Doe v. Sex Offender Registry Board

As we noted in the Doe decision, the Legislature has enacted specific provisions toward ensuring that sex offenders who are currently confined are classified before they are released. Id. at 688, citing G. L. c. 6, §§ 178E(a), 178L(l)(a). In establishing the timetable of the required procedural steps, those provisions do not draw a distinction between confined sex offenders who are “incarcerated” and those who are otherwise held in custody.1 See G. L. c. 6, § 178E(a), as amended by St. 2006, c. 303, § 1 (requiring “the agency which has custody of [a] sex offender” to take a certain step…