Court Revives Military Ban on Recruiting HIV-Positive People (1)

The US Department of Defense can go back to enforcing a policy that denies people infected with HIV induction into military service, a federal appeals court said.

The military cited reasonable concerns regarding how medical conditions like HIV can increase costs and compromise deployment functions, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said in a Wednesday opinion reversing an injunction barring the ban’s enforcement.

The HIV virus is part of “hundreds of medical conditions that are considered disqualifying” for military induction, the opinion said, citing Defense Department medical standards for appointment, enlistment, and induction.

But ...