Texas Sex Offender Registry Upheld by Fifth Circuit

The Texas Sex Offender Registration Program, which requires sex offenders to make in person reports and restricts housing options, doesn’t violate the U.S. Constitution by depriving registrants of due process, the Fifth Circuit ruled.

An individual convicted of a sex crime in a trial or plea agreement has received the minimum protections required by due process, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said Dec. 16.

Secondary harms to registrants, such as finding housing, aren’t direct infringements by the state, the court said.

The court also said the program doesn’t violate the Constitution, because it advances the purpose ...