Yes, I personally think it is, but according to the courts it is not punishment, but merely a civil regulatory scheme
to protect the public. The courts ruling this way has been one of our problems for a long time. Since it is considered civil in nature, they can more easily pass laws regarding sex offenders and make those laws retroactive since the ex post facto portion of the Constitution does not apply to civil laws.

rewdiazepam

I have read where they are considering the registry to be like a double jeopardy for the person.

Not only are you serving your time once through a prison sentence, but then you are marked even more in society. :(

I've seen that! And basically that's what it is!

Double jeopardy means that a person cannot be tried twice for the same crime. They cannot put a person on trial twice for the same crime WITHIN THE SAME JURISDICTION. For that reason there have been cases in which a person was tried for the same crime in state court and then in federal court.

But I am on our side, as I am a registrant, and I see what you mean when you say that he is punished twice for the same crime----once for the crime itself and then again on the registry.

BUT, if the courts are using the assumption that the registry is NOT punishment, then they would not be punishing a person twice for the same crime, since it is not considered punishment.

This is why I stated earlier than the ruling made in which the registry is considered only civil in nature and not punitive has come back to bite us registrants in the butt many times.

You know it is punishment and I know it is punitive, but the courts have not generally ruled that way.

rewdiazepam

I know and that sucks!!!

It does - a person has 'paid' their "debt to society" - let them be and let them live the rest of their life in silence. It must be a daily reminder...

I think the laws will change for the better in the next ten years.

Its a double sword that affects the entire family. And its horrible.

I hope and pray they change soon

Wasn't it in 2005 when the SCOTUS decided that the registry was not punishment? Someone needs to challenge that.

Exactly Peekachhu. Because the registry is not adjudicated by the courts to be "punishment" it cannot be cruel nor unusual punishment, and typically courts apply the 8th Amendment applies to state institutions and prisons and not in free society.

there have been a few state courts recently that have ruled parts of sex offense registry requirements as unconstitutional.