Michigan must rewrite sex offender registry law
News from SCOTUS on Sexual Offender Laws
DETROIT (AP) — Michigan’s sex offender registry law must be rewritten after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let stand a decision that found the state was treating people as “moral lepers” by saddling them with excessive restrictions.
The Supreme Court turned down an appeal from the state, 13 months after a federal appeals court struck down many retroactive rules as unconstitutional.
In 2006, Michigan lawmakers changed the law to prohibit registrants from living, working or even loitering within 1,000 feet of a school. Five years later, the Legislature said registrants should be divided into three tiers solely on the type of conviction, not based on any individual assessment. The rules were made retroactive.
The law “resembles, in some respects at least, the ancient punishment of banishment,” appeals court Judge Alice Batchelder wrote for the 3-0 majority.
The court said Michigan presented no evidence that residential restrictions were having positive effects. One plaintiff in the lawsuit is on the registry because of a non-sexual kidnapping.
The court said a requirement that registrants check in frequently in-person with police has “no relationship to public safety at all.”
“The Legislature is going to have to go back and address these issues,” said Miriam Aukerman, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which filed the lawsuit with University of Michigan law school. “This requires the Legislature to adopt laws that keep us safe and are grounded in research and fact.”
Sen. Rick Jones, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he’ll invite the ACLU, state police and prosecutors to discuss the next steps.
So lets think abut what the Snyder denial of cert could mean for us poor schlubs here in the Sunshine State. It is not controlling in the 11th, but it is persuasive authority that courts may take judicial notice of. One other thing is that we have state case law and maybe Federal IIRC in Georgia that struck down their draconian residency and employment laws and forced the state to come up with their current convoluted set of laws based on 4 different effective dates. That would have some impact on the examination of the current Florida laws, I would think, at least as far as residency restrictions being applied to anyone convicted before 2005.
The second level argument most obvious to me is how the counties like Miami-Dade “grandfathered people in based ion when they moved into a residence (2005) and no on when they were convicted or when the current law was passed. which was 2010 as best as I can tell. I don’t see how they can say that it was a “continuation” of existing municipal laws as they voided all of those.
Now here is your crazy third level argument. Clearly, the State of Florida is gong to be permitted to apply the 1000 foot rule to person convicted after 2004. The state has all but admitted that they can’t apply that new “lifetime” residency restrictions to people convicted before that date. But here is the problem. The 1000 foot rules is difficult to comply with, but not impossible, even in Miami where every Cuban grandma has her won day care operation. I would argue that what the Legislature has done is to improperly allow the administrative/legislative organs of the counties and municipalities to unconstitutionally enhance CRIMINAL penalties in many cases exceeded the constitutional authority of the STATE to do so. Being forged to call such restrictions punishment sure changes the game, does it? We need to eat that elephant one bite at a time, boys and girls. 😉
I would think that the re-write would not be able to include anything added since a particular date?
Florida will never amit any admission. because if they did they would have to change the state name to something better.
I thought there was a specific Constitutional protection against legislative bodies being allowed to “wordsmith” laws that have been found un-Constitutional in order to be fixed so that they may be re-applied to those who were granted relief?
Love to hear from any legal experts out there.
Vested rights doctrine
“It is not within the power of a legislature to take away rights which have been once vested by a judgment. Legislation may act on subsequent proceedings, may abate actions pending, but when those actions have passed into judgment the power of the legislature to disturb the rights created thereby ceases. ”McCullough v. Virginia, 172 U.S. 102 (U.S. 1898)
No re-write is necessary, just put them back the way they were. Damn it…you don’t trust politicians…..PERIOD.
Don’t let them get a chance to screw up again!!!
Thinks its just a matter of removing the retroactive clauses. Those statements which pre date the penalty off of the date of its passing. That statement this applies to those whose convictions were post 2017 etc. If that was the date of acceptance. Did the judgement actually address anything else? Are the actual penalties and not just the application dates affected?
I contacted a young lady at the Michigan ACLU and inquired as to whether or not one’s conviction-date was addressed in the ruling as regards if it was pre-sorna, or Meghan’s Law.
It was not according to her. I was asking in the hope (of a dope) that the words ex-post facto used in the ruling would apply to conviction dates for all offenders. Not so. Were I to move to Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky or Tennessee, the registry would apply to me.
On the bright side, she did say I had a good ex-post facto case and should contact an attorney. Just gotta win the ol’ lottery so I can pay Justicia’s pimps (legislators/district attorneys et, al); or, hope FAC lawyers gets this constitutional blight overturned. So far, gotta go with the latter.
Ain’t floriduh grand.
I look forward to the day when Florida must admit that the Constitution applies to it and I hope those who have fought such an admission will be held accountable. I know on judgment day they will definitely be held accountable.
So 1998 plea on 1 cnt transmission. Not poss nor production no special circumstances (age) would that help in any case? I was fine in ny no level no time just letters and two appearances .
Until they forced the levels then only a level one no appearance on the web. then came to florida and we all know what happened.