been imprisoned by New Jersey. What impressed me most is that ACT UP Philadelphia did not forget Greg but continued to visit him, and help with appeals, parole hearings, medical care, food, and in other ways, through 13 years of prison.

After Greg's death, many of his supporters felt that they had not done enough for him. I realized then that during an epidemic, nobody does enough. We do what we can.

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