Reforming Florida’s Sex Offender Registry Laws
The Supreme Judicial Court considered whether the duration of GPS monitoring imposed as a condition of probation under G. L. c. 265, § 47 is constitutionally permissible under art. 14 of the Massachusetts Declaration of Rights. Section 47 mandates that defendants convicted of certain sex offenses “shall” be subject to GPS monitoring for the entire length of probation. However, in
Read moreA class of convicted sex offenders in Wisconsin maintained to a Seventh Circuit panel Tuesday that the state’s lifetime GPS monitoring requirement runs afoul of the Fourth Amendment. “No one denies the seriousness of sexual offending or the state’s strong interest in combating it, but the Fourth Amendment does not ask whether a search feels intuitively justified. It asks whether
Read moreThe Florida Action Committee has submitted a Request for Declaratory Statement from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement concerning the recent arrest of several members who have allegedly failed to report “Internet Identifiers” for accounts that probably don’t have to be reported under the Statute and Judge Hinkle’s Order in the Internet Identifier case, or for accounts they don’t even
Read moreThe U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit recently issued its decision in US v. Cohen, affirming a federal conviction and sentence tied directly to sex offender registry enforcement. In this case, James Cohen accepted money from an individual required to register under SORNA in exchange for falsely allowing him to use Cohen’s address as his residence. Cohen then
Read moreIn granting the state’s motion for summary judgment, a District Court Judge in Arizona upheld the constitutionality of lifetime registration for persons required to register as sex offenders. The lawsuit challenged requirements that mandate lifetime registration on the state’s sex offender registry and other reporting requirements, such as mandatory disclosure of online identifiers. Plaintiffs argued the measures were overly burdensome
Read more“Fourteen years ago, Bruce Henry was arrested for possession of child pornography. He pled guilty and served his time in prison. Upon reentering the community, Henry built a productive life. He received counseling, he found stable employment, and he became a volunteer at his church. He also started a family. Henry married Jennifer and they had a baby boy. Henry’s
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