Source: thealpenanews.com 4/11/23
ALPENA — An Alpena man’s lifetime appearance on the Michigan Sex Offender Registry does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment, the Michigan Court of Appeals said.
…
____’s argued through his attorneys, Christine Pagac and Steven Helton, that his lifetime listing on the registry was unduly harsh because the trial court hadn’t proven he demonstrated an ongoing risk to the community and because the lower court hadn’t done an individualized assessment of his risk of reoffending.
The appellate court ruled the registry listing was not harsh because _____’ crime “involved a violent, nonconsensual, and humiliating sexual assault” and because the Legislature never intended for registry orders to include an individualized risk assessment.
His
case
at some point they can’t keep lying to there self’s that is not punishment
Their reasoning is a glorious stew of bullshit. All it tells me is the court has a direct bias against registrants with what they’ve said.
At some point the very people who maintain that the Registry is not punishment will be on it themselves.
“because the Legislature never intended for registry orders to include an individualized risk assessment.”
That’s the problem! There was no individualized risk assessment done in this person’s case. The whole idea of the sex offender registry is based upon the perception that ALL sex offenders are dangerous. That’s simply not the case as everyone reading this message knows. In California today, those convicted of sex offenses must undergo a risk assessment. I don’t know if it actually does any good in terms of whether one gets put on the registry, however; that’s a question that Janice can weigh in on. I do know that no risk assessment was performed on me when I was sentenced and put on the registry. If they had, the state would have have learned that my Static-99 score is -2, about as low as you can get! Since I have the time, I’m debating going back into the county law library, doing my legal homework once again, and challenging my status as a registrant on that basis in court using the “Irrebuttable Presumption Doctrine”, which Janice recently posted about and provided a link to a PDF containing a law review on the subject. As I see it, such blanket, non-individualized assessments of risk by the state are “arbitrary and capricious”. Such acts by the government are unconstitutional, folks! I’m not a lawyer but I did a lot of legal research while I was on parole to file a habeas corpus petition and challenge several of my parole conditions in court (I won on most of them) so I think I know what I’m talking about.
The criminal regimes can say whatever they like about their Hit Lists. I’m going to make sure the consequences for the mere existence of the Lists is cruel and unusual punishment for as many people that support it as possible. The hate and stupidity they sow is what they will continue to reap. The enemies of Americans live in America. Don’t look overseas, they are right here.
Essentially they protect their USE of the machine.
They will fight to the death to defend it. No matter how short sighted it is; their short term political security is dependent upon it.
Such over reliant and codependent relationships come with inherent security problems.
Ok maybe I’m just an idiot, but didn’t the 6th circuit rule that it is in FACT that Michigans Registry is unconstitutional and cruel and unusual punishment. Also we have won 4 different lawsuits and a 4th pending. The 3 were in our favor even though yh Michigan Legislature won’t get off their duffs and do the right thing and remove the people they were ordered to remove. As some one who has a conviction from 1992 before the registry ever existed, and was illegally placed on it for 25 years and then again it was illegally changed to life. I’m confused now how this effects our current case with Judge Goldsmith, does this ruling have any bearing on those of us who are pre 2011 or the few of us that are even pre-1995. I’m so confused and concerned how this ruling effects the current case. Does anyone have any thoughts on this, I would really like to hear your thoughts on this whole thing. Thanks in advance.
The appellate court’s ruling (argument) is essentially sneaky doublespeak. It claims the registry MAY be a future deterrent and any defamation is a result of the defendant’s actions and not the registry itself.
Oh, that is some Olympic-level word salad there.
In 2003 SCOTUS as lead by Justice Rehnquist (WI) set a precedent for government database use. The virtue signaling sent shockwaves across the liberty spectrum. For the most part the promulgations of the data driven empire happened absent due process and without the protections normally demanded by the people with respect to and concerns for their environment.
That much is undisputed.
The people have taken the Rehnquist majorities call to virtue AND act without due processes. Sex assault suspect attacked:
Sex assault suspect nabbed in Ohio after running out of gas
A dire and growing trend. Attack Attack Attack that is the precedent set and approved.
They are equating the crime’s severity to lifetime registry being acceptable. That is the first time I have heard or recall that being used by a court in justifying the registry. That is Old Testament at its finest. Crazy. Where does murder come into play? Should a murderer not be a lifetime prisoner?
There is a counterargument for those who are punished long term on the registry in the tiering schedule using the court’s argument to downgrade their punishment but I’ll save that for another day.
“the grave nature of sex offenses … justifies lifetime monitoring.” but people who drive drunk and kill people don’t? What about drug dealers who repeatedly sell drugs to kids?
“While it is plausible that defendant’s presence on the registry will complicate aspects of his future life circumstances, those negative effects could be attributed to defendant having engaged in conduct resulting in convictions of offenses that happen to fall under (the Sex Offenders Registration Act’s) ambit, rather than to the registry itself,” in other words, “so what” because everyone else who commits a crime gets a second chance and community support to better their lives and change, but PFRs don’t.
This kid should never have filed his lawsuit because some of the issues he is raising have already been argued in our previous lawsuits, or are now currently being addressed in Does 4. His lawyer should have known that and discouraged him from filing. They’re all dumb a**es if you ask me.
Okay, let’s be real here.
This man and his crime is not what we need to further our cause. It was incredibly heinous and he got taken for a ride by his lawyers saying this could work.
We all know that the registry, especially lifetime is punishment. But cases like this, that ask for an individual assessment after attacking a child is not going to garner sympathy.
🤨I do NOT & CANNOT understand!!😠
How can so many different Courts and Judges provide opposing rulings on whether the Registries are “punishment” and whether they are Constitutional or unconstitutional without this matter being pushed up to a higher court (SCOTUS??) to resolve with finality??!!
This is soooo … frustrating!! 😠
How many opposing rulings are needed??!! 😠😠😠
In the opinion the Court said that a crime of a sexual nature has far more reaching consequences than other crimes in response to the Appellant’s assertion that registry was far more harsh than penalties for other crimes. Many courts make the same argument but that legal opinion is totally different than what SCOTUS said in La v Kennedy in 2008.
In Kennedy the State of Louisiana wanted the death penalty for child sexual assault. In striking down the Louisiana law, and subsequently a couple other state’s laws, the Court said paraphrasing, “while sexual assault may be very violent a victim can recover and can have a full rewarding life unlike the victim of murder. Since the victim of the sexual assault lived the death penalty can not be applied to a defendant.” So, if a murderer is released on parole with much less stringent reporting requirements under the legal threshold put forward in Kennedy a registrant should have an even less stringent reporting requirement.
Why is no lawyer attempting to make this argument?
The united states has a serious mental illness when it comes to anything sexual. The sick obsession with anything sexual, yet the sick perverse love for anything VIOLENT. Let’s bring on the violence, gun shootings, murder and assaults!! Mmm what America loves. Disgusting. Sick country.
Meant for General Comments
The judge is only half right. The registry is definitely cruel, but unfortunately not unusual in that the first thing the ignorant masses do is banish, and ostracize a group of people. Society cannot function without its “monsters” and we banish, kill and ostracize our “monsters” we have done that since the dawn of humanity. We banished, killed and ostracized our “monsters” even before we learned how to make fire. That does not make it right, but for sure banishing, killing and ostracizing our Sex Offender Listed individuals is definitely not unusual, but it is definitely cruel.
LABOR!
I get a kick out of gov bureaucrat types who’s job is mainly administrative duties, for which they are well paid**, claiming registrants free labor ( administrative output) isn’t really laborious.
Let them insist! As if the registrants time and admin labor to carry the governments message has no cost to life, liberty and the pursuit for independence. When a republic ceases to be about human independence in favor of human machine dependence the convention stops being a re-public at all.
The Thirteenth Amendment.
The 13th Amendment was the first Amendment to the U.S. constitution during the period of Reconstruction.*
The amendment was ratified December 6, 1865 and ended the argument about whether slavery was legal in the United States of America. The amendment reads”
“Neither slavery or involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist in the United States of America, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”
Who thinks Reconstruction only happens once? Has the DDI brought with it a form of reconstruction? Indeed it has!