Tipsheet

The Reason the Justice Department Just Sued Tennessee Stuns Critics

Leah Barkoukis
Leah Barkoukis  |  February 16, 2024 9:00 AM

The Department of Justice on Thursday sued the state of Tennessee for enforcing its aggravated prostitution law, arguing the state is illegally imposing harsher criminal penalties on sex workers who have HIV. Doing so, the DOJ said, violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.  

The department’s investigation found that the state and TBI subject people living with HIV to harsher criminal penalties solely because of their HIV status, violating Title II of the ADA. Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution statute elevates what would otherwise be misdemeanor conduct to a felony because the individual has HIV, regardless of any actual risk of harm. A person convicted of aggravated prostitution faces three to 15 years in prison and a fine up to $10,000, while a person convicted of a misdemeanor charge based on the same conduct is subject to a penalty of no more than six months in prison and up to a $500 fine. (DOJ)

“The enforcement of state criminal laws that treat people differently based on HIV status alone and that are not based on actual risks of harm, discriminate against people living with HIV,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in a statement. “People living with HIV should not be subjected to a different system of justice based on outdated science and misguided assumptions. This lawsuit reflects the Justice Department’s commitment to ensuring that people living with HIV are not targeted because of their disability.”

The move was blasted on social media.