The Colorado Supreme Court has heard a case arguing that lifetime registration is “cruel and unusual punishment” due to the use of flawed and uncertain assessment tools to predict the likelihood of an individual re-offending and the generally low rate of re-offense in this population. The federal courts, including the Supreme Court in a 2003 decision, have long held that sex offender registration is merely a management tool rather than a form of continuing punishment, but the serious negative impact of registration on finding housing and employment suggests otherwise. In oral arguments, the Colorado justices expressed some skepticism over the non-punitive intent of the law requiring lifetime registration. If the Colorado court rules that registration is punishment, it could pave the way to reconsideration of the issue at the federal level in light of new scholarship.
Colorado Court Considers Whether Sex Offender Registration Is Punishment
