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2002 Connecticut Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2002)

handle is hein.sag/sagct0021 and id is 1 raw text is: Attorney General's Opinion Attorney General, Richard Blumenthal January 15, 2002 The Honorable Joseph Pellegrino Chief Court Administrator Supreme Court Building 231 Capitol Avenue Hartford, CT 06106 Dear Judge Pellegrino: Your office has asked whether the recent injunction regarding Connecticut's Sexual Offender Registration Act (SORA) issued by the United States District Court of Connecticut, and upheld by the Second Circuit, impedes in any way the implementation of Public Act 01-211, concerning victim notification. That Act requires victim notification of applications for exemption from the Sex Offender Registry or its notification requirements. As set forth more fully below, we conclude that Public Act 01- 211 is enforceable and not affected by the District Court's ruling. In 1998, the Connecticut legislature enacted a broad version of what is commonly known as Megan's Law, currently codified at Conn. Gen. Stat. §§ 54-250 et seq. The law required persons convicted of certain sexual criminal offenses to register with the State of Connecticut Department of Public Safety (DPS). The law also required the Department to maintain a centralized list of sexual offenders and to make that list available to the public both upon request and on an Internet webpage accessible to the public. The law further required individual police departments and State Police Troop offices to maintain a list of persons on the centralized registry who reside locally. In 1999, the legislature enacted certain exemptions to the previously enacted, broadly sweeping law. First, offenders within the family of the victim and offenders 19 and under could apply to be exempt from the registration requirements altogether if the sentencing court found the registration to be unnecessary for public safety. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 54-251 et seq. Also, persons convicted between 1988 and 1998 of enumerated offenses who had never been incarcerated and who had not been convicted of any further crimes requiring registration could apply to be exempt from the dissemination of information required with regard to the registry. Conn. Gen. Stat. § 54-255.