Does anyone know if there is any current challenges in Federal courts for the Sex Offender Registry?
I know there was 2 or 3 back in 1999 - 2003 and my husband who is on the registry was taken off, then put back on when the Supreme Court overturned lower district courts decisions that made the registry illegal for him.
This has to do with the due process issues and punitive nature of the registry. When those cases were overturned it was said that the court did not find the registry punitive and thats why they reinstated it.
This applies to people convicted before the registry even existed.
the law says the court must notify a defendant of their duty to register. Of course my husband was never notified by the court he was convicted in because there was no such law at the time and wasnt until 14 years later.
And we know it is a law that was applied after the conviction so thats the due process and ex post facto issue thats been argued before.
We have tried to give info to lawyers or advocate groups about the punitive nature before but seems to not go anywhere.
Why is the registry punitive?
failure to register is often a felony offence with a possible prison sentence. that alone is punitive.
It is similar to a form of probation because there is a duty to report and if the victim was a minor the offender must report every 90 days.
Every 6 months a letter arrives by mail asking to verify address and gives 20 days to do so. If not the letter threatens that the prosecutor will be notified. We hear some people get this letter more frequently than every 6 months. So receipt of that letter is another duty to report to local law enforcement.
Occasionally a law enforcement officer comes out to the house to spot verify the address. this again appears like supervision.
Once a year he has to have new photos taken and has been told he has to report if he changes his appearance such as grow a beard or something like that.
In this state (Missouri) they have the law that an offender can not be within 500' of a school or a park with playground equipment. this is punitive because we used to take our kids to the local park to swing and slide and after 2009 or 2010 when they added that requirement we now have to drive by the part and our kids complain because we cant go.
My husband has to list every car he drives whether he owns it or not and so my personal car is listed on the registry with its description and licence plate number.
I have been in 2 places where my husband was evicted because a landlord found out he was on the registry. prior to our meeting my husband has told me he got thrown out of 2 friends places because they lived in housing and he was staying with them for a couple weeks and when housing found out they called the police to have him immediately removed. there was really no law preventing him from staying with his friends, but the housing people said because lots of kids were there his presence was a danger! Not only that, he was told if he even tried to visit his friends at all he would be arrested for trespassing!
My husbands offense by the way was with a minor (teenager) when he was 21. It was not with little kids and it seems the stigma makes people think he would be a threat to little kids. Actually he is a threat to no one. We are married and he is faithful to me and just the suggestion that people make that he would touch someone else disgusts me. So I am also being punished indirectly by this and so are our kids.
I do not understand why no one is taking these issues into the Federal courts to prove the registry is really punitive. We used to read on an advocate forum that many others have experienced this kind of injustice too so why isnt there a class action being made with the focus on the punitive nature because thats what the court needs to see to rule the ex post facto registry illegal. I understand ex post facto laws are forbidden by the US Constitution so how do they get away with this? It is so obvious. The people who support these laws must have really good lawyers because I dont see how any judge could not see this being illegal if the punitive nature of the registry was revealed in court. they always argue it is a civil law but they brush aside the criminal penalties for non compliance and the punitive aspects that affect both the registered offender and his or her family.
I know there was 2 or 3 back in 1999 - 2003 and my husband who is on the registry was taken off, then put back on when the Supreme Court overturned lower district courts decisions that made the registry illegal for him.
This has to do with the due process issues and punitive nature of the registry. When those cases were overturned it was said that the court did not find the registry punitive and thats why they reinstated it.
This applies to people convicted before the registry even existed.
the law says the court must notify a defendant of their duty to register. Of course my husband was never notified by the court he was convicted in because there was no such law at the time and wasnt until 14 years later.
And we know it is a law that was applied after the conviction so thats the due process and ex post facto issue thats been argued before.
We have tried to give info to lawyers or advocate groups about the punitive nature before but seems to not go anywhere.
Why is the registry punitive?
failure to register is often a felony offence with a possible prison sentence. that alone is punitive.
It is similar to a form of probation because there is a duty to report and if the victim was a minor the offender must report every 90 days.
Every 6 months a letter arrives by mail asking to verify address and gives 20 days to do so. If not the letter threatens that the prosecutor will be notified. We hear some people get this letter more frequently than every 6 months. So receipt of that letter is another duty to report to local law enforcement.
Occasionally a law enforcement officer comes out to the house to spot verify the address. this again appears like supervision.
Once a year he has to have new photos taken and has been told he has to report if he changes his appearance such as grow a beard or something like that.
In this state (Missouri) they have the law that an offender can not be within 500' of a school or a park with playground equipment. this is punitive because we used to take our kids to the local park to swing and slide and after 2009 or 2010 when they added that requirement we now have to drive by the part and our kids complain because we cant go.
My husband has to list every car he drives whether he owns it or not and so my personal car is listed on the registry with its description and licence plate number.
I have been in 2 places where my husband was evicted because a landlord found out he was on the registry. prior to our meeting my husband has told me he got thrown out of 2 friends places because they lived in housing and he was staying with them for a couple weeks and when housing found out they called the police to have him immediately removed. there was really no law preventing him from staying with his friends, but the housing people said because lots of kids were there his presence was a danger! Not only that, he was told if he even tried to visit his friends at all he would be arrested for trespassing!
My husbands offense by the way was with a minor (teenager) when he was 21. It was not with little kids and it seems the stigma makes people think he would be a threat to little kids. Actually he is a threat to no one. We are married and he is faithful to me and just the suggestion that people make that he would touch someone else disgusts me. So I am also being punished indirectly by this and so are our kids.
I do not understand why no one is taking these issues into the Federal courts to prove the registry is really punitive. We used to read on an advocate forum that many others have experienced this kind of injustice too so why isnt there a class action being made with the focus on the punitive nature because thats what the court needs to see to rule the ex post facto registry illegal. I understand ex post facto laws are forbidden by the US Constitution so how do they get away with this? It is so obvious. The people who support these laws must have really good lawyers because I dont see how any judge could not see this being illegal if the punitive nature of the registry was revealed in court. they always argue it is a civil law but they brush aside the criminal penalties for non compliance and the punitive aspects that affect both the registered offender and his or her family.
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We did move to another state and out in the rural country. Actually they've added 3 or 4 new requirements since we been here and one (The halloween restrictions) was removed by the court here unless the conviction was after 2008. No were not going to divorce.
