2 years later, still no action on Michigan’s Sex Offense Registry
By Sophie Sherry . . . The American Civil Liberties Union is challenging the state of Michigan over its handling of the state’s sex offender registry.
In 2016, the 6th Circuit Court ruled that aspects of Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry Act, SORA, were unconstitutional.
The court’s opinion specifically noted portions of the act which allowed the state to retroactively impose punishments on individuals without due process.
The state of Michigan appealed the circuit court’s ruling, sending Does vs Snyder to the U.S. Supreme Court. In October 2017, the Supreme Court decided not to take up the case, upholding the 6th Circuit Court’s unanimous decision.
It has now been nearly two years since the original ruling and the Legislature has failed to make any reforms to the law.
At the end of June, the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Michigan to force the state to finally make changes to its sex offender registry.
Miriam Aukerman, senior staff attorney for ACLU-Michigan, and state Senator Rick Jones, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee joined Stateside’s Lester Graham to discuss what changes they think are necessary and why nothing has changed.
read the full piece at Stateside
