AUSTIN, Texas (AP) – The Texas Supreme Court will consider a challenge to the state’s retroactive sex offender laws that some say unfairly stack new punishments on those convicted in plea deals.
An Austin-American Statesman analysis of the Texas registry found that more than 2,800 sex offenders remain on the list despite being no longer required to register under terms of their probation.
Every qualifying sex offender was ordered onto the registry in 2005 after Texas expanded its sex offense laws. But that included some defendants who were promised in deals with prosecutors that they wouldn’t have to be on the list after a certain amount of time.
In a lawsuit before the Supreme Court, San Antonio attorney Angela Moore argues that undoing plea bargains makes the agreements worthless.
Texas Department of Public Safety attorneys warn the lawsuit could relieve many “other sex offenders of their duty to register.”
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Information from: Austin American-Statesman, http://www.statesman.com
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