Lawsuit challenges Idaho’s sex offender registry laws

BOISE – More than 100 sex offenders have filed a lawsuit challenging Idaho’s sex offender registry laws, arguing that the rules governing registration and community notification are unconstitutional.

The Idaho Statesman reported that Twin Falls attorney Greg Fuller filed the 73-page lawsuit Thursday in Boise federal court on behalf of the 104 unnamed offenders. Nearly 40 defendants are named, including Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, Idaho Department of Correction Director Kevin Kempf and 21 sheriffs in counties where some of the plaintiffs reside.

Wasden declined to comment on the lawsuit.

The plaintiffs, who were primarily convicted in the 1980s and 1990s, argue that amendments to Idaho’s sex offender registry laws have resulted in retroactive punishment, which is unconstitutional.

Furthermore, the plaintiffs allege that Idaho’s sex offender registry laws violate due process, equal protection and double jeopardy in both the U.S. and Idaho constitutions.

According to the lawsuit, one plaintiff from Bannock County was convicted of a misdemeanor sexual offense in Montana in 1996, but was not required to register as a sex offender inside the state. He moved to Idaho in 2005, and two years later he was told to register as sex offender because Idaho had reclassified his offense as a felony.

A separate plaintiff, from Texas, was convicted of a sexual offense in Jerome County in 1988. His offense was considered aggravated in 2009, which means he must register for life as an aggravated offender in Idaho.

For another plaintiff, who was convicted of a sexual offense in Lemhi County in 1989 and released from state prison in 1993, was informed he must register for life as an aggravated offender in 2013.