MI: Federal judge rules on ACLU lawsuit over Michigan’s sex offender registry

Source: detroitnews.com 10/1/24 A federal judge in Detroit has ruled parts of Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act are unconstitutional, ACLU officials of Michigan said Monday. It said the decision will affect tens of thousands of people and follows two recent rulings by the Michigan Supreme Court, as well as numerous federal court decisions dating back to 2013. Last Friday, U.S. District Judge Mark Goldsmith ruled on a lawsuit the ACLU filed in February 2022 on behalf of several Michigan sex offenders over the state law, which was first passed in…

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NY: Convicted sex offender suing SLC, state over registry

Source: wwnytv.com 12/19/23 CANTON, New York (WWNY) – New York state’s sex offender registry is being challenged in court by a former Boy Scout leader. Because that man was convicted in St. Lawrence County, the county finds itself a defendant in a case that could have serious ramifications. Former Boy Scout assistant scoutmaster Michael Kelsey is suing New York state and St. Lawrence County, saying the state’s sex offender registry violates his rights. “He’s challenging the constitutionality of the Sex Offenders Registry Act itself, indicating that the act as constructed…

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MT: Montana Supreme Court: ‘Retroactive’ punishment for sexual, violent offenders is unconstitutional

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…

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Janice’s Journal: A Model Court Decision

A court in Pennsylvania ruled recently in favor of one registrant and that is a good thing.  The even better thing the court did was to provide the registrant community with a model that can be followed in other state courts. To be sure, this week’s decision issued by the Court of Common Pleas in Chester County, Pennsylvania, is binding precedent only upon courts in that state.  It is, however, a precedent that can and should be followed by state courts throughout the land.  And it provides a model that…

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NC: Process for adding out of state convictions to state registry is unconstitutional

[floridaactioncommittee.org – 11/23/18] In an opinion entered earlier this month. A North Carolina District Court Judge found the state’s process for adding people to their sex offender registry who had been convicted out of state, was unconstitutional. In this case, the plaintiff’s case was out of Washington State. He moved to North Carolina, where he was originally told he did not have to register, but after moving within North Carolina, was told he did. The decision to place someone on the registry is not made by a judge. It’s made…

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