Michigan: Ready to go another round?
By now we should all be familiar with what’s taking place in Michigan. After having its registry declared unconstitutional all the way to the 6th Circuit (and then the Supreme Court, which denied Certiorari), the state’s legislators have been trying to craft legislation that would pass constitutional muster. They have been trying unsuccessfully.
Their latest attempt will be House Bill 5679. a copy of the most recent legislative analysis can be found here: https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2019-2020/billanalysis/House/pdf/2019-HLA-5679-322C0DAA.pdf
The most glaring concern is that it would allow the State to publish email addresses and internet identifiers on the public registry.
If Michigan didn’t have such a strong track record of failing to pass sex offender legislation or getting their laws struck as unconstitutional, I would be investing more concern into this bill. If it does pass, I’m sure Miriam Aukerman and the ACLU of Michigan will be right there to strike it down again!
Does this mean if I were to move there to live with family, under the current court orders, would I not have to register? (At least as things stand now)?
Not seeing much difference in the analysis of the proposal and what was struck down by Cleland’s order. They’re still desperately trying to maintain the pre-order status quo, IMHO. I would think the financial impact would play a pretty large role in whether or not it passes, considering the sad state of Michigan’s finances.
I hope someone can make their way to the Michigan legislature when it makes ot to the floor to point out that there has been no change in sex crime rates among registrants in particular during the injunction period. I’d do it myself if I could afford it. Plus, I’m sure my PO would never approve a trip there at all, especially for anti-registry advocacy.
If you live in Michigan please be sure to reach out to your Senator for a no vote.
It just amazes me how they still don’t get it and the lawsuit will continue. And how come they, the government can keep running past their deadline but, we the people, if we are one minute late for a filing….to bad, you loose.
The original federal District Court ruling found some things unconstitutional that are still in this proposed bill. It also would require me to register my neighbor’s license plate number because I drove him home in his car after cataract surgery. Also shortens the time period for reporting changes. It’s ridiculous. Michigan’s Attorney General is in favor of eliminating the registry because all it does is punish exoffenders. The Federal Circuit Court also ruled that it is punishment, and serves no public purpose other that to treat registrants as lepers. And most of all, no bill is final until actually passed. There will be more changes made by legislators before it is put up for a vote. Michigan has the same basic system as Washington, meaning that even if it passes the House, it will be subject to amendments by the Senate. The final version will be even worse.
OTB:
It depends on the facts of your case and the year the offense took place. The law firm handling Does II is the Oliver Law Group in Troy Michigan. They can tell you if you have to register or not.
The current state is almost all offenders whose offense date precedes 1995 are off of the registry today. Most persons whose offense date is from 1995 to 2012 must be removed but there isn’t a final order yet.
However, if your offense date predates July 1, 2011, you can petition for removal regardless of which state you were convicted in. For most persons whose offense date predates July 1, 2011, removal is mandatory. You can obtain a copy of the petition for removal from the sex offender registry by googling “Michigan 406 petition sex offender”.
Why are the courts letting this linger? What about the scales of justice that are vividly on display in this courtroom? Are they there as a joke or something?
There are actually several Michigan Supreme Court and Michigan Court of Appeals decisions and other federal court decisions in Michigan favorable to registrants.
I keep harping about trial preparation. If you read Miriam Aukerman’s briefs you will understand how she is consistently winning. The time she puts into case preparation is extraordinary.
Also, Professor Ringold and his students at U of M have done extraordinary work on this issue as well. Ringold and Aukerman are the dynamic duo for Michigan. They even convinced the Michigan Attorney General that the registry is bloated and most people need to be removed from the registry. Read the Michigan Attorney General’s lengthy briefs in the Betts and Snyder cases in the Michigan Supreme Court. It sounds like these briefs were written by the ACLU not a state’s attorney general. Unfortunately, Professor Ringold retired so I’m not sure how or if he will continue to be contributing to this cause.
Everyone is concentrating on their work in Does I in federal court and overlook Miriam Aukerman’s victory in Temelkoski in the Michigan Supreme Court. Miriam Aukerman’s brief in Temelkoski is available on the Michigan Supreme Court’s website and mandatory reading for everyone in this cause.
The ACLU of Michigan is also coordinating sex offenders and their family and friends in lobbying Michigan which makes it difficult to pass any legislation on this issue. More and more Michigan legislatures are seeing the light on this issue thanks to the ACLU’s efforts. Four years since most of the registry was struck down in federal court and they still can’t pass legislation on this issue. The sex offender registry in Michigan might be the first to die a natural death.
Everyone interested in this issue should be studying why the ACLU is so successful in Michigan. It’s not just winning in court, but their out of court work as well.
I constantly see registrants complaining about the losses in court. Donations are important. None of these lawsuits are possible without donations. But legal research is very time consuming.
When I read the Michigan Court of Appeals decision in Temelkoski, I disagreed with the argument Temelkoski’s attorney used. I put together a different argument and sent it to Miriam Aukerman after the ACLU picked up his case. I sent this argument to her unsolicited so I cannot say that Miriam Aukerman adopted my argument. I can say that Miriam Aukerman’s brief mirrored the argument I sent her. I have sent other unsolicited arguments to other attorneys. The worst they can do is throw my unsolicited arguments in the trash.
Registrants can help these attorneys develop their arguments and should. Someone on this website mentioned a study in Illinois that I was unaware of. It took me 2 minutes to find and download it and now it is in my arsenal. These are the things that are winning these cases and need to be sent to these attorneys and I will be sending this study to attorneys.
Registrants can help themselves by googling these issues and reading the cases for free at googlescholar. Meet as a group. Take the time to develop an argument. Send it to the attorney. And wait to see if it has an impact on the case.
Detroit, your assessment regarding the necessity of good legal research is spot on. Unless an attorney is essentially a subject matter specialist, the chance she will miss something is high. Although a lawyer may never formally acknowledge outside assistance, such assistance might sow seeds to sprout a winning legal strategy.
I will likely never know whether or not my observations made a difference in a case last year. I follow local sex offense and registry issues in the courts. After sitting through a detention hearing and being politely dismissed by the public defender (PD), I drafted a letter to him outlining my thoughts on entrapment. He subsequently filed a dismissal motion based on entrapment, and won! This time, the PD was not dismissive when I walked out with him. The state’s appeal has been languishing now for over a year–and will be precedential when decided.
I’ve found the key to legal writing is to research, write, and revise repeatedly until arguments are legally sound and coherent. From prison, I wrote a pro se 2255 (habeas) motion that resulted in the worst of my two federal convictions being vacated due to “actual innocence.” Vacating a conviction in a collateral attack is nearly unprecedented in the federal system. However, it required hundreds of research hours and endless discussions with other inmates.
The simple economics of time and money precludes most attorneys from digging deeply enough to develop an iron-clad winning argument. The government is not so constrained. Keep abreast of local issues, and if you have time dive into the law and case decisions. Study both winning and losing briefs as well as court rules. Every little input helps. The legal edifice of registration will not be demolished through some seismic shift in thought, but through erosion.
Veritas.
To bad Lower couldn’t be hit in his pocketbook with his insane bill, maybe he’d listen to people who testified against his bill this summer. The judge should put him and his committee in contempt of court. I’m tired of politicians using registrants and their families to pass more harsh laws. Talk about beating a dead horse, however that would be punishment but not beating registrants. My Christmas wish is for lawmakers to grow a spine and do the right thing with true justice for all, including registrants!
Mp:
The situation in Michigan is complex. There have been so many court rulings in both state and federal courts that almost any proposed change will violate at least one of these decisions.
The ACLU is doing a good job of reminding state legislatures that these proposed laws are unconstitutional. The ACLU also flipped the attorney general which was a huge victory. They’ve flipped a small number of legislatures and caused several to balk at these laws, that’s why it’s so difficult to pass any legislation. The sex offender registry is on the ropes in Michigan.
I have been in and out of this issue since having a friend placed on the registry in 2008. I will be opening an office next year to fight these laws. I am in a sound financial position so I will be financing this out of my own pocket. I won’t be seeking donations but I do need volunteers capable of doing legal research.
Ed C:
I did legal research for an attorney 40 years ago when I was in college. I have learned that cases rise or fall on the quality of the research and trial preparation.
People don’t realize the incredible amount of time that legal research entails.
I have been most recently researching a 7th Circuit case to send to the attorneys. They lost because of poor research. Just last week, one of my former neighbors who I knew as a kid was arrested for CSC. He’s in his 40’s now. If he is convicted, he will be on the registry for the rest of his life. I sent him some law books, put funds on his account and sent him a subscription for PLN. I will be helping do the research in his case.
I will continue to work on the 7th Circuit case as I am able. I am hoping to have this completed in time for them to request a rehearing. I have no control over the attorneys. They may just file it without reading it. However, I will be starting a website next year and I will be posting these arguments on the website so persons can send them to attorneys. I am hoping to post at least one thoroughly researched article per year. Rest assured, after you read my arguments, you will understand why the concept of registration is unconstitutional.
I bought a building a few months ago that I will be remodeling into an office. I will be starting a newspaper in this office. As a hobby, I will be dedicating a portion of this office to the various causes that I am involved in.
Next year, I will have an office and website dedicated to this cause and will be seeking volunteers to assist. If there is enough interest, I will be shopping for a building to turn into a homeless shelter for registrants where they can live without paying any money up front. Rest assured, I am taking this fight to a whole new level. Let me know if you want to participate in this effort.
The bill would allow MSP to publish email addresses but not require it. Email addresses most likely will not be published on the registrant’s page because this would raise privacy concerns. This was placed into the bill so persons can search an email address to see if it belonged to a registrant. They’ve been struggling with how to make email addresses public without identifying a specific email address to a specific offender or listing all email addresses. Persons would have to search the email addresses one by one and have a specific email address to search. I believe Offenderwatch proposed this. The particulars weren’t worked out so this is something that most likely wouldn’t come to fruition for several years. It’s not as bad as it looks.
This bill is DOA anyways. They tried to dance around all of these various court decisions but have failed to.
The only substantive change is that they removed all registrants whose offense predated October 1, 1995. And this isn’t a big change because 98% of these offenders are already off of the registry. They keep trying to include registrants whose offense date was between October 1, 1995 and July 1, 2011 but most of these are required to be removed from the registry. I believe a bill will only pass if they totally give up on all registrants whose offense date predates July 1, 2011 and only require persons whose offense date is on or after July 1, 2011 to register. Even this won’t be easy because the ACLU is maintaining pressure on the state.
These changes don’t satisfy all of the various court decisions. This bill most likely will not pass, but if it does, there are aspects that go against previous court decisions.
The Michigan registry will eventually die a natural death.
@Detroit….I don’t want to attack your post but NOBODY has been removed from the registry. My conviction was 94 before the law was even passed. You speak of all these changes but none are accurate. There is currently a no enforcement injunction/order in place from Judge Cleland and that notice is posted on the main page of the Michigan SOR main web page. My SOR page is very much intact with all my info still available for the general public. I would like you to cite your sources where people are getting removed and what avenue they’re using to accomplish that…
If you go to the FDLE Website here in Florida, you can type in an email address and it will tell you if that person or email is on the registry. Is that legal?
According to this article, the Michigan House is trying to “tighten” sex offense registration requirements:
https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/12/juvenile-record-expungement-part-of-justice-reform-push-in-michigan-lame-duck-session.html?mc_cid=7514cdba8e&mc_eid=fa93f8fd3d
Correct – it’s the bill referenced in the article
Don’t fear.
We are ready for any legislation to pass in Michigan and fully prepared to respond.
In Smith, 538 US at 98, the U.S. Supreme Court majority rejected analogies to historical shaming punishments because the stigma of registration results “from the dissemination of accurate information about a criminal record, most of which is already public.”
But they are not disseminating an accurate record since it only shows the crime name you were convicted of and not information on the actual crime committed such as he touched a breast (oh heavens to Betsy!) as opposed to sexual assault II (OMG a monster!). They also don’t state the age at the time of the offense yet show a current picture which is misleading.
Nor are they publishing only public information from the conviction but rather are publishing all manner of current private information that is not published about non-sexual offenders and in fact they are restrained from doing so for other offenders under some state constitutions.
Josh:
Persons who were on probation or parole on or after October 1, 1995 are the few who remain on the registry with offense dates predating October 1, 1995. If your case was in 1994, you most likely were on probation parole on or after October 1, 1995 and hence not in the same category as the offenders who completed their probation or parole prior to October 1, 1995. Read the statute and court opinions.
I sent out over 2,000 letters to persons on the registry in Michigan to get meetings going and received over 100 responses. I have been in contact with more than 400 registrants in the last 3 years, am familiar with the statutes and court decisions, so have a pretty good grasp of the situation.
Everyone that I am personally aware of who had completed their probation or parole prior to October 1, 1995 are off of the registry. Registrants whose offense date is between October 1, 1995 and July 1, 2011 is most likely eligible for removal by filing a 406 a. petition. I have made several registrants aware of the petition and the ones eligible have been removed.
I AM NOT GOING TO CITE THEIR NAMES BECAUSE THAT IS THE VERY REASON FOR REMOVING THEM.
I am aware that there are several thousand people eligible for removal who continue to be on the registry. This is for 2 reasons. First, there isn’t a final order in Does II and many simply are unaware that they can petition for removal. I am alone in this fight and don’t have the time or money to reach out to the 36,000 people on the registry to advise them of their rights.
REST ASSURED, MY INFORMATION IS ACCURATE. I am not getting paid to help registrants. In fact, I have put several thousand dollars of my own funds into helping them. Do the math. I sent out over 2,000 letters to registrants in Michigan. That mailing alone cost me over $1,500. I have spent over $200 in the last 3 months in postage alone. I have purchased a building I will be turning into an office. I will be dedicating a portion of that building for office space to fight the registry. As soon as I have a reliable person, I will be setting up a helpline for registrants. I have had a registrant living in my rooming house for more than 3 years FREE OF CHARGE while he gets his life together. At $500/month, I have given up over $18,000 in rental income had I had a paid renter in his place. I have been encouraging a registrant in Indiana to fight FTR’s for years because I am convinced that this registrant is not required to register. The registrant’s court-appointed attorney refused to listen to this registrant’s arguments and reached a plea deal for this registrant to serve 4 years in prison for an FTR. I loaned this registrant $10,000 in September to hire a private attorney to raise this registrant’s claims in court. I had a nice house for rent in Genesee Township that I rented to a registrant for $450/month when the market rate is $900/month to help this registrant and to get someone to help with computer work for this cause. I have never been on the registry or effected by it and yet have done more than 99% of the people on the registry for this cause. What have you done for this cause let alone to get yourself off of the registry. I have people contacting me on almost a daily basis because they believe I run a free service and I don’t. I am behind responding to more than 100 letters because I have been helping other people. You are like the many others expecting me to drop everything and get them off of the registry then get angry because I don’t have the time to help them for FREE. If you want to get off of there registry research the 406 a. petition and the court cases or hire an attorney to do it. If you are not willing to do this much, then you are not interested in getting off of the registry.
In addition to everything else I do, I try to stamp out all of the misinformation on the internet and replace it with accurate information and replying to your post is one more piece of misinformation that I have had to respond to.
YES, REGISTRANTS ARE BEING REMOVED FROM THE REGISTRY IN MICHIGAN!!!
You simply have to take the time to research the 406 a petition or hire an attorney.
The problem is everyone wants something for free. When I don’t drop everything to help some they get pissed off and I even had one registrant file a criminal complaint against me with the county prosecutor for practicing law without a license for helping registrants. This particular registrant had 2 previous cases for sex with children under 13 and after filing the complaint against me picked up another case for having sex with a 9 year-old and is in prison currently for this sex case.
This is all the time I have to answer your post. If you’re not willing to research the info I have put out on this website and others or not willing to hire an attorney, then you’re not that interested in getting off of the registry. Your other option is to await a final order in Does II. In the meantime, stop upbraiding me for helping out and stop posting misinformation on the internet.
Detroit…..Oh Detroit I am very interested in getting off the registry and I DO have a lawyer. I have filed suit in federal court only to have to withdraw that suit on the grounds that I’m already a part of the ACLU class action. My offense date was 93 with conviction being entered in early 94 and still on probation in 95 as you stated….I was aware of the 406 option to petition off but if I’m not mistaken you only get one bite at that apple. In light of the distinct possibility that this shitty legislation gets passed I am consulting with my attorney and will mention the 406. If you’re as devoted to this cause as you say you are then thank you….was just looking for clarification
THIS IS THE ACCURATE WAY TO GET OFF THE REGISTRY IN MICHIGAN IF YOUR OFFENCE PREDATES JULY 1, 2011.
I don’t know the exact percentage of registrants who are eligible for removal but feel it’s most likely well above 90% if not 95%. The ones who are ineligible for removal are the ones who have a felony conviction after their sex offense conviction through the “recapture” provision.
I have given directions to several registrants who have successfully been removed from the registry.
The form needed is called “MC 406a”. It is only one page and takes less than 5 minutes to fill out. You fill out the form, mail a copy to the prosecutor and send the original and proof of service to the court. Show the judge a copy of the court’s order and explain why you are a mandatory removal. I suggest that registrants obtain a certified copy of their court records in their underlying sex offense case because whether you are required to register or not, sometimes depends on a date, either the offense date or the conviction date or which law was in effect at the time. I don’t think anyone I talked to got certified copies but I always suggest it.
If your offense date preceded October 1, 1995 AND you were not on felony probation or parole on or after October 1, 1995 and have no felony conviction after your sex offense, you are off of the registry. That’s easy. The rest take time to determine if they are required to register or not.
If your offense date is between October 1, 1995 and July 1, 2011, it depends on the facts of your conviction and the dates of either your offense or conviction and the law in effect at the time.
I have tried to help several determine if they were a mandatory removal or not. It usually takes several hours of research and I have had some lie to me on facts so have spent a lot of wasted time with some registrants. The process entails reading several court decisions and figuring out which is relevant, knowing the facts of the case and which law was in effect at either the time of offense or conviction.
These are a couple of fact situations that got some people off of the registry:
A guy had a child porn case in 2008. This was a 10 year registration at the time of his offense but he was placed on the registry for 10 years and the for life due to a change in the law. He filed a petition and the judge ruled he was a mandatory removal and ordered him off of the registry.
A guy had a case from the 90’s. He had his girlfriends 3 year-old perform oral sex on him in the bathtub, was charged with CSC I (penetration, life offense) and pled to CSC II (probationable, non-penetration offense). Even though what he pled to was a 10 or 15 year registrable offense (non-penetration), the police place him on the registry for 25 years (only for offenses of penetration of a child under 13) and he was eventually placed on the registry for life due to a change in law. His offense was pre1995 but he was on probation on October 1, 1995 so had to register. He was on 5 years probation when the registration law passed. The judge ruled that he was only required to register for 10 or 15 years (I don’t recall which) because he didn’t plead to the offense that required 25 years registration so he was a mandatory removal.
A registrant originally from Michigan picked up a case for having consensual sex with a 16 year-old in California and was on the registry in California. The age of consent in Michigan is 16. The judge ruled that because his crime wasn’t a criminal offense under any statute in Michigan, let alone one that is registerable, that he must be removed from the registry. This guy had an attorney. You do not need an attorney to file a 406a petition. If you have an easy case you can appear yourself. If you screw up, you can always have an attorney refile your petition. If you cannot figure out if you’re a mandatory removal, you should retain an attorney.
Some of these issues I plan to address in court but haven’t gotten to many of these issues yet. I am hoping an out of state offender gets denied so we can get a Michigan Court of Appeals or Supreme Court decision on this issue. I am developing several arguments for several issues to present in court. As I pull this thing together and get more persons involved, things will speed up.
Unfortunately, this is a one man operation and I am that one man right now,so am quite limited in what I can do. There are also other causes I am active in.
I own several houses and my houses take precedence over the causes I am involved in. I’ve tried to get people to assist, but no one has panned out yet so things have to wait until my houses are settled so I can get to this project. Legal research takes up a lot of my time and if I could get assistance with the legal research, this would move things along quicker. I am looking for a building to turn into a homeless shelter for registrants. Once I get this, the website, office and phone set up, things will move along a lot quicker. I can reduce someone’s rent to help me on this project. I did reduce a registrant’s rent to do the computer work but he doesn’t want to become involved in the other aspects of this project.
P.S. Remember, that if you are affected by one or more of these court decisions, removal from the Michigan registry is MANDATORY. The judge cannot deny removal.
Josh:
You can file as many 406 petitions as you want. They are filed in state court and you don’t need an attorney to file one. You can file a 406 petition today.
If you are part of the Does II litigation, you can wait for the final order to be removed and it will cost you nothing. You might get off of the registry quicker by filing a form 406. The law firm handling Does II is the Oliver law group in Troy. They can give you a rough idea if you will be removed or not. A determination can be complex so you have to hire an attorney to get an argument that is specific to the facts and law of your case. If you have no felony conviction after your sex conviction you are most likely a mandatory removal.
It appears that Does II will become final in 2021 or 2022, so you are not far off for removal.
@Detroit…you are correct about filing a 406 as many times as you want. I met with my lawyer today confirmed as much. The mandatory removal part is not factual according to my attorney. The fact is that my attorney is 99% sure that no state level judge will move on a 406 until the adjudication of Does II is complete. I have filed similar requests with MSP and they won’t remove until adjudication is complete either….if I have this wrong then apologies.
Josh:
I have already run into several persons who were removed from the registry based on the various court rulings.
Of note also, I have run into at least 3 people who have had their records expunged after the 1997 change in law which doesn’t allow expungement of CSC convictions. So, if you didn’t plead to a life offense, you might be able to get your conviction expunged as well. This is an issue I am still working on. Stay tuned.
Most attorneys will tell you that you can’t get a pre-1997 CSC expunged, but I have run into several already. I won’t publish their names but can request the names of their attorneys. Ditto , for the 406. A lot of attorneys say to wait until Does II becomes final, but I’ve encountered several who were removed. I’m not an attorney, but question why your attorney would file suit knowing about Does II and taking your money and knowing that the case would be dismissed. I would bet your attorney will tell you that you can’t get your conviction expunged but I’ve been compiling the names of registrants who have had their convictions expunged after 1997. It’s been a while since I added to this list, but I believe I have the names, addresses and phone numbers for at least three. Let me know if you want to help on this project and I’ll dig up their info. It will be several years before I get to the expungement issue. You have to remember that each issue is incredibly time consuming. I worked in military police investigations in the army. When I investigate something, my investigation is pretty thorough. I count on people sharing their info with me with the confidence that it won’t be revealed. I should be able to at least get you the names of the attorneys. If you want to take on this task, I will ask them if they will speak to you personally. I won’t give you their contact info without their permission.
Asking MSP to remove your name is DOA and a waste of your time. I expected these people to be taken off of the registry when Does I became final and couldn’t believe they only took off the named plaintiffs. But you have to remember that Bill Shuette was AG at the time. I don’t know if the Oliver Group is seeking monetary damages in Does II or not, but hope they are.
If getting off the registry as soon as possible is important to you, I would go ahead with the 406 and develop a good argument to take to the judge. The only thing the judge can do is say “no”. I wouldn’t waste money on attorneys until Does II becomes final. After you are off of the registry, you can see where I am at on the expungement issue. It would help if I knew which county you are in.
Detroit….if FAC is willing to give you my email address I’d be willing to talk to you but I’m not going to share personal info about myself on the forum here. My attorney’s stance on the 406 is simple..state judges are subject to elections and most if not all are NOT going to have releasing or giving relief to a Person forced to register on their record….the request to MSP was part of the process to establish the paper trail that we were being denied. It was never expected to succeed. As to the class action and not knowing that a personal lawsuit was not allowed there were upwards of 30 individuals/lawyers who also attempted lawsuits and ALL were thrown out except one or two who made slightly different arguments. I was fortunate to be able to withdraw without prejudice so that I can file suit again if Does II or HB 5679 doesn’t go well. My attorney doesn’t do federal court work and the person hired to file that suit on our behalf was fired post haste….
Reach out to membership. They can facilitate if you both agree to exchange info.
Josh:
I spoke to the Oliver Law Group in either 2017 or 2018 concerning a registrant who wanted to relocate to Michigan and tried to get that registrant added as a named plaintiff. The OLG advised me that once this registrant relocated to Michigan that the registrant will automatically be a party to this suit. The OLG could not make a specific determination as to whether this registrant was required to register or not but stated by the facts that I conveyed to them, that he felt the registrant “most likely” was not required to register. He stated that anyone filing suit in any court trying to enforce Does I was wasting their money. He also stated that anyone can petition the court for removal prior to Does II becoming final but felt petitioners would be wasting their money if they hired an attorney. He said the petition for removal could get registrants off of the registry sooner and it was up to each individual registrant to file a petition. He stated that the judge was required to review the facts and the law of the case and if the judge determined that the petitioner was indeed covered under Does I that the judge was required to order the registrant removed from the registry. As to judges being elected, this is irrelevant, judges are obligated to follow the law, you have the right to appeal and the right to file a complaint with the Judicial Tenure Commission against the judge. Your attorney should know these things and if he doesn’t, you have the wrong attorney. Does II was filed to get all of the Does I registrants removed from the registry because AG Shutte’s stance was that each registrant was required to sue individually in order to get themselves removed. The 406 petition seeks the same relief as the lawsuit except that it applies to a single registrant, not the class. I spoke with this person from the OLG 2 or 3 times at great length and he patiently answered all of my questions and this is the information that I have been passing on since. The only question I didn’t think of asking was if they were seeking monetary damages for the constitutional violations.
These lawsuits don’t settle all of the issues, i.e., persons who have a felony conviction after their sex offense will remain on the registry. I have tried to help several persons try to determine if they were required to register or not. The pre-1995 ones are easy if they have no subsequent felony convictions. The others are difficult because it depends on the law at the time of their offense and the law changed several times between 1995 and 2011 and there are several different cases that determine if they are required to register or not. I have spent a lot of time doing research that registrants can do themselves. Most think I have a little book that I simply look up their name and it tells me if they are required to register or not. They don’t appreciate the amount of time it takes to try to figure out if they are required to register or not. And many have lied to me thinking that if they could fool me that they could be removed from the registry. I have looked up several on OTIS where they say they have no other convictions but OTIS shows several. My determination is from a non-attorney and doesn’t hold water in court.
Several have gotten rude and angry with me when I couldn’t make a determination in a timely manner. Some of these people need to be locked up. If you read some of the letters I’ve received, you would agree. And the phone calls are worse. From this experience I have come to the conclusion that if registrants don’t want to do the research themselves or pay an attorney that they are not that interested in getting off of the registry. I am hoping to team up with a decent attorney after I get this project off of the ground and have that attorney make these determinations at a reasonable fee. I also want an attorney at meetings at least once or twice a year to answer questions.
Anyway, I bought a house I will be remodeling into an office next year. If you want to help in this effort or need housing, you can contact me at leonb7056@gmail.com.
Josh:
I got Simple Mobile for the hotspot which is pretty crappy. Sometimes I go hours without hotspot, so it takes me a bit to respond when my hotspot isn’t working.
Attorneys must be admitted to practice in federal court. Attorneys who practice in federal court have a tendency to be of high quality but also more expensive. There are excellent attorneys that do not practice in federal court and you are lucky if you get one. Most seem to be pretty mediocre. The first thing I look for in an attorney is if they practice in federal court. It’s best to pay the higher fee if the issue is important.
Does II is reported widely, not just in legal newspapers. I question the capability of these attorneys when they file these lawsuits without even checking to see if this particular issue is currently being litigated or not. Does II is a widely reported class action that every attorney should be aware of, so there is no reason for them to take someone’s money without checking to see if the issue is already covered under Does II.
I wouldn’t worry about either Does II or pending legislation if I were you. The constitutional issues in Does II were already resolved in Does I. As explained to me, Does II was filed to force Michigan to remove all registrants covered by Does I rather than requiring each one to sue individually for removal. There are no new constitutional issues to be resolved in Does II. With Dana Nessel as AG, I am hoping that Michigan will finally do what they should have done in the first place, remove all registrants affected by Does I. Forcing registrants to sue individually for removal is absolutely assinine. It would cost the state untold millions to respond to each individual lawsuit when they are required to remove them. What’s worse is if registrant’s are eligible for attorney fees (which I think they are in Does II) and monetary damages. Michigan’s stance (thanks to Bill Shutte) has tied up the courts with unnecessary lawsuits that is costing the state millions and I, along with every other Michigan taxpayer, are paying for this. You don’t have to worry about the constitutional issues in Does II. They were already resolved in Does I. You don’t have to worry about any changes to the law in the future if you are not required to register pursuant to Does I, Temelkoski or any of these other state and federal court decisions. And if you’re not removed pursuant to one of these various decisions, rest assured, more lawsuits will be filed. What I am working on is striking at the very heart of the concept of registration. I believe that no government can force any person to “register” for any reason. My goal is to get a court decision finding the very concept of registration unconstitutional.
Nebraska declared it was unconstitutional to require registrants to turn over internet info.
If Michigan passes this there are a few suggestions to counter this.
First, create hundreds of emails. That’ll keep them extremely busy. I have hundreds of internet identifiers I created long ago when Ohio tried that crap.
Second, make emails that arestatements of protest (like abolishtheMIregistry@gmail.com) or offensive (RepLowerEatsBoogers@gmail.com) (Rep. James A Lower is the bill sponsor)
That’s a couple of my suggestions you can try while this gets tied up in the courts.
@Derek…Thank you for the laugh and the advice! Unfortunately, Representative Booger Eater is no longer going to be a representative. He’s apparently going into the private business sector….I have to agree with Detroit though about the internet identifier portion of the bill as being the most vulnerable portion of this bill to attack if/when this passes.
Derek:
Rest assured we are prepared if they try to pass an internet identifier in Michigan. This is the easiest part to find unconstitutional. This won’t pass, and if it does, it won’t last.