ruling that for the first time permits employers to fire aids victims in many cases. with we begin with nbc law correspondent carl stern. the justice department says federal law does not prohibit the firing of potentially millions of workers who may be carrying the aids virus. the opinion was reached by assistant attorney general charles cooper who said carriers who might spread the disease are not handicapped workers who the law protects. there is a distinct between a handicap and the ability to communicate a disease. reporter: six months ago, the public health service concluded aids is not spread by casual contact but the justice department ruling said conclusions of this character are too sweeping. it certainly reinforces the false notion that aids can be spread casualty and will give some employers the rationalization that they re looking for to discriminate de-spite everything that scientists have said. charles cooper, chuck cooper
embarrass him. but in this case, a band of young zealots in the justice department pressed for the legal switch to give bob jones its tax exemption. then the times goes ahead and names the young zealots in the justice department that had pushed for this radical ruling that was so disastrous at the supreme court. among the names he gives is a justice department lawyer named charles cooper. better known as chuck cooper. chuck cooper got actually promoted in the reagan administration after the bob jones did sast. within a few years he was assistant attorney general and by then he was appearing on the nightly news himself as the administration s point man on another charming case that has aged real well. in washington, the justice department released an important ruling that for the first time permits employers to fire aids victims in many cases. with we begin with nbc law correspondent carl stern. the justice department says federal law does not prohibit the firing of potentially m
aged real well. in washington, the justice department released an important ruling that for the first time permits employers to fire aids victims in many cases. with we begin with nbc law correspondent carl stern. the justice department says federal law does not prohibit the firing of potentially millions of workers who may be carrying the aids virus. the opinion was reached by assistant attorney general charles cooper who said carriers who might spread the disease are not handicapped workers who the law protects. there is a distinct between a handicap and the ability to communicate a disease. reporter: six months ago, the public health service concluded aids is not spread by casual contact but the justice department ruling said conclusions of this character are too sweeping. it certainly reinforces the false notion that aids can be spread casualty and will give some employers the rationalization that they re
amfar had an event and ronald reagan agreed to speak. elizabeth taylor says to him whatever you feel about this, do this for me. i was master of ceremony, standing next to the president when he was giving his speech. america faces a disease fatal in spreading, and this calls for understanding, not ignorance. i spent a lot of time with his speech writer. so the first half he was saying the things i thought the president should be saying. it is time we knew exactly what we were facing and that s why i support routine testing. unfortunately the back half was really about testing everybody and what came out was the controversy. i ve also asked to add the aids virus to the list of contagious diseases for which those seeking entry to the united states can be denied entry. this is in addition to the testing already under way in our military and foreign service.
for us to explode. the gay community which has suffered the most from the disease is exploding with rage. it really turned the tide from perceiving ourselves simply as victims and helping us to understand that we had the power to change policy. there s a warehouse near washington filled with experimental drugs. its location is secret to keep demonstrators and desperate away. only one drug in this warehouse has full approval of the fda for treatment of the aids virus, azt. it was toxic for me, i became anemic. reporter: peter can t tolerate large doses, so he is taking a variety of drugs, not all legal. the illegal drug in the bag is from japan. i get this on the underground market for about $100 a month. ronald reagan was hoisted in effigy as hundreds of aids