Source: freep.com 12/24/21 Clouds hovered overhead on the morning Charles Pugh, 50, took his first steps to freedom outside the doors of the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility into the brisk December air. Pugh was met by his friends and family who were waiting to pick him up in Ionia from the place where he had spent the last 5½ years following his 2016 convictions on two felony counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a child under 16. “What I did was wrong,” Pugh admitted to the Detroit Free Press…
Read MoreTag: Michigan
MI: Changes to sex offender list cause confusion
Source: upmatters.com 9/14/21 GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Nearly nine months after the state made court-ordered changes to the sex offender registry, there’s still a lot of confusion and questions about enforcement. Michigan State Police say they are not enforcing violations of the law, which is meant to track offenders, while other agencies are. The registry includes more than 40,000 names. The confusion started a few years back when a federal judge, in response to a lawsuit filed by the University of Michigan Law Clinical Program and the American Civil…
Read MoreMichigan Supreme Court Declares Sex Offender Laws Are Punitive
Source: ACSOL The Michigan Supreme Court today issued a decision declaring that the state’s sex offender law adopted in 2011 cannot retroactively be applied to a registrant convicted two years earlier. The Court based its decision upon the ex post facto clauses of both the Michigan and the U.S. Constitutions. “Today’s decision is a significant victory not only for the registrant involved in this case, but also for all Michigan registrants convicted prior to 2011,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “This decision can and should be used as a…
Read MoreMI: Lawsuit against state’s Sex Offense Registry Act enters final judgment
Source: wnem.com 6/21/21 A federal judge has granted a motion for litigation about the state’s sex offense act to enter final judgment. Parts of Michigan’s Sex Offense Registration Act (SORA) were ruled unconstitutional by U.S. District Court Judge Robert Cleland on Feb. 14, 2020. The litigation has been ongoing for nine years. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the court delayed the final judgment in April 2020. The court held a retroactive punishment of the 2011 amendments to SORA can not be served. Several other SORA provisions were found unconstitutional for…
Read MoreMI: Bill to create child abuse offenders registry heads to the Michigan House [Updated 4/29/22]
4/29/22 UPDATE: Child Abuse registry bill awaits action from Governor Whitmer [fox47news.com – 5/11/21] Parents don’t always know just who is caring for or spending time with their children. … “I believe strongly that parents have a right to know if someone who is living with their children or if someone’s taking care of their children that they’ve had a history of child abuse,” said State Sen. Curtis Hertel Jr. (D-East Lansing) who created new legislation called Wyatt’s Law alongside his brother Rep. Kevin Hertel (D-18). The law which passed…
Read MoreMI: Whitmer signs bill with long-awaited changes to sex offender law
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday signed a bill that would eliminate school safety zones and certain appearance requirements in Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Act. Full ArticleFull Article
Read MoreMI: ACLU calls for Whitmer veto on Legislature-approved changes to Sex Offender Registration Act
[mlive.com – 12/20/20] DETROIT – Approved changes to Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Act are unconstitutional and ineffective at stopping offenders, argues the state’s ACLU chapter in an appeal for Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to veto. State lawmakers approved altering registration protocols for sex offenders during the Legislature’s Wednesday, Dec. 16 session, fulfilling a 4-year-old mandate from the U.S. Court of Appeals. The federal court ruled in 2016 that it was unconstitutional to impose new restrictions on people convicted before the state’s Sex Offender Registration Act was updated with added rules in…
Read MoreMI: Michigan Senate approves tightened restrictions in Sex Offender Registration Act
[mlive.com – 12/16/20] The proposed amendments to SORA in House Bill 5679 are: Giving sex offenders no more than three days to register or report status changes in person with local law enforcement. Requiring offenders to report all email addresses, social media names or other forms of “internet identifiers.” That would not apply retroactively to offenders prior to July 1, 2011, but anyone required to register after that date must comply. Requiring all telephone numbers and vehicles used by the offender to be reported. Previously, they didn’t need to report…
Read MoreMI: Feds sued over prison attack that killed sex offender, hurt 2 others
[detroitnews.com – 12/11/20] Detroit — Two federal prison inmates and the estate of a third are suing the government, claiming officials at a Monroe County lockup failed to prevent a 2019 attack on the sex offenders, one of whom was stomped and stabbed to death. Christian Maire, Michal Figura and Craig Evans were attacked in January 2019 in the East Unit of The Federal Correctional Institution, Milan. Maire was stomped and stabbed repeatedly with a shank before being thrown down a flight of stairs, prosecutors said. Figura and Evans survived the attack, although…
Read MoreMI: Michigan poised to double down on failed sex offender registry
[freep.com – 2020-12-10] In early 2012, more than eight years ago, five people challenged Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA) in court, arguing that the registry branded them as dangerous “sex offenders” without any individual review. One was a man — we’ll call him John — who met a woman at a club open only to those 18 and older. They slept together and only later did he learn that she was actually 15. They fell in love, eventually married, and now have three kids. But due to her age, John…
Read MoreFAC: MI: Sex offender registry months out-of-date, but little action from lawmakers… so what?
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 9/14/20] A local Michigan news paper ran this story yesterday, which spoke about the state of Michigan’s sex offender registry and how out of date and inaccurate it is. Essentially, since U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland declared parts of the State’s registry unconstitutional, Michigan has not been enforcing it. That means information on 44,000 people on their list has not been updated in months. Old information still appears online, new information has not been added. And things appear to be in limbo until their legislature can pass a…
Read More6th Circuit Decision Requires Registration Even When State No Longer Does
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a decision, that if left unchallenged, will require some individuals convicted of a sex offense to continue to register for life even if the state in which he resides no longer does. “This decision is shocking and could reverse the benefits of every state’s Tiered Registry laws as well as other post conviction relief,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “The Court has literally ruled that once a sex offender, always a sex offender.” The petitioner in this case, Mr. Willman, was…
Read MoreMI: Michigan’s top court kills lawsuit by wrongly imprisoned man
[washingtontimes.com – 7/30/20] DETROIT (AP) – The Michigan Supreme Court has stopped a man from suing the state after he spent more than a year in prison for a crime that wasn’t a crime. The man was behind bars for 17 months for failing to provide accurate information for Michigan’s sex offender registry. The Corrections Department then discovered that he actually wasn’t required to register. The man sued the state, arguing that his constitutional rights were violated. The Supreme Court heard arguments in April but dropped the case in a…
Read MoreMI: Lawmakers debate changes to states sex offender registry law after court ruling
Michigan lawmakers are debating how to overhaul the state’s sex offender registry after a federal appeals court ruled sections of the law are unconstitutional, but Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel is contending the proposed fixes don’t repair the law’s flaws. Full Article
Read MoreMI: Judge: State sex offender registry can’t be enforced in pandemic
[detroitnews.com – 4/6/20] A federal judge is commanding state authorities to stop enforcing rules under the Michigan Sex Offender Registry Act during the coronavirus pandemic. According to an interim order U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland issued Monday, officials are “preliminarily enjoined from enforcing registration, verification, school zone, and fee violations of (the act) that occurred or may occur from February 14, 2020, until the current crisis has ended, and thereafter until registrants are notified of what duties they have under SORA going forward.” On Valentine’s Day, Cleland declared the act unconstitutional…
Read MoreMI: Ypsilanti adds ex-offenders as protected class in nondiscrimination ordinance
[mlive.com – 3/4/20] YPSILANTI, MI – People with felony convictions cannot be discriminated against in Ypsilanti in a new addition to the city’s non-discrimination ordinance that passed Tuesday. Ypsilanti City Council voted unanimously to make ex-offenders a city-protected class at its meeting on March 3. Elected officials said the move will help returning citizens reintegrate into society and address racial disparities. Speakers during public comment said felony convictions are particularly challenging to finding employment and housing after returning from prison or parole. Several said a felony conviction can often act…
Read MoreMI: State of Michigan set to pay $80M to settle sex abuse suit with former juvenile offenders
[detroitnews.com – 2/27/20] The Michigan Department of Corrections will pay $80 million to settle a lawsuit with former juvenile offenders who claimed they were sexually abused in Michigan prisons between October 2010 and February 2020, state officials said Thursday. Pending final approval April 9, the state will pay $25 million immediately, $15 million by October, $25 million by October 2021 and $15 million by October 2022. Buy PhotoMichigan officials have settled a sexual abuse lawsuit filed by former juvenile offenders for $80 million. (Photo: Daniel Mears, The Detroit News) State corrections officials and Attorney…
Read MoreMI: Forum: Re-examine child sexual abuse policy
[record-eagle.com – 2/26/20] Kristen Burgess took a courageous step forward (Record-Eagle, Jan. 5) to shed light on the community’s response to intrafamilial sexual abuse. When I started my career in 1987, there were “family-centered” programs for parents who decided not to divorce after intrafamilial child sexual abuse. Families were ordered into long-term programs supervised by the Family Courts. Offenders served time in jail and were slowly reintegrated into the family if agreed upon by all involved. As research demonstrated the impact of child sexual abuse on victims in adulthood, the…
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