Lifetime Registration for Florida Sex Offenders Isn’t ‘Custody’

Florida’s lifetime registration requirement for sexual offenders isn’t “custody” for purposes of habeas corpus, the Eleventh Circuit ruled.

Petitioner Louis Clements asserted that requiring registration and reporting after he completed his sentence of probation on a charge of lewd or lascivious conduct constitutes illegal custody.

The severity of the restraints that the Florida law imposes don’t rise to the level of custody, the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled on an issue of first impression.

The proper inquiry “is whether Florida’s registration and reporting requirements substantially limit Mr. Clements’ actions or movement,” the court said in an ...