Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-2013
Abstract
This amicus brief on behalf of the Criminal Defense Lawyers of Michigan and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Michigan argues that defendants accused of first- or second-degree criminal sexual conduct in Michigan must be made aware that pleading guilty will result in mandatory, lifetime electronic monitoring after their release in order for any plea to be valid under Michigan law and the U.S. Constitution. To be lawful, guilty pleas must be knowing and voluntary, which requires that defendants be informed of any punishment that would be a direct consequence of their guilty plea. Lifetime electronic monitoring is a direct consequence of a guilty plea to first- or second-degree criminal sexual conduct because it is mandatory and follows automatically from conviction. Lifetime electronic monitoring is also punishment because, at a minimum, it is demonstrably punitive in its effects on offenders. As the brief documents at length, lifetime electronic monitoring imposes severe physical, financial, and social burdens, and these disabilities and restraints are unrelated to or vastly excessive when compared to any reasonable non-punitive governmental interest.
Recommended Citation
Prescott, J.J., Miriam J. Aukerman, Michael J. Steinberg, Kary Moss, and John Minock. "Distinguished Brief: People of the State of Michigan v. David Mark Cole." Thomas M Cooley Law Review 30, no. 3 (2013): 313-368.