Source: usnews.com 1/23/24 A proposal advancing in the Tennessee legislature would stop requiring lifetime registration as a violent sex offender for anyone convicted of engaging in sex work while living with HIV NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee would no longer be the only U.S. state to impose a lifetime registration as a “violent sex offender” on anyone convicted of engaging in sex work while living with HIV under a proposal that advanced Tuesday in the legislature. The controversial statute still on the books is being challenged in federal court by…
Read MoreTag: HIV
TN: U.S. Dept. of Justice says Tennessee HIV law discriminates
Source: wlns.com 12/1/23 LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) — The U.S. Department of Justice has notified the state of Tennessee it has determined the state is violating the Americans with Disabilities Act by enforcing a law targeting sex workers living with HIV. A 1991 Tennessee law considers sex workers who are HIV-positive to be violent sex offenders, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. “Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution law is outdated, has no basis in science, discourages testing and further marginalizes people living with HIV,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the…
Read MoreTN: A registrant who is HIV positive is considered a sexually violent predator
Source: filtermag.org 11/2/23 In the mid-’90s at Washington State Penitentiary, a corrections officer (CO) and I had been yelling at each other for a while until eventually he ordered me back to my cell. When he called me back out to go see the sergeant, the CO in the security booth at the end of the hall buzzed open the electronic sliding door, then shut it in my face each time I tried to go through. After the third time, I turned to the glass he was sitting behind and…
Read More‘I lost my retirement, my career, my home’: the Americans imprisoned for being HIV-positive
Source: theguardian.com 12/1/22 Thirty-three states maintain laws tied to exposure or transmission, many developed long before the illness was understood Robert Suttle was 30 when he was arrested and imprisoned for the felony of “intentional exposure to the Aids virus”. He had met the man at a gay club on New Year’s Eve 2007 and they had quickly begun a relationship. Suttle says he disclosed his status as HIV-positive to his partner immediately. However, when the couple separated a few months later, the man pressed charges claiming that Suttle had…
Read MoreSpreading HIV Is Against the Law in 37 States – With Penalties Ranging Up To Life in Prison
Source: usnews.com 9/22/21 Despite the fact that HIV is now a treatable medical condition, the majority of U.S. states still have laws on the books that criminalize exposing other people to HIV. Whether or not the virus is transmitted does not matter. Neither does a person’s intention to cause harm. A person simply must be aware of being HIV-positive to be found guilty. These laws are enforced mainly on marginalized people living in poverty who cannot afford lawyers. The penalties – felony convictions and being placed on sex offender registries…
Read More