Legal Question in Constitutional Law in Georgia

Re: New Sex Offender Laws

Constitutional procedural due process requires that you can't be denied life, liberty or property without notice and an opportunity to be heard. But the state's defense is surely going to be that they are not taking your property. You can sell it or rent it to somebody else. Nor is it likely to be considered a violation of substantive due process, because the statute is not without some rational basis. Nor is it likely to be found a violation of the "condemnation clause" of the constitution, because they are not proposing to take your property for public use. What might be a problem here is something called the "ex post facto" clause---the state can't make something criminal that wasn't criminal at the time you did it (moved in there). However, the practical matter is you can probably mount that challenge only from a jail cell after you are arrested, by defending the charge on that basis. Can you afford that chance? Georgia is more than extremely hostile to sex offenders, and getting more so all the time. As a practical matter, unless you want to make yourself a test case risking 10-30 years behind bars, rent or sell your house, move, leave Georgia, and never look back. I have to tell you honestly that you are not going to encounter a sympathetic judge or jury.