The Michigan Supreme Court has ruled the state cannot apply its current sex offender registry requirements to people whose offenses occurred before July 1st, 2011.

In a unanimous decision, the court found that retroactively imposing those requirements amounts to unconstitutional punishment after the fact. The ruling does not affect people whose registrable offenses occurred on or after July 1st, 2011.

The decision also does not automatically remove anyone from the registry. It remains unclear how the state will handle affected registrants or whether individual court action will be required.