5/30/23 UPDATE: MI: Michigan sex offenders lose appeal to hold state officials liable for registry rules Source: courthousenews.com 5/3/23 A lower court found state officials immune over their continued enforcement of unconstitutional sex offender registration requirements. CINCINNATI (CN) — A class of anonymous sex offenders urged the Sixth Circuit on Wednesday to reverse a judgment that granted several state officials immunity. The class had brought a federal lawsuit in 2021 over a series of amendments to Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act, otherwise known as SORA. Importantly, the 2006 and…
Read MoreTag: Michigan
MI: Plan for sex offender to live and work in Oakland County during parole is too close to Macomb Co. victim, prosecutor says
Source: theoaklandpress.com 5/19/23 An assistant Macomb County prosecutor has asked the state Supreme Court last week to set 100 miles as the standard of a released prisoner to reside away from their victim. … The current parole plan is for McBrayer to live 16 miles away in Auburn Hills and work in landscaping in Waterford Township, both in Oakland County, and be restricted from entering Macomb County. “What irresistibly and keenly grabs our attention is because the Parole Board is proposing to place him 16 miles away when Michigan has…
Read MoreMI: Michigan Senate passes sexual assault reform six years after Nassar conviction
Source: bridgemi.com 5/4/23 Michigan Senate votes almost unanimously to pass the eight-bill package Thursday The bills were first introduced as a reaction to the 2018 Larry Nassar scandal Legislation would create a felony for those who sexually abuse their patients and lie to them about it LANSING — A bipartisan legislative package to strengthen penalties for sexual assaults and protect survivors cleared the Michigan Senate almost unanimously Thursday. The legislation will now head to the House. The package was first introduced in 2018 following the conviction of Larry Nassar, a…
Read MoreMI: Class of sex offenders seek damages from Michigan governors for their enforcement of registration requirements
Source: courthousenews.com 5/3/23 Various state officials, including several governors, can be sued in their individual capacities for damages after they continued enforcement of unconstitutional sex offender registration requirements, a class of anonymous plaintiffs told an appeals court panel. CINCINNATI (CN) — A federal judge improperly granted several state officials immunity and erred when it dismissed constitutional claims brought by a class of anonymous sex offenders, the class argued Wednesday before the Sixth Circuit. The class sought damages for injuries inflicted by a series of amendments to Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration…
Read MoreMI: Court: Sex offender registry not cruel and unusual
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…
Read MoreMI: Washtenaw County’s sheriff criticizes those attacking former felons program
Source: wemu.org 11/7/22 Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton is calling out some people with political interests who are questioning county-funded programs that use former criminals to help prevent future crimes. One group in particular called “Supreme Felons” was targeted by some for having a registered child sex offender in the group, even though records show that individual was eliminated from the program before the partnership with the county began. In a recorded video, Washtenaw County Sheriff Jerry Clayton questioned these individuals’ commitment to restorative justice and to proven crime intervention…
Read MoreMI: Jury Convicts Man For Vile Act With Elmo Doll
Source: thesmokinggun.com 10/12/22 A jury yesterday convicted a Michigan man of aggravated indecent exposure for using a Tickle Me Elmo doll to masturbate while he was inspecting a residence on behalf of a potential purchaser. Kevin ____, 60, was found guilty of the misdemeanor following a one-day trial in Oakland County Circuit Court. The jury acquitted ____ of malicious destruction of property, also a misdemeanor. Judge Phyllis McMillen scheduled ____’s sentencing for December 2. The indecent exposure count carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison and a $2000…
Read MoreMI: Ex-MI GOP House Speaker says sex with a minor was not assault because she consented
Source: dailykos.com 9/26/22 The Michigan State Police (MSP) began investigating Lee Chatfield, 34, for sexual assault after Rebekah Chatfield, 27, filed a complaint with the Lansing Police Department on December 21, 2021. Rebekah accused Lee of sexually assaulting her starting when she was 14 or 15 (in 2009 or 2010) — and ending in July 2021 when she was 26. The MSP has completed its investigation and has handed over its discoveries to MI’s Attorney General Dana Nessel. The MSP made no public recommendation. But the duration of the investigation, plus…
Read MoreMI: Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate calls for tougher sentences for convicted sex offenders
Source: michiganradio.org 9/16/22 Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon says if she’s elected governor in November she’ll push for stronger penalties for convicted sex offenders. Dixon is spending this week outlining her public safety plan. In a Thursday speech, Dixon laid out a plan that would, among other things, create mandatory minimum sentences for sex crimes, though the state does already have mandatory minimums for some sexual offenses. “Make no mistake sexual predators are going to prison and we aren’t going to think twice about that,” Dixon told supporters in Pontiac.…
Read MoreMI: ACLU Sues State Officials for the Fourth Time over Unconstitutional Michigan Sex Offender Registration Act
Source: aclumich.org 2/2/22 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…
Read MoreMI: Trial in double murder of sex offenders in Adrian delayed until May
Source: lenconnect.com 1/14/22 ADRIAN — A trial in the case of a Morenci man who is accused of shooting to death two registered sex offenders and committing other crimes almost a year ago has been delayed again. This time, it is rising COVID-19 case numbers and his attorney’s health that are causing Christopher Lee-Ryan Carden to have to wait to go on trial in Lenawee County Circuit Court. The trial’s new start date is May 17. … Carden is charged with open murder in the deaths of Samuel Compton, 82, and Robert Braman Sr., 67, both of…
Read MoreMI: Former Detroit City Council president just before prison release: ‘What I did was wrong’
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 MoreMI: 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 More