Paul P. v. Verniero
United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
170 F.3d 396 (1999)
- Written by Sean Carroll, JD
Facts
Under Megan’s Law, convicted sex offenders were required to submit extensive personal details to law enforcement, including physical description, address, place of work, and license-plate number. Law enforcement then assigned a risk category to each sex offender depending on the offender’s risk of offense. Those with the highest risk, Tier 3, were entered into a public database. Paul P., on behalf of himself and similarly situated individuals (plaintiffs), sued the state of New Jersey (defendant), claiming that the requirement to publicly submit such information violated his constitutional right to privacy. The district court held that Paul had no privacy interest at stake. Paul appealed. During the pendency of the appeal, Paul supplemented the record with examples of how the public disclosure of the information had significant consequences in the community to plaintiffs and their families. Paul claimed that such incidents proved that the widespread disclosure violated the plaintiffs’ fundamental right to protected family relationships.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Sloviter, J.)
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