{"id":103802,"date":"2017-09-02T19:22:30","date_gmt":"2017-09-03T01:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/judge-colorado-sex-offender-registry-unconstitutional\/"},"modified":"2017-09-02T19:22:30","modified_gmt":"2017-09-03T01:22:30","slug":"judge-colorado-sex-offender-registry-unconstitutional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/judge-colorado-sex-offender-registry-unconstitutional\/","title":{"rendered":"Judge: Colorado sex offender registry unconstitutional"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"In
In a ruling Thursday, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Matsch said Colorado\u2019s sex offender registry is unconstitutional and subjects offenders to \u201ccruel and unusual punishment.\u201d<\/span>File<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

DENVER \u2013 Colorado\u2019s sex offender registry is unconstitutional, subjecting offenders to \u201ccruel and unusual punishment\u201d by the public and restrictions on their ability to find work or homes long after completing prison or probation and parole sentences, a federal judge has ruled.<\/p>\n

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Matsch ruled Thursday in the case of three offenders who want to remove their information from the registry, the latest example of courts limiting states\u2019 efforts to keep track of offenders.<\/p>\n

Matsch wrote that the registry exposes \u201cthe registrants to punishments inflicted not by the state but by fellow citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ruling has no immediate effect, even for the three offenders named in the case, said their attorney Alison Ruttenberg, but each can use the ruling to ask state judges to remove them from the registry. The decision still could have sweeping implications for Colorado and potentially other states, dependent on how state judges and other officials respond this fall.<\/p>\n

Colorado\u2019s attorney general says she is considering next steps after a federal judge\u2019s ruling that the state\u2019s sex offender registry is unconstitutional.<\/p>\n

Attorney General Cynthia Coffman said Friday that the Colorado Bureau of Investigation will keep operating the registry, which includes names, photos and other information about offenders.<\/p>\n

Coffman says she is \u201ccommitted to having a robust sex offender registry in our state that protects the public.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ruttenberg said Colorado offenders can use Matsch\u2019s decision to ask state judges to remove them from the registry or to defend themselves against charges of failing to register.<\/p>\n

If the state appeals to the 10th Circuit Court but fails to get the order overturned, the case also could be cited in other states, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese people had done everything society asked them to do,\u201d Ruttenberg said. \u201cThey served their sentence, stayed out of trouble and had done nothing else wrong but were being publicly vilified.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Colorado, offenders\u2019 names, addresses, photos and other identifying features are posted on a state website, based on offenders\u2019 registrations with local law enforcement. The offenders\u2019 lawsuit argued that the information makes it difficult for offenders to find jobs and housing. Routine visits by police and fliers posted on doors clearly identify them as registered sex offenders, the lawsuit says.<\/p>\n

Matsch also blasted state judges who denied one offender\u2019s requests to be removed from the registry for \u201cKafka-esque\u201d proceedings that asked the offender to prove that he would not commit another offense and then ruling against him on their \u201csubjective opinions.\u201d The system continues to punish offenders for years after completing a court-ordered sentence, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fear that pervades the public reaction to sex offenses \u2013 particularly as to children \u2013 generates reactions that are cruel and in disregard of any objective assessment of the individual\u2019s actual proclivity to commit new sex offenses,\u201d Match wrote. \u201cThe failure to make any individual assessment is a fundamental flaw in the system.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

no immediate effect<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5736,5735],"tags":[21],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-103802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","category-news","tag-cortez"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=103802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/103802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/103803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=103802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=103802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=103802"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=103802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}