U.S. Department
of Justice
State of Tennessee and the Shelby County District Attorney General's Office
On May 22, 2024, the United States filed its Opposition Brief in response to Defendant State and TBI's Motion to Dismiss. The United States' brief argues that (1) the United States may enforce Title II, and Defendants’ interpretation disregards the remedies Congress incorporated into Title II; (2) the breadth of Title II’s coverage encompasses Tennessee’s implementation and enforcement of its aggravated prostitution statute; (3) Tennessee and the TBI are proper defendants to this suit; and (4) any arguments about the scope of the relief are improper at the motion to dismiss.
On May 16, 2024, the United States entered into a settlement agreement with the Shelby County District Attorney General's Office (DA). The DA has agreed not to prosecute individuals living with HIV under Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution law. The DA will also adopt reforms to correct discrimination against people living with HIV who were subjected to harsher penalties under the law. The 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. Aggravated prostitution is also categorized as a “violent sexual offense” mandating registration as a sex offender, in most cases for life.
On February 15, 2024, the United States filed a complaint against the State of Tennessee and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) for violating Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The complaint alleges that the State and the TBI subject people to harsher criminal penalties solely because of their human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) status by maintaining and enforcing Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution statute.
On December 1, 2023, the United States issued a letter of findings to the State, the TBI, and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office notifying them that they violated the ADA by maintaining and enforcing the state’s aggravated prostitution statute. That letter of findings asked the State, the TBI, and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office to stop enforcing the aggravated prostitution law, to remove affected individuals from the registry, and to take other measures to redress the discrimination.