No. 2:23-cv-02670 (W.D. Tenn.); appeal No. 26-5346 (6th Cir.)
A challenge to Tennessee’s aggravated prostitution registry requirement for people living with HIV survives under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Under review. The State’s appeal to the Sixth Circuit (No. 26-5346) is fully briefed — the State’s reply was filed August 6, 2026 — and awaits an argument date; district-court proceedings are stayed. Binds the parties to the case. Other courts may find it persuasive.
Tennessee made engaging in sex work while knowing one is HIV-positive “aggravated prostitution,” a violent sex offense requiring lifetime registration. Advocacy groups and individual plaintiffs sued in 2023. In 2024 the legislature removed aggravated prostitution from the list of registry offenses going forward (2024 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 545), but people already registered must seek removal.
On March 31, 2026 the court allowed the ADA Title II claim to proceed against Attorney General Skrmetti, and dismissed the Rehabilitation Act, equal protection and substantive due process claims and the claims against the Governor.
It is one of the first cases to test registration against federal disability law rather than the Constitution, and a live example of a registry requirement being rolled back while litigation continues.
There is no ruling yet that the law violates the ADA — only that the claim can go forward. A related federal enforcement suit, United States v. Tennessee, was voluntarily dismissed in December 2024.
Complaint filed.
Aggravated prostitution removed from Tennessee’s registry offenses going forward.
Motion to dismiss granted in part: ADA Title II claim survives against Skrmetti.
Notice of appeal to the Sixth Circuit (No. 26-5346); district court stays proceedings.
Appellee brief filed in the Sixth Circuit. No decision yet.
State’s reply brief filed in the Sixth Circuit; briefing complete. No argument date yet.
Last verified against the sources above on October 15, 2026.
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