State v. Kinney (Idaho Ct. App. 2018)

State v. Kinney, 417 P.3d 989 (Idaho Ct. App. 2018)

Nature of Case: Appellant was charged with a sex offense and filed motions to dismiss the Indictment prior to trial alleging, inter alia that Idaho’s SORN constituted cruel and unusual punishment. Trial court denied the motion and Appellant was convicted at trial. Appellant asked the trial court to reconsider its ruling, which it refused to do, and Appellant sought review.

Holding: Idaho Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the trial court. Prior precedent binds their interpretation of Idaho SORN as non-punitive, and therefore cannot constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Furthermore, Appellant failed to demonstrate that subsequent amendments to the state law had rendered it punitive, which would thereby allow the Court to depart from the doctrine of stare decisis.