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March 30, 2005
25 years too long for failure to register
As first noted by Appellate Law & Practice here, a California intermediate appellate court in People v. Carmony, No. C038802 (Cal. App. 3d Dist. Mar. 25, 2005) (available here) has found unconstitutional a three-strikes sentence of 25-years-to-life for the "technical violation" of a sex offender failing to update his registration within 5 days of his birthday. The Carmony court called the defendant's failure to re-register "completely harmless and no worse than a breach of an overtime parking ordinance," and it concluded that this application of three strikes to the sex offender registration law violates the federal Eighth Amendment prohibition on "cruel and unusual punishments," as well as California's constitutional prohibition on "cruel or unusual punishment."
The extended Carmony opinion provides a useful primer on both California's three-strikes law and modern Eighth Amendment analysis. It also brings to mind this recent post about the development of state constitutional law, and post here and here about sex offender sentencing. Of course, this is the type of non-violent case that, I believe, would no longer have been subject to California's three-strikes law if last year's amendment to the law had been approved by votes in Proposition 66 (see discussion here and here).
March 30, 2005 at 09:44 AM | Permalink
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Comments
I am a student studying at the Lincoln Law School in Sacramento, Ca. I had a question about sex offenders in California who move to a foreign country who doesn't recognize sex offender registration laws of California. My question is if a registered California sex offender moved to a country possessing no such law of registration after obtaining an okay to move, could the state of California issue a warrant of non-compliance to register if the offender no longer resides in the U.S.? No one seems to have a clue. Do you?
Posted by: Craig | Jun 24, 2005 1:01:32 AM
Megans Law in California is Unfair!!
Unfair to those of us who are FORCED
to REGISTER as OFFENDER every
single year for the rest of out life?
for 1944 MISDEMEANOR convictions?
The pasadena police refuse to register
manditory registrations ON TIME
now many of us are facing PRISON TIME
for a 30 year old MISDEMEANOR CONVICTION!!
this is totally unfair !!!!!!!!!!!!!
back in the early 1970s i was railroaded into
a false arrest wrongful misdemeanor past conviction
in los angeles county california
in fear for my life or JAILFORCEDRAPE i was
forced to take a guilty plea i was ionnocent!!
in 1996 the state of california made all former
sex convictions from check this out 1944 on to
have to REGISTER at the POLICE / SHERIFFS
stations every year on thier birthday !!!
on or about the year 2003 they finally caught up
with me and i did not know what was going on at
all!!
suddenly i was ARRESTED in rough hard HANDCUFFS
and on my way back to JAIL for failing to REGISTER
form that point on i am FORCED once every year to
go to the pasadena police station only to get
DELAYED and put off and told to go away even
after repeat APPOINTMENTS i am told everytime ...
''the lady who does that is not here'' !!!
and so what usually happens is my regestration s
are always LATE ''the pasadena police''
this last time i was ARRESTED and BOOKED for not
registering HELL I WAS TURNED AWAY FIVE TIMES !!
finally after 4 weeks i finally got to tha' LADY
now i face court AGAIN for something i did not do
back in he early 1970s !!!!!!!!!
WHERE IS THE JUSTICE HERE !! none for black men !!
and none for me !!
i may have to leave california when i become a old
man i do not want to have to do this forever!!
the state of california megans law is wrong!!
it must be reformed completely !!
i have never been charged or even accused of any
nothing like this ever since the 1970s
and i did not do what they said i did then !!
WHY AM I A FORCED REGISTER NOW?
Posted by: yaya | Mar 12, 2006 5:26:14 AM
As a high school teacher, I am familiar with a pending case between two students. The girl is accusing the boy -who was then 17 - of raping her. There are many details which lead everyone but the girl's mother to believe that the accusation is false. I am curious about what kind of sentence this boy, with no priors of any kind, could expect to receive in California.
Posted by: Emily Hanchett | Nov 1, 2006 9:54:30 PM
Posted by: | Oct 14, 2008 8:23:38 AM
ok say the sex offinder gets out after getting in trouble for a 17 year old girl.than registures at a family members house and lives some where else for two years geta arested cops find out and there was a school behind this apartments what happens to him by law?
Posted by: chloe | Mar 4, 2010 10:18:27 PM
