Whether it is an unconstitutional ex post facto punishment to require registry under the 2021 Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA); People v Kiczenski

Holding that it was bound to follow Kiczenski, the court affirmed, even though “the trial court’s stated reasons for denying defendant’s motion were erroneous” because it “reached the correct result under Kiczenski.” It noted that in 2008, he sexually assaulted his former girlfriend. In 2009, he pled no contest to CSC I and was sentenced to 17½ to 50 years. His conviction classified him as a Tier III offender under SORA, requiring him to register as a sex offender for life. He argued that he was entitled to immediate removal from the “registry because it is an unconstitutional ex post facto punishment to require him to register under the 2021 SORA.” The court held that because it “determined that the 2021 SORA did ‘not constitute punishment as applied to [CSC I] offenders,’ there was no ex post facto violation.”