Alaska court rules sex offender registration law violates due process
Alaska’s Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the state’s sex offender registry violated the due process rights of those convicted of sex crimes in other states, deeming it “too broad and arbitrary when it includes offenders who are not dangerous.”
The court wrote. “But ASORA is both too broad and arbitrary when it includes offenders who are not dangerous. Since they pose no special risk to the public, their protected liberty interests plainly outweigh any public safety interests that might be furthered by requiring them to register.”
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Just to temper this good news a little, the Court ruled that the defendant can now move forward with a process to demonstrate he is no longer dangerous. So he isn’t off yet, and the state will still opposed it.
And it’s happening like this in Alaska because the state constitution diverged from every other state in 1956 when Alaska declined money under the Federal Highway Act and thus was not obligated under the Interstate Commerce Clause to implement a lot of changes that impacted people’s privacy and due process rights that Congress flowed down to the rest of us in exchange for nice roads. The Alaskan state constitution is essentially America 65 years ago, and presumably covered in snow 🙂
So hooray for him, but don’t hold your breath for this to be a ground shaking precedent.
HALLELUJAH !
Unfortunately, it only means that the Alaska legislature will have to create a process for determining which offenders are a danger to the public. It is doubtful that any “due process” they decide upon will be fair or objective. Probably leave it in the hands of psychologists employed by the state who will base their decisions on their personal feelings rather than real scientific studies and statistics.
I don’t think the legislature will need to create a process in order for him to benefit from due process. With this ruling; he can simply file a petition. And since it’s his petition, he will get to choose which psychologist, if any, gets to evaluate him.
This seems a hollow victory since the individual still has to be on the registry AND prove he is not dangerous:
“The justices in Anchorage upheld the court’s decision requiring out-of-state offenders to register but found that they must be offered an opportunity to show that they are no longer a danger to the community. The Alaska Supreme Court did not invalidate the rule but elected to allow the man in the case to file court action attempting to prove he is no longer a public safety risk.”
So this double standard only applies to registered citizens. We are guilty until we can prove we are innocent instead of the state proving we are dangerous. Who can afford to go to court and prove they are not a threat? And by the way, how do you even do that?
Someone is paying attention
Finally Common sense coming out of Alaska!