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Just hours before the names of all Nebraska sex offenders could have been posted on the Internet, a Sarpy County District Court judge blocked the action so the constitutionality of a new law can be further litigated.
The law, which was to take effect Friday, would have allowed the Nebraska State Patrol to post the names of all registered sex offenders on its Web site, including those at low risk to reoffend.
A group of 20 convicted sex offenders affected by the law has been seeking to have it ruled unconstitutional. On Thursday, less than seven hours before the law was to take effect, District Judge William Zastera issued a temporary order barring the state from enforcing it.
He said the plaintiffs would be irreparably harmed if the public notification occurred before the issue could be fully litigated. He said the temporary order should remain in effect at least until 10 a.m. Monday, when he set a hearing in Sarpy County District Court.
“We’re very pleased with the judge’s order,’’ said Stu Dornan, an Omaha attorney who has been challenging the law. “We’ll be able to litigate this further.’’
The law is being defended by the office of Attorney General Jon Bruning. Allen Forkner, a spokesman for Bruning, said Friday, “We’re confident, in the end, the new law that protects Nebraska’s children is going to be upheld.’’
Current state law only makes public on the State Patrol Web site the names of offenders judged to be at high risk to reoffend. It notifies schools, day care centers and religious and youth organizations of offenders at moderate risk to reoffend.
Under the new law, the names of moderate and low-risk offenders would also be included on the Web site.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Kopf earlier this week handed down a ruling blocking two parts of the new law: one requiring registered sex offenders to consent to searches of their computers and another barring people who have committed sex offenses from using social networking Web sites such as Facebook.
But Kopf declined to suspend the provisions regarding the State Patrol registry.
On Thursday, Dornan’s firm filed the action in Sarpy County District Court on behalf of a Sarpy County man who was convicted of third-degree sexual assault of a child and who is considered at moderate risk to reoffend. Like plaintiffs in the federal case, he is identified only as John Doe.
By the end of the day Thursday, Zastera issued his order.
Dornan said it’s inappropriate for the State Patrol registry to make no distinction, for example, between a violent sex offender and a 19-year-old who had consensual sex with his 15-year-old girlfriend and who would be considered at low risk to reoffend.
“You dilute the whole purpose of the registry by lumping everyone together,’’ Dornan said.
He has made several legal arguments against the registry changes, including the view that they constitute new punishment after the fact for offenders previously sentenced for sex offenses. He said courts in several states have struck down similar laws on that basis.
Contact the writer:
444-1130, henry.cordes@owh.com
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