Sex offender law challenged

A new Nebraska law that seeks to curtail sex offenders’ use of the Internet, including social networking sites such as Facebook, is being challenged in federal court.

A group of sex offenders allege the law violates their constitutional rights on several fronts, including the right to free speech. They also allege it will make it difficult to keep a job because of the restrictions and oversight imposed on their computer use.

The suit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court by Omaha lawyer Stu Dornan, a former Douglas County attorney.

Dornan is representing 20 convicted sex offenders, along with 11 others who are either related to a sex offender or who employ a sex offender. All have asked the court to remain anonymous because they fear public retribution, said Dornan.

They also have asked a judge to stop the new law from going into effect on Jan. 1, pending the outcome of a jury trial. The law was passed in the last legislative session and signed into law by Gov. Dave Heineman.

The lawsuit names all of the state’s county attorneys, county sheriffs, the Nebraska State Patrol and Attorney General Jon Bruning.

Bruning and Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine both said they were confident the law will withstand a legal challenge, saying similar laws have already been reviewed by other federal courts.

“This is a group of people who are obviously very unhappy they are caught, and they’re going to challenge everything,” said Bruning.

Kleine also defended the laws as another tool to protect society against sexual predators.
“These laws have a very important purpose to empower the public to protect their neighbor, their children and their schools,” said Kleine.

The new law was presented in the Nebraska Legislature as a way to stop convicted sex offenders from using technology — including text messages sent from cell phones — to prowl for victims.

Dornan argued, however, that the law went too far.

A Republican, Dornan was appointed Douglas County attorney in 2003, but lost his first effort to win election in 2006 to Kleine, a Democrat.

Dornan also argues that a requirement that the names of all sex offenders be published on the state’s sex offender registry site unfairly lumps all offenders together, regardless of whether they pose a continued threat to society.

Currently, the state uses a system to place a sex offender into one of three categories, depending on the risk he or she poses to reoffend: low, moderate or high risk.

Only high-risk offenders are publicly identified on the state’s sex offender registry.

Under the new law, everyone will be identified, including, for example, a 19-year-old who has been convicted of statutory rape for engaging in consensual sex with a 15-year-old.

“It lumps everybody together. You don’t have the right anymore to present evidence as to whether you’ve rehabilitated yourself, or you are a low risk to reoffend,” said Dornan.

Bruning said the decision to require all people convicted of sexual crimes to be placed on the registry was made to simplify the process. It was also done, he said, to reduce the number of legal challenges filed by offenders who were upset with their risk assessment level.

“We thought it was a fair way to have the risk determined based on the crime, rather than on a psychological review that has been challenged by these very same people,” said Bruning.

The law also requires sex offenders to sign a consent form that allows law enforcement to search any computer or other electronic device that they may use. It also allows law enforcement to place software on sex offenders’ computers to monitor their Internet use.

Dornan said the law would unfairly allow police to search a sex offender’s computer at work or a computer used by other family members at home.

“The question becomes, with this sort of broad law enforcement discretion, who is going to employ them?” Dornan asked.

Kleine argued that a person’s computer at work is already monitored by the person’s employer. “This may create a hardship for some offenders, but that’s not our concern. Our concern is to empower the public with information,” said Kleine.

Finally, the law prohibits sex offenders from logging onto any social networking sites where minors are allowed, such as My Space or Facebook. Dornan argued that violates a person’s right to free speech.

“If the Constitution doesn’t protect all of us, it protects none of us,” said Dornan.

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