Legal Commentary

Federal Judge Preliminarily Enjoins Certain Restrictions on Sex Offenders Who Have Finished Their Sentences

By Eugene Volokh

The case is Doe v. Nebraska, decided yesterday. Here?s the court?s summary:

Plaintiffs attack amendments to Nebraska?s Sex Offender Registration Act that become effective January 1, 2010. With exceptions noted below, I decide that a preliminary injunction is unwarranted. By and large, Nebraska has only done what Congress (and the Attorney General of the United States pursuant to a delegation from Congress) permitted or required.

The exceptions: In the interim, Nebraska will not be allowed to enforce the following statutes against persons who have been convicted of sex offenses but who have completed their criminal sentences and who are not on probation, parole, or court-ordered supervision, to wit:

(1) Neb. Rev. Stat. § 29?4006(2) (West, Operative January 1, 2010) ([mandating that sex offenders provide] consent to search and installation of monitoring hardware and software) and

(2) Neb. Rev. Stat. § 28?322.05 (West, Operative January 1, 2010) (making it a crime to use Internet social networking sites accessible by minors by a person required to register under the Sex Offender Registration Act).

Thanks to Prof. Doug Berman (Sentencing Law and Policy) for the pointer.

Full post as published by The Volokh Conspiracy on December 31, 2009 (boomark / email).