LANSING, Mich. -- Larry Nassar, the disgraced former sports physician who abused dozens of female gymnasts, is among more than 20,000 people whose names were removed from the Michigan Sex Offender Registry following a Michigan Supreme Court ruling, according to the Eaton County Prosecutor's Office.
The removals stem from the court's Sept. 9 decision in People v. Smith, which held that amendments issued in 2021 to the Sex Offender Registration Act cannot be used retroactively to require registration for conduct that occurred before July 1, 2011. Within days of the ruling, Michigan State Police purged thousands of individuals from both the public registry and the nonpublic law enforcement database, ending their state obligation to register, report changes in residence or employment, or periodically verify their information based on affected pre-2011 offenses.
The Eaton County Prosecutor's Office confirmed Nassar's removal with a screenshot of a name search showing his absence. "His conduct occurred before 2011 despite his convictions coming after," the office said in a social media post.
The ruling applies to the date of the underlying conduct, not the date of conviction or sentencing. That is why Nassar is covered even though his most prominent Michigan convictions came in 2018, because prosecutors have said the conduct underlying his registration occurred before the July 2011 cutoff.
Nassar served as team physician at Michigan State University until 2016 and was a team doctor for USA Gymnastics until 2014. He pleaded guilty in Michigan to multiple counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and received sentences of 40 to 175 years in Ingham County and 40 to 125 years in Eaton County. He also received a 60-year federal sentence for child pornography and obstruction of justice. The Michigan Supreme Court ruling does not overturn his convictions, shorten his sentences, or clear his criminal record. It also does not alter his separate federal judgment, which requires him to register as a sex offender if ever released.
The decision builds on the court's 2025 ruling in People v. Kardasz, which held that Michigan's 2021 Sex Offender Registration Act is punitive in nature because of its lengthy registration periods, extensive reporting duties, and public disclosure requirements. Once the court classified the modern registry as punishment, applying those later requirements to older crimes created an ex post facto problem under both the U.S. and Michigan Constitutions.
At the time of the Smith decision, approximately 43,000 people were actively registered or required to register in Michigan. The total number removed may continue to change as officials finish reviewing records.
Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd, the Republican nominee for Michigan attorney general in the Nov. 3 election, objected to the outcome. The prosecutor's office said the Supreme Court could have applied a different interpretation and allowed certain offenders to remain on the list, adding that any debate over the effectiveness of the registry "should occur in the legislature, not by decision of the court."
Michigan State Police warned that some plea agreements may have been reached with the expectation that registration would remain part of the outcome. The agency has instructed officers to direct victims with questions about possible remedies to prosecutors, victim advocates, or private attorneys.
The ruling does not prevent Michigan from maintaining the registry for people whose qualifying offenses occurred on or after July 1, 2011. The state's registry may also face additional changes through a separate federal class action, Does v. Whitmer, now before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, which raises constitutional challenges affecting provisions of the registry beyond the pre-2011 population covered by Smith.