Alabama Sex Offender Law Violates First Amendment

Provisions of the Alabama sex offender law that require a convicted sex offender to have “CRIMINAL SEX OFFENDER” in bold red letters on his identification and that require him to report all internet use violate the First Amendment.

But provisions that apply to where a convicted sex offender lives and works don’t violate due process, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama said Feb. 11.

The Alabama Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification Act is the most comprehensive and debilitating sex offender law in the country, the opinion by Judge William K. Watkins said.

The law needs ...