A man is taking Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen to federal court Tuesday for requiring people to register as sex offenders for past sodomy convictions.
Randall _____ , 45, was convicted when he was 19 years old under an Idaho law that criminalized sex acts associated with homosexuality, according to the lawsuit he filed in December in U.S. District Court for the District of Montana.
Because of that conviction, Randall was required to register as a sex offender with the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office.
“This case involves the lingering effects of centuries of homophobic ‘sodomy’ prohibitions,” wrote Matthew Strugar, Menges’ attorney, in the original complaint.
The registration requirement has ruined Menges’ life, Strugar said. People don’t believe him when he tells them why he is on the sex offender list.
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However, in 2005 the Montana State Legislature changed the law so that anyone required to register as a sex offender in one state had to register as an offender in Montana. And Idaho, unlike Montana, still has a law against sodomy and oral sex and requires people convicted of the crimes to register as sex offenders under its Crimes Against Nature statute.
It’s insane how terrible so many of our laws are, and how dismissive pretty much the entire system is.
The fact that any state is still making being gay illegal is insane on its own. But what this man is going through is just ludicrous. How I wish there was a magic spell to force all involved to speak the truth.
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However, in 2005 the Montana State Legislature changed the law so that anyone required to register as a sex offender in one state had to register as an offender in Montana.
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Huh. So we can incorporate other state’s laws? Why can’t CA incorporated the age of consent of Connecticut, which is 16 years of age?
The registry isn’t criminal, but “merely statutory”. If it’s merely statutory, then why cannot Connecticut’s age of consent be used in any other state? The IML uses the state registry from all the states, making it a federal program. Why does Connecticut have a lower age of consent than many other states? Shouldn’t there be an equal protection law here against the IML?
Since it’s “merely statutory” and doesn’t hurt anyone criminally, then why not apply the age of consent to be 16 years of age for the registry since the federal government uses the IML on passports? Why is the federal government forcing to keep more people on the registry if it’s “merely a statutory” scheme?