A bit of a setback in the 7th Circuit as en banc panel partially reverses earlier decision.

Here’s a case we’ve been following for a while… In January, we originally reported a victory in Indiana, after the 7th Circuit upheld a District Court decision that ruled in favor of a group of persons with past sexual offense convictions who move to Indiana and were forced to register, where they would not have to had they been convicted in Indiana. In May we reported that the entire 7th Circuit has chosen to rehear the case.

Well a couple days ago, the decision came back and here it is: https://media.ca7.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/rssExec.pl?Submit=Display&Path=Y2021/D08-16/C:19-2523:J:St__Eve:aut:T:fnOp:N:2748072:S:0

While the bad news is that they reversed the prior victory, the good news is that they remanded the case to the lower court for consideration of the equal protection claim. In lay terms, they are sending the case back to the district court that originally issued a ruling that was favorable to the registrants. Overall, not a good decision.

For a more comprehensive analysis, please visit: https://www.theindianalawyer.com/articles/divided-7th-circuit-reverses-order-to-remove-sex-offender-names-for-right-to-travel-violation-but-remands-equal-protection-claim