We missed this one on the Supreme Court’s pandemic docket — an original writ petition in Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws, Inc. v. California Department of Justice. Of the cases we know about, this was the first filing related to COVID-19. On Thursday, the court denied the petition, suggesting that Governor Gavin Newsom had remedied the problem with an executive order issued more than a month after the petition’s filing.
The petition, filed on April 1, sought to prohibit, “until the threat of COVID-19 ends,” requiring sex offenders to appear in-person for their mandatory periodic registration updates. A May 7 gubernatorial executive order “encouraged” law enforcement “to adopt telephonic, remote, or other procedures for registration and reporting . . . that are consistent with State and local public health guidance regarding physical distancing.”
The Supreme Court’s order states the court is denying the petition “in light of” the executive order.
The petitioner’s executive director said she was “gravely disappointed” in the court’s decision and promised the filing of “additional cases . . . throughout the state.”