Sex Offender Registration Not Unconstitutional According to RI Superior Court

Where a defendant pled nolo in 2006 to a sexual offense,he would have to register as a sex offender under a 2008 amendment of RI statute. The registration does not violate the R.I. Constitution's ex post facto clause, even though the statute was promulgated after the conviction, because the registration is not sufficiently "punitive" to be considered new punishment of which the defendant was not on notice. The R.I. Superior Court so ruled, pursuant to State v. Germane (which recently decided the constitutionality of R.I.'s sex offender registration statute), Doe v. State (Kent Superior Court)(K.M. No. 09-321)(AUGUST 8, 2012). Source: R.I. Lawyer's Weekly 7/27/09.