Maddox pleads guilty, can still appeal constitutionality of sex offender registry

Issues from earlier report:

Sloan's motion to dismiss Maddox' case freely confesses that Maddox was informed of his obligation to register under Missouri law. But Sloan argues that the document did not inform Maddox of any obligation to register in other states, such as Texas, or with the federal government.

Above and beyond the constitutional argument, the motion says a sex offender can be charged for knowingly failing to register. The law requires that a sex offender must be informed by a government official of his or her obligation to register.

The Public Defender writes, "The government failed to give Maddox notice of the very existence of the register and now seeks to punish him for not adhering to the obligations imposed by this register."

8-20-2010 Texas:

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - Ralph Maddox, 54, pleads guilty in Lubbock federal court to one charge of failure to register as a sex offender, but there's a catch. As part of his plea bargain he may continue his appeal on constitutional grounds.

Back in July, Assistant Federal Public Defender David Sloan wrote that the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act "is unconstitutional under the Fifth Amendment and the indictment should be dismissed."

Prosecutors argued otherwise and the judge ruled against Maddox. Maddox was convicted in Jackson County Missouri in 1993 of a charge called Sodomy Of A Child. He was ordered to serve five years probation.

He registered as a sex offender in Missouri, and later California. When he moved from California to Lubbock, he did not register. Maddox argues he was never officially told that he had to. Again, prosecutors argue otherwise.

Maddox will be sentenced at a later date to no more than 10 years in prison. ..Source.. James Clark