The U.S. Justice Department has sued the state of Tennessee over its decades-old felony aggravated prostitution law, arguing that it illegally imposes tougher criminal penalties on people who are HIV positive.

The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday sued the state of Tennessee over its decades-old felony aggravated prostitution law, arguing that it illegally imposes tougher criminal penalties on people who are HIV positive.

The lawsuit, filed in western Tennessee, follows an investigation completed in December by the Justice Department that warned that the statute violates the Americans with Disabilities Act. The case heads to court separately from another federal lawsuit filed in October by LGBTQ+ and civil rights advocates over the aggravated prostitution law.

Tennessee is the only state in the United States that imposes a lifetime registration as a “violent sex offender” if convicted of engaging in sex work while living with HIV, regardless of whether the person knew they could transmit the disease.

  • @stoly
    4•10 months ago

    You know something interesting? The pathogens you can spread as a restaurant employee are SIGNIFICANTLY more transmissible than HIV. You can give someone hepatitis just by not washing your hands well after you poo. Your example doesn’t work here because the danger of a restaurant is actually greater than of getting an STI.