Mass. Court Tosses 2-Day Sex Offender Police Check

Massachusetts' highest court has tossed out a requirement that sex offenders report in person to their local city or town police department within two days of their release from prison.

The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled Thursday that the state's Sex Offender Registry Board overreached its authority by creating the regulation.

The court said the board pointed to nonexistent gaps in the state's sex offender law to justify the regulation. Sex offenders must still check in with police annually or every 45 days if they are homeless.

The court said that since the regulation is invalid, sex offenders who fail to comply aren't violating the law.

The ruling involves the case of a Level 3 sex offender then living in a Boston shelter who failed to meet the two-day requirement.