IN: Out-of-state registration requirement does not violate ex post facto
An Indiana appellate court has decided that requiring an individual with an out of state conviction who moves to Indiana to register as a sex offender, even when the registry didn’t exist in Indiana or in the state of conviction, does not violate Indiana’s Ex Post Facto constitutional prohibition.
The court analyzed whether the Legislature’s intent was to create a civil, non-punitive regulatory scheme, then considered seven factors to ascertain whether the registration requirement was so punitive as to transform it into a criminal penalty. They found that it was not.
You can read the opinion here: https://public.courts.in.gov/Decisions/api/Document/Opinion?Id=xPxjpsq5FraaH0Y9Mu5xmXGsYIxuEk9u0am-OIs0rrHSatATI_uIfqp_WNPc-1SY0
I moved to Indiana during the height of COVID stuff from Florida. Overall I’ll say that where I live it has been pretty ok. It’s a smaller town so I’m always on edge because the registry is public. I was an offender in Florida and they label me a predator. There is an appeal process there but I don’t think I can do it alone and no attorney I’ve contacted said they would help and just referred me to three info I already had. I think the ACLU here was working on something regarding that, but don’t quote me. This decision really hurts. I’m hopeful one day to be off the registry because it doesn’t work. I did my prison, and probation. I would love to be free one day. But really I’m not, this is just probation with check one every quarter instead of every month. If I didn’t follow the rules, or check in the punishment would be prison, not a fine. I don’t understand why it’s so hard for a judge to look at the rules and say if a person does not follow the rules there is punishment. That punishment is not a fine, civil like a speeding ticket. It would be jail or prison, like let’s say vandalism. Except one is an intentional act with a victim. Violation off the registry by creating an account to learn about a new hobby and simply forgetting to go down and update the information with the sheriff. No victim, unintentional, mistake. But the vandal probably will have a punishment that is far more reasonable than the registered person.
This is so, so bad for my mental health. I’ve shared my frustration and how it starts me down the wrong side of the mental road before. You have been kind and supportive. But really… How long am I supposed to live like this. How is it fair? I wish people would at least listen to this. Maybe just try to explain to me has any of it makes sense.
A 7 step test huh? But if a registered person who is supposed to maintain a distance of 1000 feet from a school takes 7 steps inside that imaginary boundary, he is then punished by being sent to prison. But that’s not punitive, right?
So we need to stay 6 steps ahead of the law to keep from being caught? LOL
Funny but not funny. So many traps have been set for us. I remember when the registry first came out. When I went to the sheriff’s department for the first time, they had no clue of what to do. So a detective took me back into an interrogation room and had a 100 point questionnaire that took two hours to complete.
I suffer from migraines and that day I had a bad one even before stepping into the building. It was so bad I had to force myself to not vomit and the stress of the unknown made it even worse. Even more embarrassing was, I had to force myself to not cry in front of law enforcement. (They would enjoy that for sure).
The good news was, at that time, you only had to do an initial registration plus another if you had any changes or updates. And of course the patrol cars would come by the house more often than my probation officer did.
Jumping forward, 25 years of changes and add On’s have made the registry so punitive, harmful, shameful, dangerous, and embarrassing, that you have to peek out your window before leaving the house to make sure the coast is clear. WHO should have to live like that?
And the worst part, for many of us, it is for life with no chance or way forward to relief. This even after it was applied retroactively.
Again how on earth is it not a test if something is Punitive it causes a person to be Imprisoned? I can see a fine but Jail and prison are both Punitive recourse in any common sense . It should be the golden rule test
I noticed that Indiana courts are using a 7 step approach in deciding whether their laws are punitive. 7!!!! Using 7 steps shows just how far the courts are going to justify these punishments that are called regulatory registries.
Sadly, as in many court decisions involving sex offender registries, the judges failed to put themselves in the shoes of the registrants and consider if they feel like they are being punished. That’s what the word “punitive” means, that it punishes someone. It does. Believe me, it does punish. And just when you begin to feel accepted by the community, the registry makes it easy for someone to dredge up your past.
Something that almost never works and, like all criminal activity, is NOT recommended:
https://kfor.com/news/local/wife-accomplice-screenshot-857-child-porn-photos-to-frame-husband-before-upcoming-custody-battle/amp/
Thanks for posting this. I recently tried to express to someone else who posts here that this does happen. The other person said I was minimizing CP. More people need to be aware that a lot of us were in fact framed for CP.
Hey all, backwards FL just passed a law that they probably don’t realize can work to help our community.
It is now illegal to picket at someone’s residence. Check it out:
https://flgov.com/2022/05/16/governor-ron-desantis-protects-floridians-from-protests-outside-their-homes/
Anonymous
There is a loop hole though. They can be asked to leave from in from of your home, but then set up in front of the entrance to your neighborhood and be legally protesting. They can stand there at the entrance with signs with your name and address on them stating what a horrid person you are.
Also they get a warning to leave in front of your house and can only be arrested if they refuse to leave. And once the cops leave, they could simply have “Group 2” with different people take over who have not been given a warning and, well you know the rest of the story.
Additionally, as former law enforcement myself, and as a registrant, I can tell you, a large portion of law enforcement are going to look at protestors in front of an official’s home a lot differently than that of a “Sex offender”/ registered person. Every time my neighbors call the police for a crime on our street, 3 or 4 patrol cars show up. When I call, I am told to file a report online.
“This bill recognizes the right of privacy, safety and peace that we all deserve in our own home,” – State Sen. Keith Perry of Gainesville
I find that statement outrageous and hypocritical seeing how the registry requires our address, photo and name to be blasted on the Internet which basically circumvents all that.
In theory, it could help when people protest outside a registrant’s home. In practice, it probably will not. The Florida website says:
“Once this law takes effect, law enforcement officers will provide a warning to any person picketing or protesting outside of a dwelling and will make arrests for residential picketing only if the person does not peaceably disperse after the warning. Residential picketing will be punishable as a second-degree misdemeanor.”
What are the chances of any Florida sheriff dispatching deputies when a registrant complains of protesters? No warning given by police means that no violation occurred.