The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a lawsuit against the state of Tennessee seeking to invalidate a law that criminalizes “aggravated” prostitution. The DOJ asserts that the law is discriminatory due to its increased penalties for those convicted of prostitution if they are HIV positive.
Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke stated in a press release that the law is “outdated, has no basis in science, discourages testing and further marginalizes people living with HIV.” Clarke added that the Department of Justice is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities are protected from discrimination.
The Tennessee law categorizes HIV-positive individuals convicted of prostitution as having committed a “violent sexual offense,” solely based on their HIV-positive status. Federal prosecutors are asking for the termination of reporting requirements and cessation of law enforcement notifications regarding the compliance status of individuals on the sex offender registry for convictions under the aggravated prostitution statute, pending their removal from the registry.
The lawsuit follows an announcement made by the DOJ on World AIDS Day stating that an investigation found that the Tennessee law “violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by enforcing the state’s aggravated prostitution statute against people living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).”
The Center for HIV Law and Policy (CHLP), a human rights organization, released a statement in response to the lawsuit. The statement highlights the DOJ’s commitment to ending discrimination against people living with HIV in Tennessee and the importance of fully and properly addressing the DOJ’s demands. The CHLP also noted the possibility of the DOJ’s complaint being joined in the future with a concurrent action filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Transgender Law Center in October 2023.