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Federal judge finds constitutional problems with new Nevada sex offender laws

By Douglas A. Berman

As detailed in this AP report and this ACLU of Nevada press release, a federal judge in Nevada on Thursday issued an injunction to preclude some enforcement of new sex offender laws.  Here are details from the AP story:U.S. District Judge James Mahan said the laws, as applied to 12 sex offenders represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, are unconstitutional. Mahan declined to rule on whether the new laws, which change the way Nevada classifies sex offenders, may be applied to those convicted of sex offenses in the future. The ACLU of Nevada said the new laws, AB579 and SB471, drastically altered the way in which Nevada deals with sex offenders.... Many rehabilitated, low-risk offenders would have retroactively become high-risk offenders "subject to widespread community notification, which in turn would have meant that they and their families faced social ostracism, losing their jobs, and even possible vigilante violence," the ACLU said...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on September 11, 2008 (boomark / email).