State SORA Held Unconstitutional for HYTA Graduate

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On January 24, in the case of People of the State of Michigan v Boban Temelkoski, the Michigan Supreme Court held the state’s sex offender registration scheme unconstitutional on due process grounds.  Temelkoski had pleaded guilty under the Holmes Youthful Trainee Act with the expectation that no collateral consequences would attach to the disposition if he successfully completed its conditions.  The Court emphasized, "The statute in effect at the time of defendant’s plea further provided that “[a]n assignment of an individual to the status of youthful trainee as provided in this chapter is not a conviction for a crime, and the individual assigned to the status of youthful trainee shall not suffer a civil disability or loss of right or privilege following his or her release from that status because of his or her assignment as a youthful trainee.”  However, several years later a registration requirement was enacted and applied retroactively to his case.  Because the court decided Temelkoski’s case on due process grounds, it did not need to address arguments that application of the registration statute to him constituted constitutionally impermissible punishment under the ex post facto clause.  However, the court did state that “It is undisputed that registration under SORA constitutes a civil disability.”  Therefore, the Court reversed the Court of Appeals and reinstated Judge James Chylinski's order removing Temelkoski from the sex offender registry.

 Cheryl Carpenter represented Temelkoski in the trial court and the appeal was handled by David Herskovic.  Justices Wilder and Zahra dissented. 

 An analysis of the Temelkoski decision by Asli Bashir, a 2017 graduate of Yale Law School, can be found here.

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