A federal court judge’s ruling finding that Colorado’s
sex-offender registry violated the Constitutional rights of three sex offenders
who sued could change the way the public gets access to the list, reported the Denver Post.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Matsch found that the
Colorado Sex Offender Registration Act violates the cruel and unusual
punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, and the
due-process rights guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.
Thursday’s ruling came in a civil case filed against
Colorado Bureau of Investigation director Michael Rankin in 2013 by registered
sex offenders David Millard, Eugene Knight and Arturo Vega.
Matsch found that the men are entitled to compensation and
attorney fees, which will be determined later.
Technically, the ruling only applies to the three plaintiffs
in the case, but it could lead to more universal impact — particularly if the
10th Circuit Court of Appeals upholds the decision on appeal, said Boulder attorney
Alison Ruttenberg, the attorney for the three plaintiffs. There are similar
cases in other states challenging sex-offender registries.
Ruttenberg said she expects the cases will eventually reach
the U.S. Supreme Court.
“I would characterize this as a landmark case. My goal
eventually is to get rid of this sex offender registration altogether, at least
as it applies to a public registry that people can pull up on a website,”
Ruttenberg said Friday. “I would be surprised if the state doesn’t appeal the
decision.”
Ruttenberg said that faulty research suggests that sex
offenders have a high recidivism rate when only 5 percent of offenders are
arrested for new crimes.
Matsch found that Colorado’s registration act poses a
“serious threat of retaliation, violence, ostracism, shaming, and other unfair
and irrational treatment from the public” for sex offenders and their families.
“The registry is telling the public — DANGER, STAY AWAY. How
is the public to react to this warning? What is expected to be the means by
which people are to protect themselves and their children?” Matsch wrote in his
ruling.
In answering his own question, he determined the law exposes
sex offenders to punishments “not by the state, but by fellow citizens.”
“The fear that pervades the public reaction to sex offenses
— particularly as to children — generates reactions that are cruel and in
disregard of any objective assessment of the individual’s actual proclivity to
commit new sex offenses,” Matsch wrote. “The failure to make any individual
assessment is a fundamental flaw in the system.”
The ruling also criticized Colorado lawmakers who claimed
that the sex offender act is not punitive.
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1 comment:
Although the Colorado Sex Offender Registration Act may violate the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, and the due-process rights guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, I feel as though it should still be public information. To be required to register as a sex offender, the person must have done something pretty serious. Although there may be some "unfair" treatment for those who are registered sex offenders, the common public should be able to be aware of who they are surrounding themselves and their children by. In my opinion, the public should be able to feel safe without having to worry about whether or not they live next to a sex offender.
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