The unusual restriction was upheld this week by a federal appeals court. When ____ ____ is released from prison this year, he can’t set foot in his home county, Baraga, while under the supervision of a probation officer. ____ was convicted of a sex crime in 2009. He has twice been returned to prison for violating conditions of supervised release. ____ admits that Baraga, a remote and sparsely populated area in the Upper Peninsula, isn’t a good place for him to deal with drug and alcohol problems. He said he doesn’t want to…
Read MoreTag: Michigan
SCOTUS asks US Solicitor General to weigh in on Ex Post Facto case
News from the U.S. Supreme Court – the court has NOT decided whether it will review Doe v. Snyder, last summer’s ground-breaking decision by the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals The U.S. Supreme Court has been asked to review an important ruling (Doe v. Snyder) which was handed down last summer by a federal appeals court, the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. The request was discussed in a private conference last Friday and today we learned the result – the Supreme Court has made NO decision on the request…
Read MoreMI: SCOTUS to consider Snyder v. Doe for review
Today, in a private session, the U.S. Supreme Court will be discussing an important case concerning the sex offense registry. News may come as soon as Monday, March 27th. The State of Michigan has asked the court to review a ground-breaking ruling by a lower federal court, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court is set to discuss the request for review today; review is granted in very few cases. If they turn down the request – the 6th Circuit ruling remains intact and directly impacts the…
Read MoreThe Transformative Potential of Doe v. Snyder
In late 2016, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit’s concluded in Does #1–5 v. Snyder that Michigan’s sex offender registry and residency restriction law constituted an ex post facto punishment in violation of the constitution. In its decision, the Sixth Circuit engaged with scientific evidence that refutes moralized judgments about sex offenders, specifically that they pose a unique and substantial risk of recidivism. This Essay is intended to highlight the importance of Snyder as an example of the appropriate use of scientific studies in constitutional law. Full Article…
Read MoreSCOTUS: Removal of an immigrant for “sexual abuse of a minor”
The facts of the case sound like an episode of “Law and Order SVU.” In 2000, Juan Esquivel-Quintana’s parents lawfully brought him to the United States and settled in Sacramento, California. When he was 20 years old, Esquivel-Quintana had consensual sex with his 16-year-old girlfriend. He later pleaded no contest to violating California Penal Code § 261.5(c), which criminalizes sex with a person “under the age of 18 years” when the age difference between the parties is more than three years. Esquivel-Quintana was sentenced to 90 days in jail and…
Read MoreMI: New sex offender rules stalled
Passage seems increasingly unlikely for a bill that would limit the places registered sex offenders can work and was inspired by the discovery that sex offenders worked at a Lansing nonprofit that serves victims of sexual assault. Full Article
Read MoreMI: Justice denies Michigan’s appeal to halt sex offender ruling
A U.S. Supreme Court justice has rejected Michigan’s request to halt a lower court decision that found the state unconstitutionally put additional restrictions on sex offenders long after their convictions. Justice Elena Kagan denied Tuesday the emergency appeal for a stay. In August, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said changes to Michigan law in 2006 and 2011, which included retroactively restricting sex offenders’ movements near schools, penalize offenders as “moral lepers.” The appeals court denied Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette’s request to block the decision during appeal. So…
Read MoreMI: Sex Offender Registration After Does v. Snyder
The Sixth Circuit’s recent decision in Does v. Snyder, __ F.3d __, 2016 WL 4473231 (6th Cir. 2016), has significant implications for the representation of current registrants who are charged with violating Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA), current registrants seeking removal from the sex offender registry or exemptions from certain SORA provisions, defendants currently charged with sex offenses, and defendants in “recapture” cases. While every case is obviously unique, this memo seeks to provide some general guidance to Michigan’s criminal defense bar in the wake of the Does decision.…
Read MoreMI: Sex offender laws and the 6th Circuit’s Ex Post Facto Clause ruling
The Volokh Conspiracy: I wanted to add a few words to co-blogger Jonathan Adler’s posting about the recent 6th Circuit decision in Doe v. Snyder, in which the court voided application of the Michigan Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) on the grounds that it imposes retroactive punishment on previously convicted sex offenders in violation of the constitutional prohibition against Ex Post Facto laws. Full Editorial Related MI: Court voids state sex offender registry for imposing unconstitutionally retroactive punishment [UPDATED]
Read MoreMI: Politics & Prejudices – How about a financial offender list?
How’s this idea: The government starts a financial offenders’ list that includes every slumlord who has ever been convicted of code violations. We add to that all the subprime mortgage scum who almost destroyed our economy. Full Editorial Related MI: Court voids state sex offender registry for imposing unconstitutionally retroactive punishment [UPDATED]
Read MoreJudges Are Starting to Question Overzealous Sex-Offender Laws
There’s a stark divide between lawmakers and experts when it comes to laws which restrict where registered sex offenders can live. Cities and states all around the country have enthusiastically banned offenders from living too close to schools — and introduced other, similarly oriented restrictions — on the grounds that such legislation is a common-sense way to help keep kids safe. Experts, on the other hand, have insisted that these laws at the very least don’t reduce recidivism, and could have the opposite of the intended effect, increasing the odds…
Read MoreThe 6th Circuit Finally Said The Magic Word: Punitive
Of the many legal fictions enjoyed by judges, few have done as much damage to as many people as calling sex offender registries “regulatory.” The trick is that if it’s characterized as regulatory, then it’s not punitive. And if it’s punitive, then it opens a whole slew of constitutional rights that would render the concept unlawful. But if legislators squint and write the “r” word instead of the “p” word, and judges squint and agree, problem solved! Full Editorial
Read MoreMI: Court voids state sex offender registry for imposing unconstitutionally retroactive punishment [UPDATED]
UPDATED with media links – Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit held that recent amendments to Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) are unconstitutional because they impose retroactive punishment on sex offenders in violation of the Constitution’s prohibition on ex post facto laws. Among other things, the plaintiffs argued that amendments to Michigan’s SORA increased the severity of its requirements after their convictions imposed retroactive punishment. In John Does #1-5 v. Snyder, the Sixth Circuit agreed. Full Article Decision Statement of Facts Oral Argument Related Media Articles Federal…
Read MoreMI: Convicted sex offender running for county sheriff
BAY CITY, Mich. — A man convicted of sex crimes and ordered to register as a sex offender wants to be Bay County’s sheriff — and under Michigan elections law it’s legal for him to seek the office. Full Article
Read MoreMI: Mom wants sex offender boyfriend to spend time with kids
An unusual court battle is playing out in Macomb County. A woman is fighting to allow her boyfriend to see her children but the issue is that the mom’s boyfriend is a register sex offender. Now the woman wants the judge to reverse the agreement she made to bar him from having contact with the children. Full Article
Read MoreMI: Indecent exposure, criminal past brings sex offender prison term of 1 day to life
A man who exposed himself near a Grandville mall and later took video of a woman in a Tanger Outlet Mall changing room is heading to prison for what could be the rest of his life. Full Article
Read MoreMI: Prosecutor known for fighting prostitution charged with paying for sex hundreds of times
When it came to hiring prostitutes for sex, police say, Stuart Dunnings III preferred escort websites such as Escort Vault and Backpage.com. Most of the time, police say, Dunnings would meet the women at motels. Occasionally, they’d meet at a pimp’s house. His was a ferocious habit, one that led the 63-year-old to shell out hundreds of dollars three or four times a week for a revolving cast of heroin-addled sex workers. By the time he was arrested Monday outside a Lansing, Mich., coffee shop, Dunnings had racked up hundreds of illegal…
Read MoreMI: Judge to rule on ex-wife’s request for sex-offender boyfriend
A Macomb County judge said Monday he will issue an opinion this week on a woman’s attempt to allow her boyfriend to have contact with her children even though he is a sex offender. Judge Matthew Switalski promised the opinion from the bench after listening to attorneys for the ex-husband and ex-wife argue the motion in Macomb County Circuit Court. ____ ____ of Warren wants to be able to eventually marry ____ ____ who is on the Sex Offender Registry for a 1994 one-time sexual incident when he was an 18-year-old high school…
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