Shaw v. Patton

823 F.3d 556, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 9047, 2016 WL 2893713
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedMay 18, 2016
Docket15-6106
StatusPublished
Cited by35 cases

This text of 823 F.3d 556 (Shaw v. Patton) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Shaw v. Patton, 823 F.3d 556, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 9047, 2016 WL 2893713 (10th Cir. 2016).

Opinion

BACHARACH, Circuit Judge.

In 1998, Mr. Juston Shaw was convicted in Texas state court on a charge of sexüal assault. Roughly ten years later, he moved to Oklahoma. When he did, his sexual-assault conviction triggered application of the Oklahoma Sex Offenders Registration Act. Under this statute, Mr. Shaw incurred an obligation, as long as he lived in Oklahoma, to

• regularly report to a local police department in Oklahoma,
• refrain from living within 2,000 feet of a school, playground, park, or child care center, and
• refrain from loitering within 500 feet of a school,, playground, park, or child care center. 1

Okla. Stat. tit. 57, §§ 588(C)(3), 584, 590 (Supp. 2009); Okla. Stat. tit. 21, § 1125(A) (Supp. 2014).

In Mr. Shaw’s view, these obligations constitute retroactive punishment in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s Ex Post Facto Clause. U.S. Const, art. I, § 10, cl. I. 2 Thus, Mr. Shaw sued the Director of the Oklahoma Department of Corrections, who is responsible for enforcing the sex-offender regulations. 3 After a bench trial, the district court entered judgment against Mr. Shaw, holding that the statute’s retroactive application did not amount to punishment.

On appeal, we ask: Do Mr. Shaw’s restrictions on reporting, residency, and loitering constitute retroactive punishment in *560 violation of the Ex Post Facto Clause? We conclude that these restrictions do not constitute punishment. Thus, enforcement of these restrictions does not violate the U.S. Constitution. 4

I. The Oklahoma statute was enforced retroactively against Mr. Shaw.

The defendant denies that the Oklahoma statute was enforced retroactively, arguing that the statute was inapplicable to Mr. Shaw until he entered Oklahoma. In our view, however, the statute was enforced retroactively. 5

It is true that Mr. Shaw was not subject to the Oklahoma statute until he moved to Oklahoma, but the date of his move does not affect whether the statute is being enforced retroactively. A statute is enforced retroactively if it governs conduct that preceded the statute’s enactment. Stogner v. California, 539 U.S. 607, 612-13, 123 S.Ct. 2446, 156 L.Ed.2d 544 (2003). That is the case here: Mr. Shaw is subject to statutes enacted in 2009 and 2014 for conduct that took place in 1998.

In 1998, when Mr. Shaw was convicted, Oklahoma did not have any residency or loitering restrictions for sex offenders. Oklahoma did require reporting for sex offenders in 1998, but that requirement would already have expired for Mr. Shaw. See Act of May 27, 1997, ch. 260 § 4, 1997 Okla. Sess. Laws 1423-24 (codified as amended at Okla. Stat. tit. 57, § 583(C) (Supp.1997) (reporting requirement for ten years)); Act of May 20, 2003, ch. 223, 2003 Okla. Sess. Laws 948-49 (codified as amended at Okla. Stat. tit. 57, § 590 (Supp. 2003) 6 (enacting residency restrictions)). Thus, Mr. Shaw is subject to restrictions on reporting, residency, and loitering only because Oklahoma changed its laws years after Mr. Shaw’s criminal conduct. By definition, these restrictions are being retroactively applied to Mr. Shaw. The resulting issue is whether these restrictions constitute punishment.

II. We consider only the statutory provisions applicable to Mr. Shaw’s circumstances.

Mr. Shaw challenges the application of Oklahoma’s sex-offender requirements to his circumstances. Thus, we consider only the provisions that affect Mr. Shaw. See Reno v. Flores, 507 U.S. 292, 300, 113 S.Ct. 1439, 123 L.Ed.2d 1 (1993) (explaining that an as-applied challenge is limited to review of how a statute has been “applied in a particular instance”). Thus, we must determine which of the challenged provisions were applied to Mr. Shaw’s circumstances.

Mr. Shaw challenges six statutory provisions applicable to sex offenders. Three of the provisions (reporting, residency, and loitering) affect him. But the other three provisions do not:

1. Sex offenders cannot provide services to children, work on school grounds, or work for a person who *561 contracts for work to be performed on school grounds. Okla. Stat. tit. 57, § 589(A) (Supp. 2009).
2. Sex offenders generally cannot live with another convicted sex offender in a single dwelling (subject to certain exceptions). Okla. Stat. tit. 57, § 590.1(A) (Supp. 2009).
3. Aggravated or habitual sex offenders with an Oklahoma driver’s license must have the words “Sex Offender” appear on their driver’s licenses, and these offenders must renew their driver’s licenses every year. Okla. Stat. tit. 47, § 6-111(D) (Supp. 2009).

First, Mr. Shaw did not present evidence of a restriction on his employment opportunities, for he has not tried to work with children, work at a school, or work for a company that conducts business on school grounds. 7

Second, Mr. Shaw did not present evidence that the statute has actually prevented him from living with another convicted sex offender. Mr. Shaw lives with his common-law wife, and he has not presented any information suggesting that his common-law wife is a convicted sex offender.

Third, the driver’s license requirements have not been applied to Mr. Shaw because

• he has not obtained an Oklahoma driver’s license and
• he has not alleged or proven designation as an aggravated or habitual sex offender. 8

Because Mr. Shaw’s circumstances do not trigger these restrictions, we need not decide whether they constitute punishment.

III. The statutory restrictions on reporting and residency do not constitute punishment of Mr. Shaw.

Mr. Shaw challenges the reporting and residency restrictions based on the U.S.

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Bluebook (online)
823 F.3d 556, 2016 U.S. App. LEXIS 9047, 2016 WL 2893713, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/shaw-v-patton-ca10-2016.