OHIO SUPREME COURT RULES RECLASSIFICATION OF SEX OFFENDERS VIOLATES SEPARATION OF POWERS
For Immediate Release
On June 3, 2010, the Ohio Supreme Court issued a 5-1 decision in State v. Bodyke, holding that the reclassification of sex offenders under the Adam Walsh Act violates the constitutiona doctrine of separation of powers. In 2007, the Ohio General Assembly passed the Adam Walsh Act, requiring persons convicted of sexual crimes to register with local authorities. The Act also repealed Ohio’s existing sex offender registration law and required all offenders to be reclassified under the new law. In State v. Bodyke, Justice Maureen O’Connor wrote that the reclassification scheme violated the separation of powers doctrine, which prohibits the legislature from altering final judgments rendered by the judicial branch of government. Citing an appellate court decision written by Judge Diane V. Grendell of the Eleventh District Court of Appeals, Justice O’Connor recognized that the original classification of sex offenders under the old law were final judgments which would be overturned as a practical matter by the application of the new law. This means, as Judge Grendell stated in her opinion, the legislature cannot overturn previous final decisions by a court. This is the separation of powers.
It was noted that “nearly all of the courts of appeals [that] have considered a separation-of-powers challenge … have rejected such a challenge.” Judge Grendell of the Eleventh District Court of Appeals is the only exception.
The court’s decision does not prohibit the classification of sex offenders who were convicted after the Adam Walsh Act went into effect.