The Kansas Supreme Court is set to rule on the retroactive lengthening of the time one has to register under their state’s registry.
Similar to what Florida has done, the State of Kansas in 2011, decided to extend the length of time an individual had to register and made that punishment retroactive, effectively moving the finish line as the Plaintiff in that case was approaching.
The ACLU filed an Amicus Brief arguing that the list itself undermines public safety because it makes re-integration much more difficult for ex-offenders and, as a consequence destabilize them and increases recidivism, as opposed to decreasing it.
In addition to the obvious constitutional challenge, Ex Post Facto; that a punishment is increased after the commission of a crime, this additional point; that it undermines public safety, is another strong argument against the retroactive extending of these laws.
Here is a link to the original article, which is copied and pasted below.
ACLU urges Kansas Supreme Court to hold criminal offender registry unconstitutional
By ROXANA HEGEMAN
Associated Press
Posted: August 12, 2014 – 6:17 pm
Last Updated: August 12, 2014 – 6:19 pm
WICHITA, Kansas — The American Civil Liberties Union on Tuesday urged the Kansas Supreme Court to uphold a judge’s ruling removing a child molester’s name from the state’s offender registry, arguing that the list undermines public safety by making it more difficult for criminals to reintegrate into a community.
The group filed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the high court to uphold the ruling, which found the registry is unconstitutional because it ostracizes offenders and requires them to remain registered longer than necessary.
But the National Center for Victims of Crime in a separate filing urged the state’s highest court to overturn the decision, saying the justices’ ultimate decision in the case will “profoundly affect” Kansas crime victims.
Shawnee County Judge Larry Hendricks granted the convicted child molester’s request last year and concluded the law was punitive, meaning it was a punishment that couldn’t be retroactively enforced under the U.S. Constitution. The judge noted that the law requires offenders to register in person four times a year, pay a $20 fee each time and face a felony for failing to register. The state appealed.
While the judge’s ruling applied only to the 50-year-old Lenexa man who sued the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, any ruling now by the Kansas Supreme Court on appeal would affect others on the registry whose reporting requirement was retroactively lengthened by a 2011 amendment to Kansas Offender Registration Act, or KORA.
The man at the center of the lawsuit pleaded guilty in 2003 to having indecent liberties with a child/touching in Johnson County. At the time, he was required to remain on the registry for 10 years. But the Legislature amended the law in 2011, extending the length of time such offenders must be registered to 25 years. The state then told the man, now a married father, that the law applied retroactively — meaning he had to remain registered until 2028. Court documents do not identify him.
The ACLU argued in its filing that the state registry law has been greatly expanded since the man was convicted.
“Under the present version of KORA, the registration and notification procedures impose punitive restraints and affirmative disabilities on the sex offender which interfere with employment, housing, education, financial recovery, and leads to ostracism of the offender,” the ACLU wrote.
The National Center for Victims of Crime argued in a filing Friday that the 2011 amendments Kansas registry law are meant to serve the legitimate public interest of safety by registering offenders, citing a study that found 27 percent of them are likely to reoffend. Its brief also cited a recent federal court decision in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals finding that registration of sex offenders is not punitive in nature and does not violate the prohibition against retroactive punishments in the U.S. Constitution.
Kansas law requires people convicted of certain sex, drug and violent crimes to register with law enforcement for between 15 years and life, depending on the severity of the crime. Kansas has 13,582 people now listed on the registry: 8,086 for sex crimes; 2,854 for drug offenses; and 2,642 for violent crimes, the KBI said Tuesday.
I understand what the intent was in the beginning. What troubles me is that society is so worried about bpast offenders, that they turn a blind eye to the person in there own neighborhood who might be offending but no one knows until it is too late. Then they tell the media “I had no idea that he was that way”. Don’t focus exclusively on the past offender that you overlook the next sex case in your neighborhood,
I find these statements concerning and do not read truth into them ,
“citing a study that found 27 percent of them are likely to reoffend. Its brief also cited a recent federal court decision in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals finding that registration of sex offenders is not punitive in nature and does not violate the prohibition against retroactive punishments in the U.S. Constitution”
Do state justices now accept lies as part of the appeals process? I sincerely hope not, I praise the ACLU for taking on this action they are truly one of the watchtowers of our civil liberties Here’s to justice and TRUTH as things proceed.