SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal judge won't immediately block a law that requires authorities to place a marker in the passports of people convicted of sex offenses against children.
U.S. District Court Judge Phyllis Hamilton said Wednesday that federal authorities have yet to begin marking passports, so it would be premature to decide whether the law was constitutional.
Opponents of the marker have called it a ``Scarlet Letter'' that could wrongly imply that passport holders had engaged in child sex trafficking or child sex tourism and expose them to danger.
Janice Bellucci, the attorney challenging the law, said she wasn't sure yet whether she would appeal Hamilton's ruling on Bellucci's request for a preliminary injunction.
The passport marker is part of the so-called International Megan's Law that President Barack Obama signed in February.
