Michigan: Court Goofed And Should Reopen Sex Offender Case

LANSING (AP) - The attorney general's office is asking a federal appeals court to reopen a dispute over Michigan's sex-offender registry.

The court recently said Michigan is illegally treating many sex offenders as "moral lepers" by putting additional restrictions on them long after their convictions. But in a new filing, the state says the court overlooked a key decision from 2007 that should have led to a different result.

It's a case about electronic monitoring of sex offenders in Tennessee, a retroactive policy that was upheld by the court. The state admits that its lawyers also overlooked that decision.

In 2006, Michigan lawmakers restricted people from being near schools. More restrictions followed.

Miriam Aukerman of the American Civil Liberties Union says the appeals court rightly found Michigan's registry is "ineffective and unconstitutional."