Attorney Janice Bellucci and the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws has filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the “unique identifier” being added to the passports of registered child sex offenders. The lawsuit was filed Thursday in the Central District of the U.S. District Court of California.
Bellucci estimated that the requirement could affect more than 500,000 Americans and their families. She said it is having “a dramatic chilling effect,” causing some sex offenders to avoid traveling overseas or to avoid applying for a passport.
Her suit says the State Department violated procedures by failing to let the public comment on its plans. It says the department also exceeded its legal authority by threatening not to issue passports to some offenders.
Read more about the lawsuit here and here.
