“In-Person” Registration Requirement Submitted to the Supreme Court
[Thanks to a member for bringing this case to our attention]
A petition for Writ of Certiorari has been filed to the Supreme Court of the United States in Boyd v. Washington.
At issue in that case is whether the number of In Person registration requirements violates the Ex Post Facto clause of the Constitution.
In that state (as well as in Florida), the requirement that a person required to register as a sex offender go into their sheriff, in person, has increased almost ever year. Someone may only be required to register every six months, but in addition to the regular re-registration, now someone must go into their County’s registration office whenever they change vehicles, whenever they travel for 3 or more days and many more reasons.
Going in to register in person, is not a simple task. There is generally one location per county, so if you live on the opposite side of the county, that can include a long commute. If you don’t have a car, that can include hours on public transportation or costly Ubers or Taxis. If you do have a car, it can include costly courthouse parking. Then you have to wait in line at the registration office during times that are convenient to them, which can take hours. For reporting a 3 day trip, you would likely have to take an extra day off to accomplish the in person registration.
One of the reasons Smith v. Doe found the (2003 Alaska) registry to be non-punitive was because it didn’t require in person notification. Now, however, registries require frequent in-person appearances for a multitude of reasons. The Petitioner in Boyd is asking the SCOTUS to decide, “whether the requirement of frequent, in-person reporting renders an offender-registration law punitive, such that applying the law retroactively violates the Ex Post Facto Clause”:
If you are thinking this sounds familiar, you’re probably right. This challenge (for Florida) is one that we are actively working towards bringing!
So will this SCOTUS case render ours unnecessary? No. The Supreme Court receives about 7000 requests to hear cases per year and grants Certiorari (agrees to hear) only about 80 of those. So, essentially there’s a 1% chance this case will be heard. On the 99% chance it won’t be, we need to bring our own.
Also, the circuits and states are split as to whether frequent in person registration, applied retroactively, is punitive or “inconvenient”. If a case were brought in Florida and won (or had an injunction granted), it would only support the argument to the SCOTUS. Of course, a loss might do the opposite, but we’re optimistic that the recent changes to the Florida registration statute are irrationally burdensome and confident in our position.
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Jim lee
when i lived in NY and on registry i never had to go to sheriffs for the registry . they sent me a form every march to make sure i still lived at the same address . two times in 15 years a detective came to house , and one time i had to go to the sheriffs office to update my picture.
now i live in Florida i have to go to sheriff office 4 times a yr and a detective comes to house to see if in here every month !!!!!!! i am now off the NY registry for 2 1/2 years
but good ol Fl must like me because they want me for life [ very unfair ]
BREAKING NEWS:
https://narsol.org/2018/07/breaking-news-narsol-files-amicus-in-colorado-case/
“The general assembly finds that persons convicted of offenses involving unlawful sexual behavior have a reduced expectation of privacy because of the public’s interest in public safety. The general assembly further finds that the public must have access to information
concerning persons convicted of offenses involving unlawful sexual behavior that is collected pursuant to this article to allow them to adequately protect themselves and their children from these persons. ”
Sound familiar? In Floriduh, 943.0435 states:
“The Legislature finds that sexual offenders, especially those who have committed offenses against minors, often pose a high risk of engaging in sexual offenses even after being released from incarceration or commitment and that protection of the public from sexual offenders is a paramount government interest. Sexual offenders have a reduced expectation of privacy because of the public’s interest in public safety and in the effective operation of government. Releasing information concerning sexual offenders to law enforcement agencies and to persons who request such information, and the release of such information to the public by a law enforcement agency or public agency, will further the governmental interests of public safety.”
Well, I have an increased expectation of privacy because of vigilantism! Also, how does clicking on a registered citizen’s name at the FDLE website equate to “persons who request such information”?
I face this in Tennessee every 3 months. We have to make an appointment, visit the registering detective, sign, and he prints out a copy. My friend and I, both RSO’s, were arrested for failing to report purchase of a car (in person!) within 48 hours. Every change, travel request, must be in person… as if I were still on parole.
How could a rational person interpret in-person reporting as inconvenient vice punitive? Inconvenience harbors no consequences, but failure to report is, in of itself, a felony! Felony = punitive! Any moron should be able to understand that!
Of course when it comes to SO laws in Floriduh, we are not dealing with rational people, but indeed with morons, what with the bookends and ALL of the legislators in their pockets.
“If you want justice, go to a whorehouse. If you wanna get f*cked, go to court.” – Richard Gere (Primal Fear, 1996)
Ironically, if you were to go to a whorehouse you could end up on the sex offender registry UNLESS you go to one in Nevada where they can charge for sex.
Ok, so how does it “keep children safe” if someone is arrested and labelled as a “sex offender” for doing something that is legal in Nevada (still part of the United States)?
Logic such as this is why our once great nation is circling the drain.
Not only required to register every 6 months with the county sheriff, but some municipalities (cities, towns) have registered citizens go to their stations and take a picture and license info. if not go, then they come to your house and do so. Some of them do so every month, or bi-monthly and even quarterly. So apart from the twice a year with the county, additions with the cities and towns. That’s about 6+ times.
One of the big issues for Michigan defendants while I was in prison (2004-2015) was the unfair assessment of sentencing guidelines scoring. Appellate attorneys kept arguing that they were doing it unconstitutionally against Apprendi v New Jersey. In 2014, the US Supreme Court even remanded a couple of cases filed by inmates in light of their decision in Cunningham v California, a clear signal to Michigan that they were doing it wrong. When Michigan still refused to recognize Apprendi as being applicable, and Cunningham as being inapplicable, the Supreme Court FINALLY took up another case that settled the issue in Michigan and other states. That decision simply pointed out how plain the language of Apprendi really is. It took 15 years for the Court to finally take up the definitive case, but it shows that persistence can pay off. Many Petitions for Certiorari are filed by inmates who don’t understand the procedure, and are dismissed on procedural grounds, but everyone MUST keep trying. These retroactive laws are just un-american.