On September 9, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled that placing people on the state’s public sex offender registry whose offense was prior to 2011 (when the law establishing the registry took effect) constituted ex post facto punishment and was therefore unconstitutional. This ruling is significant because it frankly acknowledges that the registry is in fact a form of punishment, not merely an administrative mechanism to protect public safety. The result is that 20,000 of Michigan’s 43,000 registrants have been immediately removed from the registry by State Police, and more removals are expected. It has long been known that public sex offense registries are ineffective at deterring sex crimes, most of which are committed by people with no prior history of the offense.
Michigan Removes Half Its Sex Offenders from Registry
