Tennessee and Ex Post Facto II
Recent case wins in the Federal 6th Circuit Court against the retroactive application of the Tennessee sex offense registration requirements have led some newspapers in the state to write of dismay. The worry is that the State will spend monies to defend itself against thousands seeking relief from the over-reach of the application of law. Long the beacons of shining light on injustice and hailing the restoration of justice, it is odd to see newspapers instead focus on bean counting.
The issues have long been known to people forced to register. The registry started as a simple and mostly discreet tool for managing very select information. It required little action by the individual on the registry with non-compliance consequences equally minimal.
In Reid v Lee, the 6th District Federal Court notes: “In the ensuing decades, however, the Tennessee General Assembly repeatedly returned to the sexual offender registration statutes to change whom they reached, what they required, and how much protection they offered to registered offenders’ privacy.”
In Does v Snyder (2016 Michigan), the same court had even stated that what “began in 1994 as a non-public registry maintained solely for law enforcement use” but “ha[d] grown into a byzantine code (overly complex) governing in minute detail the lives of the state’s sex offenders.”
There is the problem at hand. Today’s registry has no resemblance in substance, purpose, or consequence in the event of a failure to report timely, accurately, or often to the registry examined in the 2003 case Smith v Doe by the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS). That ruling defined all registries as civil and non-punitive in nature which has resulted in legislatures enacting more requirements, more punishments in the event of a failure to comply, and more retroactivity.
No citizen on the registry in this country correlates the ruling in Smith v Doe with any aspect of their life on the registry today. It is particularly unrecognizable for those whose convictions pre-date the changes that made the registry what it is today.
The rulings in the 6th Circuit reflect the type of reasoning needed for the Nov. 13 hearing for the Ex Post Facto II Lawsuit in Tallahassee. It may take several wins for Florida to achieve similar justice, but that makes the support in each of those cases so critical.
So the government and apparently civilians can pose as minors and cause criminal charges against unsuspecting individuals, in some case against minors themselves no doubt. I am absolutely certain these people inadvertently reach out to young people thinking they may be predators. There good intentions should be no more of a defense than anyone on the registry was provided, in many circumstances the offenders were minors themselves. Here is a recent sting conducted by a civilian vigilante group. IMO they should be investigated and charged with soliciting a minor if they inadvertently contacted just ONE minor in their searches, which with absolute certainty they have. As well, if it is a group of people and someone is organizing the whole thing, and they are communicating instructions to one another they are communicating lewd instructions to someone posing as a minor. This should have the same effect on them as it would have on their unsuspecting targets, even though they know the age of the person posing as a minor it is not a legitimate defense to the crime of soliciting a minor. As well. if any of their children have unprotected cell phones, then they should all be charged with providing pornographic material. The internet is the envelope, its as simple as opening up a website/envelope. Make them all register as sex offenders and let them see how they like it.
https://original.newsbreak.com/@cyndi-lenz-1696947/3304393715542-predator-poachers-child-sex-sting-leads-to-arrest-of-port-st-lucie-man
Does anyone have any idea how our case went for Does bs Swearingen in northern district in Tallahassee? I haven’t heard anything.
We are still waiting on the attorney to tell us what is okay to post. We do not want to post anything that could jeopardize our case.
Yes Please do not do that. LOL. We are praying for a Christmas Miracle.
Thank you for the update! That makes perfect sense.
In other words, the case is still on going?
Will the court case tomorrow be televised or on audio of some sort?
Never forget the Fifth and Sixth Amendments. You can invoke your rights to remain silent and to have an attorney present during any questioning by LE. When LE has done address verifications in the past and I haven’t been home, they’ve sometimes asked where I was. I always ask them if I am in custody and that I want a lawyer appointed for all questions. Thus has always ended the interrogating about my travels.
@Just saying
The deputy who comes to my house places a flyer on the door if I am not home when he comes. It can be seen from the street. One time when I was not home 3 times in a row, he left his card stating I would be in big trouble if I was not home the next time he came by.
Every cop is different. Some just want to do their jobs with as little hassle as possible. Others are zealots.
Good luck and God’s speed next week to all our Patriots fighting for freedom. I pray God finds favor in your speech and moves on Judge Hinkle to rule favorably.
I also read the ruling in the motion to dismiss and it looks like the Travel language and the Day language is what survived. These would be big wins.
Lastly was thinking of writing some senators to come up with a bill that would allow all changes and travel to submitted via the web portal.
I welcome all thoughts and corrections
Settling for web travel registration might be a setback for thousands of registrants who remain internet restricted. And there’s no evidence that travel registration contributes to community safety or that such surveillance is worth the cost.
Tearful Eagle is right that a favorable ruling (or even an unfavorable one) will likely spur lawmakers to act, and we will need to be ready. We’ll just need to have a consistent message.
Look I am not saying we should have any travel reporting, heck for those before the registration law , we should not have to do anything and those before 2014 should only have what was in effect at the time and same with those before 2018. And no one should be on for life. I
What I am saying is that if we do still have to report travel and since we do have to report changes in vehicles owned; if we have computer access we should be able to take care of it through the portal.
Also we know the legislature is going to come up with some new stuff why not ask for something that would make it easier on us. I do believe that FDLE was wanting this as well at least the vehicle reporting
Happy Sunday!
@Tearfuleagle
When I was on house arrest, I had to fill out a sheet every single week with every move I made. Going to church, work, gas station, grocery store, the bank, all had to be reported. Any deviation from that could cause a violation.
I fear eventually, as they push the limits to what they can get away with, we are headed in that direction. Heck while I was on probation, it was the probation officer who approved where you lived and I was never denied any place I chose. Yes some of the neighbors did not like me living there but I proved to them they would move before I did as I am a pretty resilient person.
There is a neighborhood about 10 miles from me where a guy bought an entire street (Over the course of a few years) and only rented to registered people. As more and more registrants moved it, it got easier to buy and even got some of them cheaper as the prices dropped off.
Not sure if he still does it, but there use to be a guy who would take an entire van load of registrants to register.
I understand the whole probation thing I did 2 years 23 days and 8 hours between county and state plus 9 years 11 months and 13 days on probation. I got off early 1 month 10 days and not for lack of trying. I went back at my five year mark and was denied and it was due to actions of John C.
However my comment above is really geared toward 1. Being prepared with a TI and 2. we always oppose bills why not ask our legislators to enact one that allow us to list Travel if we still have to after Judge Hinkle’s ruling and allow us to list changes in vehicles to avoid trips to the office.
I don’t believe Florida’s registry has a whole we be ruled ex post facto until we get 1 or 2 more circuits to join the 6th. At that point I think SCOTUS will have to revisit the second generation add On’s.