Appeals court rejects challenge to North Carolina sex offender registration law

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According to the State Bureau of Investigation, New Hanover has 233 registered sex offenders, Brunswick has 267, and Pender has 142. (Courtesy State Bureau of Investigation)

NORTH CAROLINA — Three judges on the Fourth Circuit of Appeals unanimously upheld the constitutionality of North Carolina’s sex offender registry statute against a lawsuit from two organizations based in the state.

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The National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws, headquartered in Raleigh, and its state-affiliate North Carolina for Rational Sexual Offense Laws joined anonymous plaintiffs John Doe 1 and 2 in the case. Plaintiffs first sued in 2017 to challenge amendments in the state’s sex offender registration statute and reduce sex offender restrictions and the length of registration terms. The groups argued state law is excessively punitive and fails to protect public welfare. 

North Carolina’s law prohibits registered offenders from employment in positions supervising or involving children and restricts visitation and residence near areas such as playgrounds or schools. Sex offenders are registered for 30 years but can petition to end registration after 10 years. Severe offenses can be punished with lifetime registration.

Chief Judge Albert Diaz wrote the majority opinion after the court reviewed evidence regarding recidivism rates and limited opportunities for sex offenders. Judges found the requirements are not excessively punitive and provide important public safety benefits.

Attorney General Josh Stein — who is running for governor in 2024 — and three district attorneys, Lorrin Freeman, Sean Boone, and Reece Saunders, represented North Carolina.

“I’m pleased the court has upheld the constitutionality of this law, which protects children and families from people convicted of serious sexual offenses,” Stein said in a Friday press release. “The law was written to keep North Carolinians safe, and I’m proud of the hard work my office put in to defend it.” 

According to the State Bureau of Investigation, New Hanover has 233 registered sex offenders, Brunswick has 267, and Pender has 142.

New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Jerry Brewer told Port City Daily the SBI sends registered sex offenders letters every six months to ensure their address hasn’t changed. He said the sheriff’s department also carries out unannounced verification checks to ensure registered offenders haven’t changed residences.

“It’s an absolutely critical piece of data that we use every day to try to keep sex offenders from reoffending,” Brewer said. 

NHCSO doesn’t have data on the recidivism percentage of local registered sex offenders, Brewer said, but rearrests happen “every single day.” 

The Fourth Circuit and Brewer agreed public registration makes it hard for offenders to find employment and housing or participate in public life. Some criminal justice groups advocate reform of the statute for similar reasons.

“It is a difficult road because a lot of people won’t rent to them,” Brewer said. 

About 20 of New Hanover’s 233 registered offenders are homeless, Brewer added. A NHCSO detective is designated the responsibility to carry out random stops to keep track of their location.

“Let’s say they tell him they’ll be at a patch of woods at the 100 block of Main Street,” he said. “So he’ll make an appointment with them and say: ‘I’m going to come out on Tuesday at this time and you’re going to be there.’ And [the detective] will go out there and take a picture of it, get an address for it, he’ll even get GPS coordinates for it. And all that gets uploaded into a database with the SBI.”

The National Association for Rational Sex Offense Laws cited evidence in the case that almost half of housing in Charlotte, Raleigh, and Greensboro would be off-limits to registrants. 

The Fourth Circuit of Appeals conceded registration “imposes difficult burdens” on registrants’ lives but found sufficient housing opportunities remain.

“This leaves over half of each of these metropolitan areas available, demonstrating that registrants aren’t at all ‘expelled’ from the community,” Judge Diaz wrote.

PCD reached out to National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws and its North Carolina affiliate to ask their views of the appeals court ruling and if they would continue to pursue the case but did not receive a response by press.

National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws founder and chair of the North Carolina affiliate Robin Vander Wall was once a registered offender after serving a six-year sentence in a Virginia prison for soliciting minors on the internet in 2003. Before his arrest, Vander Wall was a professional political consultant for federal and state campaigns, including former Virginia governor Bob McDonnell.

NARSOL has carried out similar cases with affiliate groups throughout the country in recent years. A former political strategist, Vander Wall noted in a 2017 blog post that the North Carolina chapter of the organization has sought to raise its profile with the North Carolina General Assembly. 

Vander Wall was also the director of the Faith and Family Alliance, a now-dissolved political advocacy group formed under the direction of prominent Republican political strategist Ralph Reed. The Faith and Family Alliance includes no financial information in its IRS filings but was a conduit in a 2000 gambling money-laundering scandal that contributed to the conviction of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff on corruption charges. Vander Wall told the Washington Post he was unaware of the purpose of the scheme and was “operating as a shell.”

Reed directed Vander Wall to transfer money originating with Abramoff to his consulting firm Century Strategies. Reed is now chair of the Faith and Freedom Foundation, which plans to spend $62 million to increase evangelical turnout in the 2024 election. Its North-Carolina affiliate will host the state’s largest faith-based conference in September.

Paul Dubbeling is general counsel for the National Association for Rational Sex Offense Laws. He represented the group in previous cases against North Carolina’s sex registry statute, including a separate 2022 case against Stein. Dubbeling argued the state denies due process to offenders who were registered out-of-state but placed on North Carolina’s registry after changing residences. A District Court ruled in Dubbeling’s favor, but the case was rendered moot after the General Assembly amended state statute.

Dubbeling was formerly a clerk for then-Appeals Court Judge Neil Gorsuch and served as a military attorney for Fort Liberty (formerly known as Fort Bragg) from 2005-2011.

Fort Liberty personnel have faced a number of child sexual abuse, rape, and sex trafficking cases in recent years. According to SBI data, there are over 240 registered sex offenders within 5 miles of the Fayetteville military base.

According to SBI data, there are over 240 registered sex offenders within 5 miles of an area of the Fayetteville military site. (Courtesy State Bureau of Investigation)

Tips or comments? Email journalist Peter Castagno at peter@localdailymedia.com.

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