More information has surfaced regarding the recent lawsuit brought against John Burlew in his capacity as county attorney by an anonymous sex offender in Daviess County, challenging SB 249, which requires child sex offenders to display their full legal name across all social media platforms.
Because the anonymous “John Doe” resides in Daviess County, and Burlew would be the one to prosecute them should they ever be convicted, he’s listed as the defendant. To bring even more light to the case, Guy Hamilton-Smith, the Washington D.C.-based attorney who filed the suit on behalf of Doe, is a registered sex offender himself.
Initially, Chief Judge of the United States District Court Greg Stivers ruled in favor of Doe and granted a preliminary injunction that would prohibit the Commonwealth’s 120 county attorneys from enforcing law, and adding them to the lawsuit.
That ruling deemed the law unenforceable across the state.
Stivers has since modified the injunction to state that the law is not enforceable against the anonymous plaintiff. Burlew also indicated that the law is enforceable at this time against anyone other than the plaintiff. Stivers also denied all class certifications, leaving Burlew as the only named defendant.
Burlew also said that he and his defense, Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman’s office, appealed Stiver’s injunction to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. Burlew said a ruling could take several months.
The plaintiff’s attorney, Hamilton-Smith, is no stranger to the criminal justice system. He graduated in the top third of his class from the University of Kentucky College of Law. However, after graduating, Hamilton-Smith was denied access to take the bar until he went off the registry in 2027.
According to a Courier Journal article dated February 6, 2014, the justices said allowing Hamilton-Smith to take the test would risk the “character and integrity of the bar itself” if he relapsed or a client discovered he was on the registry.
He appealed the state supreme court’s decision but was unsuccessful. It was the first case of its kind in Kentucky.
As reported by the Associated Press, Hamilton-Smith was in graduate school in 2007 when his girlfriend reported him to police after discovering sexual images of children on his computer. He was later charged with three counts of possession and pleaded guilty to one.
Other media articles indicate that Hamilton-Smith deeply regretted his actions, quoting him as saying, “Getting caught probably saved my life.” They also suggest he enrolled in law school to help others in a similar situation.
SB 249, co-sponsored by local state Senator Gary Boswell, received unanimous bipartisan support. It passed the Senate 38-0 and House 96-0 before the governor signed it into law.
“I do think this law is valid and constitutional. Furthermore, it’s a common-sense law to me,” he said. “People convicted of felonies give up their rights they otherwise would have, like the Second Amendment. The plaintiff is arguing for freedom of speech. Some of his rights might be taken away, but it’s to protect children, and the government has a strong interest in that.”
The Owensboro Times first reported the case here. A follow-up story displayed Attorney General Coleman and other local legislators’ unanimous support of Burlew and the integrity of SB 249.
