A new state law that took effect today (House Bill 34) requires sex offenders to turn over certain internet information. But a federal judge ruled that a Clearfield man can ignore it until the court determines whether it is constitutional.
The man, identified only as John Doe, filed a suit in U.S. District Court last week saying he already served his time and Utah should not be able to lean on a new law to further punish him for his old crime.
Doe served 13 months in the military corrections system after he was found guilty of carnal knowledge and sodomy of a minor. But Doe said his constitutional rights - protection from unreasonable search and seizure and First Amendment rights to free expression - would be violated if the state forces him to turn over his online information.
Doe said Utah's Legislature is acting as the judiciary, effectively increasing punishments in a "broad and arbitrary" application of a statute, even when the crime that led to his registration requirements was not internet-based. He argued the practice could lead to unlawful convictions due to planted evidence.
Rep. Jim Bird, R-West Jordan, sponsored the new law in question and said he is confident HB 34 will stand up to the challenge and drew a line between the publicly accessible sex-offender registry information and the online information, which in contrast would only be turned over to police.
"What's all the uproar here if the police have the opportunity to find that person quicker?" Bird said. "This is for law-enforcement purposes only."
But Doe feared the state presumes he is guilty of a new crime simply because he was convicted of a sex offense in the past.
"Just because he once committed a crime does not mean he is still committing crimes," the suit says. "The intent here is to rid online communities of those persons who have committed sexual offences."
