As a result of amendments to Michigan’s sex offender registration law, some people who were previously required to register are no longer required to do so. Unfortunately, the Michigan State Police failed to remove some people from the registry after these amendments despite the change in the law. In a terrible miscarriage of justice, Anthony Hart was arrested, convicted of failing to register, and sent to prison for over a year even though he should not have been on the registry in the first place. After the mistake was discovered, he was released from prison, and he sued the State of Michigan for failing to remove him from the registry.
The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled against him, holding that the Michigan State Police could not have foreseen that their failure to remove people from the registry could result in their wrongful conviction and imprisonment. The Michigan Supreme Court granted review of Mr. Hart’s case, and the ACLU of Michigan filed a friend-of-the-court brief on his behalf, detailing the history of the registration law and explaining why it was entirely foreseeable that the state’s errors would lead to wrongful arrests and convictions. Unfortunately, in July 2020 the Michigan Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, thus allowing the Court of Appeals decision to stand.
(Hart v. State of Michigan; ACLU Attorneys Phil Mayor and Dan Korobkin.)