Opinion ID: 716733
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Ex Post Facto, Bill of Attainder, and Double Jeopardy

Text: Challenges 39 Artway contends that Megan's Law imposes unconstitutional punishment under the Ex Post Facto, Bill of Attainder, and Double Jeopardy Clauses. Under the Ex Post Facto Clause, the government may not apply a law retroactively that inflicts a greater punishment, than the law annexed to the crime, when committed. Calder v. Bull, 3 U.S. (3 Dall.) 386, 390, 1 L.Ed. 648 (1798). Under the Bill of Attainder Clause, legislatures are forbidden to engage in [l]egislative acts, no matter what their form, that apply either to named individuals or to easily ascertainable members of a group in such a way as to inflict punishment on them without a judicial trial. United States v. Brown, 381 U.S. 437, 448-49, 85 S.Ct. 1707, 1715, 14 L.Ed.2d 484 (1965). Finally, the Double Jeopardy Clause prohibits, inter alia, a second prosecution for the same offense after conviction ... and multiple punishments for the same offense. United States v. Halper, 490 U.S. 435, 440, 109 S.Ct. 1892, 1897, 104 L.Ed.2d 487 (1989). 40 The crux of Artway's argument is that Megan's Law imposes unconstitutional punishment. In analyzing the ripeness of these challenges, we must carefully distinguish between the registration and notification provisions of Megan's Law. We shall not, however, distinguish among the Ex Post Facto, Bill of Attainder, and Double Jeopardy Clauses; their differences with respect to the requisites of punishment, if any, are not relevant here.
41 The first factor for determining ripeness is the hardship of denying review. Abbott Labs., 387 U.S. at 149, 87 S.Ct. at 1515-16. The district court considered this factor, but failed to distinguish between the registration and notification aspects of Megan's Law. The hardship factor inquires whether the threat of prosecution is credible, and not merely speculative, so as to be concrete for purposes of Article III. See Babbitt v. United Farm Workers Nat'l Union, 442 U.S. 289, 298, 99 S.Ct. 2301, 2308-09, 60 L.Ed.2d 895 (1979). Although preenforcement review is the exception rather than the rule, [w]hen the plaintiff has alleged an intention to engage in a course of conduct arguably affected with a constitutional interest, but proscribed by a statute, and there exists a credible threat of prosecution thereunder, he should not be required to await and undergo a criminal prosecution as the sole means of seeking relief. Id. (internal quotations omitted); accord Steffel v. Thompson, 415 U.S. 452, 459, 94 S.Ct. 1209, 1216, 39 L.Ed.2d 505 (1974) ([I]t is not necessary that petitioner first expose himself to actual arrest or prosecution to be entitled to challenge a statute he claims deters the exercise of his constitutional rights.); Abbott Labs., 387 U.S. at 154, 87 S.Ct. at 1518-19 (holding a business's challenge to a labeling statute ripe even though the company had not been threatened specifically with prosecution). 42 This Court has afforded review even when the state has taken no active measures toward prosecution. For example, in Presbytery of Orthodox Presbyterian Church v. Florio, 40 F.3d 1454 (3d Cir.1994), we held that a church pastor's preenforcement challenge to New Jersey's anti-discrimination law was ripe for adjudication when the pastor had announced his intention to speak against homosexuality even though the government had not actually threatened to prosecute. That the state would not disavow the possibility of prosecution for activities outside the church was enough to make the threat real and substantial. Id. at 1468. 43 On the other hand, [m]any cases deny ripeness on the straight-forward ground that the anticipated events and injury are simply too remote and uncertain to justify present adjudication. 13A Charles A. Wright et al., Federal Practice and Procedure § 3532.2, at 138 (1984). A substantial contingency is the classic impediment to a preenforcement challenge. For example, in New Hanover Township v. United States Army Corps of Engineers, 992 F.2d 470, 473 (3d Cir.1993), we held that a challenge to construction of a municipal waste landfill was unripe because the state had not yet granted a necessary water quality certificate. Although the Army Corps of Engineers had granted another permit that the plaintiffs sought to challenge, we explained, construction of the landfill still could not commence: [T]he effects of the Corps' deciding that [the project] may proceed ... will not be felt in a concrete way unless and until the [state] grants [the project] a water quality certificate. Id.; see also Acierno v. Mitchell, 6 F.3d 970, 975-77 (3d Cir.1993) (holding challenge to zoning decision unripe when review board had not yet made final decision); Wilmington Firefighters Local 1590 v. City of Wilmington, Fire Dept., 824 F.2d 262, 266 (3d Cir.1987) (holding challenge to yet uncreated promotion lists unripe because they were purely a matter of conjecture). 44 Artway urges that both the registration and notification components of Megan's Law constitute unconstitutional punishment under the Ex Post Facto, Double Jeopardy, and Bill of Attainder Clauses. Artway's challenge to the registration provisions of Megan's Law satisfies the hardship prong. Like the petitioners in Babbitt, Steffel, Abbott Labs. and Florio, he faces the decision of complying with a putatively invalid law or suffering prosecution. Registration presents no contingency for Artway. If he resides in New Jersey, he must provide certain information to local law enforcement. And the high profile of Megan's Law, and Artway's case in particular, virtually assures that Artway will be prosecuted if he engages in his allegedly protected conduct: returning to New Jersey without registering. In fact, the Attorney General assured the district court at oral argument that she would prosecute Artway if he failed to register. See Artway v. Attorney General, 876 F.Supp. 666, 670 n. 4 (D.N.J.1995). Under these circumstances, the threat of prosecution Artway faces satisfies any test of the Supreme Court and of this Court: these threats are credible, real, and substantial. 45 In sharp contrast, Artway's challenge to the notification provisions of Megan's Law fails this prong. Unlike registration, notification involves a crucial contingency: only if, after registering, Artway is classified as a moderate or high risk of re-offense will he face notification. This classification hinges on a New Jersey prosecutor's future decision to be reached after applying the Attorney General's Registrant Risk Assessment Scale. See supra page 1244. The State prosecutor, possessing the pertinent information not present in this record, scores these thirteen categories for different levels of risk, employing the corresponding eleven pages of guidelines. The prosecutor then multiplies by differing coefficients, tabulates the data for a risk assessment score, and considers whether exceptions apply. 46 As in New Hanover Township, Acierno, and Wilmington Firefighters, whether this contingency will ever come to pass is a matter of speculation. We may not pass upon hypothetical matters. And Artway faces no hardship from denying review of his notification challenges at this point. If he registers, and if the State decides that his situation warrants community notification, he may seek to enjoin that action at that time. Thus, the hardship factor alone precludes review of Artway's notification claims. 8
47 The second factor for evaluating ripeness, this one never mentioned by the district court, is whether the issues are fit for judicial review. Abbott Labs., 387 U.S. at 149, 87 S.Ct. at 1515-16. In making this determination, we must once again distinguish between the registration component of Megan's Law on the one hand, and the notification provisions on the other. The principal consideration is whether the record is factually adequate to enable the court to make the necessary legal determinations. The more that the question presented is purely one of law, and the less that additional facts will aid the court in its inquiry, the more likely the issue is to be ripe, and vice-versa. Compare Duke Power Co. v. Carolina Envtl. Study Group, Inc., 438 U.S. 59, 81-82, 98 S.Ct. 2620, 2634-35, 57 L.Ed.2d 595 (1978) (Although it is true that no nuclear accident has occurred and that such an occurrence would eliminate much of the existing scientific uncertainty surrounding this subject, it would not, in our view, significantly advance our ability to deal with the legal issues presented nor aid us in their resolution.) with Zemel v. Rusk, 381 U.S. 1, 20, 85 S.Ct. 1271, 1282, 14 L.Ed.2d 179 (1965) ([I]f we are to avoid rendering a series of advisory opinions, adjudication of the reach and constitutionality of [a statute under which the President prohibited travel to Cuba] must await a concrete fact situation.). 48 Courts are particularly vigilant to ensure that cases are ripe when constitutional questions are at issue. See Communist Party of the United States v. Subversive Activities Control Bd., 367 U.S. 1, 81, 81 S.Ct. 1357, 1402, 6 L.Ed.2d 625 (1961) (holding unripe an ex post facto challenge to the Corrupt Practices Act especially in light of the rule to avoid unnecessary constitutional decisions). Indeed, the Supreme Court has held a constitutional challenge unripe because of the need for more detailed factual information in the record [e]ven though the challenged statute is sure to work the injury alleged. Babbitt v. United Farm Workers Nat'l Union, 442 U.S. 289, 300, 99 S.Ct. 2301, 2310, 60 L.Ed.2d 895 (1979). 49 Two Supreme Court cases illustrate the need for factual information particularly well. In Socialist Labor Party v. Gilligan, 406 U.S. 583, 92 S.Ct. 1716, 32 L.Ed.2d 317 (1972), the Court dismissed as unripe a challenge on First Amendment grounds to a state law that required candidates to swear not to attempt to overthrow the government by violence or force. The Court concluded that the record ... is extraordinarily skimpy in the sort of proved or admitted facts that would enable us to adjudicate this claim. Id. at 587, 92 S.Ct. at 1719. Even assuming the plaintiffs had standing to challenge the law, the Court continued, their case has not given any particularity to the effect on them of Ohio's affidavit requirement. Id. at 588, 92 S.Ct. at 1719. In California Bankers Association v. Shultz, 416 U.S. 21, 94 S.Ct. 1494, 39 L.Ed.2d 812 (1974), the Court similarly declared unripe a First Amendment challenge to bank record-keeping and reporting requirements because of an insufficient factual record. Id. at 56, 94 S.Ct. at 1515. This Court, in the absence of a concrete fact situation in which competing associational and governmental interests can be weighed, is simply not in a position to determine whether an effort to compel disclosure of such records would or would not be barred .... Id. 50 Megan's Law's registration provisions require simply that Artway register and provide information to the local prosecutor, who in turn may provide the information only to local law enforcement agents. No private individuals or other organizations may receive this information. Registration, therefore, involves few variables in its operation. As in Duke Power, the issue is primarily one of law and further factual information will provide little assistance. Under these circumstances, we are confident that Artway's registration challenge is fit for judicial review. 51 The notification procedures, on the other hand, involve dissemination of potentially devastating information to undetermined numbers of private citizens. Because these private citizens are not part of the trained state law enforcement mechanism, we are less certain how they will react. For instance, the one study in the record chronicles a number of incidents of harassment at the hands of private citizens as a result of the State of Washington's notification law, but records no incidents on the part of law enforcement. We also lack concrete record evidence about what Artway's future dangerousness classification will be, on what facts this classification will be determined, and who will be notified. 9 52 Because Artway has not submitted to these procedures, and because the district court decided this case without admitting any appreciable evidence, we have almost no factual grounding on which to make an assessment about notification as applied to Artway. The record contains two pieces of data: a flier distributed by the Guardian Angels warning Woodbridge residents to BEWARE and the brief State of Washington report describing the effects of a different law in that jurisdiction. 10 While the tenor of the flier and the results of the study are worrisome indeed, they are but snippets compared to a developed record. Consistent with the basic principles of Gilligan, Shultz et alia, we cannot make complex and important determinations in a factual vacuum. 53 Moreover, the constitutionality of the notification provisions of Megan's Law may well turn on the most careful parsing of the Supreme Court's rulings on punishment. Not only must we decide whether a multifaceted and novel 11 regulatory scheme violates constitutional safeguards, we must also discern the parameters of these safeguards themselves. As the discussion in Part V infra reveals, the law in this area needs clarification. We may not undertake this task without factual tools. 54 Thus, Artway's challenge to the notification provisions of Megan's Law fails both prongs of the ripeness test. The district court erred because, in analyzing the hardship of denying review, it did not distinguish between registration and notification; it also omitted the fitness for judicial review prong entirely. Whether Artway will ever be subject to Megan's Law's notification requirements remains a matter of speculation, and the record lacks the factual information necessary for this Court to decide Artway's notification claims consistent with its Article III obligations.