Just this week, the California Supreme Court decided not to reverse a previous ruling requiring mandatory lifetime sex offender registration for non-forcible oral copulation with a minor (link).
Just like violent sex crime offenders, those who are convicted of this nonviolent sex crime will continue to be required to register on a public database and aren’t allowed to live near a school or park during their entire lifetimes.
The court split their votes 4-3 to keep in place the former ruling that occurred in January. Retired Justice Marvin Baxter and an appeals justice had been on the state Supreme Court during the original ruling, and their positions have since been filled by Governor Jerry Brown’s appointees: Mariano-Florentino Cuellar and Leondra Kruger. The justices opposed each other, causing the previous ruling to stand. If both new appointees had voted for a rehearing, the case would have been reopened.
It’s been a controversial matter because a January ruling (5-2) reinstated a 1947 California law that a 2006 state Supreme Court ruling (6-1) had decided was discriminatory.
The 2006 state Supreme Court ruling opinion, written by former Justice Joyce Kennard, said that the distinction between the two laws was arbitrary and could have been based on the fact that in 1947, all oral sex, even between consenting adults, was a crime in California.
Justice Kathryn Mickle Merdegar, in a dissent opinion to the January ruling, wrote that the 1947 statute was “a relic of past homophobia and discarded ideas of sexual regulation.” Lawmakers legalized consensual gay sex acts in 1975, making the 1947 ruling seem antiquated to some.
The ruling handed down this week, written by retiring Justice Marvin Baxtar, explained that legislators had legitimate reasons for treating consensual intercourse with a minor less harshly than consensual oral copulation:
Since sex may lead to the conception of a child, he wrote, lawmakers could have been concerned about the impact on children of requiring one of their parents to register as a sex offender for their entire lives.
If you’ve been arrested and charged with a misdemeanor or felony, violent or nonviolent sex crime in California, you’ll need to get the best defense attorney possible. Choose someone who has memorized nearly every detail and nuance in Californian laws, is very familiar with just about all Californian judges, and knows every in-and-out of the Californian court system, since he has been both a prosecutor and defense attorney for many years:
Dan Chambers of the Chambers Law Firm.
Just call 714-760-4088 or email dchambers@clfca.com to set up a free initial consultation today.
