U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals

ID: 9th Circuit Reverses Trial Court Rulings Regarding Ex Post Facto, Religious Freedom

·December 10, 2020
·22 Comments

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled today that a federal trial court erred when it dismissed a case involving 134 registrants in Idaho who claimed that the state's sex…

National

IN: COA – Removal from sex offender registry makes man’s case moot

·May 27, 2020
·5 Comments

A man whose name was removed from Indiana’s Sex and Violent Offender Registry on the state’s volition has successfully sought rehearing at the Indiana Court of Appeals, which has now…

National

IN: Prison Sex Offender Treatment vs. The Fifth

·May 8, 2019
·11 Comments

Remember the Inquisition where you could either deny your guilt and get burned at the stake, or confess and get burned at the stake? The idea was that since confessing…

National

IN: Amendment bars sex offender from son’s school activities

·March 4, 2019
·6 Comments

A registered sex offender previously able to attend his son’s school activities per a trial court-granted request was denied that exception Monday when the Indiana Court of Appeals determined an…

National

PA: SORNA Registration Equal to Being “In Custody”

·February 28, 2019
·61 Comments

For a federal court to consider a habeas petition, the petitioner must be “in custody” at the time the petition is filed. Past cases have found custody to include parole…

National

IA: Warrantless Search of Sex Offender’s Mobile Phone OK

·August 16, 2017
·16 Comments

The warrantless search of a sex offender’s mobile phone at a supervised release facility was constitutional, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held Aug. 10. Full Article

National

AL: As some states reconsider sex-offender registries, an Alabama resident argues the state’s for-life requirements are too much

·July 15, 2017
·32 Comments

A lawsuit before a federal appeals court may have broad implications for Alabama’s sex offender laws, which some critics claim are the harshest in the United States. Montgomery resident Michael McGuire…

National

The Transformative Potential of Doe v. Snyder

·February 23, 2017
·42 Comments

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…

National

NC: Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Absurdly Repressive North Carolina Sex Offender Law

·December 2, 2016
·10 Comments

North Carolina’s efforts to drive sex offenders out of public life hit another roadblock on Wednesday when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit held that two key…

National

MI: Sex offender laws and the 6th Circuit’s Ex Post Facto Clause ruling

·September 8, 2016
·18 Comments

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…

General News

AZ: Court rejects Cochise County man’s challenge of sex-offender registry

·September 3, 2016
·40 Comments

WASHINGTON – A federal court Friday upheld a Cochise County man’s conviction for failing to register as a sex offender, even though the state’s the sex-offender registry law was passed…