UPDATE 2/5: Hearing today to decide whether to remove thousands from Michigan sex offender registry
[michiganradio.org – 2/3/20]Lawyers will make their case in front of a federal judge on Wednesday over what to do about the state’s sex offender registry.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled nearly four years ago that many of the requirements of Michigan’s registry are unconstitutional. But the law hasn’t been changed, and people continue to be on the list.
“The court has said that this registry is so ineffective, that it is also unconstitutional,” says Miriam Aukerman, senior staff attorney with the ACLU of Michigan. “And yet the Legislature has done nothing to fix it.”
In its August 2016 opinion, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals described Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA) as “a byzantine code governing in minute detail the lives of the state’s sex offenders.”
“SORA brands registrants as moral lepers solely on the basis of a prior conviction,” the court wrote in its opinion. “It consigns them to years, if not a lifetime, of existence on the margins, not only of society, but often, as the record in this case makes painfully evident, from their own families, with whom, due to school zone restrictions, they may not even live.”
Is this the same case MI AG Nessel filed documents for stating the registry was unconstitutional?
If, the “so-called” lawmakers have done nothing in 4 years means they are not going do anything. Just rule the whole law unconstitutional and kick the ball up to the SCOTUS, because the RSO are un-american and is unconstitutional, period. There’s no fixing just get rid of it.
Let’s hope it goes good for us on Wednesday. I got my fingers crossed. I know they probably wont have anything big but we can hope
Hold off because of a pending case?! That’s wrong…
this could be the beginning of the end.
It is TRO time. This has been dragged on for long enough!!!
The state is not complying. This is contempt pure-and-simple IMO. What remedy does the judge have? Can he impose a several million dollar a day penalty against the state to force compliance? Can he make the fines retroactive (as MI did when they applied retroactively the changes to the registrants?) Can the judge hold the people at the top of the decision food chain in contempt of the ruling by the 6th Circuit? Can the judge order the people who have failed to comply to be jailed for contempt?
It seems to me that a combination of huge fines and threats of time in jail will get things moving.
Friend back in the US just sent me this
https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/02/judge-could-force-michigan-to-re-write-sex-offender-registry-laws.html
If not described as plain indenture to property, slavery repackaged the complaint insufficient!
Free men are paid wages to maintain machines.
More coverage:
https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/02/judge-could-force-michigan-to-re-write-sex-offender-registry-laws.html
The link was interesting, especially the comments. Theres people who wrote people on the registry are worse than actual murderers of all things…………
Almost to PH to see if I can get in to see the arguments take place. I’ll keep y’all posted.
The hearing is over and I’m on my way home,,,, The first thing I want to say is,,, you all are not very good at showing up or being supportive of this cause. We all need to do better. Only around 25 people showed up and I’d guess that there were less then a handful of Registered citizens present. WE NEED TO DO BETTER
That said the hearing went as expected,,, more of the same arguments. I’d say the biggest news is that the state agreed in regard to count 1-3. I’d expect the judge to absolutely side with us in that respect. The last two counts in the issues of certification and the issue of severing certain parts,,,, in my opinion the state did a very poor job. The lawyer for the state even suggesting at one point the judge could simply take a red pen and strike all the portions of SORA that did not mirror SORNA,,, which the courts have held is constitutional. The judge sort of giggled in his reply and made the comment “That sounds a whole lot like rewriting the law to me”. TBH,,, on the issue of ex post facto,,,, I still think it’s entirely up in the air what the judge might do,,,, however I think he is inclined to great the ex post facto classes relief,,,, at least in some form. I did not get the feeling at all that he would send anything to the Michigan courts to decide as the state requested.
My overall take away,,,, 1-3. Probably will see relief and a decision in our favor on those counts quickly,,,, ex post facto, sever ability,,,, god only knows,,,, I still have to go with that the judge already said,,,, “enforcement must cease” and I believe he was not in favor of the states arguments on count 4-5. God bless you all and next time,,,, I hope to see.more then the 20-25 people that were there,,,;, less then half of them even being effected by the law,,,, our turnout was shameful!!! I’ll watch here for the judges decision and he also stated that he will be rendering his decision in writing as quickly as he can,,, and I got the feeling he meant sooner rather then later.
@MidnightMike,
Thank you, for the update, as I have said before I am more concerned and worried about expos facto, and the 2011 amendment being severed is the word I am looking for I guess. Like I have said many times before and like many other’s iwas convicted before the registry before it even existed but still put on it for life.
This June will 28 years, unless it’s finally over by then, so I am hoping when Judge Cleland renders, his decision in writing it will include removing ALL pre-sorna 2006 and 2011 registrants. So unless I am reading what you have reported wrong, some of us should be removed from the registry, correct?
Thank you again for the update very much appreciated.
Could anyone tell me what counts 1 through 5 are as @Midnight Mike referred to? Thanks in advance.
Anyone have any idea how long it will take to get a response back from this judge on these matters ?
“Now, the judge could issue a temporary restraining order or permanent injunction on enforcement on these provisions of the registry.”
And he damn well should! This has dragged on long enough!
“Or he could issue another hold on the case to give the Legislature time to act.”
BULLSHIT! They haven’t acted in 4 f***ing years! It’s injunction time NOW!!!
@MIDNIGHTMIKE. Did you let the other sex offenders who was in the court room with you.Know but this site? Pass the info on bro! But i don’t see the reg living much longer! It a Nazis thing! And we don’t like nazis stuff here. You do your time and pay for the crime!!Let it go!!!! And move on.
It would still be due process I do believe. So if they change it it should go back to what you were sentenced to to begin, subtract all the other things the judge said need to be changed. cuz I think a new ruling would be like trying to repeat what is going on now within the court. And they would have to do it over again. So we will see
Ex. Post facto only applies if the law is deemed punitive or punishment. If they lower the bar beneath the “punishment” standard. Even by an inch,,, they can pretty much do whatever they want. And being tough on registered citizens is good for votes,,; and lawmakers live for votes.
@midnightmike I completely agree with you. If Michigan enacted the exact replica of S.O.R.N.A. and no further. It will pass constitutional muster, to hold everybody where they stand still..Maybe not life..Maybe a few thousand bucks and a good attorney after 10 years. The A.G. is very correct in her analogy of the effect of the registry to date.. It hinders recovery and holds Thousands of us back. I only prey They do whats right even tho we are all viewed in society, as moral leapers. We Still Deserve A Fair Chance! Life is hard as it is..This is the icing you never want on your cake! I would like to say THANK YOU! to all the council reading this and keep up with this site! This is the voice of the people that are affected.
Fight fire with fire!!! Tell people you voting for this guy. Than pop the top to people! That you a sex offender and you want this guy voted in too office see how fast those crooks will deny you. But tell people i am on his side. Soon those politicians will start shutting there mouth. Watch the fear when you ask for votes for some some guy too be in office. When you a sex offender. See where i am going with this!
How to beat any charge of failure to register. Well perhaps not always but it makes for a strong arguement. Why are citizens on the sex offender registry and so easily violated when the department of justice will NOT list Mexican nationals with sex crimes? The reason being Mexican nationals can’t be deported if they are so list, so an illegal gets off the list while a citizen doesn’t.
@P31 The catch is that ex post facto only applies to “Punishment”. What I was getting at is the one thing that matters most (having your photo/info plastered on a website),,,, the courts have already ruled is purely civil regulation and not punishment. I’m in the same boat as you,,, but realistically,,, it’s quite possible that there could be a new law that would apply retroactively that would include my junk being online for the world to see. I didn’t mean to be negative. I hate it! Just truthful.
In thinking about it. I sort of wish that someone could bring up to the judge that anyone that ex post facto applies to,,, their conviction is fairly old. Maybe in the end they will let it go just based on that??? Who knows? The legislature rarely does anything that makes total sense.
I found it funny when the State’s attorney tried telling the judge that they were trying to keep expenses low. The judge responded with, “That horse has left the barn.”
Yeah, I’m not sure exactly HOW MANY of us on the list were actually there for the hearing. But I made sure to get a babysitter for my kids, and I made the trip down there.