UPDATES & ANALYSIS

Iowa Supreme Court splits, again, on a juvenile sentencing case

by Rox Laird | June 22, 2018

Iowa’s mandatory sex-offender registry for juveniles who commit a sex offense by force is the equivalent of criminal punishment, a divided Iowa Supreme Court ruled June 15, but it’s not unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment.

Thus, the Court continued its incremental approach to deciding juvenile sentencing cases that it has followed for the past several terms. These decisions come in the wake of U.S. Supreme Court rulings declaring that certain sentences are cruel and unusual punishment for offenders under age 18 based on the idea that juveniles are fundamentally different than adults.

The Iowa Supreme Court has taken a similar approach on juvenile sentencing, though the justices are typically split 4-3 with Chief Justice Mark Cady providing the deciding vote depending on the question. The Court followed that pattern in its ruling in In the Interest of T.H., Minor Child.

There were actually two majorities in this decision, both written by Cady, with the other six justices divided into separate camps on the punitive and constitutional questions of the sex-offender registry.

Justices Brent Appel, David Wiggins and Daryl Hecht joined the part of Cady’s opinion holding that mandatory registration for juveniles is punishment – thus making up a majority on that issue – but they dissented on the holding that it is not unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment.

The tables were turned by Justices Edward Mansfield, Thomas Waterman and Bruce Zager: They dissented from the majority holding that the registry amounts to punishment, but they joined the chief justice to create a majority to say the registration requirement is not unconstitutional.

T.H. was adjudicated as delinquent at the age of 14 for forcing a 16-year-old girl into oral sex against her will. He was placed in a residential sex-offender treatment program and required to register as a sex offender.

Juvenile sex offenders on the registry are generally barred from being near schools (except their own), libraries, child-care facilities, dependent-adult facilities, pools and playgrounds. Similar restrictions apply to working or volunteering around children. They must appear in person every three months to verify compliance with the requirements.

In deciding whether these requirements are cruel and unusual punishment, the Court first addressed the question of whether they amount to punishment. The Court weighed seven factors set out by the U.S. Supreme Court in determining whether a statute is punitive, and concluded that, on balance, Iowa’s registration requirement is punitive.

“The statute imposes an affirmative restraint akin to supervised probation,” Cady wrote. “It mandates the mass dissemination of offender records that are historically kept confidential to promote the juvenile’s potential for rehabilitation. And the sheer number of restrictions imposed on juveniles, given the demonstrated low juvenile recidivism rate, is excessive in light of the civil purpose of preventing multiple offenses.”

T.H. argued that the registration requirement for juveniles is the equivalent of an adult punishment, and therefore unconstitutional, but the Court disagreed, in part because the juvenile court has the authority to revoke the registration requirement when its dispositional order is terminated.

“We find it is not excessively severe for the Legislature to put additional constraints in place during the period when a juvenile adjudicated delinquent of an aggravated sexual offense is receiving reformative services, but has not yet been deemed rehabilitated,” Cady wrote.

Iowa’s mandatory sex-offender registry for juveniles who commit a sex offense by force is the equivalent of criminal punishment, a divided Iowa Supreme Court ruled June 15, but it’s not unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment.

Thus, the Court continued its incremental approach to deciding juvenile sentencing cases that it has followed for the past several terms. These decisions come in the wake of U.S. Supreme Court rulings declaring that certain sentences are cruel and unusual punishment for offenders under age 18 based on the idea that juveniles are fundamentally different than adults.

The Iowa Supreme Court has taken a similar approach on juvenile sentencing, though the justices are typically split 4-3 with Chief Justice Mark Cady providing the deciding vote depending on the question. The Court followed that pattern in its ruling in In the Interest of T.H., Minor Child.

There were actually two majorities in this decision, both written by Cady, with the other six justices divided into separate camps on the punitive and constitutional questions of the sex-offender registry.

Justices Brent Appel, David Wiggins and Daryl Hecht joined the part of Cady’s opinion holding that mandatory registration for juveniles is punishment – thus making up a majority on that issue – but they dissented on the holding that it is not unconstitutionally cruel and unusual punishment.

The tables were turned by Justices Edward Mansfield, Thomas Waterman and Bruce Zager: They dissented from the majority holding that the registry amounts to punishment, but they joined the chief justice to create a majority to say the registration requirement is not unconstitutional.

T.H. was adjudicated as delinquent at the age of 14 for forcing a 16-year-old girl into oral sex against her will. He was placed in a residential sex-offender treatment program and required to register as a sex offender.

Juvenile sex offenders on the registry are generally barred from being near schools (except their own), libraries, child-care facilities, dependent-adult facilities, pools and playgrounds. Similar restrictions apply to working or volunteering around children. They must appear in person every three months to verify compliance with the requirements.

In deciding whether these requirements are cruel and unusual punishment, the Court first addressed the question of whether they amount to punishment. The Court weighed seven factors set out by the U.S. Supreme Court in determining whether a statute is punitive, and concluded that, on balance, Iowa’s registration requirement is punitive.

“The statute imposes an affirmative restraint akin to supervised probation,” Cady wrote. “It mandates the mass dissemination of offender records that are historically kept confidential to promote the juvenile’s potential for rehabilitation. And the sheer number of restrictions imposed on juveniles, given the demonstrated low juvenile recidivism rate, is excessive in light of the civil purpose of preventing multiple offenses.”

T.H. argued that the registration requirement for juveniles is the equivalent of an adult punishment, and therefore unconstitutional, but the Court disagreed, in part because the juvenile court has the authority to revoke the registration requirement when its dispositional order is terminated.

“We find it is not excessively severe for the Legislature to put additional constraints in place during the period when a juvenile adjudicated delinquent of an aggravated sexual offense is receiving reformative services, but has not yet been deemed rehabilitated,” Cady wrote.

Tags: Iowa Supreme Court 2017-18, Iowa Supreme Court Opinions, Juvenile sentencing