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SACRAMENTO--A federal judge is allowing registered sex offenders to temporarily keep their internet account information private. This even though 81-percent of California voters approved Proposition 35 which requires that those registrants submit that information to the police.
Two civil liberties groups filed the lawsuit claiming a provision in the new law is a violation of the first amendment.
Just days after voters approved Proposition 35 which increases penalties on human trafficking, the American Civil Liberties Union and an online-freedom group called Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a lawsuit to have a provision in the measure blocked.
The provision includes requiring the email addresses and user names of registered sex offenders be turned over to police within 24 hours after a new internet account has been established, even if it's an account with Amazon or the L.A. Times.
The ACLU attorney litigating the case claims only a tiny fraction of the state's 73-thousand registered sex offenders have committed an offense against a child, or through the internet. The attorney said there is a constitutional right to anonymous free speech and said the provision in Prop 35 denies California's registered sex offenders that right.
