Changes to sex offense registry cause confusion in Michigan
It has been nine months since court-ordered changes to Michigan’s sex offense registry were made, leaving confusion about enforcement.
Michigan State Police are under an Interim Order and Injunction issued by the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan that prohibits the MSP from enforcing registration, verification, school zone and fee violations of the Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA). Therefore, “if troopers come across an offender who hasn’t updated his home address, they won’t go for an arrest warrant“; yet, local law enforcement agencies are enforcing the law.
Miriam Aukerman, ACLU of Michigan senior staff attorney, said that because of the confusion, people on the registry could be going to prison for a long period of time if they get it wrong, making way for more challenges to the law.
Aukerman said the legislature has not addressed the real problem, which is Michigan’s bloated registry of 44,000 people who have no way to be removed from the registry and have Byzantine requirements that do not protect families.
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All these so called preventative laws have done nothing except create confusion between the people living under these restrictions and those enforcing them. Legislators should of debated these bills before passing them quickly over little or no debate. They should of left things the way it was pre-registry, yet they had to show the masses they cared about the children from the imaginary monsters.
I want to know why we have 50 Governments? So in One state the registry is punishment but in another of 49 remaining countries (50 states) that is the United states divided, nothing related to the registry is punishment?
Then in Michigan no one knows or cares what is going on. One guy that should be in prison is walking the streets freely while another guy didn’t registry this month because his attorney said it wasn’t necessary. Now a warranty is out of that un-named fellow.
Someone somewhere either needs to stop smoking a bong , get off the toilet, get their act together, take a shower and man / lady up.
We live in a country where in one state you can have window tinting on your car and then drive into another state and be told to remove it or go to jail? What have we become? Oh that is right, the laughing stock of the World. We use to be the inventors, creators, protectors, the most powerful, and now we are mocked.
Their is nothing United about the U.S except on a few occasion like the World trade center attacks , where for a few days we come together as one. Then sadly we go back to hating each other, fighting, holding people down and other depressing actions.
Cherokeejack, I agree with you. In an age when hunger, trade, environment, etc., have become truly international problems, the idea of individual states united under one flag seems to have outlived its original purpose. There is really no reason not to have a single set of criminal laws that apply to each state exactly the same way. The system does add employment opportunities for beaurocrats though, all paid for by taxpayers.
50 states are now competing who can make the harshest laws for the citizens of their state. Look at states that are suppressing voting rights because of last year’s election with no evidence of fraud; yet are doing it anyway. Depending on where you live most people can’t even pick out our country on a map, name the branches of government, name our founding documents, and name their members of Congress. All this happens when people aren’t educated about our country and don’t do anything to stop it. Citizens of this country are supposed to hold the power; but now government is in power over our lives.
My two cents opinion on a Friday morning.
Maestro, that was one of the things that frustrated my group therapist while on parole. He had been working with paroled offenders for years, yet never came across one who went near a school to grab a kid and molest him or her. You are more likely to have a school employee molest your child than to have a stranger approach that child on school grounds. He said that in his experience, the molester was almost always a family friend or relative. Such laws simply stigmatize childred of parents who are placed on the registry. In my personal case, I lost out on several job offers where the businesses were in a s0-called school exclusion zone, even though children were never present at those businesses.
The thing with these “exclusion zones” and where people can live is that this was never an issue BEFORE the registry and for many years DURING the registry. Who came up with this and why? Did something happen to cause exclusion zones?
I didn’t hear about it. All I ever heard was the typical “feels good” false sense of security nonsense that it accomplished.
It would be wise for attorneys to bring up this fact that no such restrictions were around years ago and don’t need to be now.
Maestro
I am not allowed to live within 1000 feet of a school and yet, the school bus lets the kids out 40 feet from my front door. Then later in the evening and on the weekends, the kids play right in front of our house. In the 30 years since my incident, I have not kidnapped anyone, flashed anyone, said anything vulgar to anyone.
A deputy came by about a month ago and was talking real loud about making sure I keep up with my registry requirements. He knows for the 2000 years he has been coming by that I know that. I have asked him to please not embarrass me. Then he sits out in front of my house for like 45 minutes until neighbors start coming over asking me if everything is ok. NO, in fact everything is NOT ok.
Gee kind of sounds like 44k RSO’s in Florida suffer!
I had hoped to receive written notification outlining what the final court decision means for me as a registrant in Michigan by now, but haven’t received anything yet. That article quoted an officer as saying that everyone is operating on the same page now that the case is settled, but the new law was not written as a stand alone statute. It amended the old law, producing a hard to understand mess. Even lawyers will disagree on how to apply all of its rules. Police agencies disagree as well. How are those on the registry supposed to figure it out? October is one of my quarterly months to report in person. Hopefully I will get some WRITTEN guidance from my local sheriff department. But my advice to all registrants in Michigan is to go down to their local law enforcement office and ASK, and keep reporting all changes until they figure it out.
The comment about being on the same page was made by Kent County Undersheriff Chuck DeWitt, and he was only referring to the Kent County Sheriff’s Office.
I have heard from my local sheriff’s office that the confusion makes her job very hard. She wants to give registrants good info, but doesn’t know for sure what to tell them. Grand Rapids is located within Kent County, yet there is no assurance that the city police interpret the ruling the same way that the county police department does. And what happens when I visit friends and relatives in other communities in Michigan? The one thing that seems to be clear right now is that the school exclusion zones in Michigan have been done away with for ALL offenders. That is certainly good news for now.
So here we have yet another case of a woman who was molested as a child by someone with NO SEX OFFENSE HISTORY, but somehow feels like keeping people with sex offenses away from seeing THEIR OWN KIDS GRADUATE is miraculously “protecting other kids”.
I hate to have to say it but this is how the majority of Americans think. And that’s why their little toy known as the sex offense registry is NEVER going away.
Maestro
I am surprised some brilliant jerk hasn’t submitted legislation stating anyone on the registry is not allowed to use a public restroom. I mean there have been millions of events by registered citizens on a daily bases taking place in public restrooms right?
I know it sounds crazy but that is the kind of thinking that creates new laws, ordinances etc. The create so many loopholes, exemptions etc. that we are bound to fall down the rabbit hole eventually.
And let’s not even talk about getting pulled over. You never know if you are going to get super cool ready for retirement cop or “I want to get a plaque with my name on it in the precinct cop”. I live life not in fear but as I am a normal citizen.
Occasionally I get harassed but luckily from being an ex cop, I give it right back at them and let them know right away they cannot out ” law enforce” me. Love it when they make up lies like “You are trespassing in the store”. I am sorry, could you quote me the statue that Publix wrote stating registry humans are not allowed on their property?