Disclosing Information on Children MIGHT Cross the Line
Staying on the topic of what crosses the line (see our last couple of posts), is an interesting case out Arizona.
Plaintiffs filing anonymously brought a lawsuit in federal court challenging some provisions of a new law in Arizona. Among those provisions is having to register your own children and where they attend school. The State believes that a parent of a child enrolled in school might have to pick up and drop off their kid, so sending an alert to the school might give them a heads-up that someone on the registry might be around. The plaintiffs, including one plaintiff who is the minor child of a registrant (a “registered child”) argue that having to register your children violates the First Amendment.
The State, naturally, moved to dismiss and were almost entirely successful, but the court allowed one claim to proceed… the one about the registered child. Here’s what the Court had to say:
Senate Bill 1404 deviates from this approach by compelling offenders to provide information not only about themselves but also their children. Enrollment information could advance public safety by providing law enforcement with another location an offender frequents. See Fox, 286 F. Supp. 3d at 1224 (“The identifying information that SORNA requires sex offenders to provide enables law enforcement to locate the offender, i.e., name and social security number, certain addresses they frequent, and international travel plans.”). But Defendants do not explain how adding this additional requirement is narrowly tailored to achieve Arizona’s compelling interest in public safety and crime prevention.[7] Defendants further do not explain how providing a child’s name helps achieve those interests. For the purposes of this motion to dismiss, the Court finds that Plaintiff has stated a First Amendment claim for compelled speech. Construing all factual allegations in the light most favorable to Plaintiff, the First Amended Complaint plausibly alleges the changes to offender registration are not narrowly tailored.
The case is far from over, but the Court’s position on this issue seems to indicate that it just might find that registering your children as part of the sex offender registration process crosses the line.
The case is Does v. Mays and it’s currently pending in the District of Arizona.
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This could go on and on.
You have to register your dog and the veteranarian you take it to, so the vet is informed about you.
You have to register your bank(s), so they can inform the bank about you.
You have to register your grocery stores and gas stations, so they can be informed about you.
You have to register your Church or any place of religion you attend, so they can be informed about you.
You have to regsiter every place you go, and failure to do so will result in a felony conviction.
This kind of nonsense law-making is what causes the public to falsely think that registrants are dangerous no-matter where they go, and yet the recidivism rate is less than 5%.
Why are legislators and councils continuing to produce laws like this in spite of the ‘frightening and high’ recidivism rate myth?
To fool the public into thinking they are making laws to protect children that, in fact, protect no one nor prevent crime.
It has gotten to the point of absurdity and beyond.
Troll much? Look at it this way, a frequent defense of the additional registry laws and restrictions is the protection and safety of children. Forcing registrants to register their own child in no way provides for the safety and protection of a child.
This bill is dumb as mud.
The only ones keeping track of children are the schools (that the children go to) and the parents. A school should know who the parents are (obviously), and any reason there might be a “sex offender on campus” alert. If the registering agency (typically a sheriff’s office) has an option to know that the PFR has family, the PFR can disclose it, but that information should stay hidden from public eyes.
The case is far from over, but the Court’s position on this issue seems to indicate that it just might find that registering your children as part of the sex offender registration process crosses the line.
You think?
The sensible thing to do is to notify the school of YOUR presence, provided it doesn’t violate any terms of probation to do so, but registering your children should definitely be off limits.
Excellent..need this in Florida ASAP
We don’t have to register children in Florida.
Children shouldn’t be on a registry.
Beng, will this protect society? Go troll elsewhere.