Lawsuit: Sex Offender Requirements Applied Retroactively

BALTIMORE (AP) -- A class action lawsuit has been filed claiming the rights of at least 800 people listed on the Maryland Sex Offender Registry have been violated.

The Daily Record of Baltimore reports the lawsuit claims the state retroactively increased the length of time certain sex offenders had to remain on the registry.

The lawsuit was filed Friday in Baltimore City Circuit Court and seeks declaratory and injunctive relief, rather than damages.

The Maryland Declaration of Rights prohibits laws that retroactively criminalize an act or impose a more severe penalty than was set when the act was committed.

In 2010, Maryland's sex offender database was amended, changing registration requirements for sex offenders based on what crimes they had committed. The suit claims those changes were applied retroactively to hundreds of people.

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