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In a significant panel ruling today, the Sixth Circuit has concluded in Does v. Snyder, No. 15-1536 (6th Cir. Aug. 25, 2016) (available here) that Michigan's amendments to its Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) "imposes punishment" and thus the state violates the US Constitution when applying these SORA provisions retroactively. Here is some of the concluding analysis from the unanimous panel decision reaching this result: So, is SORA's actual effect punitive? Many states confronting similar laws have said "yes." See, e.g., Doe v. State, 111 A.3d 1077, 1100 (N.H. 2015); State v. Letalien, 985 A.2d 4, 26 (Me. 2009); Starkey v. Oklahoma Dep't of Corr., 305 P.3d 1004 (Okla. 2013); Commonwealth v. Baker, 295 S.W.3d 437 (Ky. 2009); Doe v. State, 189 P.3d 999, 1017 (Alaska 2008). And we agree. In reaching this conclusion, we are mindful that, as Smith makes clear, states are free to pass retroactive sex-offender registry laws and that those challenging an ostensibly non-punitive civil law must show by the "clearest proof" that the statute in fact inflicts punishment. But difficult is not the same as impossible. Nor should Smith be understood as writing a blank check to states to do whatever they please in this arena. A regulatory regime that severely restricts where people can live, work, and "loiter," that categorizes them into tiers ostensibly corresponding to present dangerousness without any individualized assessment thereof, and that requires time-consuming and cumbersome in-person reporting, all supported by — at best — scant evidence that such restrictions serve the professed purpose of keeping Michigan communities safe, is something altogether different from and more troubling than Alaska's first-generation registry law. SORA brands registrants as moral lepers solely on the basis of a prior conviction. It consigns them to years, if not a lifetime, of existence on the margins, not only of society, but often, as the record in this case makes painfully evident, from their own families, with whom, due to school zone restrictions, they may not even live. It directly regulates where registrants may go in their daily lives and compels them to interrupt those lives with great frequency in order to appear in person before law enforcement to report even minor changes to their information. We conclude that Michigan's SORA imposes punishment. And while many (certainly not all) sex offenses involve abominable, almost unspeakable, conduct that deserves severe legal penalties, punishment may never be retroactively imposed or increased. Indeed, the fact that sex offenders are so widely feared and disdained by the general public implicates the core countermajoritarian principle embodied in the Ex Post Facto clause. As the founders rightly perceived, as dangerous as it may be not to punish someone, it is far more dangerous to permit the government under guise of civil regulation to punish people without prior notice. Such lawmaking has "been, in all ages, [a] favorite and most formidable instrument[] of tyranny." The Federalist No. 84, supra at 444 (Alexander Hamilton). It is, as Justice Chase argued, incompatible with both the words of the Constitution and the underlying first principles of "our free republican governments." Calder, 3 U.S. at 388–89; accord The Federalist No. 44, supra at 232 (James Madison) ("[E]x post facto laws . . . are contrary to the first principles of the social compact, and to every principle of sound legislation."). The retroactive application of SORA's 2006 and 2011 amendments to Plaintiffs is unconstitutional, and it must therefore cease. I was involved with some amicus briefing in this case, so I am a bit biased when saying I think the Sixth Circuit got this one right. But I do not think I am showing any bias when asserting this ruling is a big deal (and could become an even bigger deal if Michigan seeks a further appeal to the full Sixth Circuit or to the US Supreme Court). |
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This video documents the July 27th 2016 protest against the unjust, immoral and unconstitutional International Megan's Law held in Oakland, CA. |
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As we fight for justice and compassion to prevail, it is reassuring to find that others are taking notice of the same issues we are tirelessly working to correct.
Please take a moment to read and share the following articles. |
Join California RSOL in protesting International Megan's Law (IML), the law to prevent Registrant international travel, at the U.S. District Court in Oakland, California, July 27, 2016. The government has filed a motion to dismiss our lawsuit against IML, the recently signed law by President Obama, to keep Registered citizens in permanent internal exile. The court hearing for that motion will be at 9:00 a.m. in Courtroom Three of Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton, 3rd Floor, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, California, 94612. We need as many of our supporters to fill the courtroom as possible to show the court, and America, that there are many Registrants, families of Registrants, and friends who suffer under the yoke of unconstitutional, ex-post-facto, punishment. The government’s travel notifications to foreign countries, its “unique identifiers” placed upon the passports of Registrants, as well as its requirements that Registrants provide the U.S. Government advance travel plans – under threat of imprisonment – amount to a complete ban on international travel for those on the Registry. These policies are already taking a terrible toll on those who, long ago, paid their debts to society. The Registry has become a continuously expanding regime of ever-escalating torment. After the hearing, which will probably end by 10:00 a.m., there will be a rally in the plaza immediately outside of the courtroom in front of the entrance. We expect to have media covering the event and Janice Bellucci, President of RSOL, and lead attorney for the lawsuit, will speak, along with other members and supporters of RSOL. Please join us there! If you cannot, then please consider donating to California RSOL to help make our work in challenging this, and many other terrible laws, such as residence and presence restrictions, possible. Please also consider volunteering your time. Thank you for your support! Please contact us at californiarsol.org with your questions or concerns or offers of assistance. When: July 27, Hearing at 9:00 a.m., The rally begins at approximately 10:00 a.m. in the plaza in front of Court entrance. Where: U.S. Federal District Courtroom 3, Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton, 3rd Floor, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, California, 94612 |
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I have an urgent call to action! I have received so many calls from families along with letters from inmates and concerned citizens about the horrific conditions and abuse happening behind the razor wire.
This is unacceptable to all of us! I am asking all of you who have a loved one inside to write to me at the address below. I want true stories, I want ideas for solutions. I then want to send this packet to
Governor Nathan Deal and Commissioner Homer Bryson
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We are forming a voter bloc and we need all of you to join!
NIA Launch ~ February 29, 2016 ~
8:30am
Central Presbyterian Church
201 Washington Street SW, Atlanta, GA, 30303
Click the photo below for more details. |
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Dear CCNCR friend,
Paul Rigney urgently requests that everyone please help with the following:
1. Everyone, call and have others call The Speakers office THIS Monday morning. 202-225-600, 202-225-3031.
David: We need to tell them that they must not vote on H.R. 515 under RULES OF SUSPENSION because the bill received an amendment from the Senate that is SUBSTANTIVE and HISTORIC. (U.S. passports have never been branded with criminal convictions of citizens before)
I would like to see 500 phone calls. Please put this up on Affiliates websites. Lets leave hundreds of messages on 202-225-0600 for them to sort through Monday morning
(202) 225-0600
(202) 225-0600
(202) 225-0600
(202) 225-0600
(202) 225-0600
(202) 225-0600
(202) 225-0600
2. Spread Josh Graven’s petition that should go directly to their representative.
3.. Send people to https://www.change.org/p/u-s-house-of-representatives-vote-against-hr-515
4. For those with Twitter accounts, tweet this , “Are you familiar with International Megan’s #Law, or IML? http://ow.ly/WITZv” sends to David Post’s article. Also, please TWEET the following image and message which can be found here (simply right-click and save the image to your hard drive and then insert it, along with the text message, into new Tweets): https://twitter.com/IndividLiberty/status/691870334220423168
Also, you could help further by re-tweeting Tweets already sent to House members which have been sent from that Twitter account.
5. Continue to call and email congressional members.
6. Contact media outlets with the attached Banner
Paul Rigney
Registrant Travel Action Group, Inc
Dear CCNCR Friends,
Please take the time to watch Galen Baughman's TED Talk:
First time a sex offender took a TED stage.
First TED talk on adolescent sexuality, the registry, indefinite detention, sexting.
Let's make it the first to 100,000 views in a month!
Share the link:
Galen Baughman
Soros Justice Fellow
Human Rights Defense Center
11 Dupont Circle, NW
Washington, DC 20036
(202) 681-8121
Open Society Foundations Q&A Profile
Affiliates mailing list
Dear CCNCR friends,
http://www.house.gov/representatives/
Suggested dialogue:
Hi, my name is ________ and I am a constituent of Representative _______. I live in (city or town) and would like to ask that (he/she) vote against H.R. 515 under the new title: "International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders" and associated Senate Amendment 2936 known as the Corker amendment.
HR 515 is expensive, violates provisions of the U.S. Constitution and does nothing to reduce sex trafficking or enhance the safety of either U.S. or foreign citizens.
You may also have your voices heard by leaving a message on your representative's website, Facebook and Twitter sites.
This is the statement that was posted on POP Vox by Safer Virginia:
1. The bill wastes $12,000,000 and fails to reduce sexual re-offenses, as it purports.
2. The bill disregards available research, attempting to reduce sex trafficking by targeting registered sex offenders. There is no evidence that registrants have been, or are likely to be, involved in sex trafficking. Traffickers are more likely to be politicians, local law enforcement, businessmen or restaurateurs.
3. The bill creates an unnecessary bureaucracy to alert foreign governments of travel plans of registered sex offenders. Those governments already have Internet access to every online U.S. sex offender registry.
4. Only 18 countries even have sex offender registries. There is no evidence that those convicted of sex offenses in foreign countries are attempting to enter the U.S. to engage in sex trafficking.
5. The U.S. government is already disseminating its citizens' criminal histories to foreign governments that are then denying entry to citizens holding valid U.S. passports.
6. The bill targets international travel of registered sex offenders who live, work and travel freely across the U.S. They do not pose significant public safety risk to U.S. society or to citizens of foreign countries.
7. The bill is expensive, needless and does nothing to reduce sex trafficking or enhance the safety of either U.S. or foreign citizens. At the same time, it increases risk to U.S. citizens and causes significant collateral damage to anyone traveling with a registered sex offender.
Dear CCNCR friends,
Here is an opportunity to voice your Opposition to HR 515
GO TO
ANDPlace your VOTE!
H.R. 515 INTERNATIONAL MEGAN'S LAW TO PREVENT DEMAND FOR CHILD SEX TRAFFICKING
Dear CCNCR friends,
As the year comes to an end, we'd like to take this opportunity to look back on what we have accomplished to advance our mission in 2015, to set our goals for 2016, and to share with you how we have utilized your generous donations toward our goals. Most importantly, we value YOUR feedback and look forward to your input during the coming year.
As always, Thank You for your continuous support.
Dear CCNCR friends,
We are currently looking for a non Production CP offender who would consider being a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the California registry. The suit can be filed under a pseudonym, protecting the plaintiff from public disclosure of his identify. We already have other plaintiffs with different profiles, but we would like to include a plaintiff who is on the registry for possession/receipt/distribution of CP. The suit will be brought pro bono by a major California law firm, at no charge to the plaintiff.
The plaintiff must currently be on the California registry. It does not matter where they were convicted, or whether the conviction was state or federal, so long as they are currently listed on the California registry. The plaintiff should be someone who is not currently incarcerated and has not had other offenses beside the CP possession. The ideal plaintiff would have been released for at least a few years; more is better.
If you can identify someone who you have confirmed may be willing to serve as such a plaintiff, please provide their contact information, and they will be contacted by the law professor who is organizing this suit, who can provide more information.
Please respond to this email ASAP and your contact information will be forwarded.
Gail and Bruce educating and spreading the word about CCNCR and our work with the attorneys at the national NACDL SEX OFFENDER CONFERENCE in Las Vegas.
Dear CCNCR friends,
We are urging you to respond to the USSC'S request for public comment on a proposed amendment to revise the "crime of violence" definition.
Written Public Comment regarding the proposed amendment should be received by the Commission no later than November 12, 2015. Public comment should be sent to the Commission by electronic mail or regular mail.
Below is a sample letter you may wish to use. Please remember to sign your name, date and provide return address information.
We are urging REGULAR MAIL (volume counts) and to get as many family and friends to respond to ASAP. Electronic mail is acceptable. Click on the link below:
United States Sentencing Commission
One Columbus Circle, N.E. Suite 2-500
Washington, D.C. 20002-8002
Attention: Public Affairs
Before the deadline of NOVEMBER 12, 2015.
Public comment should be sent to the Commission by electronic mail or regular mail. The email address for public comment is:
(please note the underscore between public and comment)
Sample Letter
United States Sentencing Commission
One Columbus Circle, N.E. Suite 2-500
Washington, DC 20002-8002
Attention: Public Affairs
Re: Proposed Amendment to Section 4B1.2 of the Sentencing Guidelines, "Crime of Violence" Definition
To Whom it May Concern:
In response to request for public comment, I am writing this letter to share my personal belief that possession of child pornography should be excluded from the definition of a "forcible sex offense". Non production possession, receipt, transportation or distribution of child pornography does not meet the criteria of being a sexual act or of having sexual contact. Therefore it should be excluded as a violent sexual act.
Using the classification of violent offender placing the offender under the same label as someone who has had sexual contact with a child distorts the truth and is at the very least misguided. (If you wish to include a BRIEF PERSONAL STORY- we suggest two to three sentences).
We are all passionate about protecting our children however, we have taken this passion to a level where we are applying a definition that does not fit the crime and using this to perpetuate a life time of punishment. Therefore, I would like this letter to be entered as public comment to item 4 (D) in the "Issues for Comment" section of the United States Sentencing Commission proposal to amend Section 4B1.2(a)(2) of the sentencing guidelines.
Sincerely,
Your Name
Return Address
Dear Members and Advocates:
It’s Official! The Florida Action Committee has filed suit against Seminole County, challenging the proximity ordinance! A second county is about to get sued over their proximity ordinance as well and we will announce that one after it is filed.
The ordinance prevents registrants from being present or traveling through an “exclusion zone”, making it practically (if not literally) impossible to make it from one end of the county to the other or perform routine tasks, such as banking, visiting family and friends, grocery shopping or the countless other perfectly lawful activities citizens do in their daily lives, without violating the ordinance. Similar ordinances have been struck down elsewhere and we are hopeful for a similar result here.
We are incredibly grateful to the members who have stepped up to help us get this lawsuit going and who have made contributions to our legal fund, enabling us to take on our next challenge. We are more than incredibly grateful to the Florida Institutional Legal Services Project for taking on the proximity ordinances. It takes the help and contribution of all of us to make these accomplishments happen and it’s certainly exciting to watch us move forward.
With the added workload, we are actively seeking additional volunteers to help us accomplish more goals. If you have a few hours a week to dedicate to the fight, are able to use the internet and communicate freely and have a strong desire to help effectuate change, please contact anita@floridaactioncommittee.org and find out how you can help.
Let’s keep up the momentum!
The Florida Action Committee Team
Here are some headlines from this week:
FAC Sues Seminole County, Florida over Sex Offender Exclusion Zones Ordinance
LAKE MONROE, FLORIDA – September 9, 2015 The Florida Action Committee (FAC) has sued Seminole County and its Sheriff over the County’s proximity ordinance, which prohibits...
They check in but they don’t check out.
The title to this article can be a paraphrase of an old Eagles song or the tagline for a Raid commercial, but unfortunately this saying isn't being applied to bugs, but to human...
The Sex Offender Stigma – how it sells a story
An interesting example of the sex offender label being used to "sell stories" We regularly scan news headlines across the state (and in other states) to find news stories that...
Florida Attorney General Admits that Thousands of Rape Kits Went Untested
While the state has millions of dollars to spend on passing and enforcing feel-good, do-nothing, ineffective sex offender laws to punish those they "think might commit an...
Dear CCNCR Friends,
We are urging each and every one to contact the United States Sentencing Commission requests for public comment on child pornography offenses. Deadline is July 27, 2015.
The importance of QUANTITY is essential to influence the USSC to place our issue as a priority. Please get family, friends and anyone who is interested to send a letter or email ASAP.
NUMBERS COUNT. WE NEED YOUR LETTERS TO HAVE OUR VOICES HEARD.
Letters should include a brief personal story about a son, father, brother, friend or neighbor. Explain how their life has been impacted by lengthy sentences, labeling and stringent supervised release and/or registration requirements. Keep your response to no more than ONE page.
You may wish to address one or two talking points:
> USSC's report from 2012 showed there should be a different way to address non production CP offenders
> Enhancements for use of a computer should no longer be valid
> The Butner Study is an outlier. The Butner Study is NOT a Recidivism study and continues to impact sentences. Other studies have not duplicated the findings
> Research shows this population does well in the community with an extremely low recidivism rate of less than 5%
> Lack of empirical research to support sentencing and supervised release guidelines
It is to be addressed to:
United States Sentencing Commission
One Columbus Circle
NE Suite 2-500, South Lobby
Washington, DC 20002-8002
ATTENTION: Public Affairs Priorities Comment
OR
Email address is: pubaffairs@ussc.gov
DEADLINE IS JULY 27, 2015
The 2015 Annual National Seminar on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines will be presented by the United States Sentencing Commission September 16-18th in New Orleans, Louisiana. Sessions on child pornography and sex offenses will be presented.
The 34th Annual Research and Treatment Conference by ATSA will be held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on October 14-17th. "Quality Research is the foundation of effective assessment, treatment, management, policy and prevention strategies. ATSA supports the development of new knowledge and the translation of existing research into evidence-based practices."
These are valuable opportunities for CAUTIONclick National Campaign for Reform to promote public safety and smarter legislation which relies on evidence based practice and study rather than misinformation and myths.Dr. Kline, Forensic Psychologist, possesses the training and experience to ensure effective exposure, partnerships, and alliances to bring our issues to the forefront to impact change at the national level. We are grateful to have this opportunity to have Dr. Kline represent CCNCR at the USSC seminar and have Gail Colletta, President/CEO of CCNCR to attend the ATSA conference.
This is a critical moment for CCNCR. We cannot do this alone. Undertaking these challenges can be costly BUT necessary to get our voices heard. We are asking for your donations to make this happen. We are estimating a cost of $7000 for the USSC seminar and $2500 for Gail to attend the ATSA conference. Both events will promote networking and provide opportunities to share empirical research which can help shape our laws. We want all sex offender legislation to be based on FACTS.
Please give what you can.
United in reform,
| Gail Colletta | Rita Finley | David Valentine |
| President, CEO | Secretary | Treasurer |
Also, our facebook page for the film (https://www.facebook.com/AnUnspokenLaw) is now live. The same goes for our Twitter feed (https://twitter.com/anunspokenlaw). Please be sure to Like and Follow us! We want these spaces not only to provide updates on the films, but also become a forum for conversation and education.