11-3-2009 Ohio:
LISBON - A local judge upheld the state's reclassification of 28 sex offenders to more stringent reporting requirements, but ruled the change for one offender was a mistake.
Judge C. Ashley Pike of Columbiana County Common Pleas Court reclassified Eugene Mathias Smith, 49, of East Liverpool as a Tier II offender instead of Tier III, which is the designation the state gave him after a new federal law increased reporting requirements for sex offenders last year.
Smith pleaded guilty to attempted corruption of a minor in November 1997 and was designated a sex offender required to report his address to the Sheriff's Office for 10 years. The registration requirement was set to end in April 2008 when Smith received notification from the state that he was now a Tier III, meaning he had to register every 90 days for the rest of his life.
He and a lot of other registered sex offenders filed lawsuits in early 2008 to challenge the constitutionality of the state's action and to petition the court for a reduction in the requirements.
The federal law increased reporting requirements for sex offenders, extending the reporting time, and placing more offenses under the reporting requirements. The law also changed the classification for some defendants who had already been sentenced, requiring them to do more or report for a longer period of time.
Both Pike and Common Pleas Court Judge David Tobin denied the constitutional issues raised, based on a similar stance by appellate courts, but they've been making decisions on challenges to the new classifications in the individual cases.
Even with Pike changing Smith's reporting requirements, he'll still end up reporting for a longer period of time. Tier II requires the offender to register every 180 days for 25 years. The reporting requirements are retroactive to when he first registered, meaning he'll still have at least 14 years to go. ..Source.. by MARY ANN GREIER
November 3, 2009
OH- Judge rules on sex offender cases
February 12, 2008
Judge tosses sex offender charge
2-11-2008 Louisiana:
A New Orleans man got out of jail today after a federal judge in Mobile dismissed charges that he violated a new federal sex offender registration law.
Chief U.S. District Judge Ginny Granade became the second judge to rule that a defendant could not be prosecuted under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act because a key element of the offense occurred before the law took effect.
Ex post facto prohibition established by the U.S. Supreme court case of Caulder -v- Bull 3 U.S. 386 (1798) which states:"I will state what laws I consider ex post facto laws, within the words and the intent of the prohibition. 1st. Every law that makes an action , done before the passing of the law, and which was innocent when done, criminal; and punishes such action. 2nd. Every law that aggravates a crime, or makes it greater than it was, when committed. 3rd. Every law that changes the punishment, and inflicts a greater punishment, than the law annexed to the crime, when committed. 4th. Every law that alters the legal rules of evidence, and receives less, or different, testimony, than the law required at the time of the commission of the offence, in order to convict the offender. " eAdvocate
Lavoid Macio Kent had spent more than six months jailed without bond at the Baldwin County Corrections Center on the charge.
"I'm very happy about it," said Assistant Federal Defender Chris Knight in praising Granade's decision. "I think it was a correct ruling."
Prosecutors did not return phone calls seeking comment this afternoon, but they have appealed a similar case in which U.S. District Judge Kristi DuBose ruled in favor of a Prichard man in December. The two rulings in Mobile take opposite positions from those in Florida in which federal judges have allowed prosecutions under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, leaving it to the Atlanta-based 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to resolve.
In 2006, Congress passed the law, which makes it a crime punishable by as many as 10 years for people convicted of certain sex offenses to move to another state and fail to register as a sex offender.
Kent, 37, pleaded guilty in 2000 to first-degree sexual abuse in Mobile County. Law enforcement authorities arrested him in May and discovered that he had failed to register as a sex offender in Louisiana when he moved to New Orleans in 2004.
Since Kent's interstate travel occurred two years before Congress passed the law, Granade ruled in an order late Friday, he cannot be prosecuted.
The principle involved, enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, is known as ex post facto. It essentially means that a person cannot be held accountable for conduct that occurs before it is against the law. ..more.. by Brendan Kirby, Staff Reporter
October 30, 2007
First Defendant in the Nation Charged with Increased Sex Offender Penalty
10-22-2007 Utah:
An Idaho man who moved to Utah last year had the dubious distinction of being the first defendant in the nation charged with violating a federal law that increased the penalty for failure to register as a sex offender.
John Henry Gill, however, no longer is being prosecuted under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.
U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell on Oct. 15 threw out the charge, ruling that this new, tougher law did not apply to Gill at the time he made Utah his new home.
The next day, in an unrelated case, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell dismissed a charge brought against Keith David Wilson because his move to Utah from South Dakota also predated the date the act went into effect.
The Adam Walsh Act was signed into law by President Bush on July 27, 2006. One of its provisions, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), increased the maximum punishment from one year imprisonment to 10 years for failing to register after a move to a new state.
A few months later, a new rule made the tougher punishment also apply to offenders who committed their sex crimes before July 2006 and then failed to register. That rule was enacted in February 2007.
Gill moved to Utah in the fall of 2006, and Wilson in September 2005. Both Cassell and Campbell agreed that SORNA did not apply to them at those times, and that the increased penalty cannot be imposed retroactively for failure to register in a pre-February 2007 move.
The men might not be off the hook, however. Cassell stressed that Gill still faces possible punishment under Idaho's sex offender registration law.
"While the federal law may not have applied at that time, state criminal statutes may still cover many of these offenders if they failed to follow state registration requirement," Cassell wrote in his decision.
U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman said his office is considering whether to appeal the decisions.
He added: "While there may be some initial issues litigated as a new law comes into use, we will continue to aggressively pursue these cases in the future."
Court records show that Gill, 48, was convicted in Idaho in 2003 of possession of sexually exploitative material and was released from prison in March 2006 after serving time for the offense.
Wilson served a sentence for raping a child and was released from a South Dakota prison in 1999. ..more.. by Pamela Manson, The Salt Lake Tribune
See also SexCrimes blog discussion on the Gill case.
October 26, 2007
First Defendant in the Nation Charged with Increased Sex Offender Penalty
10-22-2007 Utah:
An Idaho man who moved to Utah last year had the dubious distinction of being the first defendant in the nation charged with violating a federal law that increased the penalty for failure to register as a sex offender.
John Henry Gill, however, no longer is being prosecuted under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.
U.S. District Judge Paul Cassell on Oct. 15 threw out the charge, ruling that this new, tougher law did not apply to Gill at the time he made Utah his new home.
The next day, in an unrelated case, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell dismissed a charge brought against Keith David Wilson because his move to Utah from South Dakota also predated the date the act went into effect.
The Adam Walsh Act was signed into law by President Bush on July 27, 2006. One of its provisions, the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA), increased the maximum punishment from one year imprisonment to 10 years for failing to register after a move to a new state.
A few months later, a new rule made the tougher punishment also apply to offenders who committed their sex crimes before July 2006 and then failed to register. That rule was enacted in February 2007.
Gill moved to Utah in the fall of 2006, and Wilson in September 2005.
Both Cassell and Campbell agreed that SORNA did not apply to them, at those times and that the increased penalty cannot be imposed retroactively for failure to register in a pre-February 2007 move.
The men might not be off the hook, however. Cassell stressed that Gill still faces possible punishment under Idaho's sex offender registration law.
"While the federal law may not have applied at that time, state criminal statutes may still cover many of these offenders if they failed to follow state registration requirement," Cassell wrote in his decision.
U.S. Attorney Brett Tolman said his office is considering whether to appeal the decisions.
He added: "While there may be some initial issues litigated as a new law comes into use, we will continue to aggressively pursue these cases in the future."
Court records show that Gill, 48, was convicted in Idaho in 2003 of possession of sexually exploitative material and was released from prison in March 2006 after serving time for the offense.
Wilson served a sentence for raping a child and was released from a South Dakota prison in 1999. ..more.. by Pamela Manson, The Salt Lake Tribune
