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Split Missouri Supreme Court finds limits retrospective application of state sex offender restrictions

By Douglas A. Berman

As detailed in this Kansas City Star article, recently-enacted Missouri laws "regulating where sex offenders live and what they do on Halloween cannot apply to those convicted before the laws took effect, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Tuesday." Hare are the basics: The 4-3 decision in two cases from eastern Missouri addressed the 2004 law preventing convicted sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school or child-care facility and the 2008 law that controlled the activities of registered sex offenders on Halloween night. The court?s majority found that both laws violated the Missouri Constitution?s protection against retrospective laws if applied to offenders convicted before the laws were enacted. In the opinion of the court?s dissenting minority, both laws are ?valid exercises of the state?s police power to protect children...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on January 14, 2010 (boomark / email).