Juvenile Sex Offenders Removed From Sex Offender Registry For Ex Post Facto Violations
This past year three GRL clients who were adjudicated of sex offenses in juvenile court have been granted reprieve from the sex offender registry based upon a novel argument – that the imposition of a lifetime registration violates the prohibition against ex post facto laws. You may be wondering what does ex post facto mean? Both the United States Constitution and the Iowa Constitution prohibit enforcement of a penalty that was not in effect at the time the crime was committed. To fully understand the argument that was made for these clients, a bit of a history lesson is required. […]
