When enacted in 1994, Megan's Law, N.J.S.A. 2C:7-1 to -23, provided that any registrant could
- make application to the Superior Court . . . to terminate the [registration] obligation upon proof that the person has not committed an offense within 15 years following conviction or release from a correctional facility for any term of imprisonment imposed, whichever is later, and is not likely to pose a threat to the safety of others.
- [N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2(f).]
In 2002, in order to secure federal funding, the Legislature adopted N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2(g), which makes subsection (f) inapplicable to those convicted of more than one "sex offense" or those convicted of aggravated sexual assault, N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2(a), or sexual assault pursuant to N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2(c)(1).
The Legislature, however, chose not to amend N.J.S.A. 2C:43-6.4(c), by which an offender who has not committed a crime for fifteen years since his last conviction or release, and who no longer poses a threat to public safety, "may petition the Superior Court for release from" Community Supervision for Life (CSL) or Parole Supervision for Life (PSL).
Appellants were both convicted prior to 2002, and, after leading offense-free lives for more than fifteen years, applied to terminate their registration requirements and CSL. Although the Law Division judges relieved each of his CSL restrictions finding neither posed a public safety threat, the judges denied termination of appellants' registration pursuant to subsection (g).
The Court reverses, concluding the Legislature did not specifically intend the retroactive application of subsection (g), and, even if intended, retroactive application of subsection (g) to those convicted prior to its enactment results in a "manifest injustice."