'Sex Offender' ID Card Requirement Unconstitutional, Holds Louisiana Supreme Court

https://www.livelaw.in/foreign-international/sex-offender-id-requirement-unconstitutional-louisiana-supreme-court-164791

'Sex Offender' ID Card Requirement Unconstitutional, Holds Louisiana Supreme Court

By - LIVELAW NEWS NETWORK
Update: 2020-10-21 13:20 GMT

The Louisiana Supreme Court has struck down the statutory requirement of making persons convicted of sex offenses carry an identification card branded with the words "SEX OFFENDER'.

While upholding the Trial Court ruling, the Court (2:1 majority) held that this requirement constitutes compelled speech and does not survive a First Amendment strict scrutiny analysis and therefore unconstitutional.

As per the state regulations, a person convicted of a sex offense has to obtain a special identification card issued by the Department of Public Safety and Corrections which shall contain a restriction code declaring that the holder is a sex offender. This special identification card will include the words "sex offender" in all capital letters which are orange in color. This special identification card is supposed to be carried on the person at all times by the holders. Failure to register and notify as a sex offender is an offence.

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