Doe v. Anderson, 108 A.3d 378 (Me. 2015)
Plaintiff pled guilty to possession of unlawful images in 2003, prior to when Maine law required registration for that offense. Maine law in effect at the time also provided for trial court to impose registration requirements. In subsequent amendments to state law, Plaintiff’s offense became one which required registration. Plaintiff brought suit alleging that requiring him to register would now violate state Ex Post Facto, Due Process, Separation of Powers, and Bill of Attainder provisions. Trial court dismissed, Plaintiff appealed.
Holding: Maine Supreme Judicial Court held that amendments to state law violated Maine Constitution’s prohibitions on Bills of Attainder. SORNA was punitive in effect, was imposed without judicial trial, and may have targeted specific group members. Court then reversed and remanded the case for further proceedings.