Maine is another state to add to a list of Supreme Courts who have found that enhancements added on to the sex offender registry constitute punishment. In this case, individuals who were added to the registry when, at the time of their offense, were not required to register, will likely see relief.

The case of Doe v Anderson, decided two days ago concerns an individual convicted of possession of child pornography in 2003. At the time of his offense, his crime was not registrable. Later that same year, his crime was added to the list of crimes that would be subject to registration and subsequently he received a notice that he would have to go in and register.

The plaintiff fought the requirement claiming that imposing a punishment on him that didn’t exist at the time of his offense constituted an unconstitutional Bill of Attainder.

Below is the conclusion of the opinion:

The Bill of Attainder Clause “does not preclude a State from making reasonable categorical judgments that a conviction of specified crimes should entail particular regulatory consequences.”Smith v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84, 103 (2003). It does, however, preclude the legislature from imposing punishment on an individual or group in circumvention of the judicial process. Because the SORNA amendment at issue here imposes punishment outside of the judicial process, and because the trial court did not address the element of specificity, we vacate the judgment and remand tothe trial court for further consideration.

 

This decision is significant to Florida for the following reasons:

1) The more States which find registration obligations to be “punishment”, the more influential it will be when that decision is brought before the Florida Supreme Court or the US Supreme Court.

2) The case highlights that the Maine Bill of Attainder provision is indistinguishable from the Federal Bill of Attainder provision, which is law in Florida also.

3) The Florida registry is one of the largest in the country and includes individuals whose crimes predate the registry. Florida’s registry has also undergone significant “enhancements” over the years which impose additional “requirements” on individuals required to register.