The Sentencing Law and Policy blog reports that the U.S. Department of Justice is asking the Supreme Court to not review the Sixth Circuit Court’s decision in Does v. Snyder, which found provisions of Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Act unconstitutional. Michigan has appealed the Sixth Circuit Court’s decision.
As reported in this post from last summer, a Sixth Circuit panel concluded in Does v. Snyder, No. 15-1536 (6th Cir. Aug. 25, 2016)…that Michigan’s amendments to its Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA) “imposes punishment” and thus the state violates the US Constitution when applying these SORA provisions retroactively. Michigan appealed this decision to the US Supreme Court, and SCOTUS in March asked for the US Acting Solicitor General to express its views on the case.
Yesterday, the Acting SG filed this brief with SCOTUS stating that in “the view of the United States, the petition for a writ of certiorari should be denied.”
Read the DOJ brief here.
Read the 6th Circuit Court decision here.