Image Credit: Gov. Bill Lee / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Kelly M. Jackson] –
As of this month, the state of Tennessee will begin the process of removing those who have been previously convicted of “aggravated prostitution” from the state’s sex offender registry, where they have been listed due to their HIV status upon conviction.
The law was enacted in 1991, and added the aggravated enhancement to the prostitution charge for those who knowingly were engaging in sexual activity exposing those whom they encountered to HIV. The charge was also elevated to a felony from a misdemeanor.
In 2010, the law was fortified again, when legislators reclassified prostitution while HIV positive as a “violent sex offense”. This classification compelled those convicted to be included on the state Sex Offender registry for life, due to the dangerous nature of the disease and the possible fatal consequences from even a single encounter.
According to reports, the majority of those who carry these convictions and are on the registry live in Memphis, Shelby County Tennessee.
Based on information from the Shelby County Health Department, since 2018, HIV rates increased 40 percent among those 15- to-19 years old and increased 36 percent among the entire population.
Both the ACLU and the Department of Justice have taken the State of Tennessee to court challenging the laws and arguing that convictions for HIV status violates the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) responded early to the HIV/AIDS epidemic by providing disability benefits beginning in 1983 to people diagnosed with AIDS.
In 1993, it adopted disability criteria for HIV (i.e., the HIV Infection Listings) as an administrative tool to more rapidly adjudicate claims.
This month, to settle the suit, Governor Bill Lee agreed to removal of all those who had been added to the registry for aggravated prostitution, despite many having already been removed because their prostitution charges were the product of human trafficking or compulsion of the act for other reasons that were outside the control of the person being charged.
The ACLU argued that that because science in the treatment of HIV has evolved, and that the awareness of the disease has prompted widespread mitigation behaviors, as well as access to preventative tools such as condoms and even new medications, should now be considered, and produce a softening effect on the harshness of the law.
While the ACLU considered the settlement a win, or “one step toward remedying the harms by addressing the sex offender registration,” they are still determined to fight to overturn the status of the charge remaining a felony, as every other charge for prostitution in Tennessee is a misdemeanor.”
Critics say that the other types of prostitution charges don’t knowingly expose people to what is arguably the deadliest of all sexually transmitted diseases.
Molly Quinn, executive director of LGBTQ+ support organization OUTMemphis, another plaintiff in the ACLU lawsuit, said, “we’re sad that the statute existed as long as it did and sad that there is any process at all that folks have to go through after living with this extraordinary burden of being on the sex offender registry for really an irrelevant reason.”
The Tennessee Conservative recently reported that Biden’s Department of Justice announced had entered into a deal with Shelby County DA Steve Mulroy to cease the enforcement of Tennessee criminal code that prosecutes those who are arrested for prostitution and doing so while knowingly afflicted with the HIV virus.
As in the ACLU lawsuit, The Department of Justice accused Shelby County of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by targeting sex workers who have HIV. They called the practice discriminatory because HIV is included as a disability under the ADA.
The DOJ told Shelby County that they can continue to prosecute violations for prostitution without the enhancement that elevates the charges to that of a felony and adds penalties as a “violent sexual offense”.
This deal prompted State Senator Brent Taylor (R-Shelby County) to send a letter to Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti asking for intervention in the matter, as it is the second time in the past couple of years where Shelby County is being enabled to stop enforcing laws that are made and passed by the state legislature, and with or without the signature of Governor Lee, have become law in the state.
In his letter to the AG, Senator Taylor characterizes the views of the laws regarding aggravated prostitution as “misguided” and that it “damages the prosecutorial discretion of our state’s remaining District Attorneys General and gives defendants accused of aggravated prostitution unfounded ammunition throughout Tennessee.”
Taylor ended his request to the AG for assistance by adding, “I need help from your office to address his (Mulroy’s) compliant and acquiescent behavior in this unprecedented agreement with the United States Department of Justice to not prosecute aggravated prostitution despite our laws to the contrary, and the unprecedented rate of HIV in Shelby County which is endangering the lives of Memphians.”
Please see The Tennessee Conservative in depth interview with Senator Taylor, here.
The settlement agreement has been approved by AG Skrmetti’s office.
TBI said “it would comb through the state’s sex offender registry to find those added solely because of aggravated prostitution convictions, then send letters alerting those people that they can make a written request to be removed,” and “it will make “its best effort” to act on the requests “promptly in the order in which they are received.”
About the Author: Kelly Jackson is an escapee from corporate America, and a California refugee to Tennessee. Christ follower, Wife and Mom of three amazing teenagers, she has a BA in Comm from Point Loma Nazarene University, and has a background in law enforcement and human resources. Since the summer of 2020, she has spent any and all free time in the trenches with local grassroots orgs, including Mom’s for Liberty Williamson County and Tennessee Stands as a core member. An outspoken advocate for parents rights, medical freedom, and individual liberty, Kelly also has a YouTube channel @Tennessee_Truth_Teller and is planning on expanding out to other channels soon. Kelly can be reached at kelly@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
4 Responses
The aclu is an enemy of the people. Any perversion you can think of will be endorsed and celebrated by these sick people.
It’s the only way they can justify there existence.
Dear Governor Lee, would you please grow a pair.
Gov Lee is a coward. You’ve sold us out way more times than you’ve held your ground. Why did a Chinese delegate with an afternoon visit stay 3 days early in your governorship? Huh? So what Epstein/P Didi crap are you guilty of?
So HIV positive people get a pass from attempted murder? WTF is wrong with this governor? Who paid him to allow this?