FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DETROIT, Mich. - The ACLU of Michigan applauds the Michigan Supreme Court’s ruling this week that it is unconstitutional to place people on the state sex-offender registry when they were not convicted of a sexual offense. The ACLU, which has sued the state four times over the registry, filed an amicus curiae (friend-of-the-court) brief in People v. Lymon, arguing that the policy is unconstitutional.
Statement attributable to Miriam Aukerman, ACLU of Michigan senior staff attorney:
This policy is further proof of how the registry is broken and bloated. It is why we have challenged the Sex Offender Registry Act (SORA) in court for more than a decade, with the courts ruling again and again that it is unconstitutional. SORA does not provide for individual review of a person’s case, mandates registration without allowing judges to consider a person’s circumstances and fails to provide paths off the registry for people who successfully reintegrate into the community.
Research has shown that registries are counterproductive and may increase offending because they make it extremely difficult for registrants to obtain a job, find housing, and rejoin their families, sabotaging their efforts to become productive members of the community. Instead of wasting millions of dollars on a failed and bloated registry, Michigan should invest in prevention and support for survivors.
Read the Michigan Supreme Court’s decision here.
Read our amicus brief People v. Lymon below.