SCOTT COUNTY, Ind. --
A man filed a lawsuit against every sheriff and prosecutor in the state of Indiana.
Steve Morris wants a new law, designed to protect children, thrown out. The plaintiff is a sex offender.
The law that goes into effect in July would allow law enforcement to search his computer at any time.
Morris' attorney said it's a clear violation of the Fourth Amendment.
"The Civil Liberties Union is more worried about his rights than the rights of victims in southern Indiana," said Scott County Sheriff John Lizenby.
The new law will require registered sex offenders to submit email addresses and log in names for social networking websites like MySpace and Facebook.
It also requires offenders to install software allowing police to monitor usage.
"If we can look into their private Internet and look into what they're doing and they're contacting somebody they shouldn't be, that's going to help stop them," Lizenby said.
But Morris aims to change that.
More than a decade ago, Morris was convicted of child molestation. He, along with the ACLU, is suing Lizenby and every other sheriff and prosecutor in Indiana, challenging the state's ability to search his home and check his computer at any time.
"This kind of legislation is designed to make us feel like we're safe and give us a sense of security," said University of Louisville professor Dr. Richard Tewksbury, who has studied sex offender registries for more than a decade.
Law enforcement doesn't have the resources to monitor all offenders, and the other half of the law suggests lawmakers are naive.
"The idea that all offenders are going to provide all of their e-mail addresses, all of their screen names, and only use their personal or home computer to go onto networking sites is simply not realistic," he said.
Morris couldn't be reached for comment. His wife refused comment on the suit, only to say her husband has done his time.
"I don't have a lot of sympathy for somebody that's on that web site and is worried about their rights," Lizenby said. "I'm more worried about the victim's rights."
ACLU attorney Ken Falk said the Supreme Court has expressly said that law enforcement cannot conduct a search without probable cause and a warrant, and that lawmakers completely ignored that.
Falk asked a judge for a temporary injunction Monday.
A hearing could come in the next few weeks.
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