Source: dailymontanan.com 11/5/23 Randall Menges has technically been a free man since 2015 – that’s when he completed his sentence in Idaho. That seven-year sentence in Idaho was for violating a ban on homosexual sex, even though court records show it was a consensual act between two minors. Even though homosexual sex has since been decriminalized, Menges wanted to put the incident in the past since it happened 30 years ago. However, when he moved to Montana and restarted his life, the state continued to insist that he register as…
Read MoreTag: Montana
MT: Montana decision that Sexual or Violent Offender Registration Act (SVORA) is punitive and cannot be applied retroactively
Source: law.justia.com 6/14/23 The THE STATE OF MONTANA Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court denying Defendant’s motion to dismiss the State’s felony charge against him for failure to register as a sexual offender, holding that the Sexual or Violent Offender Registration Act (SVORA), as amended since 2007, was punitive in nature. Defendant was convicted of sexual assault in 1994 and served and discharged his sentence. At the time, SVORA, known then as Montana’s Sexual offender Registration Act, required Defendant to maintain registration for ten years. When the legislature amended…
Read MoreMT: Montana Supreme Court rules in Sexual and Violent Offender Registration Act case
Source: kpax.com 6/15/23 HELENA – A Montana Supreme Court ruling deemed legislative amendments to the 2007 Sexual and Violent Offender Registration Act punitive in nature and in violation of the ex post facto clause of the constitution if applied retroactively to offenses that happened before the amendments. According to a summary of the case of Montana v. Hinman, the ruling “held that numerous legislative amendments to the Act added restraints on registrants that significantly hinder their liberty and privacy.” Read the full article
Read MoreMT: Montana House Advances Obscenity Bill That Would Subject School Employees to Criminal Liability
Source: msn.com 2/12/23 The Montana House advanced a bill Wednesday that seeks to open up public school employees to prosecution if they show or provide children with materials deemed to be obscene. House Bill 234, sponsored by Lindsay Republican Bob Phalen, passed its second reading in a 55-45 vote, with 13 Republicans voting against it along with all Democrats. It is scheduled for its final House reading Thursday. Phalen, as he did in committee, told the chamber that he believes obscene material, like pornography, should be banned in schools just…
Read MoreMT: Advocates not thrilled with new law to compensate wrongfully imprisoned
Source: kbzk.com 6/15/21 HELENA — Montanans who spent years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit now have a new path to get compensation for being wrongfully locked away – but those who fought for the law are less-than-thrilled about the final product. “I really feel like it got stolen away at the end,” said Cody Marble of Conrad, who was exonerated in 2017 after spending multiple years in prison on a rape conviction. Marble is talking about House Bill 92, which created a process through which the wrongfully convicted…
Read MoreMT: Judge Blocks Requirement for ‘Gay Sex’ Offender Registration
[usnews.com – 5/12/21] The state of Montana has no valid reason to require a man to register as a sex offender based on his conviction for having gay sex in Idaho in 1993, a federal judge has ruled. U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen on Tuesday prevented the state from requiring Randall Menges of Butte to register as a sex offender under Idaho’s Crimes Against Nature law. “None of the governmental interests in maintaining a sexual offender registry are served by Menges’ inclusion,” Christensen wrote. “Engagement in intimate sexual contact with…
Read MoreMT: Sodomy laws that labeled gay people sex offenders challenged in court
[nbcnews.com – 4/7/21] Nearly 20 years after the Supreme Court struck down laws criminalizing consensual same-sex activity, the legacy of sodomy bans is still felt across the United States. In 1993, then-18-year-old Randall Menges was charged under Idaho’s “crimes against nature” law for having sex with two 16-year-old males. All three worked and lived at Pratt Ranch, a cattle ranch in Gem County that doubled as a live-in foster program for troubled teenagers. Menges was convicted despite police reports indicating the activity was consensual, and the age of consent in…
Read MoreMT: Federal judge to rule on sex offender registration for ‘gay sex’ convictions
[kpvi.com – 3/30/21] The Montana Attorney General’s Office opposed removing a former Missoula man from the state’s sexual offender registry despite evidence he was designated a sex offender because he had consensual “gay sex” when he was 18 years old. At a trial held Tuesday before U.S. District Court Judge Dana L. Christensen, Assistant Attorney General Hannah Tokerud argued the case did not hinge on whether the man, Randall _____, was convicted for having consensual sex. “It hinges on whether he is required to register in Idaho,” Tokerud said. If…
Read MoreMT: Former Missoula man sues over ‘outdated’ sodomy convictions, sex offender requirement
[kpvi.com – 3/25/21] 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…
Read MoreMT: Attorney General’s Office secures grant to enforce sex offender registrations
[fairfieldsuntimes.com – 6/1/19] About 336 sex offenders are listed on the state registry in the Missoula area, and that’s only the number of those who are compliant with their registration. Assistant Attorney General Madison Mattioli stepped into a grant-funded position in April to address the 4,744 sex offenders statewide who are not compliant with current addresses and information on the state Department of Justice’s Sexual and Violent Registration. Read more
Read MoreMT: The Latest: Fox asks Montana lawmakers to act on [child sex crime] time limits
[kansas.com – 2/19/19] HELENA, Mont. The Latest on Montana cases before the Supreme Court (all times local): 4:20 p.m. Montana Attorney General Tim Fox is asking state lawmakers to act after the U.S. Supreme Court rejected his petition that would have allowed prosecutors to charge a man for the decades-old rape of an 8-year-old girl. The Republican attorney general called the high court’s decision Tuesday “beyond disappointing.” He is urging the Legislature to repeal statutes of limitations for child sex crimes, saying no offender “should find comfort in running out…
Read MoreMT: Man receives pardon for 1995 rape conviction against his now wife
A Glasgow man spent years of his life behind bars for a crime even his “victim” says he didn’t commit. ___ ___ met his now wife, ____, back in 1995 when he was 19 and she was 15. Full Article
Read MoreShakespeare And Sexting: Reconsidering Penalties For Teen Sexual Activity
Worried that the law sometimes imposes too big a penalty on teens who engage in consensual sexual activity, some legislators are pushing to reduce the consequences. More than 20 years ago, when ____ ____ was 19 and his girlfriend Amber was 15, Montana’s laws tore them apart, sending Russell to prison for four years for having sex with a minor. Source
Read MoreMT: Bill Would Cap Jail Time for 18-Year-Olds Who Have Consensual Sex with Other Teens at ‘Just’ 5 Years
It is a measure of how insane our sex offender laws have become, to announce that this proposed bill in Montana is a relief. Senate Bill 26 would prevent 18-year-olds who have consensual sex with other teens under the age of consent (younger than 16, but at least age 14) from needing to register as sex offenders. It would also cap the time they can possibly serve in prison at just five years. Full Article
Read MoreMT: Whitefish man says detective ‘coached’ false child molestation allegations
The battle of one Whitefish man to clear his name as a child molester has landed in the Montana Supreme Court. In a recent court brief, ____ ____ and his lawyers alleged Flathead County District Court abused its discretion multiple times, and requested the high court enter a judgment in favor of ____. Convicted of sexual assault and deviate sexual conduct in 1995, ____ has maintained his innocence for more than 20 years. He served 10 years in prison, but has refused to register as a sexual offender. “I will…
Read MoreMT: New law requires some sex offenders to live and work away from children
HELENA — Certain sex offenders employed near children in Montana must find new jobs, get special permission to work or face arrest. A state law that took effect last week prohibits high-risk sex offenders who victimized a child from residing or working within 300 feet of a facility that primarily serves people under age 18. Full Article
Read MoreMT: Senate panel advances sex offender residency bill
HELENA, Mont. A plan to keep high-risk sex offenders from living near children advanced out of a Montana Senate panel Tuesday. The bill restricts adults who victimized young people from living within 300 feet of an established daycare center, playground, park, athletic facility or any place where children live. Sponsor Rep. Jeff Essmann said his constituents have repeatedly told him they don’t want known predators living near elementary schools. One woman asked “‘Can you do something about the sex offender that lives right up there?’ and pointed to an apartment…
Read MoreMT: Sex offenders face new set of restrictions
BILLINGS – Montana sex offenders’ online and geographic freedoms could soon become more restricted. Two bills in the state House sponsored by Billings Representatives, House Bill 88 and House Bill 219, take aim at the growing list of 2,271 sex offenders in the state. The existing law requires sexual offenders to register his or her name, address, and phone number with the county at least once a year. HB 88, which was signed into law by Gov. Steve Bullock on March 24, states that offenders must now provide to the…
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