Another Amicus Brief Filed in Henry – and this one is novel!
Seventeen legal scholars have filed an amicus brief in the Henry case. In case you’ve not been following our legal updates, Henry is the case challenging an Alabama law that prevents a registrant from living with a minor – even if that minor is his own child.
What distinguishes this brief from most others we read is that this brief doesn’t argue about how the law impacts the fundamental rights of the registrant – irrespective of the merits, justices may still not care. This brief argues that the fundamental rights of Henry’s son are violated by the law! “As this Court considers the matter en banc, Amici write in support of Mr. Henry to explain how this provision of the Alabama Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification Act (“ASORCNA”) also violates a fundamental constitutional right held by Mr. Henry’s now-four-year-old son: the right to family integrity and, more specifically, his right to live with his father.”
It’s certainly novel to come across a pleading that focuses on the child’s rights, which in many of these cases is ignored. As the Amici argue, “the application of procedural due process requires that a child be given an opportunity to contest separation from their parents”.
They also point out that “[i]n effect, the child is punished for their parent’s offense — a punishment that can extend long after the parent has served their sentence and reintegrated into the community.” This makes us think of the many ways parents, spouses, and children are punished every day. If a residency restriction prevents a registrant from living with an elderly parent to help take care of them, that’s punishing the parent. If a registrant can’t help with family chores because of a proximity ordinance, that places a lot of extra burden on the spouse. If a registrant has to post a sign on Halloween or can’t decorate the house for Christmas, that punishes the whole family.
You can read the brief here.
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Any and all family members are impacted by such moves…
Our son will transition to being our caregiver sometime in the next 20+ years. So anything that happens to him concerning all these insane restrictions directly impacts us and what happens to us.
I wonder how many of them possess enough intelligence and spiritual insight to even consider the ripple effect of what they do to each of these 86K+ fellow humans. I recently asked ChatGpt about the Florida registry specifically about the spiritual damage it causes and got a really great response. IDK if this platform would allow for the posting of the entire response, but it is so very good.
I also have a service dog and if he’s still around when we are in need of assistance from our son, he will need to be able to also care for the dog. And I hope to goodness this doesn’t happen, but if my baby dog outlives us, our son would be his caretaker and heaven help anyone who separates them. They are brothers and love each other. I will be watching and I will take action.
I will never be able to innerstand the psychopathic nature of the disconnected people who conjure these legal fictions. A legal fiction is anything they call “law“ that is in violation of the Constitution. States cannot supersede the law of the land. How was this ever allowed to get this satanic?
“Let not any one pacify his conscience by the delusion that he can do no harm if he takes no part, and forms no opinion. Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing. He is not a good man who, without a protest, allows wrong to be committed in his name, and with the means which he helps to supply, because he will not trouble himself to use his mind on the subject.”
-John Stuart Mill
When I read the post about the Arizona law being upheld and that the PFR has to register their children and where they go to school my first thought was…..the child did not consent to that. They could not consent to that.
I don’t know how the legal part would work to get something done, but as we say we are registered families and I am forced to have my car registered etc. I don’t consent to that, not once they are done with their probation and have completed their time especially.
That’s a novel approach. While I understand that probation is a different animal. I was/am certainly affected by policy/ordinance/law. Either way the court decides will be fascinating to read.
very interesting.
This may be a direction that needs further study. They’ve definitely done everything they could to create as much collateral damage and to punish as many people innocent people as possible with the registry. It’s about time that is acknowledged. How many suicides already from children and innocent family members who had to bear the cost of the governments registry while commiting no crime of their own?