Tuesday, July 03, 2012
(graphic: Center for Constitutional Rights)
Four prostitutes are suing the state of Louisiana for requiring them to register as sex offenders because they provided oral or anal sex to clients.
Under Louisiana law, prostitutes found guilty of only offering intercourse are not considered sex offenders, nor are those who sold oral or anal sex after August 14, 2011.
However, Louisiana's Crimes Against Nature by Solicitation (CANS) law requires people convicted of performing “unnatural acts” for money before August 15, 2011, to register as sex offenders.
The state legislature twice amended the law, including doing away with the sex offender registration requirement for oral or anal sex. But lawmakers failed to apply the changes retroactively.
Because of this omission, the four plaintiffs—all convicted before August 2011—were still required to register. They want the court to expunge all records regarding the sex offender registry.
According to their lawsuit, there are more than 480 individuals statewide who must register as a sex offender because of a CANS conviction.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
To Learn More:
Class Challenges 'Crimes Against Nature' Law (by Peyton Burgess, Courthouse News Service)
Doe v. James Caldwell (U.S. District Court, Eastern Louisiana) (pdf)
Louisiana’s Crime Against Nature Law: A Modern-Day Scarlet Letter (Center for Constitutional Rights)
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