Henry v. Sheriff of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama et al.

Alabama law prohibits many individuals registered as sex offenders from residing with their own children based solely on the convicted offense. This law is written so broadly that it includes individuals who were themselves youth at the time of their offense. The U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama found that this provision unconstitutional, as it is overly broad and unduly burdens parents’ fundamental right to the care, custody, and control of their children.

Juvenile Law Center and Southern Poverty Law Center filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, urging the Court to affirm the District Court’s ruling. Our brief argued that Alabama’s designation of many youth as “adult sex offenders” subject to the parenting restrictions is an example of the law’s overbreadth because youth mature out of delinquent behavior, are amenable to rehabilitation, and are extremely unlikely to sexually recidivate. Our brief further argued that this restriction intrudes on the constitutionally protected right to family integrity, and that prohibiting children from living with a parent can cause immense psychological harm and trauma.

In an important win, the Eleventh Circuit held that the Alabama provision violates the fundamental right to family integrity because a youthful conviction does not prove one is a danger to their child. However, the court additionally reversed in part the lower court’s decision, finding that the burden of proving that the statute is unconstitutional in all its applications was not met in this case.

The Eleventh Circuit subsequently decided sua sponte (on its own) to withdraw the decision and rehear the case en banc. Juvenile Law Center, Southern Poverty Law Center, Children’s Rights, The Gault Center, National Center for LGBTQ Rights, and Youth MOVE National filed a joint amicus brief urging the Eleventh Circuit to uphold the district court’s decision and hold that section 15-20A-11(d)(4) unconstitutionally violates the right to family integrity.

After the rehearing, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit strongly affirmed all parents’ right to live with their children - and specifically rejected Alabama’s argument that parents convicted of certain “misconduct” automatically lose this right forever. The Court does concede that the state may restrict even the most fundamental individual rights and remanded the case to the lower court.  The lower court must conduct additional proceedings to determine if Alabama’s practice of permanently restricting parents convicted of certain sexual offenses right to live with their children is narrowly tailored to meet the state’s compelling interest in keeping kids safe. 

LEGAL TEAM

Attorneys

Courtney Alexander, Marsha Levick, Riya Saha Shah, Vic Wiener

Paralegals

Tiffany Faith, Marissa Lariviere