TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Oct 24, 2023

Multiple organizations today filed a federal lawsuit challenging Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution statute, saying it and related sex offender registration requirements are unconstitutional and violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. Aggravated prostitution is defined by Tennessee law as when a person, knowing that they are HIV positive, “engages in sexual activity as a business or is an inmate in a house of prostitution or loiters in a public place for the purpose of being hired to engage in sexual activity.” The offense is a class C felony and requires lifetime registration as a violent sex offender. The groups — including the ACLU of Tennessee, Transgender Law Center, OUTMemphis and several Jane Does — argue that the law “targets people because of their HIV status and keeps them in cycles of poverty …”.  The Commercial Appeal has more.