A bill that President Obama signed into law
on Monday requires that passports used by registered sex offenders
carry a "conspicuous" mark to ensure the bearers are properly
scrutinized, shunned, harassed, and stigmatized wherever they might
travel.
A federal lawsuit filed yesterday in San Francisco argues that the so-called International Megan's Law
(IML), which passed both houses of Congress on voice votes without any
real debate, violates the First Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, and the
Ex Post Facto Clause.
Article here.
Just so you know: the Ex Post Facto clause is in Article I Section 9 of the Constitution, which says that Congress can't increase the penalty on something when someone has already been sentenced to it. Or to use the Wikipedia definition, a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences (or status) of actions that were committed, or relationships that existed, before the enactment of the law.
ReplyDeleteFor example, let's say it's a federal crime to get a DUI conviction, with a penalty of 1 year in prison. You're sentenced under that law, and then Congress changes the law to 3 years in prison. You have an Ex Post Facto violation. It also applies to the States under Article I, Section 10.