Opinion ID: 1702618
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Wisconsin's Registration Legislation

Text: ¶ 19 Wisconsin created a sex offender registry in 1993. See 1993 Wis. Act 98, § 116; Wis. Stat. § 175.45 (1993-94). Initially, the statute required registration only for those convicted of first- or second-degree sexual assault and first- or second-degree sexual assault of a child. Id. ¶ 20 In 1996, Wisconsin expanded sex offender registration by enacting 1995 Wis. Act 440, which created Wis. Stat. § 301.45 and Wis. Stat. § 301.46 (effective June 1, 1997). [12] See 1995 Wis. Act 440, §§ 26-75. The crime of false imprisonment of a minor was one of the offenses added to the sex offender registry in enacting Wis. Stat. § 301.45. See 1995 Wis. Act 440, § 28. This expansion was subsequent to and consistent with federal passage of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act of 1994 (Jacob Wetterling Act). [13] See 42 U.S.C. § 14071 (1994). The Jacob Wetterling Act created a nationwide registry of individuals who were convicted of a criminal offense against a victim who is a minor or who [were] convicted of a sexually violent offense. See id., § 14071(a)(1)(A). [14] Federal funding was conditioned on the states enacting such legislation. See § 14071(g)(1)-(2); State ex rel. Kaminski v. Schwarz, 2001 WI 94, ¶ 53 n. 16, 245 Wis.2d 310, 630 N.W.2d 164 (noting that the Jacob Wetterling Act conditioned federal funding on whether states enacted sex offender registration and notification laws). Consequently, numerous states so acted. [15] ¶ 21 Consistent with the broad scope of crimes included in the Jacob Wetterling Act, Wisconsin law requires automatic registration for defendants convicted of certain sex offenses. See Wis. Stat. § 301.45(1g)(a). Wisconsin's sex offender registration statute broadly defines sex offense to include offenses of a sexual nature against children, certain offenses of a sexual nature that are not dependent on the age of the victim, and certain other offenses without regard to whether they are of a sexual nature, including the offense of false imprisonment if the victim was a minor and the person who committed the violation was not the victim's parent. See Wis. Stat. § 301.45(1d)(b). [16] Despite the fact that the legislature could have required that the crime of false imprisonment of a minor be of a sexual nature, the statute is devoid of any such requirement. [17] ¶ 22 Conversely, the legislature did require a sexual component when it granted the trial courts discretion to order defendants who are convicted of offenses that are not referenced in Wis. Stat. § 301.45 to register if the court determines that the underlying conduct was sexually motivated... and that it would be in the interest of public protection to have the person report. [18] See Wis. Stat. § 973.048(1m). Notably, no such language is present in the Wis. Stat. § 301.45 reference to false imprisonment of a minor. In fact, Wis. Stat. § 973.048(1m) specifically recognizes the existing reporting requirements of Wis. Stat. § 301.45 because it contains the language [e]xcept as provided in sub. (2m). Wisconsin Stat. § 973.048(2m) is the subsection that requires registration for those who are convicted of a sex offense under Wis. Stat. § 301.45. ¶ 23 The legislature was well aware of its ability to carve out exceptions to the registration requirement. The legislature provided for an exception to registration for juvenile offenders who engage in sexual activity as defined by Wis. Stat. § 301.45(1m). [19] Yet, the legislature retained the reporting requirement for Smith, and others like Smith, who committed the crime of false imprisonment of a minor, regardless of whether his crime was of a sexual nature. ¶ 24 By crafting the Wis. Stat. § 301.45(1m) exception, the legislature could have rationally concluded that a juvenile involved in a factually consensual sexual relationship with a child is less of a threat to public safety than someone who would confine or restrain a child without the child's consent. See State v. Joseph E.G., 2001 WI App 29, ¶ 12, 240 Wis.2d 481, 623 N.W.2d 137. In Joseph E.G., fifteen-year-old Joseph challenged the constitutionality of having to register as a sex offender after he was convicted of false imprisonment of another juvenile as a party to the crime. Id., ¶ 3. Joseph and one Eddie Johnson forced a thirteen-year-old girl into the trunk of a car and later humiliated her by ordering her into a lake, throwing gravel at her, slapping her, and forcing her to kiss Johnson's clothed buttocks and suck on his finger. Id. The court of appeals distinguished Joseph's crime from the factual scenario that could relieve a juvenile offender from registration under Wis. Stat. § 301.45(1m). Id., ¶ 12. Subsection 301.45(1m) craft[s] a narrow exception to mandatory registration for sex offenders in cases of factually consensual sexual contact between two minors who, but for the age of the younger child, would have broken no law. Id., ¶ 11. In contrast to the case of sexual contact between two consenting minors, the crime of false imprisonment is never consensual and never a crime solely because of the age of the victim. Id., ¶ 12. ¶ 25 The legislature opted not to exempt Smith, and others like him, from the registration requirement despite the fact that his crime of false imprisonment of a minor was not of a sexual nature. We must afford deference to the words chosen by the legislature and cannot conclude that requiring registration of such offenders is not rationally related to a legitimate government interest.