Reforming Florida’s Sex Offender Registry Laws
A disappointing opinion came out of the Middle District of Florida for the Petitioner, Louis Clements. Clements pleaded guilty in 2008 to lewd and lascivious conduct under § 800.04(6) and got five years of sex-offender probation, which ended around 2013. His first § 2254 petition was dismissed because he wasn’t “in custody.” Clements I (11th Cir. 2023) affirmed, holding that
Read moreOn September 29, 2026, the Eleventh Circuit issued its decision in Henry v. Sheriff of Tuscaloosa County, a case challenging an Alabama law that permanently prohibited people convicted of sex offenses involving children from living with their own minor children. Bruce Henry was convicted of possessing child pornography, served his sentence, completed sex-offender treatment and counseling, maintained employment, attended church,
Read moreOccasionally we’ll get an email from someone saying that long after their conviction, evidence emerged that would have acquitted them. Florida does have an avenue to bring newly discovered evidence before a court, but a lesson worth remembering from a recent Florida appellate decision reminds us that you need to act on it! In Jennis v. State, the Sixth District
Read moreFlorida Action Committee | Weekly Update #391 The Deal You Didn’t Know You Were Making Dear Members and Advocates A new article in the Virginia Law Review by Professor Talia Fisher highlights a case that should make everyone who cares about due process stop and think: Mansfield v. Williamson County. In 1992, Troy Mansfield was 25 years old when he
Read moreWe promised you guys that FAC would push to hold municipalities accountable when they pass laws that cross the line. We told you, when Union County enacted their new restriction that essentially made it illegal to “drive/walk/bicycle while registered”, that if we allowed this law to go unchallenged, it would spread like cancer. A couple of weeks ago, a federal
Read more“On September 9, 2026, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that the 2021 Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) amendments cannot be used to retroactively extend the registration requirements of anyone who committed their relevant crime prior to July 1, 2011, because doing so would be unconstitutional,” said Col. James F. Grady II, director of the Michigan State Police (MSP). “The MSP
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