Interesting!

I wonder if this could be extended to not just 'sentencing' but also the restrictions put in place for residency / schools / parks? Those are civil and supposedly not punitive.

With the Peugh decision, sex-offender sentences must be guided by the governing sentence at the time of the offense, rather than by the increased sentence that would be imposed today. That means not only that there likely will be challenges by sex offenders to their sentences (which result in earlier release dates), but also that predators prosecuted in the future will be able to receive shorter sentences. This development also likely will affect plea deals, making it easier for defendants to argue from a stronger position for shorter sentences, which then often translate into lighter charges.

Heck my offense may have occurred before IL even had registration laws?!???!

Nice for this to come out now that I'm off the registry. Lol.

And it's too bad the restrictions are straight up based on conviction not registering. :-(

The thoughts rolling through my head are endless.

My 'crime' (loosely defined) occurred in 1996.

I drug out the case (I was in school) until late 1997.

But by this if I move or visit a state that didn't start registration laws until '97 then I'd be exempt from them? Yes?

I'm slightly obsessed with this. While this has no impact besides potentially allowing me to vacation in FL I'm sooooo curious. I wish I knew a lawyer who was well versed on this topic for their opinion.

Seeing my 'crime' occurred in 1996 then FL laws which didn't exist then (started in 1997) don't apply to me?!?!

History of FL laws:

On October 1st, 1997, Florida’s Public Safety Information Act went into effect. This act responded to the federal Wetterling Act designed to help both law enforcement and the public by increasing the awareness of criminal offenders, particularly sexual offenders. During the next several months Florida’s criminal justice and corrections agencies worked cooperatively to implement the new legislation. This effort has already produced many documented cases of thwarting further sexual offenses against Florida’s citizens and tourist populations. As with any new process, some issues came to light during these months of implementation that needed to be addressed to enhance the effectiveness of this public information process. These issues were addressed primarily through two pieces of legislation during the 1998 session. Senate Bill 1992 addressed many glitch issues in addition to bringing Florida into compliance with federally mandated legislation. House Bill 3737 allows for extra notification to schools and daycare facilities for the protection of children. These guidelines are offered as a reference tool for law enforcement and corrections personnel who are involved in the work of registering sexual offenders and predators, performing community notification, verifying addresses, and enforcing the Public Safety Information Act laws as they relate to sexual offenders and sexual predators in Florida. All of these provide for the enhanced protection of Florida’s citizens, visitors and children.

Or do they because they are regulatory not criminal?

*sigh*

Is it worth the cost of lawyer to be shot down because of the above?

Still this is a good step.

we can all hope. anything that says it may help SO's is a good thing. it will take time of course and i think i can pretty much say that we all hate that word, "time". in a lot of ways.

but as lawyers who do specialize in SO laws and cases who actively work with SO clients check into this? and then start working on this? it will slowly come to mean much more to us.

i said trying to understand this is like driving blindfolded. maybe i should have said that it's like trying to find your way out of the middle of the jungle. you don't know which way to go, you don't have any direction so just start to whack bush after bush out of your way to keep advancing. you simply don't know if your going to run into a cliff you can't climb, a gorge that you can't cross and hope like hell you don't fall into. or if it leads to another bush to whack down on the way out.

right now i'm in the middle of that damn jungle and all the freaking bushes look the same! doesn't help either that i'm 5'2' and can't see over top of even the shortest of the blasted things.

@ Ivy,

You asked, "I wonder if this could be extended to not just 'sentencing' but also the restrictions put in place for residency / schools / parks?"

No, laws that are civil in nature and not punitive can be administered retroactively. Only laws punitive in nature are subject to the ex post facto clause of the Constitution and thus cannot be applied retroactively.

The registry and all the regulations that originated from the registry have been ruled as civil regulatory schemes by the courts, so they can indeed be applied retroactively.

@Ivy,

You said, "But by this if I move or visit a state that didn't start registration laws until '97 then I'd be exempt from them?"

Since you are no longer on the registry, you should not be subject to any of the residency restrictions unless the restrictions are based on the conviction instead of being on the registry.

@Ivy,

You said, "But by this if I move or visit a state that didn't start registration laws until '97 then I'd be exempt from them?"

If you are off the registry in one state, I would advise you to stay in that state. Here is what an appellate attorney told me. "HOWEVER, if you have been convicted of a listed crime and you travel in interstate commerce, you have made yourself subject to a Federal requirement to register."
This is the same appellate attorney, John Dunn, that won the case for Starkey in Oklahoma.

Any regulatory law which is not criminal can retroactively apply to your situation, if I am understanding you correctly.

rewdiazepam

Echo,

Let me help you get out of the "jungle" here. A retroactive law is one in which it was lawful at the time it was done. Retroactive criminal laws are laws that increase punishment for acts committed prior to their enactments

Pretend that today you drove your car to the store to get groceries, which obviously is legal.

Now let's pretend that next year the lawmakers pass a law the makes "driving to the grocery store to get groceries" a felony which is punishable with a year in prison.

They government could not come back on you and say, "Hey Echo, you drove to the grocery store last year and NOW it is against the law. We will arrest you and send you to prison."

You drove to the grocery store at a time when it was legal. They cannot pass a law later and backdate it to affect you, in this example.

Going to the grocery store was a criminal act since it was a felony so it could not be applied retroactively.


Now let's pretend a sex offender was convicted in 1992, even before the registry existed.

But in 1994, the registry was established and has since been ruled civil or non-punitive in nature.

Since it is civil in nature, then yes, it can be applied retroactively and will apply to anyone who was convicted in 1992.

Hope this helps. The examples I gave were silly, but I wanted to get the point across.

rewdiazepam

@Rew yes I was afraid the 'civil' nature would render this ruling not applicable to my concerns.

Although in IL those 'civil'restrictions are in the criminal code with felonies attached. Doesn't seem too civil to me.

But didn't the retroactive aspect of some registration and residency restrictions get shot down as unconstitutional ?

if someone is already off of the registry and moves to another state with the same time requirements or less for the same crime? they wouldn't then be required to register again in the new state would they?

how many or what other criminals or crimes has this affected other than SO's and their families??? not punitive my hind end!

by making this crap retroactive? what's to say they can't then decide that the prison sentences are deemed to low and they extend them a few more years? and then in turn decide that they are also subject to be enforced retroactively?? will they they also say that those laws aren't punitive because they have decided that they are "civil laws"???

Echo,

I have to be honest and tell you I don't know the answer to that question. I do know two attorneys have told me that if a person ever gets off the registry in one state and they move to another state, that they have left themselves open to a federal requirement to register.

What that entails, I don't know. There is no federal registry per se, as any "federal registry" gets all its information from all the individual state registries.

I am off the registry in Oklahoma. If I moved to Kansas, for example, and the feds found out, I don't know what they would do. I know I am not about to find out, though.

rewdiazepam

that's both sickening and freaking scary!!!

Most states I've researched have laws written governing what occurs if a SO moves into their state from another.

All of them say they bring over the term of registration from the state in which the person was convicted ( so once a lifer always a lifer). What is unclear is, in the states that allow lifers to petition off if these out of state lifers can.

In most states the rule is an out of state person must register according to the new states laws for their crime ( or the original state) whichever is longer.

In my case I had 10 years. I came off the registry years ago. But my same crime in Nevada holds a 25 year registration requirement. In FL and CA and many others it's life. In PA it's 15 years. If I move to those states I assume their registration requirements.

Rew talks about a federal requirement but there isn't a federal list. And the federally supported AWA has my crime at 15 year guideline (it's now 15 years in IL too) but I'm far past that. And my crime was a state one not fed.

I've spoken with no lawyers that have mentioned state requirements changing to federal but even if that's the case I am fine.

My dream is for someone to have the money and the power to get the Supreme Court to acknowledge the punitive nature these laws have become.

I'm assuming if you're off the registry and you move to Floriduh then you go back on for life.