Opinion ID: 896360
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Whether Registration is Historically Punishment.

Text: [¶17] Registration has not traditionally been viewed as punishment. See Lambert v. California , 355 U.S. 225, 229 (1957) (city ordinance requiring felons to register was designed for the convenience of law enforcement). Registration is traditionally a government method of making available relevant and necessary information to law enforcement. The Illinois Supreme Court said it well: The statute prescribes a duty on the part of an individual on the basis of a criminal conviction. The question to be answered is whether this duty is punishment. Traditional notions of punishment aid little in the resolution of this issue since the statutory duty is neither imprisonment nor a fine. It imposes no restraints on liberty or property. In short, by traditional definition, the duty to register is not punishment. People v. Adams , 581 N.E.2d 637, 640 (Ill. 1991). We are not persuaded registration has traditionally been punishment.