Missourians convicted of sex offenses under state laws still must register as offenders under the federal law, a state appeals court ruled Tuesday in a case originally decided by Cole County Judge Dan Green.
Three prison inmates, acting as their own attorneys, challenged the law in 2010, arguing they didn't have to register as sex offenders because their convictions came before Missouri law - in January 1995 - started requiring registration, and that a federal law didn't apply because they weren't planning to travel outside Missouri.
The six-page opinion issued Tuesday - written by Judge Joseph M. Ellis for a three-judge panel that also included Judges James E. Welsh and Alok Ahuja - found the inmates' claim without merit and justified Green's ruling in the state's favor.