Feds sue Tennessee over registering HIV sex workers for life as violent sex offenders
Florida Action Committee does not defend the act of prostitution and only encourages our members to respect and follow all laws, but should someone with HIV convicted of aggravated prostitution be sentenced to a lifetime on the sex offense registry and as a violent sex offender?
Consider Florida where there are people on the Florida registry for life who were 25 years old when they had a consensual sexual relationship with a 17-year-old. This is not a crime in many states where 17 years is the age of consent. FAC is not taking a position on whether such an occurrence should or should not be illegal, but if a state does have such a law, being forced to register for a lifetime is an overreach of our legal system, which many would say is an understatement.
The feds are saying that this is what is happening in Tennessee.
The U.S. Department of Justice said that Tennessee’s law violates the Americans with Disabilities Act by discriminating against people with HIV. But more importantly for us, DOJ is acknowledging that states can go too far with whom they put on their registries and for how long.
DOJ has also said that Tennessee’s residency restriction of 1000 feet “leads to increased homelessness.”
We have already heard this week some of the senate leadership in Tallahassee saying “enough is enough” with all the unconstitutional laws that have been passed in recent years that are now drawing costly lawsuits for the state. Let us hope that soon, DOJ will say “enough is enough” with the numerous, unconstitutional registry state laws.