Tennessee

In deal with DOJ and ACLU, Tennessee agrees to remove sex workers with HIV from sex offender registry

Published

2 years ago

July 17, 2024

In deal with DOJ and ACLU, Tennessee agrees to remove sex workers with HIV from sex offender registry

The Tennessee government has agreed to begin scrubbing its sex offender registry of dozens of people who were convicted of prostitution while having HIV, reversing a practice that federal lawsuits have challenged as draconian and discriminatory.

For more than three decades, Tennessee’s “aggravated prostitution” laws have made prostitution a misdemeanor for most sex workers but a felony for those who are HIV-positive. Tennessee toughened penalties in 2010 by reclassifying prostitution with HIV as a “violent sexual offense” with a lifetime registration as a sex offender — even if protection is used.

At least 83 people are believed to be on Tennessee’s sex offender registry solely because of these laws, with most living in the Memphis area, where undercover police officers and prosecutors most often invoked the statute, commonly against Black and transgender women, according to a lawsuit filed last year by the American Civil Liberties Union and four women who were convicted of aggravated prostitution. The Department of Justice challenged the law in a separate suit earlier this year.

Both lawsuits argue that Tennessee law does not account for evolving science on the transmission of HIV or precautions that prevent its spread, like use of condoms. Both lawsuits also argue that labeling a person as a sex offender because of HIV unfairly limits where they can live and work and stops them from being alone with grandchildren or minor relatives.

“Tennessee’s Aggravated Prostitution statute is the only law in the nation that treats people living with HIV who engage in any sex work, even risk-free encounters, as ‘violent sex offenders’ subjected to lifetime registration,” the ACLU lawsuit states.

“That individuals living with HIV are treated so differently can only be understood as a remnant of the profoundly prejudiced early response to the AIDS epidemic.”

In a settlement agreement signed by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee on July 15 and filed in both lawsuits on July 17, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation 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. The language of the settlement suggests that people will need to request their removal from the registry, but the agency said in the agreement it will make “its best effort” to act on the requests “promptly in the order in which they are received.”

The Tennessee attorney general’s office, which represents the state in both the ACLU and DOJ lawsuits and approved the settlement agreement, said in an email statement it would “continue to defend Tennessee’s prohibition on aggravated prostitution.”

In an email statement, the ACLU celebrated the settlement as “one step toward remedying the harms by addressing the sex offender registration,” but said its work in Tennessee was not done because aggravated prostitution remained a felony charge that it would “fight to overturn.”

Molly Quinn, executive director of LGBTQ+ support organization OUTMemphis, another plaintiff in the ACLU lawsuit, said both organizations would help eligible people with the paperwork to get removed from the registry.

“We would not have agreed to settle if we did not feel like this was a process that would be extremely beneficial,” Quinn said. “But, 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.”

Michelle Anderson, a Memphis resident who is one of the plaintiffs in the ACLU lawsuit, said in court records that since being convicted of aggravated prostitution, the sex offender label has made it so difficult to find a home and a job that she was “unhoused for about a year” and has at times “felt she had no option but to continue to engage in sex work to survive.”

Like the other plaintiffs, Anderson said her conviction kept her minor relatives at a distance.

“Ms. Anderson has a nephew she loves, but she cannot have a close relationship with him,” the lawsuit states. “Even though Ms. Anderson’s convictions had nothing to do with children, she cannot legally be alone with her nephew.”

The Tennessee settlement comes months after state lawmakers softened the law so no one else should be added to the sex offender registry for aggravated prostitution. Lawmakers removed the registration requirement and made convictions eligible for expungement if the defendant testifies they were a victim of human trafficking.

State Sen. Page Walley (R-Savannah), who supported the original aggravated prostitution law passed in 1991 and co-sponsored the recent bill to amend it, said on the floor of the legislature that the changes do not prevent prosecutors from charging people with a felony for aggravated prostitution. Instead, he said, the amendments undo the 2010 law that put those who are convicted on the registry “along with pedophiles and rapists for a lifetime, with no recourse for removal.”

“Having stood, as I mentioned, in 1991 and passed this,” Walley said, “it is a particular gratifying moment for me to see how we continue to evolve and seek what’s just and what’s right and what’s best.”

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF — the independent source for health policy research, polling and journalism.

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Tennessee

In final address, Gov. Bill Lee credits TN economic, innovation gains

Published

5 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

In final address, Gov. Bill Lee credits TN economic, innovation gains

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee touted the state’s numerous economic achievements in his final annual Governor’s Address hosted by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, as he prepares to retire next year.

On stage at The Pinnacle March 10, Lee praised his administration’s work over the past seven years to lower poverty rates and expand industrial and economic diversity in the state.

But he pointed out that he has a lot to look forward to after leaving public office, namely his large family.

“It’s the best part of my life,” he said, chuckling. “People often ask me what I’m going to do next. And I say, ‘Well I have 11 grandchildren.’”

Lee emphasized Tennessee’s declining poverty rates, increasing educational scores and ability to attract a plethora of high-paying businesses as wins during his administration.

“We’ve watched our poverty rate fall below the national average for the first time in the state’s history,” he said. “People in Tennessee have greater access to opportunity than they ever have before.”

The number of economically distressed counties were “cut in half” in the last few years, thanks to increasing business opportunities, he said. “Distressed counties” is a designation of the nation’s poorest regions, according to the Appalachian Regional Commission.

“Our economy has attracted $55 billion in investment — just $11 billion this past year,” he said. “300,000 jobs created in our state in the last seven years.”

Lee called out companies like Starbucks, which announced on March 3 that the company’s southeastern U.S. corporate office is coming to Davidson County; In-n-Out, which is currently establishing a $125 million corporate hub in Franklin; software company Oracle, which is building a global headquarters on Nashville’s East Bank; Elon Musk’s xAi; Ford and more as drivers of prosperity in the state.

“They’ve figured out that the business environment is here, and the culture is what they want for their people, and the opportunity exists for them to be more successful in our state than they might be across the country,” he said.

He also praised the Music City Loop, the privately funded tunneling project helmed by Musk’s The Boring Company to connect Nashville International Airport to the Tennessee State Capitol Building. Despite recent Metro Nashville opposition, Lee called the project an “innovative new transportation model to “move people…without charging taxpayer dollars.”

“It’s very exciting to me what they might [represent] for the future of transportation in our city and beyond,” he said. “Despite the political arguments about that, the pragmatic business argument for that is incredibly exciting.”

Lee closed the speech thanking business leaders for their support during the past seven years of his administration.

“I could brag about this state for hours,” he said. “Because I’ve come to know her people, I’ve come to know her communities, her leaders, her uniqueness and her prominence, and I have been awed by what I’ve come to know in the past seven years. And I am honored. It’s been the highest honor of my life to be in the spot I am in.

“Our best days are ahead of us,” he said. “There will be a future governor that can (bring) better statistics, and better opportunity, and more hope for our people. And that makes me happy. There will be more, and there will be greater, and we together will share in what that looks like.”

Have a story to tell? Reach Angele Latham by email at alatham@gannett.com, or follow her on Twitter at @angele_latham

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Tennessee

Furman beats East Tennessee State for SoCon title, NCAA berth

Published

17 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

Furman beats East Tennessee State for SoCon title, NCAA berth

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Cooper Bowser had 21 points and 11 rebounds as No. 6 seed Furman beat top-seeded East Tennessee State 76-61 on Monday night to secure the Southern Conference tournament title and an NCAA tournament bid.

Furman (22-12) won its eighth SoCon title in program history and first since defeating Chattanooga in 2023.

Tom House added 13 points off the bench for Furman and Alex Wilkins, who scored a career-high 34 to help rally from an 11-point halftime deficit in the semifinals, scored 12. Bowser was 9-of-12 from the field to help the Paladins shoot 51%.

Brian Taylor II scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half for ETSU (23-11), which was in the title game for the second time in three seasons. Blake Barkley added 14 points and Jaylen Smith had 10.

House made Furman’s sixth 3-pointer of the first half to extend the lead to 37-27 with four minutes left. The Paladins led 42-35 at the break.

Wilkins’ steal and fast-break dunk extended Furman’s lead to 72-61 with 2:11 left and Bowser added a hook shot in the lane on their next possession for a 13-point lead.

ETSU went 2-of-7 from the field over the final five minutes to halt a comeback attempt. The Buccaneers finished 3-of-16 from 3-point range and 10 of 18 at the free throw line.

The Buccaneers were trying for their first NCAA bid since 2020.

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Tennessee

Titans free agency: Tennessee signing offensive weapons to help QB Cam Ward, bolstering coach Robert Saleh’s defense, reports say

Published

1 day ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Titans free agency: Tennessee signing offensive weapons to help QB Cam Ward, bolstering coach Robert Saleh’s defense, reports say

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Let the spending spree begin. The NFL offseason is now in full swing as free agents are beginning to sign with new homes throughout the league ahead of the 2026 NFL Draft in April.

The Tennessee Titans are among the top franchises with the most cap space in the league.

Latest: Tennessee Titans reportedly trade young defensive tackle for Pro Bowl defensive end from New York Jets

Previous: Tennessee Titans release center Lloyd Cushenberry

Below is a look at the free agents and moves the Titans have reportedly made:

Cornerback Alontae Taylor – three-year $60 million deal
Cornerback Cor’Dale Flott – three-year $45 million deal
Defensive tackle John Franklin-Meyers – three-year $63 million deal
Quarterback Mitchell Trubisky – two-year deal
Tight end Daniel Bellinger – three-year $24 million deal
Wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson – four-year $70 million deal
Long snapper Morgan Cox – re-signed one-year deal

Before the free-agency frenzy, the Titans released center Lloyd Cushenberry and also reportedly traded away defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat for Pro Bowl defensive end Jermaine Johnson.

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