SORNA and State Law

Here is an interesting decision from the Supreme Court on the interplay between SORNA and Montana state law. The Ninth Circuit ruled that the federal juvenile registration provision were ex post facto as applied to respondent. Respondent remains on Montana's sex offender registry; the Supreme Court certified a question that could resolve whether he must continue to register under state law independent of the fact that his federal duty to register expired in 2008, and might also violate the Ex Post Facto Clause (does, according to the Ninth).

Backing Away from the Briny Cesspool of Democratic Tyranny

From Ohio, a small legal victory. Supreme Court rules change to sex offender registration laws "required" by AWA -- the big bad Bush /Gonzo conspiracy to create a federal sex offender bureaucracy -- won't stand. Here is a link to Prof Berman's blog on it. The opinion of the Ohio Supreme Court is here.

Here is how it seems to work. Courts convict under legislated criminal law which provides for consequences of the conviction. The legislature then demands that it is within its power to take that conviction and provide for additional and other consequences without limitation. It then sits back and waits for a legal challenge by the affected citizens. The courts are then and only then compelled to decide whether the legislature has indeed exceeded its powers. Meanwhile, lives are ruined, families destroyed, costs mount, vigilantes and bigots, haters, hostile elements and ignoramuses lick their chops, and public safety suffers.

Can this be the America we have chosen to defend?