AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 21 (UPI) -- A federal judge has ruled Texas parole officials cannot impose sex-offender restrictions on a man who was not convicted of a sex crime.
U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel in Austin granted an injunction Tuesday sought by lawyers for Buddy Jene Yeary. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals made a similar decision last week in another case, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
Courts have said for years the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles must hold due-process hearings before imposing sex offender restrictions on parolees who are not convicted sex offenders, but have done little to enforce that, the newspaper said. The two recent decisions suggest a change of heart.
"However long the rope is that the state has been hanging onto for several years, they're finally reaching the end of it -- and this decision shows that," said Richard Gladden, one of Yeary's lawyers.
Yeary was originally charged with a sex crime but pleaded guilty only to drug charges in 2003. He was paroled in 2007 and was required to register as a sex offender even though his sentencing order specifically ruled that out.
