In 1993, defendant
pled guilty to second-degree criminal sexual conduct and was sentenced to serve
5 to 15 years in prison. He was paroled in 1999. In 2013, he pled nolo
contendere (no contest) to failing to register under the Sex Offenders
Registration Act (SORA), MCL 28.721 et
seq., conditioned on his ability to challenge the act’s constitutionality. The
Court of Appeals denied leave to appeal for lack of merit in the grounds
presented, with one judge being shown as would grant leave to appeal. The
Supreme Court has ordered oral argument on defendant’s application for leave to
appeal to address: (1) whether the SORA requirements amount to “punishment,”
see People v Earl, 495 Mich 33
(2014), see also Does # 1-5 v Snyder,
834 F3d 696, 703-706 (CA 6, 2016), cert den Snyder
v John Does # 1-5, 138 S Ct 55 (Oct 2, 2017); and (2) whether defendant’s
conviction pursuant to MCL 28.729 for failure to register under SORA is an ex
post facto punishment, where the registry has been made public, and other
requirements enacted, only after defendant committed the listed offense that
required him to register, US Const, art I, § 10; Const 1963, art 1, §
10. Oral argument in this case will be held at the same session as People v Snyder (Docket No. 153696).