By Robin Vander Wall . . . At a hearing in federal court (Middle District, NC) on Monday, April 16, 2018, NARSOL, NCRSOL, and two John Doe plaintiffs were represented by Attorney Paul Dubbeling to defend against the state of North Carolina’s Motion to Dismiss a lawsuit filed in January, 2017 seeking declaratory and injunctive relief under section 1983 of Title 42 of the U.S. Code (Civil Action for deprivation of rights). Forty six named defendants were represented by Attorney Lauren Clemmons of the N.C. Attorney General’s office.
At issue in this case are a variety of grievances presented by the complainants about the N.C. Sex Offender Registry and the prohibitions and restrictions that flowfrom them. Chief among them is that the registry laws are punitive and violate the federal constitution’s prohibition against the ex post facto effect of civil regulatory schemes that are burdensome and deprive citizens of liberty interests in accordance with an analysis first articulated by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kennedy v. Mendoza-Martinez, 372 U.S. 144 (1963) and applied by that Court in the seminal registry case of Smith v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84 (2003).
Hmm this looks promising
Registry restrictions are more burdensome than many probation or parole conditions.
Any update on this?
7