By Larry . . . The case of The People of the State of Michigan v. Paul Betts is an awesome win for our cause. The Michigan Supreme Court was asked to decide whether the retroactive application of Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA), MCL 28.721 et seq., as amended by 2011 PA 17 and 18 (the 2011 SORA), violates state and…
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By Beth LaBlanc . . . Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Tuesday signed a bill that would eliminate school safety zones and certain appearance requirements in Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Act. The changes, made to comply with federal court orders that called the current law unenforceable, were among 80 bills passed by the Legislature during its lame duck session and signed by Whitmer…
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By William Buhl, J.J. Prescott, and Miriam Aukerman . . . In early 2012, more than eight years ago, five people challenged Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA) in court, arguing that the registry branded them as dangerous “sex offenders” without any individual review. One was a man — we’ll call him John — who met a woman at a club open only to those…
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