Spotlight: Jim Wood

Jim is one of hundreds of pro bono attorneys who provide ALRP’s HIV+ clients with high-quality legal services. In one case, Jim represented an ALRP client for privacy violations against the federal government. That case eventually made its way to the United States Supreme Court.

How did you first get involved with ALRP?

About 20 years ago, when I was a partner at Reed Smith in San Francisco, I learned that a colleague, Gary Jeffries, was doing work for a group that I hadn’t heard of before, the AIDS Legal Referral Panel. Just around the same time, I lost a very dear friend of mine, Paul Jackson, a gay man who died of HIV too young, too early. Because of his death, I thought that I should step back from the busyness of my practice and see how I could give back to the community. I jumped at the opportunity to take whatever abilities and talents I had as a litigator to do just this by volunteering with ALRP. Always, always, always in honor of my friend Paul.

What are you most proud of in your work with ALRP?

Every case is important. But for me, the case with Stan Cooper is probably the case I’m most proud of. Stan was a recreational pilot whose passion was flying airplanes. At the onset of the AIDS epidemic, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) created a rule that those living with HIV would automatically be denied a pilot’s license.

Then, after 9/11, as part of “Operation Safe Pilot,” the FAA asked Social Security to run a check on pilots’ social security numbers. After Social Security handed over the confidential medical records and disability records of more than 5,000 pilots, the FAA discovered that Stan and 39 other pilots in Northern California had filed disability claims based on HIV status—and in 2005, those pilots were indicted by the federal government for a variety of felonies for not disclosing their status!

The case was settled with Stan pleading guilty to a misdemeanor. He then came to ALRP after a really difficult search for an attorney to represent him, and we connected, I was touched by his story. We took a look at the case and found that, in our opinion, Stan’s rights had been violated by the FAA and Social Security, and we sued both agencies for violation of his rights. Eventually, in 2012, it got up to the Supreme Court.

We just needed Justice Kennedy on our side, but we couldn’t get him, so the original trial court decision dismissing the privacy case was affirmed. Nonetheless, the litigation resulted in both the FAA and Social Security changing their regulations and policies around how they exchange private, confidential information.

What do you see as the future of ALRP as we mark 40 years in the community?

A 40-year landmark is important for an organization like ALRP. It’s a reminder not only of what it is that we have done, but what it is we have yet to do. Last year, Justice Thomas, in the case eliminating the federal right to choose, commented in a concurring opinion that he wants to review the right to contraception, the right to marriage, the right to love those who are in our lives … and it’s clear that with a majority of this court, they’re going to go back and take a look at all of these rights, including the right to privacy. The threat is there, the threat is real.

The right to privacy is critical for ALRP’s clients because the stigma of living with HIV/AIDS is still very real, the repercussions are real. Even today, too many HIV+ people are losing their income and livelihood, being denied healthcare, losing in-home caregiving, and attempting or dying by suicide. With the Supreme Court the way that it’s constituted, with demagogues running loose in Congress, with the way that school districts, state governments, local governments are jeopardizing the rights of too many students and parents … I’m very, very worried that the stigma is re-emerging in a horrible way. This is what the right to privacy is intended to protect those in the LGBTQ+ community from, and it must be vigilantly safeguarded.

So, yes, 40 years is an opportunity to look back at all that ALRP has accomplished—but it’s also a time to recommit ourselves to ensuring we don’t lose one inch of ground we have gained for the people we love and serve through ALRP.