By Josh Mitchell
Editor
River Mississippi News
The state of Tennessee, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by enforcing an elevated prostitution statute against people with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
River Mississippi News has just now reached out to the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office communication staff for comment.
The Department of Justice made the announcement today, World AIDS Day.
Federal investigators found that state of Tennessee authorities violated ADA standards by imposing harsher penalties on people with HIV.
“Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution law is outdated, has no basis in science, discourages testing and further marginalizes people living with HIV,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “People living with HIV should not be treated as violent sex offenders for the rest of their lives solely because of their HIV status. The Justice Department is committed to ensuring that people with disabilities are protected from discrimination.”
Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution statute elevated a misdemeanor to a felony carrying three to five years in prison for people with HIV and required them to register as sex offenders.
The aggravated prostitution statute has mainly been used in Shelby County, which is home to Memphis.
