DETROIT (WWJ) - A U.S. District Judge has ruled the Michigan Sex Offenders Registration Act unconstitutional, forcing the legislature to revise it.
The ruling Friday strikes down the Michigan's sex offender registration law for anyone whose offense occurred before April 12, 2011, and substantially curbs it for offenses starting on that date and thereafter.
"Without the 2011 amendments, SORA registrants and law enforcement officials have no guidance for who must register, what events must be reported, where registrants must report, how often registrants must report, or when registrants become eligible for removal from the registry. Michigan law makes clear that SORA cannot be enforced given such glaring omissions," Judge Robert Cleland wrote.
This means, in short, that some people whom the American Civil Liberties Union argued should have been removed from the list at an earlier point may now come off.
“Today’s decision is a win for the public safety of Michigan communities,” said Miriam Aukerman, senior staff attorney for the ACLU of Michigan, in a statement. “The registry is an ineffective and bloated system that makes Michigan communities less safe by making it more difficult for survivors to report abuse, sabotaging people’s efforts to reenter society, and wasting scarce police resources on hyper-technicalities. Today’s decision means that lawmakers must finally do their jobs and pass evidence-based laws that better serve everyone. Michigan families deserve true reform that prioritizes public safety and prevention, not a failed registry.”
If the legislature does not revise the act to meet the constitutional requirements, the state will no longer be able to enforce the law against pre-2011 registrants.
It was not immediatley clear how many listed sex offenders would be affected by the ruling.