TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Oct 9, 2024

A U.S. district judge last week temporarily overturned a decision by a Tennessee official to place a woman on the sex offender registry for life, despite never being accused of a crime involving sexual misconduct. The Tennessean reports, this has for nearly a decade, kept the woman, who is referred to as Jane Doe in court records, from living with her family or attending her son’s school events. While the order is preliminary, it will be in place while the case proceeds. Tennessee classifies those convicted of kidnapping as sex offenders, even if there was no sexual component to the crime. Jane Doe was convicted of kidnapping in 2011 but claims she was forced to participate. The judge acknowledged the possibility that she might have been a victim, a perpetrator, or both, the paper reports.