United States v. Tullie (9th Cir. 2020)
9th Circuit Opinion affirming and vacating in part conditions of supervised release that were imposed by the district court related to treatment and employment subsequent to a conviction for a sex offense.
Commonwealth v. Torsilieri (Pa. 2020)
Pennsylvania Supreme Court opinion vacating trial court opinion finding that Pennsylvania’s sex offense registry violated various constitutional provisions related to punishment and reputation, and remanded for fact-finding on rates of re-offense.
State v. Beam (Mont. 2020)
Montana Supreme Court Opinion reversing the trial court’s decision to revoke a suspended sentence for failing to complete a treatment program in prison when the original sentence did not specify that was a requirement.
United States v. Donk (4th Cir. 2020)
4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirming a condition of supervised release, based on individualized circumstances, prohibiting the Appellant from possessing sexually arousing materials.
United States v. Richards (10th Cir. 2020)
10th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion holding that a defendant’s objection to a polygraph requirement in his supervision conditions on 5th Amendment grounds was premature.
Doe v. Rausch (E.D. Tenn. 2020)
Federal trial court in the Eastern District of Tennessee finding that Tennessee’s SORA could not be applied retroactively without implicating the Ex Post Facto clause.
McCulley v. People (Colo. 2020)
Colorado Supreme Court opinion finding that a deferred judgment does not count as a conviction for the purposes of a prohibition on a petition for removal from Colorado’s sex offense registry for those with more than one conviction for unlawful sexual behavior.
State v. Trujillo (Ariz. 2020)
Arizona Supreme Court opinion holding that Arizona’s sex offense registration statute is non-punitive and that registration could be required even when facts triggering registration were not proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
Bakor v. Barr (8th Cir. 2020)
8th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion finding that criminal sexual conduct and failure to register as a sex offender are both crimes involving moral turpitude for immigration removal purposes.
T.S. v. Pennsylvania State Police (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2020)
Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court opinion holding that Pennsylvania’s post-Muniz sex offense registration law constituted punishment, that thus could not be applied retroactively in the case of someone who committed their offense prior to any sex offense registry law.
State v. R.K. (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. 2020)
New Jersey appellate court finding that blanket social media ban imposed on people on supervised release was unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
United States v. Spivey (4th Cir. 2020)
4th Circuit Court of Appeals holding that venue in a federal failure to register case is proper in the district where the defendant departed from.
Blanke v. Board of Pardons (Utah)
Utah Supreme Court opinion affirming that Appellant’s due process rights were not violated when the parole board required him to complete a sex offender treatment program, where he was convicted of a non-sexual offense requiring registration and made statements in a presentence report indicating that sexual conduct was connected with the offense of conviction.
Selig v. Russell (Mo. Ct. App. 2020)
Missouri Court of Appeals opinion finding that offenses requiring registration under federal law would also require registration under state law, even if they are specifically exempted in the state’s registration statute.
Rogers v. State (Md. 2020)
Maryland Court of Appeals opinion holding that facts which require registration as a sex offender, in light of the punitive nature of registration, must be established beyond a reasonable doubt in the adjudicatory phase of a criminal proceeding.
Krebs v. Graveley (E.D. Wis. 2020)
Federal trial court in Wisconsin dismissing a First Amendment complaint alleging the unconstitutionality of a Wisconsin state law prohibiting name changes for people with past sex offense convictions.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania v. Butler (Pa. 2020)
Pennsylvania Supreme Court opinion affirming the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s ‘sexually violent predator’ designations, which require additional fact-finding beyond a conviction for a sexual offense.
United States v. Herndon (5th Cir. 2020)
5th Circuit Court of Appeals vacating various conditions of supervised release imposing bans on internet access, computer use, and other activities and remanding for re-sentencing.
United States v. Wass (4th Cir. 2020)
4th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion reversing dismissal of federal indictment for failure to register, finding that non-delegation principles were not violated, and that federal SORNA was not puntive.
In re H.D. (N.J. 2020)
New Jersey Supreme Court opinion holding that legislature did intend for minor, non-sexual offenses committed subsequent to a conviction for a sexual offense to forever bar relief for those seeking to be able to deregister.
Laughlin v. United States (E.D. Tenn. 2020)
Federal trial court for the Eastern District of Tennessee denying Petitioner’s heabeas corpus motion to vacate her guilty plea where state of Tennessee required her registration as a sex offender despite federal law not requiring her to do so.
Foley v. State (Tenn. Ct. Crim. App. 2020)
Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals opinion vacating the guilty plea of the Petitioner who pled guilty as a juvenile to an offense that did not require registration at the time of his plea, but subsequently required registration.
McClain v. State (Tex. Ct. App. 2020)
Texas Court of Appeals opinion reversing trial court’s order revoking the supervision of Appellant and imposing a life sentence of imprisonment for failing to register, where the state failed to establish that Appellant knew he had a duty to register in his circumstances and where police interfered with his attempts to comply with the law.
United States v. Arbaugh (4th Cir. 2020)
4th Circuirt Court of Appeals opinion affirming in part a federal sentence for engaging in illicit sexual conduct with a minor in a foreign country, but reversing in part on the grounds that the district court failed to articulate reasons supporting computer-related conditions of supervised release.
Prynne v. Settle (4th Cir. 2021)
4th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion reversing a trial court dismissing Ex Post Facto claims, holding that plaintiff adequately pled Ex Post Facto violations, though affirming the dismissal of other constitutional claims.
United States v. Clark (8th Cir. 2020)
8th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion holding that trial court’s instructions on ‘knowing’ with respect to a federal failure to register offense were not in error and did not require that the jury disregard Appellant’s mistake-of-fact defense.
United States v. Belcher (11th Cir. 2020)
11th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion affirming the district court’s imposition of various computer-related restrictions of supervised release on an individual who was not on supervision for a sex offense, but had a past conviction for a sex offense.
John Doe et al. v. Richard Snyder (E.D. Mich. 2021)
Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan granting permanent injunction, prohibiting in total the enforcement of any of Michigan’s sex offense registration scheme to anyone who had committed their offenses prior to 2011, as well as prohibiting the enforcement of numerous provisions to any persons required to register.
Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (Cal. Ct. App. 3rd 2020)
California Court of Appeal decision finding that California state regulations excluding those convicted of non-violent sex offenses from parole eligibility contradicted plain text of a ballot initiatve, and thus was unlawful.
United States v. Pilcher (2nd Cir. 2020)
2nd Circuit Opinion finding that the denial of the request of a habeas corpus litigant to proceed under a pseudonym is appealable under the collateral order doctrine, but that the trial court properly denied Appellant’s request.