LAS VEGAS " A Nevada judge is telling Clark County authorities to hold off on enforcing a new state sex crime law that was due to go into effect on Tuesday.
Judge David Wall issued preliminary injunction Thursday in a case filed on behalf of two convicted sex offenders who challenged the constitutionality of Assembly Bill 579.
Wall granted the delay until Aug. 29, when he will hear arguments on the constitutionality of the law passed by the 2007 state Legislature.
It would recategorize thousands of sex offenders according to the type of crime they were convicted of committing, instead of their risk of re-offending.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada has filed a broad challenge in federal court in Las Vegas, hoping to block the state attorney general's office from enforcing the law.
A U.S. District Court judge will consider a restraining order in that case on Monday.
Officials say the state law would put Nevada in line with federal legislation passed in 2006 calling on states to categorize sex offenders in the same way.