Sex offender registration requirements are not punishment for purposes of the Sixth Amendment. Appellant was convicted of felony false imprisonment and three misdemeanor assaults. The court ordered him to register as a sex offender for the false imprisonment offense, because it specifically found that the false imprisonment was committed and motivated by sexual compulsion or for sexual gratification. On appeal, appellant claimed that the registration requirement violated his Sixth Amendment rights because the facts underlying the court’s order were not submitted to a jury or found beyond a reasonable doubt. The appellate court rejected the argument, finding that the public notification requirement of sex offender registration is not punishment for purposes of the Sixth Amendment.
Case Summaries