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Time To Revisit Ex Post Facto Clause For Sex Offenders

Original Article 02/07/2011 By Norm Pattis Scores of folks have sent me emails generated by a group called Citizens for Change. They want me to hear their cries for justice, and to sign on to the fight to have the courts declare retroactive application of the federal sex offender registration act unconstitutional. My first response to the emails was a weary sigh. The ex post facto clause is tricky, and most folks don't get just how it has been gutted by the courts. The last time the federal Supreme Court heard an ex post facto challenge to sex offender registration was in 2003, involving an Alaska decision. The Smith v. Doe decision ruled that requiring a convicted sex offender to register as an offender is not a violation of the ex post facto clause of the federal constitution even if the registration requirement did not exist at the time a person was convicted...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sex Offender Issues on February 08, 2011 (boomark / email).