civil rights challenges, lawsuit updates, and court rulings
By Ayumi Davis . . . U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger ordered the removal of eight men from the sex offender registry to end their retroactive punishments. “Tennessee officials continue to flout the Constitution’s guarantees,” Trauger wrote in her ruling Friday. “The federal district courts of this state have repeatedly concluded that the same analysis applies … to Tennessee’s own,…
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Anthony A. v. Department of Correction By Larry . . . This is a lingering case that has gone on for several years. NARSOL has decided to use fewer quotes from the court’s opinion than we normally do because some of the language is very graphic in terms of the sexual acts alleged. In 2017, the Connecticut Supreme Court affirmed…
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By Erin Jordan . . . The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a district-court decision that the state is not wrongfully denying liberty to sex offenders who aren’t eligible for parole because they haven’t been able to get into a required treatment program in Iowa’s prison system. The opinion filed Tuesday said the Iowa Department of Corrections has not violated the Constitutional rights…
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By Larry . . . NARSOL previously reported on the case of Brian Hope v. Commissioner of Indiana Department of Correction, which was favorably decided by a three-judge panel back in January. Unfortunately, the Seventh Circuit granted Indiana’s request for en banc review, and the full court has now turned that victory into a defeat. Trial Court History United States…
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By The Associate Press An amendment to Megan’s Law that tightens the rules on who can seek to be removed from a sex offender registry can’t be applied retroactively to crimes committed before the amendment was passed, New Jersey’s Supreme Court ruled Monday. The case involved a man, identified by the initials J.D.-F., who was working as a manager at…
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By Larry . . . The case of The People of the State of Michigan v. Paul Betts is an awesome win for our cause. The Michigan Supreme Court was asked to decide whether the retroactive application of Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA), MCL 28.721 et seq., as amended by 2011 PA 17 and 18 (the 2011 SORA), violates…
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By Larry . . . It is constitutional to prohibit internet access according to the Colorado Court of Appeals. Christopher Landis appealed his probationary sentence for attempted sexual assault on a child. He argued that the conditions of his probation restricting his use of the internet and social media violate (1) the governing Colorado statutory scheme and (2) his rights…
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By Larry . . . The case of Dennis J. Powell Jr. v. Mark Keel, Chief, and The State of South Carolina was an awesome victory for our cause. This appeal was the result of the circuit court’s granting summary judgment in favor of Dennis Powell, Jr. on his claims challenging the internet publication and lifetime duration of his mandated…
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By Michaek Karlik . . . It does not violate the First Amendment for a court to impose broad restrictions on a sex offender’s use of the Internet and social media during his sentence, the Court of Appeals decided on Thursday. A three-judge appellate panel rejected the claims of Christopher David Landis that such limitations violated Colorado law, as well…
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By Shelly Bradbury . . . Juveniles cannot be mandated to register as lifelong sex offenders in Colorado if there is no way for offenders to be individually assessed or to later be removed from the registry, the state Supreme Court ruled Monday. The 6-1 decision follows a new law signed by Gov. Jared Polis on Thursday that eliminates mandatory lifetime…
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