Opinion
SC 165008 COA 358780
05-31-2024
PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. ROBERT JAMES KARDASZ, Defendant-Appellant.
Macomb CC: 2017-002252-FC
Elizabeth T. Clement, Chief Justice, Brian K. Zahra, David F. Viviano, Richard H. Bernstein, Megan K. Cavanagh, Elizabeth M. Welch, Kyra H. Bolden, Justices
ORDER
By order of September 13, 2023, this case was held in abeyance for People v Lymon (Docket No. 164685). On the Court's own motion, we VACATE our abeyance order of September 13, 2023. The application for leave to appeal the September 22, 2022 judgment of the Court of Appeals is again considered. We direct the Clerk to schedule oral argument on the application. MCR 7.305(H)(1). The parties shall file supplemental briefs in accordance with MCR 7.312(E), except that the appellant's brief and appendices, if any, are to be filed within 90 days of the date of this order. The parties shall address whether: (1) requiring the defendant to register as a sex offender under the Sex Offenders Registration Act (SORA), MCL 28.721 et seq., as amended by 2020 PA 295, effective March 24, 2021 (the 2021 SORA), for the rest of his life constitutes cruel or unusual punishment under Const 1963, art 1, § 16 or cruel and unusual punishment under U.S. Const, Am VIII; (2) lifetime electronic monitoring, when imposed without an individualized assessment of the defendant's recidivism risk and without providing a mechanism for removing the monitoring requirement, constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under U.S. Const, Am VIII or cruel or unusual punishment under Const 1963, art 1, § 16, see generally People v Betts, 507 Mich. 527 (2021), but see People v Hallak, 310 Mich.App. 555, 577 (2015), rev'd in part on other grounds 499 Mich. 879 (2016); (3) lifetime electronic monitoring constitutes cruel and/or unusual punishment as applied in this case; and (4) lifetime electronic monitoring constitutes an unreasonable search in violation of U.S. Const, Am IV or Const 1963, art 1, § 11, see State v Grady, 372 NC 509 (2019), and Park v State, 305 Ga 348 (2019), but see Hallak, 310 Mich.App. at 581.
We further direct the Clerk to schedule the oral argument in this case for the same future session of the Court when it will hear oral argument in People v Martin (Docket No. 166339).
The Prosecuting Attorneys Association of Michigan and the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan are invited to file briefs amicus curiae. Other persons or groups interested in the determination of the issues presented in this case may move the Court for permission to file briefs amicus curiae.