Indiana’s Sex Offender Registration Act’s provision requires those who are registered out of the state to also register in-state. People affected: this law violates the U.S. Constitution’s prohibition on ex post facto laws, our right to travel under its privileges and immunities clause, and right to equal treatment under the equal protection clause. Seventh Circuit (2021, en banc): Indiana's sex-offender registration law does not violate the right to travel. Neither does it violate the Ex Post Facto Clause. And, for good measure, it does not trigger heightened scrutiny under the Equal Protection Clause. District court (on remand): I get it, guys. That must mean that the law fails under rational-basis review. Seventh Circuit (this week): It does not because “requiring offenders who are already subject to the burdens of registration elsewhere rationally promotes public safety.”
The case is Hope v. Comm’r of Ind. Dept. of Corr., No. 22-02150 (7th Cir. Apr. 27, 2023).