Judge rules sex offender rule unconstitutional

Posted on July 10, 2015

*The decision may me appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court. (Flickr)*

By Terry James

The Illinois Supreme Court will be asked to review a decision by a Bloomington judge.

Judge Robert Freitag says a current rule for all sex offenders requiring them to report all websites they visit is a violation of their right to free speech. The judge made the ruling as part of a 22 year old Normal man’s hearing for failing to register his address. McLean County State’s Attorney Jason Chambers says the requirements are in place for a reason.

“And a lot of times people look at the tale end of this and are saying, look at the requirements that this person has to do,” said Chambers. “But, they need to keep in mind what they were found guilty of beyond a reasonable doubt of doing altered one or more child or adult’s life forever.”

Chambers says he will work with Attorney General Lisa Madigan in fighting the ruling.

Terry James can be reached at [email protected].

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