For more than 15 years, the ACLU of Michigan and a long list of plaintiffs fought the state’s Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA). They won again and again, in both federal and state courts. Each time, Michigan responded by passing a new law that looked a lot like the old one. On September 9, the Michigan Supreme Court issued a decision that finally gave real relief to thousands of people.
In People v. Smith, the court held that SORA 2021 cannot be applied retroactively to people whose offenses happened before July 1, 2011. The result was dramatic. News reports say about 20,000 names have been taken off the registry, cutting it roughly in half, from about 43,000 people to about 23,000.
On a recent episode of Registry Matters, hosts Andy and Larry went through the ACLU of Michigan’s frequently asked questions about the ruling. Larry added his own analysis, and as usual it was cautious. This article covers what the decision does, who qualifies, what removed registrants should do now, and why the fight may not be over.
What the Michigan Supreme Court Decided
The central holding is simple. SORA 2021, like SORA 2011 before it, is punishment. Both the U.S. Constitution and the Michigan Constitution forbid ex post facto punishment, which means making a punishment harsher after the conduct already happened. So the state cannot apply SORA 2021 to people whose offenses came before SORA 2011 took effect on July 1, 2011.
A federal district court had already reached the same result in the Does III case. However, that relief was put on hold while the state appealed. The state supreme court’s ruling broke that logjam.
Larry had a pointed message for legislators, government officials, and victim advocates: listen to what the courts keep telling you. Every unconstitutional law that gets passed brings more litigation, more court time, and more taxpayer money spent on the losing side. He estimated that the plaintiffs’ lawyers have recovered somewhere between $3 million and $5 million in fees over the years.
Who Is Covered by the Ruling?
According to the ACLU, you are covered if both of these are true:
- Your registrable offense happened before July 1, 2011, and
- You have not been convicted of another registrable offense since July 1, 2011.
The key date is when the offense happened, not when you were convicted. If your offense happened on or after July 1, 2011, the Michigan State Police (MSP) will not remove you.
The MSP’s own statement says the order applies “regardless of the previous duration of the registration term or the severity of their underlying offense.” That means relief is not limited to lower tiers. It applies to everyone who meets the date criteria.
The ruling does not erase the underlying conviction. That record still exists in court files, police reports, and criminal history databases. What changes is the civil regulatory scheme of registration and everything that comes with it.
“Permanently Removed”? A Word of Caution
The MSP statement says covered individuals will be “permanently removed” and that their information will be “inaccessible to officers and registering authorities” in the law enforcement database. Larry doesn’t buy it.
“No one can guarantee you what will happen in the future,” he said. He also pointed out that law enforcement rarely deletes anything it holds. Andy mentioned recent reporting on Flock license plate cameras, where police data has been kept for long periods and even misused. The public website may be clean, but that doesn’t mean the data is gone.
The court also ruled specifically on SORA 2021. As Larry put it: “What about SORA of 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030? We don’t know.”
What Should You Do If You’ve Been Removed?
You Don’t Need to Apply
No action is needed to be removed. If you believe you qualify and are still listed, contact the MSP registry unit or a criminal defense attorney.
Consider Confirming in Person
The MSP has not formally notified the people it removed, and it doesn’t have everyone’s contact details. For that reason, the ACLU suggests going to the police station where you normally report and confirming that you no longer need to register. As the ACLU puts it, it is safer to confirm than to risk arrest over confusion about your status.
Document Everything
This was the advice Larry liked most. The ACLU recommends that you:
- Write down the date, the place, and what happened when you went to report
- Keep a copy for your records
- Bring a witness if you can
Andy suggested taking a selfie outside the sheriff’s office with GPS metadata turned on. Larry agreed that this was about as good as proof gets, short of bringing a judge along.
Keep Proof of Your Removal
It is still unknown whether the MSP will send confirmation letters. In the meantime, print the MSP’s public statements about the ruling, along with a registry search of your name that shows no result. Larry questioned how much an attorney could add beyond that, but extra caution rarely hurts.
What About Other States and Travel?
Michigan can only control Michigan. Removal from Michigan’s registry does not automatically change your status anywhere else.
The Catch-All Trap
Many states, including Georgia, require anyone who must register in another state to register there too. These provisions exist to stop “state shopping.” Larry warned that people often misread them as working in reverse, as if losing a Michigan obligation automatically ends the obligation elsewhere. It doesn’t. A state can still require you to register based on its own list of offenses.
Larry told a cautionary story. A man convicted in Wisconsin before registration existed applied for a gaming license in Nevada, and Nevada required him to register. He later moved back to Wisconsin, which had since changed its law to require registration from anyone who had an obligation in another state. Moving to escape the registry left him worse off.
Traveling
If you travel, research the destination state’s laws, including how long a visitor can stay before registration is triggered. That said, Larry challenged anyone to find a prosecution of a deregistered person for overstaying by just a few days.
Other Legal Consequences
- Failure-to-register convictions: If your underlying offense was before July 1, 2011, a past FTR conviction may be open to being vacated. Larry thinks the odds are good, because a conviction under an unconstitutional law is void.
- Enhanced sentences: If a prior FTR conviction made a current sentence longer, contact your defense attorney right away.
- GPS tethers: The ruling does not affect tethers imposed as a condition of probation or parole.
Private Websites, Passports, and Damages
Private registry websites may still list you. The ACLU suggests contacting each site and asking for removal, and reporting the site to its web host if it refuses. Larry is doubtful. These sites earn ad revenue, and the underlying conviction information is still true. U.S. law rarely punishes private companies that resell information.
Passport markers under International Megan’s Law: contact the Angel Watch Center to confirm that the marker is no longer required, and expect to pay for a new passport. Foreign governments may already have your information on file.
Refunds or damages: The ACLU is not pursuing this. Larry called it “just shy of unprecedented.” In his view, a state facing such a claim would demand a jury trial, and it is very hard to persuade 12 jurors to hand taxpayer money to someone convicted of a sex offense.
Will Michigan Try to Claw People Back?
This is where Larry’s analysis is at its sharpest. A registry that shrank by half creates huge political pressure. He predicts that victim advocacy groups will highlight the 10 or 15 worst cases among those released and push lawmakers to “fix” what the court did.
Andy read a message from a Republican state representative who said the legislature “can’t override the court decision, but we can revisit the law.” He cited public safety and “fairly high recidivism rates.” Larry’s read: “That doesn’t sound like someone ready to abandon the registry.”
Conclusion: Relief Now, Preparation for Later
For about 20,000 Michiganders, People v. Smith is real, life-changing relief. History suggests the state will not simply give up, though. Larry insists this isn’t doom and gloom. It’s a call to get organized.
He floated one idea: a constitutional registry modeled on Selective Service registration. People would register and keep their information up to date, with no other restrictions. His broader point is about who does the writing. If Michigan is going to create a new registration obligation anyway, would you rather victims and the state write it, or people directly affected by the registry?
Key Takeaways
- Confirm and document. Visit your registering agency, bring a witness, and keep records of your removal.
- Check other states’ laws. Before you travel or move, research every jurisdiction involved.
- Get involved. Connect with advocates and lawmakers, and have a short, clear constitutional registry proposal ready before the next bill arrives.