States mull retroactive sex-offender registries

5-5-2008 National:

A federal law that requires states to establish a new system for registering sex offenders by 2009 is prompting some states to mandate retroactive registration — forcing offenders to register even if their crimes were committed before registry laws went into effect.
Under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, states have until next year to establish a tier system for offenders to register for 15 years, 25 years or life, based on the nature of their offenses.

Though the law does not mandate retroactive registration, Tennessee passed a law last July requiring it. The law applies to anyone who has ever been convicted of a sex offense that requires registration, said Kristin Helm of the Tennessee Bureau for Investigation.

At least two other states are moving in that direction:

• Michigan. The House Judiciary Committee is considering a bill that would force adults convicted of criminal sexual conduct with a child to register, regardless of conviction date.

• Missouri. A Senate committee is considering a resolution that would require almost all sex offenders to register, regardless of conviction date. If passed, the measure could appear on November ballots.

"If we're going to have a list, everybody should be on the list,"said Republican state Sen. Jason Crowell, one of the bill's sponsors.

The resolution seeks to upend a 2006 Missouri Supreme Court opinion that ruled retroactive registration — then common in the state — illegal under Missouri's constitution. The decision forced the removal of more than 4,300 names from the Missouri registry.

A USA TODAY search of state registry laws shows that at least 15 other states required retroactive registration prior to the Walsh Act becoming law.

U.S. law bars states from passing ex post facto laws — those that punish someone for activity committed before the law was enacted. However, retroactive enforcement of Megan's laws — the informal name for sex offender-registration laws named for New Jersey abuse victim Megan Kanka — was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003. The court found that Alaska's retroactive Megan's law was a regulatory measure, not punitive.

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) has been critical of the retro-registration laws.

"It's a fiction to say that this is a civil matter when this is, in fact, an extension of the criminal punishment," said Mike Kopie, co-chair of the NACDL's Sex Offender Policy Task Force. ..more.. by Dirk VanderHart