人兽性交

Over time, the two became a young couple, going out on movie dates, hanging out with friends at each other鈥檚 houses, and attending school dances together.

Eventually, the high school sweethearts got married, bought a house, and had three children. They鈥檝e been married now for 20 years.

But this otherwise happy love story has a sad twist: When Herbert was 17 and Candi was 15, her mother 鈥� on the advice of her stepfather, who did not approve of the budding relationship 鈥� called police and had Herbert arrested for statutory rape.

Under an extremely restrictive Alabama state law that does not recognize the teen romance, Herbert was tried and convicted 鈥� as an adult 鈥� of second-degree rape because Candi was also a minor.

The arrest led Herbert down a spiral of legal consequences that landed him in prison for over 15 years and forced him to register as a sex offender. His sex offender status prevents him from finding steady employment, caused him to miss his son鈥檚 graduation from basic military training, prevents him from picking up his children from school, and set up a series of other hurdles that make it harder for him and his wife to raise their family. For example, they had to move 45 minutes away from their jobs and other opportunities because of restrictions on how close Herbert can be to places where children are present.

鈥淭hey charged me like I was a rapist or something. I really didn鈥檛 do that,鈥� Herbert said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard to find jobs. It鈥檚 kind of crazy. It鈥檚 like a rope holding me back my whole life.鈥�

It鈥檚 been especially hard for their children, who are now 19, 15 and 12, according to Candi Stevens.

鈥淭hey still don鈥檛 understand why he can鈥檛 come to the school,鈥� she said.

Herbert Stevens is one of the plaintiffs in a lawsuit the 人兽性交 and Juvenile Law Center filed today against Alabama state officials for implementing the Alabama Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification Act (SORNA). The law, which went into effect in July 2011, requires people who have been convicted of sex crimes as adults to register as sex offenders for their entire lives, even if they were children when the offenses were committed. It also gives the plaintiffs virtually no chance of ever being removed from the registry, which blocks them from getting jobs, deprives them of the ability to pick up their kids from school, and heavily restricts where they can live.

The law does not take into account the age of the child at the time of the offense, how youth-based characteristics affect children鈥檚 decision-making, or the child鈥檚 potential for rehabilitation, according to the lawsuit, Pennington v. Taylor.

The suit names Hal Taylor, secretary of Alabama Law Enforcement Agency; John Q. Hamm, director of the state Bureau of Investigation; Charles Ward, director of the state Department of Safety; and Steve Marshall, attorney general of Alabama, as defendants.

By law, children are unable to vote, drive, buy alcohol or purchase cigarettes because they are not psychologically developed enough to understand the consequences of their decisions. But SORNA does not take this into account, doling out the same punishment to children as it does to adults.聽

The lawsuit seeks to invalidate Alabama鈥檚 SORNA law, especially as it applies to children tried as adults, because the law violates constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment and against punishments enacted and enforced long after the crime was committed. Alabama鈥檚 SORNA law also violates the U.S Constitution鈥檚 requirement for due process and equal protection under the law. Further, the lawsuit states that SORNA violates the Alabama Constitution by harming the plaintiffs鈥� rights to reputation because the law unfairly characterizes them as lifelong sex offenders.

鈥淐hildren develop into their best selves when provided guidance, rehabilitation, and support,鈥� said Jonathan Barry-Blocker, staff attorney for the 人兽性交. 鈥淣either they, nor our communities, are best served by the excessive, lifelong punishments designed for mature adults. Therefore, we are challenging this unfair practice of subjecting children tried as adults to Alabama鈥檚 oppressive registration requirements.鈥�

Even though the plaintiffs committed their offenses as children, they are subject to the same employment, residence and family restrictions as adult offenders. The adult restrictions for adolescent behavior are devastating. They limit the plaintiffs鈥� potential for rehabilitation and offer virtually no second chances.

Regardless of the age of the child at the time of the offense or plaintiffs鈥� experiences after incarceration 鈥� including loss of steady employment, social and familial relationships 鈥� they must suffer under SORNA鈥檚 restrictions until they die, even if they do not commit any further offenses.

鈥淭he fact that children are categorically less culpable than adults and less deserving of the harshest punishments our criminal justice system imposes highlights the unfairness of automatic, public, lifetime registration and underscores the devastating cost of that requirement when the law is used to impose an adult consequence against a child,鈥� the lawsuit states.

SORNA requires children convicted as adults under the law to comply with extensive registration and notification requirements. They must appear in person to local law enforcement in each county there they live every three months and pay a registration fee of $10 each time. At each visit, they must provide personal information such as date of birth, Social Security information, address, employer鈥檚 address, telephone numbers, email addresses, fingerprints, palm prints, and even DNA. Their names, addresses, children鈥檚 school addresses, employment addresses, license plates, photographs, physical descriptions and criminal histories are all included on the sex offender website for anyone to see. This denies them the right to be reformed, the lawsuit states.

鈥淭his litigation aims to end the profoundly harmful and unnecessary practice of registering youth as sex offenders,鈥� said Riya Saha Shah, managing director for Juvenile Law Center. 鈥淎labama鈥檚 sex offender registration law offers youth no exit from the registry, which will substantially impede their ability to transition successfully to adulthood and lead productive and fulfilling lives. Lifetime registration, like that imposed on our clients, disrupts an individual鈥檚 ability to work, build relationships, and be present in their children鈥檚 lives outside the home. We are happy to be partnering with the 人兽性交 to challenge this punitive practice.鈥�

Plaintiff聽Randy Pennington was charged with rape in 1984 because he was 16 and had consensual sex with a married girl who was also 16.聽Her husband reported him to law enforcement for rape.聽An appointed attorney urged Pennington to plead guilty to sex abuse in the first degree. He received a three-year sentence and served one year in the county jail, plus two years on probation.聽While incarcerated, he earned his GED and an auto mechanic license.

In 2006, Pennington and his wife purchased a home in Columbiana, a town in Shelby County, Alabama.聽One day, he received a call from the sheriff鈥檚 office informing him that there was a warrant for his arrest for failure to register under SORNA.聽In 2008, he pleaded guilty to the SORNA violation and received three years of probation.聽

His home, however, did not meet the SORNA residence requirements, and the court required him to move within 10 days.聽Forced to move out of his family鈥檚 home, he stayed in his friend鈥檚 camper at a campground in Talladega County, Alabama, while his family remained in the home.

To make matters worse, he was continuously harassed by people living nearby who had read his profile on the sex offender registry. It incorrectly listed him as a 52-year-old man who had sex with a 16-year-old girl 鈥� failing to note that he was 16, too, at the time of the incident.

鈥淎s a teenager, I pled guilty to a three-year charge, and 30 years later I鈥檓 being punished with a life sentence,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 a real good kid at the time, but I was a kid. It turned my whole life upside down. I鈥檓 just trying to make a better life for myself and my family.鈥�

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