Court to hear arguments on sex offender registry

[January 12, 2013]  WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court will decide whether sex offenders who were released unconditionally before new sex offender registration rules were passed can be prosecuted for not registering.

Anthony James Kebodeaux was in the Air Force and was court-martialed for having sex with an underage girl. After three months of confinement and a bad conduct discharge in 1999, he moved around Texas and was eventually arrested in 2008 for not having updated officials with his whereabouts.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit threw out his conviction, saying he was unconditionally released by the federal government before the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act became law in 2006 and therefore it did not apply to him.

The justices will review that decision.

[Associated Press]

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