Tag: Registry

IN: Divided 7th Circuit reverses order to remove sex offender names for ‘right to travel’ violation but remands equal-protection claim

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Source: theindianalawyer.com 8/17/21 A split en banc 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a decision from an original three-judge panel that ordered the removal of six names from the Indiana sex offender registry, finding that the state’s sex offender registration law doesn’t discriminate based on residency. However, the case was remanded for further consideration of an equal-protection claim. Judge Amy St. Eve — a member of the original panel who dissented from the January ruling — wrote for the en banc majority Monday in Brian Hope, et al. v.…

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CA DOJ Issues New Proof of Registration Form

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Source: ACSOL The California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) has issued a new proof of registration form, Form CJIS 8050.  The new form is one page long and includes standard registration information such as name and address.  The new form also includes a registrant’s Tier Level. “We do not yet know if this form must be filed along with an individual’s petition in order to be removed from the registry,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “At least one county this week required a registrant to request and obtain the…

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ACSOL Announces Major Event in Nation’s Capitol in March 2023

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The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) will lead a vigil on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court on March 7, 2023.  The purpose of the vigil is to educate both the Court and the public regarding the significant harm caused by the Court’s decision, Smith v. Doe, issued in 2003. “”Organizations and individuals that support registrants and their loved ones are invited to join ACSOL for this event that will take place near to the 20th anniversary of Smith v. Doe,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “This…

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Michigan Supreme Court Declares Sex Offender Laws Are Punitive

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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…

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ACSOL Leader Janice Bellucci to Speak in WAR Room on July 27 at 5pm

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ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci is the featured speaker in The War Room on Tuesday, July 27 at 5 p.m. Pacific Time (not 6 p.m.!).  The focus of her presentation will be the impact of the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Smith v. Doe, which determined that registration is not punishment and therefore new registry laws can be applied retroactively. “The U.S. Supreme Court made a terrible mistake when it decided the case of Smith v. Doe in 2003,” stated Bellucci.  “This single decision has caused significant harm to at least one…

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TX: Texas to be first state to make buying sex a felony

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Source: inforney.com 7/6/21 A new law that goes into effect Sept. 1 will make Texas the first state to punish sex buyers with a felony. HB 1540 was filed by state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston. It passed both chambers of the state legislature and was signed into law by Gov. Greg Abbott. The new law creates a separate offense for buying sex and raises the penalty to a state felony subject to jail time. It expands first-degree felony human trafficking to include certain actions related to obtaining victims from shelters…

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LA: Person convicted of sex offense must register despite post-probation dismissal

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Source: americanpress.com 6/30/21 NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana Supreme Court ruling means a man will have to continue to register as a person convicted of a sex offense even though his video voyeurism conviction was set aside after he served probation. The high court, in an order dated Tuesday, refused to reconsider a May ruling in the case of Mark A. Davidson. Court records show he pleaded guilty in 2005 in Monroe and was ordered to serve three years of probation. After the probation was completed the court agreed…

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CT: Stratford Man Refuses Probation, Wants Jail Instead!

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The man is convicted of a sex offense and reportedly believes probation would make him a pariah in the community. STRATFORD, CT — A 61-year-old Stratford man, who was convicted of a sex offense, was sentenced to 30 months in prison this week on a probation violation, after he told a judge he would break probation again if given such a sentence, reported the Connecticut Post. Rae was convicted on possession of child pornography charges in 2009 and was released in October of last year. Prior to that sentence, he…

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MI: Lawsuit against state’s Sex Offense Registry Act enters final judgment

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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…

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Emily Horowitz on the Failure of the Sex Offense Registry (Audio)

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The Unspeakable Podcast w/Meghan Daum 6/13/2021 One sure way to lose a popularity contest is to fight for the rights of people convicted of a sex offense. But The National Sex Offense Registry, which was established during an era of panic over crime and child danger, has come with a host of unintended consequences. Sociologist Emily Horowitz is one of a handful of academics and researchers who speaking out against the registry, showing how it’s yet another blunt instrument of “tough on crime” 1990s legislation and ultimately does more to…

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South Carolina Supreme Court Declares Lifetime Registration Without Court Assessment to be Unconstitutional

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[ACSOL] The Supreme Court of South Carolina issued a decision today that declared unconstitutional lifetime registration in that state because the state does not provide registrants “any opportunity for judicial review to assess the risk of re-offending.”  Specifically, the Court ruled that lifetime registration violates the due process clause of the 14th Amendment. “Because of this decision, registrants in South Carolina will no longer be required to register for life unless and until a court assesses their risk of re-offending,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “This is a big…

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South Africa: Adoption of two bills to curb gender-based violence in SA welcomed

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[www.iol.co.za – 5/31/21] Cape Town – Civil society organisations have welcomed the adoption of two pieces of legislation aimed at strengthening laws fighting gender-based violence and femicide (GBVF). … He said the bill aimed to expand the scope of the National Register for Sex Offenders (NRSO) to include the particulars of sex offenders and not only sex offenders against children and persons who were mentally disabled. Read the full article  

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IN: En Banc Seventh Circuit Hears Challenge to Indiana Sex Offender Registry Law

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[courthousenews.com – 5/20/21] Indiana argued before the full Seventh Circuit on Thursday that state law does not place unfair registration requirements on sex offenders moving to the Hoosier State. At issue is a provision of the Indiana Sex Offender Registry Act requiring people convicted of sex offenses who relocate to Indiana to register as sex offenders, even if the crime was committed before the law was passed. The plaintiffs are challenging its retroactive application. The requirement creates a situation where an Indiana resident who was not required register as a…

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MT: Judge Blocks Requirement for ‘Gay Sex’ Offender Registration

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[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…

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Uganda: Convicted homosexuals to be included in Uganda sex offender registry

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[76crimes.com – 5/7/21] Ugandans convicted of having sex with people of the same sex would be included in a new sex offender registry, following the passage by Parliament of a new anti-gay bill May 4. If the bill is signed into law by President Yoweri Museveni, people convicted under provisions of the Sexual Offences Bill, 2019 would be entered for life into a publicly accessible sex offenders registry. The database would be hosted by the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) and would be accessible by security agencies, health insurance…

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South Africa: Warning against making register for sex offenders public

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[www.iol.co.za – 5/7/21] Pretoria – The Department of Justice and Constitutional Development has warned against calls to make public the national register for sex offenders. It is believed that making the register public would curb sexual offences against children, but according to the department, this would fuel mob justice against perpetrators. … Department spokesperson Steve Mahlangu said publicising the register could not be done without violating the right to privacy of an individual, as enshrined in the Bill of Rights. “There are also dangers of the register being used unjustifiably…

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Uganda: Stiff penalties for sexual offenders as Uganda moves to create directory

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[monitor.co.ug – 5/5/21] Persons convicted of sexual offences will have their data registered with the National Identification and Registration Authority (Nira), according to the Sexual Offences Bill, 2019 that Parliament passed on Monday night. The Legal and Parliamentary Committee chairperson, Mr Jacob Oboth Oboth (NRM, West Budama South) presented the Bill in Parliament on Monday afternoon. He asked the House to create a sex offender’s register, which will be linked to the Nira system and information shared within 10 days on conviction of the offenders. “The register shall be managed…

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UK: No stalkers’ register in domestic abuse bill an ‘insult to victims’

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[theguardian.com – 4/28/21] Ministers have been accused of misleading and insulting victims after a cross-party group of peers abandoned a push to create an automatic register of dangerous domestic abusers and stalkers. The domestic abuse bill is expected to receive royal assent this week, four years after it was announced in the Queen’s speech. But it will not include a specific stalkers’ register, despite briefings from the government after the death of Sarah Everard that it was likely to support such a measure. Instead, after sustained pressure from cross-party MPs…

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