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Ninth Circuit Found Failure to Register Sentence Unconstitutional

By Corey Rayburnyung

Among the many stories I missed while I was traveling over the break was the Ninth Circuit's holding in Gonzales v. Duncan. The court held that the application of the three-strikes law resulted in a constitutionally excessive penalty. From the opinion:The California courts have characterized the state?s registration requirement as a regulatory offense, a ?most technical violation? that ?by itself, pose[s] no danger to society.?  People v. Cluff, 105 Cal. Rptr. 2d 80, 81, 86 (Cal. Ct. App. 2001).  In a case materially indistinguishable from this one, the California Court of Appeal concluded that a Three Strikes sentence of 25 years to life imprisonment for violating the registration requirement was ?grossly disproportionate to the offense? and violated the Eighth Amendment...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sex Crimes on January 13, 2009 (boomark / email).