Georgia Supreme Court rebuffs sex offender registry challenge

[TalkingDog]

http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/ga-supreme-court-rebuffs-371444.html

The law, said to be one of the toughest in the nation, allows the state to keep a tight leash on child molesters, rapists and other sexual predators after they have served their prison time. But it also requires anyone convicted of kidnapping or false imprisonment of a minor to register as a sex offender regardless if a sexual act was committed.

snip

Writing for a 5-2 majority, Justice Harold Melton rejected arguments that the provision, as applied to Rainer, was cruel and unusual punishment. Sex offender registry laws, Melton wrote, "are regulatory, not punitive, in nature."

"Because the registration requirements themselves do not constitute punishment, it is of no consequence whether or not one has committed an offense that is 'sexual' in nature before being required to register," Melton wrote.

/snip


Next they will decide that if you look at a child while you were committing a crime, you should be put on the Sexual Offenders Registry......

[Goblinmonger]

1. Just from the snippet you give

it looks like they are following the precedent of Smith v. Doe. Regulatory not punitive. With a 5-2 decision I am surprised that they thought this court was a possibility of overturning Smith.

[TalkingDog]

2. Keep Pedos away from kids. But don't blow up my skirt.

This is just a way to hamstring the "element". This guy will never be able to do anything, become anything. If he breaks the protocol and they decide to send him back to jail, what's to stop them.