Federal Court Allows Landmark ADA Challenge to Proceed Against Tennessee HIV Criminalization Law
On March 31, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Tennessee issued a ruling on a motion to dismiss in OUTMemphis v. Lee, allowing a first-of-its-kind challenge to an HIV criminalization law using the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to move forward.
The case challenges Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution statute, which imposes harsher criminal penalties on people living with HIV than those not living with HIV who engage in the same conduct. It builds on the legal framework developed by CHLP’s Team ADA to Attack Criminalization (Team ATAC) that advances the use of federal disability law to challenge punishments based on health status.
Brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), ACLU of Tennessee, and Transgender Law Center on behalf of OUTMemphis and several people living with HIV, the claim argues that the aggravated prostitution law violates the ADA and the U.S. Constitution. The defendants in the case, Governor Bill Lee and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, moved to dismiss the suit.
In its ruling, the court granted in part and denied in part the state’s motion to dismiss. Most notably, it allowed the ADA claim to proceed, recognizing that the aggravated prostitution law may constitute unlawful disability discrimination. The court found that HIV is a protected disability and that criminal law enforcement falls within the scope of the ADA—clearing a critical path for challenging HIV criminalization using federal disability law.
At the same time, the court dismissed several other claims, including those brought under the Rehabilitation Act and the U.S. Constitution. The court concluded that the law survives “rational basis” review, accepting the state’s argument that it is tied to public health goals despite longstanding evidence that HIV criminalization laws do not reduce transmission and instead fuel stigma and harm.
Even with those dismissals, the decision marks a major milestone. By allowing the ADA claim to proceed, the court affirmed that disability law can be used to challenge discriminatory criminal statutes, opening the door for new legal strategies to dismantle HIV criminalization nationwide.
“This represents a clear victory in the fight to use the ADA to challenge discriminatory HIV criminalization laws,” said CHLP Staff Attorney Sean McCormick. “People living with HIV can argue that laws that unfairly subject them to heightened criminal penalties on the basis of their HIV status constitute unlawful disability discrimination.”
As the case moves forward, CHLP, Team ATAC, and its partners will continue to monitor developments and explore opportunities to expand this strategy in the fight to end HIV criminalization.
