Mitchell Hamline School of Law

Sex Offense Litigation and Policy Resource Center

Equal Protection

People v. Magana (Cal. Ct. App. 2022)

Posted: April 12, 2022
California Court of Appeals opinion remanding matter to the trial court for further consideration and noting a likelihood of merit in claim that the trial court's failure to provide Appellant with a full advisement of his right to a jury trial in the context of a civil commitment proceeding pursuant to the Sexually Violent Predator Act violated his right to equal protection under federal and state law.

People v. Magana (Cal. Ct. App. 2022)

Lindsey v. Swearingen (N.D. Fla. 2022)

Posted: March 5, 2022
District Court holding rejecting Full Faith and Credit Clause and Equal Protection arguments and holding, first, that Florida may require a new resident to register as a "sex offender" based on a crime committed in a state where the individual lived previously, even though a court in that state terminated that state's registration requirement and, second, that Florida is not required to purge or deny public access to prior registration records where an individual has left the state.

Lindsey v. Swearingen (N.D. Fla. 2022)

Doe v. Settle (4th Cir. 2022)

Posted: February 4, 2022
Fourth Circuit opinion rejecting Plaintiff-Appellant's Equal Protection and Eighth Amendment claims where a plea to a lesser offense resulted in worse treatment under the registry, holding that differential treatment between the charges of "carnal knowledge" and "indecent liberties" passed rationale basis scrutiny and that Virginia's registry scheme does not violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishment" because it is not punitive.

Doe v. Settle (4th Cir. 2022)

Hope et al. v. Commissioner (7th Cir. 2021)

Posted: August 17, 2021
7th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion holding that Indiana's practice of requiring registration of individuals who committed offenses prior to the enactment of their registration law, but moved to Indiana subsequent to the enactment of the law, does not violate the constitutional right to travel.

Hope et al. v. Commissioner (7th Cir. 2021)

Desper v. Clarke (4th Cir. 2021)

Posted: June 16, 2021
4th Circuit Court of Appeals opinion affirming the lower court dismissal of a lawsuit brought by an individual incarcerated on a sex offense who sued alleging that Department of Corrections Regulations that resulted in him being denied in-person visitation with his minor daughter violated Equal Protection and Due Process.

Desper v. Clarke (4th Cir. 2021)

Stradford v. Secretary Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (3d Cir. 2022)

Posted: February 15, 2021
Third Circuit opinion reversing district court and holding that Pennsylvania's practice of treating people convicted of sex offenses differently than other individuals for the purposes of placement in halfway houses due to community concerns did not violate Equal Protection Clause.

Stradford v. Secretary Pennsylvania Department of Corrections (3d Cir. 2022)

Topics

Jurisdiction

Constitutional Issues

Substantive Issues

Actual Innocence Administrative exhaustion Administrative Procedures Act AEDPA Antisocial Personality Disorder Apprendi / Alleyne As-Applied AWA Burden of Proof Churches Civil Commitment Collateral Estoppel Conditions of Confinement Conditions of Release Daubert Deregistration Evidentiary Standards Expungement Extraterritorial Registration Failure to Register Familial Relationships GPS Halloween Hearsay Heck bar Homelessness Housing HUD Immigration Ineffective Assistance International Travel Internet Identifiers Internet Restrictions Jury Instructions Juvenile Registration Mental disorder Non-Sexual Offense Notification Out-of-state Offense Paraphilia Diagnosis Pardon Parole Personality Disorder Plea Agreement Plethysmograph PLRA Polygraphs Preemption Presence Restrictions Procedural Default PROTECT Act Punishment Qualified Immunity Recidivism Reclassification Res Judicata Residential Banishment Retroactive Application (Non-EPF) Revocation of Supervision Risk School Property Second / Subsequent Offense Sentencing Sexual Predator designation Sign Posting Special Needs Supervised Release SVP Tiering / Classification Tolling Transitional Release Travel Travel Restrictions Treatment Programs Voting Rights