20,000 sex offenders removed from Michigan registry following Supreme Court ruling

More than 20,000 sex offenders have been removed from the Michigan registry after the state Supreme Court ruled the latest law enacted to maintain the system is unconstitutional.

Last Wednesday, Sept. 9, the court handed down its decision in the case of Eddie Lee Smith.

In 2010, he was charged and pleaded no contest in Kent County to a count each of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the first and second degrees.

He was ordered by the Kent County Circuit Court to register as a sex offender for life. In the years since, the legislature amended the Sex Offender Registry Act in 2011 and 2021.

Smith ultimately challenged his continued registration, and the Supreme Court found in his favor.

The justices found that the changes to the registry since Smith’s conviction amounted to new punishments for crimes after the fact, which were prohibited under a previous ruling.

The high court’s decision set a precedent and meant every offender on the registry that had committed a crime before July 1, 2011 could not be forced to comply with the rules enacted in the two revisions.

The Michigan State Police (MSP) maintains the registry and released a statement Friday confirming it is complying with the court’s ruling.

As of Friday, Sept. 11, the department has removed more than 20,000 offenders from the registry.

As the review process continues, those numbers could change, MSP said.

At the time of the order, approximately 43,000 offenders were actively registered or required to be registered.

“The MSP did not make this change to the law,” MSP Director Col. James F. Grady II said. “However, the department maintains the database, is required to comply with the Court’s order and is taking the necessary steps to implement the ruling. Any concerns about or efforts to change the law should be directed to the state Legislature.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan filed a brief in support of Smith’s case, maintaining the sex offender registry in Michigan is a broken system.

“Michigan communities, Michigan families deserve better than this failed counterproductive system,” Miriam Aukerman, the union’s director of strategic litigation said. “We need to hold people accountable, we need to support survivors, and we need need to protect public safety by making it possible for people to reintegrate into the community.”

Aukerman said the state should take the millions of dollars that have been spent on the current system and invest it in supporting survivors and testing rape kits.

“Making sure that we are actually doing what we need to do to keep our communities safe rather than perpetuating a failed counterproductive non-constitutional registry,” she said.

DETAILS: https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/20000-sex-offenders-removed-from-michigan-registry-following-supreme-court-ruling-eddie-lee-smith-kent-county-state-police-civil-liberties-union
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Written by UpNorthLive