Mosley

This appeal sits at the intersection of two topical, controversial legal issues: sex offender registration and the right to a jury trial. The Legislature and the voters have drastically expanded the reach and ramifications of sex offender registration in recent years, culminating in "The Sexual Predator Punishment and Control Act: Jessica's Law" (Jessica's Law), approved in 2006 as Proposition 83. [1] The United States Supreme Court has revitalized the right to a jury trial over the same period, culminating in decisions striking down the federal sentencing guidelines in 2005 and California's determinate sentencing law (DSL) in 2007. Juries, not judges, must determine any additional facts necessary to impose punishment beyond that otherwise provided by statute based solely on the jury's verdict.

Here, the jury acquitted defendant Steven Lloyd Mosley of the only sexual offense charged against him. Yet the court made its own findings and ordered defendant to register as a sex offender. By itself, registration is "regulatory" and "remedial," not punitive. ( People v. Castellanos (1999) 21 Cal.4th 785, 796 [ 88 Cal.Rptr.2d 346 , 982 P.2d 211 ] ( Castellanos ).)

But…