Supreme Court ruling releases sex offenders, photo by Mark Fischer

They were released from detention under the supervision of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement according to a report from the Government Accountability Office. 

“There are circumstances in which criminal aliens who have been ordered removed from the United States – including those convicted of a sex offense – cannot be removed,” explains the report.  “For example, a criminal alien may not be removed because the designated country will not accept the alien’s return.” 

The decision to release the convicts stems from a 4-5 ruling by the Supreme Court in the 2001 Zadvydas v. Davis case. The ruling emphasized that without a “significant likelihood of removal in the reasonably foreseeable future," it would be unconstitutional to indefinitely detain people for more than six months. 

Few people would argue that the release of nearly 3,000 sex offenders is a good thing, but according to Justice Stephen Breyer’s majority opinion, “freedom from imprisonment lies at the heart of the liberty protected by the Due Process Clause” 

The situation demands careful consideration both of what America stands for and what is best for the American people. 

The report warned that five percent of the undocumented sex offenders released into U.S. society do not register as sex offenders, which consequently means that “the risk that alien sex offenders will reside in U.S. communities without being registered is increased.”

As with many of the Supreme Court’s ruling this past summer, the effects of this ruling are tremendously controversial. How the implementation of this massive release of convicted criminals will pan out remains to be seen.

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