TN- New Law Puts Mark On Sex Offenders' IDs

Are state messages placed on previously convicted sex offenders driver's license or license plates a violation of the ex post facto clause?

See my commentary following the article. eAdvocate

5-29-2008 Tennessee:

Registered Sex Offenders Must Carry Special Driver's License By Sept. 1 See Video which gives a good explanation of how it is currectly thought to be implemented.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The state of Tennessee is set to issue a new kind of driver's license that will have a special marking signifying that the carrier is a sex offender.

Some lawmakers said the idea is so simple that they don't know why they came up with the idea earlier. Police said the new license will go a long way toward protecting children.

State Rep. Debra Maggart said she is troubled by the fact that a sex offender can anonymously roam the streets, especially after police pulled over a sex offender last December.

"He had four or five young boys in the car with him that he had lured out of a sleepover," Maggart said.

That is why Maggart said she backed the bill that recently became law.

On Sept. 1, every registered sex offender in the state must carry the special driver's license.

The Department of Safety said it has yet to design the new license, but Maggart said it will look like any other Tennessee driver's license and only law enforcement officials will be able to see the notification.

Lawmakers said they believe the special ID will alert police when an offender violates the law like going to a public park or getting too close to a school.

"When an officer pulls you over or stops you and looks at your ID -- when he calls that in to dispatch, all he is told is if you have an outstanding warrant or not. They don't share your rap sheet," Maggart said.

Under the new law, if a police officer pulls over a sexual offender, the new license will notify them to look for things they usually would not during a routine traffic stop.

"This helps them do their job and helps protect our children in our state," Maggart said.

Any sex offenders who don't qualify for a Tennessee driver's license will be required to get a state ID that will have the sex offender marking on it. ..News Source.. by Chris Tatum

COMMENTARY:
Does this violate the ex post facto clause, most would say, no, but read on.

When RSOs go in to register they provide information to the registry. Then the registry displays certain of that information on a public registry; all state action.

However, driver's licenses and license plates are vastly different. How you ask? Well, who is carrying the state's message, the RSO, that is not like the state displaying information on the Internet.

So there are some who think that distinction is crazy? In the U.S. Supreme court, the case of Smith v. Doe (Sex offender registration), during Oral Argument the following discussion took place between Mr. Olson (then Solicitor General for the U.S.) and Justice Kennedy:

Justice Kennedy QUESTION: Could -- could the State require a special mark on your license plate?

MR. OLSON: No, I -- well, I don't know, Justice Kennedy, but I would say that would be considerably different than what's here because that would --

QUESTION: I don't think it's very different.

MR. OLSON: Pardon me?

QUESTION: I don't think it's very different.

MR. OLSON: I -- I respectfully submit that it's a great deal different. That mark on your license plate, or mark on your forehead would go wherever you would go. It would require you to carry the government's message rather than the government supplying the message.

QUESTION: Well, this statute requires you to make the government's message four times a year.

MR. OLSON: It only -- it doesn't require you to make the government's message four times a year. The government's message, I respectfully submit, is made when a citizen submits an inquiry to the State through the Internet listing. All -- it is required four times a year is to advise the government of a current location or current information so that the information on the registry is accurate and -- and up-to-date.


So, who is carrying the message? It is the RSO when it is on his driver's license or license plate. That distinction, following the sentencing where it was not part of the sentence, could very well be construed as further punishment. i.e., a ex post facto violation.

Apparently, there is something in law about, who carries the message, and lawyers know about this. Now to find those lawyers to fight the issue all the way to the U.S. Supreme court. That may be easier said than done.


One more thing must be addressed, in the video they mention a case where a RSO had a few boys in his car and was stopped by a police officer. The women in the video claimed, if the driver's license had "Sex Offender" on it, then the police would know who he is dealing with.

My question: Why does it have to be on the license, he stopped the car, why did he stop the car and what was he going to do? Obviously because there were a few boys in the car with a man, I think that is likened to, "Driving while being a man with kids." We all know what is usually in that comment.

The cop checked the guy's license by calling it in, wouldn't it be much easier to have the station returning the call, have check for sex offender as part of their check for warrants?

Here is the real reason behind this, it is a sound bite which gets votes, the fact that it will cost the state tons of taxpayer dollars lawmakers care not. Secondly, it is another way to restrict RSOs and get convictions for not following the letter of the law, which would likely have some time element involved as well.

Now, how does what is on a license or license plate, protect kids? It doesn't, kids are not involved with licenses or license plates, and the crap about if a RSO went near a school someone would know, is plain baloney. There has not been one crime reported to have been comitted by a RSO who lived within a proscribed distance from a school, committed at said school, not one.

The focus is not kids, that is a pretext, the focus is further restrictions to circumvent constitutional protections, and sound bites to get votes for lawmakers.

eAdvocate