UPDATED: Enforcement of Michigan Sex Offender Registry “On Hold”
A Member has provided the following guidance from the ACLU: interim_order_summary_april_6_2020
Between COVID and the a case pending in the Michigan’s Supreme Court, “from February 14 2020 through pretty much most of 2020 SORA obligations were not enforceable,” said Joel Martinez, Ingham County’s Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, in this article.
What we’d like to know is; has the instances of sexual assaults gone up now that enforcement of the registry has been on hold for more than a year? Have there been more children abducted from the streets? Are more people who ordinarily would be registering out there committing sex offenses?
If the answer is simply that nothing has fallen off a cliff and persons who would have been forced to register are not re-offending at higher rates than before, perhaps it’s time to reconsider the utility of the registry entirely?
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As a current registrant in Michigan, I can tell you that the Michigan State Police DID mail out notices to registered sex offenders in March informing them of their duties under the new law. I DID go to the local sheriff’s department to update my information in April, which I am required to do 4 times a year. The ordinance officer, a very kind and polite woman by the way, explained my requirements under the new law. The only thing she said was on hold is the $50 per year registration fee pending court ruling. I STRONGLY ADVISE ALL MICHIGAN REGISTRANTS TO CALL THEIR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES AND ASK THEM, RATHER THAN ASSUMING FROM NEWS ARTICLES AND RUMORS, IF THEY HAVE TO REPORT IN PERSON TO UPDATE THEIR REGISTRATION. The actual changes are minor, and do not truly fulfill the required changes outlined in Does v Snyder, namely that the state may not make retroactive changes to the law. My information is still public, even though it was not when I entered my plea. They actually made a couple of changes that are more onerous than the old law. Used to be that you had to register vehicles that you REGULARLY use. Now you are required to register ANY vehicle that you use. You also have to register ANY phone number that you use, even at your place of employment. The new law does eliminate registration of email addresses and internet identifiers, but only if your crime was committed before 2011. I anticipate many more years of litigation, because the new law is still unconstitutional.
“ We’re going to wait on enforcing SORA violations until that motion is resolved,” Martinez said. “That will give us the green light to say okay, go ahead, business as usual. ”
That is exactly what it has always been. A business. Creating jobs, profiting from it and all at the expense of people’s civil and human rights.
Yeah – I’ve been saying this for several months…
Amen
Let us know if you find the answers to the question, or if you. Can even find someone who would be willing to check into it.
I believe there are already studies showing the registry has had no affect on number of sexual assaults, child abductions, or any other metric lawmakers and the courts have used to enforce these ridiculous laws.