Civil rights organization says it’s unconstitutional to label people for life without individual review
DETROIT – Today the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan (ACLU), on behalf of 10 people who all previously won federal court rulings that Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA) is unconstitutional, filed a federal class action lawsuit against state officials over the latest version of the law. It is the fourth federal lawsuit the civil rights organization has filed challenging SORA in the past decade. The federal courts and the Michigan Supreme Court have repeatedly ruled that the earlier iteration of SORA was unconstitutional.
Today’s lawsuit, Does v. Whitmer, or Does III, filed in U.S. District Court, argues that the new SORA statute, which went into effect in 2021, is also unconstitutional. Specifically, SORA fails to provide for individual review or an opportunity for removal, forcing tens of thousands of people, including people who didn’t even commit a sex offense, to be branded as sex offenders and subjected to extensive, and in most cases life-long restrictions, without any consideration of their individual circumstances, which is a violation of their due process and equal protection rights. The 193-page complaint also argues that SORA imposes unconstitutional retroactive punishment, including by retroactively extending the registration terms of thousands of people to life.
Michigan has one of the largest registries in the country; there are approximately 45,000 Michigan registrants, and almost 10,000 more who live out of state.
“For nearly a decade, we have been fighting to put an end to an ineffective, bloated and unconstitutional registry that not only fails to protect survivors, but in fact makes families and communities less safe,” said Miriam Aukerman, ACLU of Michigan senior staff attorney. “The latest version of SORA is more of the same, and still puts tens of thousands of people on this list automatically without any consideration of their individual circumstances. What we’re asking for is very simple: consider the facts in each case before someone is tarred as a sex offender for life. Dying shouldn’t be the only way a person can get off the registry.”
See the available court documents at the links below:
Question. If you get time served while you were in jail why can you /or should you be put on a 5 year probation as well? I thought probation is an alternative to time in jail or prison?
I know that people on this website don’t know me but, I just thought I would get your opinions on a couple topics. I don’t know if I should vote in the election. Both candidates Trump and biden don’t care about us.i also see there is going to be another registry on the ballot. The animal abuse registry.should I even vote on both or not?
So what is this “vigil” going on march 15th to try and change the supremes court decision on the Smith vs Doe case?
So just saw in the news today that in detroit was a bad case of road rage that led to one woman shooting another woman through her car (WITH 3 kids in that car) the woman that got shot at was hospitalized and kids could have been hit luckily werent. Why did i mention this you may ask, because the registry is designed to protect the public and children from sex offenders correct? So what protected those children in that car while a woman shot at that car because she was mad on the road? (But sex offenders are more dangerous) <— sarcastic statement. Did the registry protect those kids from potentially being murdered? No! Could they have been hurt just as bad or killed just as bad if it was a sex offender (which i doubt most sex offenders would want kill a child) (opinion). The point is theres a registry to protect public and childrens safety from sex offenders. Again how well were they protected from a violent gun offender? (Not at all) so wheres the protection for the public and childrens safety? (In other words the registry is pointless violates many rights including right to privacy, speech, religion, Due process, and makes the poeple on it feel stripped of their citizenship. I hope I was able get a point across, not the greatest at wording.
Another thing, I think all of statements on here that support cause of Does 1-6 cases I think should be used in support of those cases in court. If also usernames can be stricken. Plus hope this doesnt constitute as social media since I am not allowed use social media at all, for any reason. (That includes creating, or looking for work.)
Heres a thought, everyone on the registry has to pay to maintain the registry. What if (Big IF) the registry gets abolished, would the state be forced to refund the 550 dollars for those that are on current registry, and the thousands for those that were on the 90s and 2000s registry. If the current registrant isnt alive then to the spouse or immediate family. If none then to disaster fund?
Here;
143
Mar 12, 2024
Main Doc
Response to Motion
142
Mar 12, 2024
Main Doc
Appearance
Well well well, Where do we even start??? First in my opinion i feel the state has pretty much made them selves out to be the Big Bad Wolf again and again in front of yet another Court. I think this looks very good for those on this punitive unjust unconstitutional hit list registry. Look at the wording in this lame excuse for a response to this very well put together of “Many Scholars” amicus brief. Maybe just maybe next time the state should take time to hire someone who even understands who they are trying to make look uneducated in front of a Federal Court Judge who is smart enough to even know what the meaning of the title “Scholars”. Just so we all know what this title means, I will go a head and post it so we all can feel how highly educated these individuals are in our society.
In Dictionary terms , A schol·ar is : a person who is highly educated, a specialist in a particular branch of study, especially the humanities; a distinguished academic. I guess the state thinks they are useless pieces of trash registrants or something when they are making a mockery of them in front of the Court with pure lies and untrue or false statistics. These are not low respected useless no good human beings like those they make out to be on their hit lists and the Court will realize this they are much smarter then this.
Next, is the truth behind what this “Clown Aka the state of Michigan” has presented to the Court to try to make these well educated Scholars look uneducated on the facts they have presented to this Court. Its their own words and statistical numbers they have brought forward in this rebuttal and what they stated in their own findings that should be very interesting to this Court these statements from the State should have this Judge scratching his head and really seeing the truth behind this deck of lies the State is dealing to this Court. They give a old statistical number of 10% reconviction rate correct? Now we all know this number is more around maybe 7% or less. Now lets get to the 80% of the registrants committed sexual offenses against children under the age of 18 the reason this number is so much higher is in the Unconstitutional state of Michigan we live in the laws are much different for those convicted of adult sex crimes and juvenile sex crime convictions. The reason is the adult offenses are so much less is this state needs more proof if you steal a candy bar to convict someone in this state then a sex crime on a minor ” TRUE FACT” No Time, No Date, No Witnesses, No Evidence is needed to convict a man in this state of a sex crime with a minor this is why such a big difference in numbers WHY??? Because with a adult sex crime you need proof, times, dates, witnesses, DNA some sort of evidence. This is pure Witch Hunt Salem Lot S*%T to put it softly, What ever happened to a Persons Constitutional God Given Right to be Innocent Until Proven Guilty Beyond A Reasonable Doubt in the Country??? Let a lone put someone on their hit lists for “LIFE” With out even proven them to be a danger to this community, This is the kind of laws this state writes and pins of the citizens of this state everyday. Then these fools “State of Michigan” goes on with this B.S. of “We have to protect the Children of this state” You got to be kidding me Right? Doesn’t take a rocket Scientist to see that this is pure B.S. My daughters school has not one guard not to mention armed guard. Think of all the killings going on in our schools. 😢 Now just go walk into any Pot Dispensary in this State at least one highly trained by the “State of Michigan Licensing Armed Guard”, and in many cases 2. Do you think this state cares about our Children? They need to knock it off. Ok lets get back to the real facts this court should see threw the states own lies presented. Even if for say we bump the numbers up two 24% re-offense rate what we all know is more B.S that would means straight from the Horses mouth that 76% deserve off the hit list because they will not be a threat to the community. Now Why is this ??? If we want to really get to statistics reason being is they never committed this type of crime in the first place why? Because [some people] say once a “TRUE” sex predator you will always reoffend. They are very stupid to think the Courts cant see threw their lies they have presented. As over the years they have created this fairy tail registry full of people who pose no danger to their communities. If they really had to have evidence in the court of law to prove someone is a child rapist 75% wouldn’t be on this hit list or ever convicted of these Heinous Crimes this state has got away with pinning on so many of its citizens. Again Why? The more they cry wolf the more power they get, the more they fill prisons and registries the more money they get. Let the Truth be told. The state is sticking its foot in its own mouth every time they open it. This Court isn’t that stupid that they would believe these liars over these “Scholars” Good luck with that one Michigan ! Even the Michigan State Supreme Court didn’t fall for your B.S on this Sorna garbage. Sorry for the long post but i have been on this ride since 1992 with not a day, or a time, or a spec of DNA or evidence to support their conviction let alone even a witness. Just wish i had the same rights as someone who stole a candy bar in this state. Its been a hell of a ride and i just don’t want it to happened to the youth of this state as it did to me when I was 18 years young. Today I am [a] 51 year old man and still fighting for my life back. My family are the ones who have suffered the most.😢 P.S never ever, ever, ever another conviction. Just think about that. 🤔💭 Also the fact is the hit list wasn’t even thought of when they unjustly stole my life from me with “NOTHING” but pure hear say. All we can do is Pray for change.🙏🏼 The future of this States young depends on change. I believe in law and justice not Corrupt Laws and Dirty Politicians.
Another thing to think about is how they got away with this retroactive application of a punitive registry and the way they were able to let the states top law enforcement official to be able to apply retroactive punishment upon thousands of citizens of this state and call them rules. They even did this knowing that by shooting down the Grundy case it would not just stop with the states top law enforcement officials “Attorney General” “Governor”, it would trickle to the United States top law enforcement official ” Attorney General” to take over this same abusive power and then apply it to the entire Country of more then 1 million citizens not including their families as well. To retroactively apply punitive rules “aka laws” to hundred of thousands of people like myself who have already served their sentences years after a Judge had no knowledge of this ever being part of some ones sentence. Nor was it in the statue of the crime of the time of conviction in many cases. his state and their corrupt leaders and politicians have stole away and retroactively gotten away with resentencing thousands of citizens with lies and abuse of power that was all allowed to continue by the courts in this state and country. I hope when this mess is all sorted out they are all held accountable for the punitive and abuse of power they have continued to be able to turn cheek to for so many years. The due process rights of many of us have been violated and our families have suffered because of this in my opinion anyone who is on this registry is disabled by this state to provide for their families and to be a successful productive citizen. They deserve to be compensated for the damages this registry has cause not to just them but to their entire families. Not to mention the psychological damage it has inflected on the ones who should have never been forced upon this hit list in many cases years after a conviction. I myself was sentenced by a Judge to 1 to 3 years max sentence in 1993 i was convicted in 1992 and remained out of bond until sentencing “Real threat to the Community” Dangerous Persons do not remain on bond after a conviction. This tells you how much of a rail road job i received. The only reason i was ever added to the registry at that time was because i was on paper too like Bobby and many others of the forum.@ that time if you read the Alaskan 1995 sex offender registry scheme it clearly states ..That the persons information was to be sealed to the public was for law enforcement officials use “ONLY” that it was not to be shared with any public internet or computerized system for public use or the state could be held accountable. Then they allowed the the games to begin, repeal after repeal after repeal after repeal. They rewrote and rewrote and rewrote it until registrants faces were all over the every public forum for the whole world to see. This is “ABUSE OF POWER” at the highest level. It is debilitating and causes harm upon a persons ability to provide, survive, thrive or even stay alive in a community with out being Out Casted, Oster sized, or Shunned among their own environment in where they exist. Can not find housing or even a honest job because of it. They have caused harm that will never be fixed with a ruling they need to be held accountable for the damage they have inflected on those forced onto this hit list after a conviction with out a Judge making this decision or it being in the statue at the time of a persons conviction. i myself was retroactively thrown on it for 25 years then a mail man delivered me a life sentence in 2011 to my mail box “SICK” as it sounds its true the mail man handed me a life sentence via the state of Michigan’s corrupt Attorney General at the time, Via a top law enforcement new rule B.S amendment. This has gone on for so many years it has stole away many families entire lives and held them down unjustly and unconstitutionally. Let us pray that this Judge sees threw the States lies and barbaric way of punishing a particular group of people they have created to destroy.
The laws need to be looked at not just the registry the statical numbers show the truth the adult sex convictions numbers vs the under age sex conviction numbers show the law is broken. No law should ever need no proof or evidence to support its conviction, My case was brought upon me years after the a ledge crime supposedly took place with not even a time or day it was a rage of sometime with in these three month span. No DNA, No Evidence, No witnesses to support the accusations. Pure B.S pin the tail on a Donkey style conviction. This State has created laws that convict a person before they ever had the right to be innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. This is why the Jails are over crowding the state is stricken with poverty and homeless people. They are tearing our lives out from under us with one bad law at a time. One bad law created a 1000 more bad laws. Way to go Michigan. I hope the Courts one day will see the light and do their jobs to protect us from Them “Michigan Politicians are the Evilest of this state the ones that need to be on a public list for the citizens to warn their children of. 90% of the faces on this hit list are not a danger to anyone and the truth will be told one day. Keep the faith everyone, God works in mysterious ways. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼 We the People will Prevail ! Just remember ….They start with stealing one Mans rights, it ends with them stealing every Mans rights.
I’m sure some of you have heard about the parents of Michigan teenager Ethan Crumbley being separately convicted of manslaughter charges after their son was sentenced as an adult to life without the possibility of parole for the murders he committed in a school. To me, these convictions are symptoms of the problem behind the Michigan registry (and all registries)—when big tragedies happen in America, we respond by knowingly violating our own rules, and that makes us feel good. I’m sure some here will disagree, but I simply don’t see how you can convict two parents as being criminally negligent when you’ve convicted their son as an adult, ostensibly not of profound mental illness—but this satisfies the angry crowds, as a registry does, as Guantanamo Bay and invading Iraq did after 9/11. I find it a maddening symptom of modern life, one in which we no longer celebrate the value of rule of law—one celebrated in our mid-century culture, whether literature like To Kill a Mockingbird, Of Mice and Men, Twelve Angry Men, or even pop culture like Star Trek—the premise that, no matter how mad or outraged we are, the highest principle we must obey is the just rule of law. I think this value is disappearing, replaced by “get mad, listen to your emotions, and screw the law,” celebrated in even our most “cerebral” cultural artifacts, like True Detective. …
Any new news regarding the court case with the aclu? I can’t seem to find anything.
Compliance checks going on in Kent County Michigan today or this month. They were at my home today making sure I lived there. Even tho I am on Lifetime Electronic Monitoring. 😢
He just asked my wife if I lived there and left.
i actually got my whole conviction set aside and no longer have to register. apparently i was elgible for the clean slate for kids act and ive been on the registry since i was 18. 4 times a year. now im 33. i went from being on public for 25 years to tier 3 lifetime but off public in 2011 and now im completely off. its insane to be honest.
So the michigan clean slate program. Literally specifically excludes, almost all sex offenses, including possession, distribution, child abuse, or sexual assault cases. But people with all other kind of felonies or misdemeanors are eligible for expungement. So in reality those that actually would benefit from that program arent eligible for the program. You could rob someone on the street get a felony have it expunged not that a robbery really restricts you much in life. But those with sex offense that struggle for job, place live, medical care, expenses, or supporting a family arent allowed to be expunged. So sounds like deliberate torture to those who committed (or accused) of a sex crime. If thats the case there is a constitutional law that protects everyone from cruel and unusual punishment.
I am not the sharpest tool in the tool shed, but it seams to me we are just spinning are wheels on this. There are over 39,000 of us in this State all suffering from this unconstitutional cookie cutter law.
Most of us work and can not drive to Lansing with signs. Emails get deleted, phone calls ignored. I am sure the ACLU unfortunately has the address of every person on the “List” my thought is if they were to mail a packet with a form letter for each of us to sign maybe 2 or 3 with a envelopes and a stamps we could burry whoever we chose with 39,000 letters. Let’s say only some of us mailed them 20,000 let’s say 5 of are friend’s and family also mailed them that’s 100,000 letters.
Let’s say we mailed every one on the list in the country a packet and sent them to the President. That’s around 750,000 people and they have there family and friends mail them. Over a million letters dumped on his desk.
Can’t ignore that can you? Can’t hit the delete button, cant send to voicemail. Someone has to deal with it.
I will pitch in a $100.00
Any new movement in the courts? Just thought I would check.
Here’s a quick refresher, I found this while browsing,,,,,,,,,
SORA: Everything You Need To KnowIn a stunning move that will have a huge impact on criminal law in Michigan, a federal district court ordered Michigan lawmakers 90 days to update and make changes to the sex offense registry law known as SORA. SORA was ruled unconstitutional by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court refused to hear the case. The ACLU and a law program affiliated with the University of Michigan filed a class-action lawsuit last June against SORA.
According to The Detroit Free Press,
“A U.S. district court judge is giving Michigan lawmakers 90 days to change the state’s sex offender registry law, almost three years after it was first ruled unconstitutional by a federal appeals court.” Judge Robert H. Cleland Dropped The Hammer U.S. District Judge Robert H. Cleland issued an order that the law must be changed on Thursday.
The ruling stems from an August 2016 decision by the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati which found that Michigan’s Sex Offense Registry Act (SORA) was unconstitutional.
Under Michigan’s law:
People forced to register have been prohibited from living, working or even standing within 1,000 feet of a school. They must immediately register email address or vehicles, plus report to the police as often as four times a year.
The rules currently apply to all people forced to register — even if they’ve gone decades without committing and crimes.
MMichigan’s SORA Law Is Unconstitutional The appeals court found the law in violation of constitutional protections against increasing penalties for a crime after its commission and adjudication.
The state appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which declined to hear the case — effectively upholding the 6th Circuit ruling.
But the state has kept the law in place. It argued that the rulings only applied to the specific plaintiffs who brought them — because the appeals court decision came in civil cases instead of class-action lawsuits.
In essence, whether or not people needed to completely comply with the act depended on if they’d been able to successfully plead for their individual case in court. The ACLU, the University of Michigan Clinical Law Program and the Oliver Law Group filed a class-action lawsuit last June that asked that the appeals court to apply the ruling to all Michigan registrants.
“Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry is not just unconstitutional, but it’s also counterproductive and actually makes our communities less safe,” Miriam Aukerman, ACLU senior staff attorney, said in a statement.
“We need and deserve effective public-safety measures that protect our kids and families, rather than a bloated and ineffective registration scheme that in fact puts them at greater risk. Legislators should seize on this opportunity to protect the public by replacing Michigan’s failed registry with policies and programs that have proven successful in preventing sexual offending.”
In a news release, the ACLU of Michigan said research shows sexual violence and the harm it causes are effectively reduced by prevention programs.
Sen. Peter J. Lucido (R-Shelby Township), chairman of the Judiciary and Public Safety Committee told the Free Press discussions with the state police, as well as the ACLU of Michigan have been ongoing, and he sees this as an opportunity to take another look at whether or not SORA is doing the job it was intended to do.”
If you have any questions relating to SORA, please feel free to contact Attorney Shawn Haff at 616-438-6719. The call is free. Will you be? 😎
Did anybody read the first four words?
jeez,
Saw this a few days ago, for all of us pre 2006 and pre 2011
DIRECTOR’S OFFICE MEMORANDUM 2024 – 5
GRANDVIEW PLAZA • P.O. BOX 30003 • LANSING, MICHIGAN 48909
http://www.michigan.gov • (517) 335-1426
GRETCHEN WHITMER GOVERNOR STATE OF MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS LANSING HEIDI E. WASHINGTON DIRECTOR
DIRECTOR’S OFFICE MEMORANDUM 2024 – 5 EFFECTIVE: January 1, 2024
DATE: December 1, 2023
TO: Executive Policy Team, Administrative Management Team, Wardens
FROM: Heidi E. Washington, Director
SUBJECT: PD 01.06.115 “Sex Offenders Registration Act”
SUPERSEDES DOM 2023 – 8 (effective 01/01/2023)
On August 25, 2016, the United States Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Doe, et al. v Snyder, et al., case nos. 15-1536/2346/2486 ruled that the retroactive application of the 2006 and 2011 amendments to the Michigan Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA) were unconstitutional. Both parties appealed to the United States Supreme Court. The Supreme Court recently denied leave to appeal, which means that the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision on retroactivity remains in effect.
PD 01.05.115 “Sex Offenders Registration Act” and its implementing procedure are therefore revised to be consistent with the ruling by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Specifically, this means that the requirements of the 2006 amendment only applies to those registered offenders whose offense occurred on or after January 1, 2006, which is the effective date of the 2006 amendment. Similarly, the requirements of the 2011 amendment only applies to those registered offenders whose offense occurred on or after July 1, 2011, the effective date of the 2011 amendment.
The Deputy Director of Field Operations Administration (FOA) shall issue instructions to Field Agents implementing the Court’s ruling and this Director’s Office Memorandum.
Remember back when?
Please read the date !
government still doesn’t know how to govern,,,,
I was looking for something I wrote About the way the NEW law was written, it had something to do with pre sora people being removed by May of this year,
couldn’t find it yet, I found this and thought some might remember when,,,😎
Disgusted in Michigan
Guest
September 28, 2021 1:10 pm
So i just got home after having an interesting conversation with a sergeant at the Oak Park State Police post. I had noticed some incorrect information on my name and went in to get it corrected, however, it couldn’t be done today because they only do SORA up to 3 pm, and it was 3:30. Anyway, he told me verification is still voluntary. I said I thought Judge Cleland’s final order ended all that and he said there was an executive order from the Governor making it still voluntary while Lansing makes some changes to the website. He also told me that if I’m pre 2011 I don’t have to worry about any mistakes on my info because, and I quote his words, “pretty soon guys who are pre 2011 won’t have to do it any more.”
He told me he will look for the memo from the governor and to stop by tomorrow before 3:00 and he would give me a copy.
Now, I don’t know what’s going on because there was nothing in Cleland’s final order that says pre 2011 are coming off the registry so I’m not going to get my hopes up. It is interesting though when I told him there’s certain things that pre 2011 guys don’t have to do any more, but he told me Lansing was working on getting us removed. I don’t think that is something he would make up, but I’m certainly going to keep my eye on things. It kind of makes sense how when I look myself up sometimes that I am not listed, then a few days later I am, then later I’m not again.
I don’t have any more information right now, but once I get a copy of that memo, I will post it.
View Replies (18)
total confusion 3 years running,,,,
I was mailed this today,
Dear Does III Class Members,
We know many of you are anxiously awaiting word about the progress of the case. As we previously reported, our cross-motions for summary judgment were fully briefed by the end of January. We are awaiting a decision from the judge. That could be a decision on some or all of the claims. Or the judge could order a hearing or more briefing. We do not know when the judge will make a decision. We will of course let you know once we hear from the Court.
Sincerely,
Does III Litigation Team
Please do not email us for updates! We will put them out when we have them. You must keep registering at this time if that changes we will let everyone know who does not have to register any longer.
Respectfully Tim P ACLU of Michigan SOR Specialist
Well the court listener just posted the exhibit A , to brief 144,
slow rolling.
Any one else getting scam calls today? I am fairly sure it was another scam. Kent County Sheriff (he said) called my work 😡said I was sent a letter which I did not get and they needed another DNA test. So I said call my cell phone… he said he did not have that number? Said he was going to issue a warrant I said go ahead and hung up.
This would be the 3rd time they have done this crap. Fairly easy for them all my info is online. Thanks to the State of Michigan.
If it is not a scam I don’t care anymore.
Anyone know what the January 2024 effective date from the December 2023 publication letter for the supreme courts ruling means?
STATE OF MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS – DIRECTOR’S OFFICE MEMORANDUM 2024 – 5
Not to pick a bone, but the ACLU is a “civil liberties” organization, not “civil rights.” I don’t know why the article uses the terms interchangeably.