Sex offender registries in the United States

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In the United States, sex offender registries existed at both the federal and state levels. The federal registry is known as the National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW) and integrates data in all state, territorial, and tribal registries provided by offenders required to register. [1] Registries contain information about persons convicted of sexual offenses for law enforcement and public notification purposes. All 50 states and the District of Columbia maintain sex offender registries that are open to the public via websites; most information on offenders is visible to the public. Public disclosure of offender information varies between the states depending on offenders' designated tier, which may also vary from state to state, or risk assessment result. According to NCMEC, as of 2016 there were 859,500 registered sex offenders in United States. [2]

The majority of states and the federal government apply systems based on conviction offenses only, where registration requirement is triggered as a consequence of finding of guilt, or pleading guilty, to a sex offense regardless of the actual gravity of the crime. The trial judge typically can not exercise judicial discretion concerning registration. [3] [ neutrality is disputed ] Depending on jurisdiction, offenses requiring registration range in their severity from public urination or adolescent sexual experimentation with peers, to violent sex offenses. In some states offenses such as unlawful imprisonment may require sex offender registration. [4] According to Human Rights Watch, children as young as 9 have been placed on the registry; [5] [6] juvenile offenders account for 25 percent of registrants. [7] In some states, the length of the registration period is determined by the offense or assessed risk level; in others all registration is for life. [8] Some states allow removal from the registry under certain specific, limited circumstances. [8] Information of juvenile offenders is withheld for law enforcement but may be made public after their 18th birthday. [9]

Sex Offender Registration and Notification (SORN) has been studied for its impact on the rates of sexual offense recidivism, with the majority of studies demonstrating no impact. [10] The Supreme Court of the United States has upheld sex offender registration laws both times such laws have been examined by them. Several challenges on parts of state level legislation have been honored by the courts. Legal scholars have challenged the rationale behind the Supreme Court rulings. Perceived problems in legislation has prompted organizations such as NARSOL, ACSOL, and ACLU, among others, to promote reform.

History

In 1947, California became the first state in the United States to have a sex offender registration program. [11] C. Don Field was prompted by the Black Dahlia murder case to introduce a bill calling for the formation of a sex offender registry; California became the first U.S. state to make this mandatory. [12] In 1990, Washington state began community notification of its most dangerous sex offenders, making it the first state to ever make any sex offender information publicly available. Prior to 1994, only a few states required convicted sex offenders to register their addresses with local law enforcement. The 1990s saw the emergence of several cases of brutal violent sexual offenses against children. Crimes like those of Westley Allan Dodd, Earl Kenneth Shriner and Jesse Timmendequas were highly publicized. As a result, public policies began to focus on protecting public from stranger danger. [13] Since the early 1990s, several state and federal laws, often named after victims, have been enacted as a response to public outrage generated by highly publicized, but statistically very rare, [14] violent predatory sex crimes against children by strangers. [13]

Jacob Wetterling Act of 1994

In 1989, an 11-year-old boy, Jacob Wetterling, was abducted from a street in St. Joseph, Minnesota. His whereabouts remained unknown for nearly 27 years until remains were discovered just outside Paynesville, Minnesota, in 2016. Jacob's mother, Patty Wetterling, current chair of National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, led a community effort to implement a sex offender registration requirement in Minnesota and, subsequently, nationally. In 1994, Congress passed the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act. If states failed to comply, the states would forfeit 10% of federal funds from the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act.[ neutrality is disputed ] The act required each state to create a registry of offenders convicted of qualifying sex offenses and certain other offenses against children and to track offenders by confirming their place of residence annually for ten years after their release into the community or quarterly for the rest of their lives if the sex offender was convicted of a violent sex crime. States had a certain time period to enact the legislation, along with guidelines established by the Attorney General. [13] [ further explanation needed ] The registration information collected was treated as private data viewable by law enforcement personnel only, although law enforcement agencies were allowed to release relevant information that was deemed necessary to protect the public concerning a specific person required to register. [15] Another high-profile case, abuse and murder of Megan Kanka led to modification of Jacob Wetterling Act. [13] The subsequent laws forcing changes to the sex offenders registries in all 50 states have since troubled Patty Wetterling and she has been vocal about her opposition to including children on the registry as well as allowing full access to the public. In an interview with reporter Madeleine Baran, Wetterling stated, "No more victims, that's the goal. But we let our emotions run away from achieving that goal." In lamenting how we treat sex offenders she stated, "You're screwed. You will not get a job, you will not find housing. This is on your record forever, good luck." She believes that by not allowing sex offenders who have served their time to reintegrate to society we do more harm than good, "I've turned 180 from where I was." [16]

Megan's Law of 1996

Sign at the limits of Wapello, Iowa; sex offender-free districts appeared as a result of Megan's Law. Wapello sign.jpg
Sign at the limits of Wapello, Iowa; sex offender-free districts appeared as a result of Megan's Law.

In 1994, 7-year-old Megan Kanka from Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey was raped and killed by a recidivist sex offender. Jesse Timmendequas, who had been convicted of two previous sex crimes against children, lured Megan in his house and raped and killed her. Megan's mother, Maureen Kanka, started to lobby to change the laws, arguing that registration established by the Wetterling Act was insufficient for community protection. Maureen Kanka's goal was to mandate community notification, which under the Wetterling Act had been at the discretion of law enforcement. She said that if she had known that a sex offender lived across the street, Megan would still be alive. In 1994, New Jersey enacted Megan's Law. In 1996, President Bill Clinton enacted a federal version of Megan's Law, as an amendment to the Jacob Wetterling Act. The amendment required all states to implement Registration and Community Notification Laws by the end of 1997. Prior to Megan's death, only 5 states had laws requiring sex offenders to register their personal information with law enforcement. On August 5, 1996 Massachusetts was the last state to enact its version of Megan's Law. [13]

Amber Hagerman Child Protection Act Law of 1996

President Bill Clinton signed the Amber Hagerman Child Protection Act Law into law in October 1996, creating the AMBER Alert system and the national sex offender registry. [17] [18]

Adam Walsh Act of 2006

Ottis Toole; evidence indicated he killed Adam Walsh, and he confessed but then recanted. Ottis Toole.jpg
Ottis Toole; evidence indicated he killed Adam Walsh, and he confessed but then recanted.

The most comprehensive legislation related to the supervision and management of sex offenders is the Adam Walsh Act (AWA), named after Adam Walsh, who was kidnapped from a Florida shopping mall and killed in 1981, when he was 6 years old. The AWA was signed on the 25th anniversary of his abduction; efforts to establish a national registry was led by John Walsh, Adam's father.

One of the significant component of the AWA is the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). SORNA provides uniform minimum guidelines for registration of sex offenders, regardless of the state they live in. SORNA requires states to widen the number of covered offenses and to include certain classes of juvenile offenders. Prior to SORNA, states were granted latitude in the methods to differentiate offender management levels. Whereas many states had adopted to use structured risk assessment tools classification to distinguish "high risk" from "low risk" individuals, SORNA mandates such distinctions to be made solely on the basis of the governing offense. [19] States are allowed, and often do, exceed the minimum requirements. Scholars have warned that classification system required under Adam Walsh Act is less sophisticated than risk-based approach previously adopted in certain states. [3] [13] [20]

Extension in number of covered offenses and making the amendments apply retroactively under SORNA requirements expanded the registries by as much as 500% in some states. [21] All states were required to comply with SORNA minimum guidelines by July 2009 or risk losing 10% of their funding through the Byrne program. [13] [ neutrality is disputed ]As of April 2014, the Justice Department reports that only 17 states, three territories and 63 tribes had substantially implemented requirements of the Adam Walsh Act. [22]

Registration

Sex offenders must periodically report in person to their local law enforcement agency and furnish their address, and list of other information such as place of employment and email addresses. The offenders are photographed and fingerprinted by law enforcement, and in some cases DNA information is also collected. Registration period depends on the classification level and the law of the governing jurisdiction.

Classification of offenders

States apply varied methods of classifying registrants. Identical offenses committed in different states may produce different outcomes in terms of public disclosure and registration period. An offender classified as level/tier I offender in one state, with no public notification requirement, might be classified as tier II or tier III offender in another. Sources of variation are diverse, but may be viewed over three dimensions — how classes of registrants are distinguished from one another, the criteria used in the classification process, and the processes applied in classification decisions. [3]

The first point of divergence is how states distinguish their registrants. At one end are the states operating single-tier systems that treat registrants equally with respect to reporting, registration duration, notification, and related factors. Alternatively, some states use multi-tier systems, usually with two or three categories that are supposed to reflect presumed public safety risk and, in turn, required levels of attention from law enforcement and the public. Depending on state, registration and notification systems may have special provisions for juveniles, habitual offenders or those deemed "sexual predators" by virtue of certain standards. [3]

The second dimension is the criteria employed in the classification decision. States running offense-based systems use the conviction offense or the number of prior offenses as the criteria for tier assignment. Other jurisdictions utilize various risk assessments that consider factors that scientific research has linked to sexual recidivism risk, such as age, number of prior sex offenses, victim gender, relationship to the victim, and indicators of psychopathy and deviant sexual arousal. Finally, some states use a hybrid of offense-based and risk-assessment-based systems for classification. For example, Colorado law requires minimum terms of registration based on the conviction offense for which the registrant was convicted or adjudicated but also uses a risk assessment for identifying sexually violent predators — a limited population deemed to be dangerous and subject to more extensive requirements. [3]

Third, states distinguishing among registrants use differing systems and processes in establishing tier designations. In general, offense-based classification systems are used for their simplicity and uniformity. They allow classification decisions to be made via administrative or judicial processes. Risk-assessment-based systems, which employ actuarial risk assessment instruments and in some cases clinical assessments, require more of personnel involvement in the process. Some states, like Massachusetts and Colorado, utilize multidisciplinary review boards or judicial discretion to establish registrant tiers or sexual predator status. [3]

In some states, such as Kentucky, Florida, and Illinois, all sex offenders who move into the state and are required to register in their previous home states are required to register for life, regardless of their registration period in previous residence. [23] Illinois reclassifies all registrants moving in as a "Sexual Predator".

Public notification

States apply differing sets of criteria to determine which registration information is available to the public. In a few states, a judge determines the risk level of the offender, or scientific risk assessment tools are used; information on low-risk offenders may be available to law enforcement only. In other states, all sex offenders are treated equally, and all registration information is available to the public on a state Internet site. Information of juvenile offenders are withheld for law enforcement but may be made public after their 18th birthday. [9]

Under federal SORNA, only tier I registrants may be excluded from public disclosure, with exemption of those convicted of "specified offense against a minor." [24] Since SORNA merely sets the minimum set of rules the states must follow, many SORNA compliant states have opted to disclose information of all tiers. [8]

Disparities in state legislation have caused some registrants moving across state lines becoming subject to public disclosure and longer registration periods under the destination state's laws. [25] These disparities have also prompted some registrants to move from one state to another in order to avoid stricter rules of their original state. [26]

Exclusion zones

External image
Searchtool.svg City wide map of exclusion zones in Milwaukee prior to September 23, 2017. Red and orange highlights denoted the areas where certain registered sex offenders could not reside within the city [27] [28] ]

Laws restricting where registered sex offenders may live or work have become increasingly common since 2005. [29] [30] At least 30 states have enacted statewide residency restrictions prohibiting registrants from living within certain distances of schools, parks, day-cares, school bus stops, or other places where children may congregate. [31] Distance requirements range from 500 to 2,500 feet (150 to 760 m), but most start at least 1,000 ft (300 m) from designated boundaries. In addition, hundreds of counties and municipalities have passed local ordinances exceeding the state requirements, [31] [32] and some local communities have created exclusion zones around churches, pet stores, movie theaters, libraries, playgrounds, tourist attractions or other "recreational facilities" such as stadiums, airports, auditoriums, swimming pools, skating rinks and gymnasiums, regardless of whether publicly or privately owned. [32] [33] Although restrictions are tied to distances from areas where children may congregate, most states apply exclusion zones to offenders even though their crimes did not involve children. [33] [34] In a 2007 report, Human Rights Watch identified only four states limiting restrictions to those convicted of sex crimes involving minors. The report also found that laws preclude registrants from homeless shelters within restriction areas. [32] In 2005, some localities in Florida banned sex offenders from public hurricane shelters during the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season. [33] In 2007, Tampa, Florida's city council considered banning registrants from moving in the city. [35]

Restrictions may effectively cover entire cities, leaving small "pockets" of allowed places of residency. Residency restrictions in California in 2006 covered more than 97% of rental housing area in San Diego County. [36] In an attempt to banish registrants from living in communities, localities have built small "pocket parks" to drive registrants out of the area. [37] [38] [39] In 2007, journalists reported that registered sex offenders were living under the Julia Tuttle Causeway in Miami, Florida because the state laws and Miami-Dade County ordinances banned them from living elsewhere. [40] [41] Encampment of 140 registrants is known as Julia Tuttle Causeway sex offender colony. [42] [43] The colony generated international coverage and criticism around the country. [43] [44] The colony was disbanded in 2010 when the city found acceptable housing in the area for the registrants, but reports five years later indicated that some registrants were still living on streets or alongside railroad tracks. [43] [45] As of 2013 Suffolk County, New York, was faced with a situation where 40 sex offenders were living in two cramped trailers, which were regularly moved between isolated locations around the county by the officials, due to local living restrictions. [46] [47]

Effectiveness

Evidence to support the effectiveness of public sex offender registries is limited and mixed. [48] Majority of research results do not find statistically significant shift in sexual offense trends following the implementation of sex offender registration and notification (SORN) regimes. [49] [50] [51] [52] A few studies indicate that sexual recidivism may have been lowered by SORN policies, [53] [54] while a few have found statistically significant increase in sex crimes following SORN implementation. [48] [55] According to the Office of Justice Programs' SMART Office, sex offender registration and notification requirements arguably have been implemented in the absence of empirical evidence regarding their effectiveness. [48]

According to SMART Office, there is no empirical support for the effectiveness of residence restrictions. In fact, a number of negative unintended consequences have been empirically identified that may aggravate rather than mitigate offender risk. [48]

Debate

According to a 2007 study, the majority of the general public perceives sex offender recidivism to be very high and views offenders as a homogeneous group regarding that risk. Consequently, the study found that a majority of the public endorses broad community notification and related policies. [56] Proponents of the public registries and residency restrictions believe them to be useful tools to protect themselves and their children from sexual victimization. [56] [57]

Critics of the laws point to the lack of evidence to support the effectiveness of sex offender registration policies. They call the laws too harsh and unfair for adversely affecting the lives of registrants decades after completing their initial sentence, and for affecting their families as well. Critics say that registries are overly broad as they reach to non-violent offenses, such as sexting or consensual teen sex, and fail to distinguish those who are not a danger to society from predatory offenders. [58] [59] [60]

Former Supervisory Special Agent of the FBI Kenneth V. Lanning argues that registration should be offender-based instead of offense-based: "A sex-offender registry that does not distinguish between the total pattern of behavior of a 50-year-old man who violently raped a 6-year-old girl and an 18-year-old boy who had 'compliant' sexual intercourse with his girlfriend a few weeks prior to her 16th birthday is misguided. The offense an offender is technically found or pleads guilty to may not truly reflect his dangerousness and risk level". [61]

Some lawmakers recognize problems in the laws. However, they are reluctant to aim for reforms because of political opposition and being viewed as lessening the child safety laws. [62]

These perceived problems in legislation have prompted a growing grass-roots movement to reform sex offender laws in the United States.

Constitutionality

Sex offender registration and community notification laws have been challenged on a number of constitutional and other bases, generating a substantial amount of case law. Those challenging the statutes have claimed violations of ex post facto, due process, cruel and unusual punishment, equal protection and search and seizure. [13] The Supreme Court of the United States has upheld the laws. In 2002, in Connecticut Dept. of Public Safety v. Doe the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed public disclosure of sex offender information and in 2003, in Smith v. Doe , the Supreme Court upheld Alaska's registration statute, reasoning that sex offender registration is civil measure reasonably designed to protect public safety, not a punishment, which can be applied ex post facto . However, law scholars argue that even if the registration schemes were initially constitutional they have, in their current form, become unconstitutionally burdensome and unmoored from their constitutional grounds. A study published in the fall of 2015 found that statistics cited by Justice Anthony Kennedy in two U.S. Supreme Court cases commonly cited in decisions upholding the constitutionality of sex offender policies were unfounded. [63] [64] [65] Several challenges to state level sex offender laws have been honored after hearing at the state level. However, in 2017 the Pennsylvania Supreme Court determined that SORNA violates ex post facto when retroactively applied. [66] [67]

In September 2017 a federal judge found that the Colorado registry is unconstitutional under the cruel and unusual punishment clause of the United States Constitution as applied to three plaintiffs. [68]

Impact on registrants and their families

Sex offender registration and community notification (SORN) laws carry costs in the form of collateral consequences for both sex offenders and their families, including difficulties in relationships and maintaining employment, public recognition, harassment, attacks, difficulties finding and maintaining suitable housing, as well as an inability to take part in expected parental duties, such as going to school functions. [69] [70] Negative effects of collateral consequences on offenders are expected to contribute to known risk factors, and to offenders failing to register, and to the related potential for re-offending. [71]

Family members of sex offenders often experience isolation, hopelessness and depression. [49] U.S. federal law prohibits anyone who is required to register as a sex offender in any state from participating in the Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) or any similar federal housing programs, such as public housing.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Megan's Law</span> United States federal law

Megan's Law is the name for a federal law in the United States requiring law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders. Laws were created in response to the murder of Megan Kanka. Federal Megan's Law was enacted as a subsection of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act of 1994, which merely required sex offenders to register with local law enforcement. Since only a few states required registration prior to Megan's death, the state-level legislation to bring states in compliance—with both the registration requirement of Jacob Wetterling Act and community notification required by federal Megan's Law—were crafted simultaneously and are often referred to as "Megan's Laws" of individual states. Thus, the federal Megan's Law refers to community notification, whereas state-level "Megan's Law" may refer to both sex offender registration and community notification.

A sex offender is a person who has committed a sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convictions for crimes of a sexual nature; however, some sex offenders have simply violated a law contained in a sexual category. Some of the serious crimes which result in a mandatory sex-offender classification are sexual assault, statutory rape, bestiality, child sexual abuse, incest, and rape.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States National Sex Offenders Public Registry</span> Sex offender registry search tool coordinated by the United States Department of Justice

The Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Registry is a cooperative effort between U.S. state agencies that host public sex offender registries and the U.S. federal government. The registry is coordinated by the United States Department of Justice and operates a web site search tool allowing a user to submit a single query to obtain information about sex offenders throughout the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act</span> US law regarding sexual abuse

The Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, colloquially known as the Wetterling Act, is a United States law that requires states to implement a registry of sex offenders and crimes against children. It is named for Jacob Wetterling, a Minnesota eleven-year-old who was abducted by a stranger in 1989, and was missing for almost 27 years until his death was confirmed when his remains were found on September 1, 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jessica's Law</span> 2005 Florida law on victim rights

Jessica's Law is the informal name given to a 2005 Florida law, as well as laws in several other states, designed to protect potential victims and reduce a sexual offender's ability to re-offend which includes a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison and lifetime electronic monitoring when the victim is less than 12 years old. A version of Jessica's Law, known as the Jessica Lunsford Act, was introduced at the federal level in 2005 but was never enacted into law by Congress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act</span> U.S. federal statute

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act is a federal statute that was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush on July 27, 2006. The Walsh Act organizes sex offenders into three tiers according to the crime committed, and mandates that Tier 3 offenders update their whereabouts every three months with lifetime registration requirements. Tier 2 offenders must update their whereabouts every six months with 25 years of registration, and Tier 1 offenders must update their whereabouts every year with 15 years of registration. Failure to register and update information is a felony under the law. States are required to publicly disclose information of Tier 2 and Tier 3 offenders, at minimum. It also contains civil commitment provisions for sexually dangerous people.

Florida Public Safety Information Act was passed in 1997 in Florida to list sexual predators and sexual offenders on the internet and to make the same information available through a 24-hour/day hotline.

<i>Connecticut Department of Public Safety v. Doe</i> 2003 United States Supreme Court case

Connecticut Department of Public Safety v. Doe, 538 U.S. 1 (2003), was a United States Supreme Court case regarding the constitutionality of the Connecticut sex offender registration requirement which required public disclosure of information on sex offenders after they had been released from incarceration.

A sex offender registry is a system in various countries designed to allow government authorities to keep track of the activities of sex offenders, including those who have completed their criminal sentences.

Child sexual abuse laws in the United States have been enacted as part of the nation's child protection policies.

United States v. Kebodeaux, 570 U.S. 387 (2013), was a recent case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Sex Offender Notification and Registration Act (SORNA) was constitutional under the Necessary and Proper Clause.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders</span> American federal law

The International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders is a federal law that requires, among other things, a visual "unique identifier" to be placed on the passports of registrants convicted of sex offenses involving a minor. The law also requires covered offenders to notify law enforcement 21 days before traveling abroad. Critics have claimed violation of constitutional rights and note that the law would also cover those who were convicted as minors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws</span>

The National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL) is an organization headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina with operations based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and with affiliated organizations, advocates, and contacts in the vast majority of states. NARSOL and its affiliates are part of a movement to reform sexual offense laws in the United States. NARSOL has generated media attention by arranging national conferences in multiple cities including Boston, Albuquerque, Los Angeles Dallas, Atlanta, Cleveland, Houston, and Raleigh, and by being involved in numerous lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of sex offender registration and notification laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Women Against Registry</span> American non-profit organization

Women Against Registry (W.A.R.) is a U.S. non-profit organization, based in Arnold, Missouri, which works to obtain changes in laws affecting sex offenders. Most W.A.R. members are mothers, wives, girlfriends, and other family members of persons convicted of a sexual offense. W.A.R. advocates the abolition of sex offender registries altogether, but also wants officials to be more judicious in deciding who poses a risk, instead of the current policies applied to all offenders indiscriminately.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constitutionality of sex offender registries in the United States</span> Constitutional issue United States ;aw

The constitutionality of sex offender registries in the United States has been challenged on a number of state and federal constitutional grounds. While the Supreme Court of the United States has twice upheld sex offender registration laws, in 2015 it vacated a requirement that an offender submit to lifetime ankle-bracelet monitoring, finding it was a Fourth Amendment search that was later ruled constitutionally unreasonable by the state court.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Movement to reform sex offender laws in the United States</span>

The movement to reform sex offender laws in the United States describes the efforts of individuals and organizations to change state laws requiring Sex offender registries in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Effectiveness of sex offender registration policies in the United States</span>

Sex offender registration and notification (SORN) laws in the United States are widely accepted, with supporters believing that disclosing the location of sex offenders residence improves the public's ability to guard themselves and their children from sexual victimization. Despite this wide public acceptance, empirical observations do not uniformly support this belief.

Gundy v. United States, 588 U.S. 128 (2019), was a United States Supreme Court case that held that 42 U.S.C. § 16913(d), part of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act ("SORNA"), does not violate the nondelegation doctrine. The section of the SORNA allows the Attorney General to "specify the applicability" of the mandatory registration requirements of "sex offenders convicted before the enactment of [SORNA]". Precedent is that it is only constitutional for Congress to delegate legislative power to the executive branch if it provides an "intelligible principle" as guidance. The outcome of the case could have greatly influenced the broad delegations of power Congress has made to the federal executive branch, but it did not.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws</span> Nonprofit civil rights organisation

Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) is a nonprofit civil rights, legal reform, and support organization, in Sacramento. ACSOL advocates for the protection of the constitution by restoring the rights of those required to register as sex offenders, and their families. ACSOL was formerly known as California Reform Sex Offender Laws.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juvenile sex offenders in the United States</span>

A juvenile sex crime is defined as a legally proscribed sexual crime committed without consent by a minor under the age of 18. The act involves coercion, manipulation, a power imbalance between the perpetrator and victim, and threats of violence. The sexual offenses that fall under juvenile sex crimes range from non-contact to penetration. The severity of the sexual assault in the crime committed is often the amount of trauma and/or injuries the victim has suffered. Typically within these crimes, female children are the majority demographic of those targeted and the majority of offenders are male. Juvenile sex offenders are different than adult sex offenders in a few ways, as captured by National Incident Based Reporting System: they are more likely to be committed in school, offend in groups and against acquaintances, target young children as victims, and to have a male victim, whereas they are less likely than their adult counterpart to commit rape.

References

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  29. ↑ Zandbergen, P. A.; Levenson, J. S.; Hart, T. C. (2 April 2010). "Residential Proximity to Schools and Daycares: An Empirical Analysis of Sex Offense Recidivism". Criminal Justice and Behavior. 37 (5): 482–502. doi:10.1177/0093854810363549. S2CID   56267056.
  30. ↑ Levenson, Jill; Zgoba, Kristen; Tewksbury, Richard (2007). "Sex Offender Residence Restrictions: Sensible Policy or Flawed Logic?". Federal Probation. 71 (3): 2.
  31. 1 2 Levenson, J. S. (1 April 2005). "The Impact of Sex Offender Residence Restrictions: 1,000 Feet From Danger or One Step From Absurd?" (PDF). International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. 49 (2): 168–178. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.489.5943 . doi:10.1177/0306624X04271304. PMID   15746268. S2CID   42407834.
  32. 1 2 3 "No Easy Answers: Sex Offender Laws in the US". Human Right Watch. 11 September 2007.
  33. 1 2 3 Yung, Corey R. (January 2007). "Banishment By a Thousand Laws: Residency Restrictions on Sex Offenders". Washington University Law Review. 85: 101.
  34. ↑ "SECTION 7.24 RESTRICTIONS ON REGISTERED SEX OFFENDERS". City of Malden. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  35. ↑ "Tampa wants to keep sex offenders outside city limits". Tampa Bay Times. 19 January 2007.
  36. ↑ Keegan, Kyle; Saavedra, Tony (2 March 2015). "State Supreme Court overturns sex offender housing rules in San Diego; law could affect Orange County, beyond". The Orange County Register.
  37. ↑ Suter, Leanne (15 March 2013). "'Pocket parks' leave sex offenders questioning where to live". ABC7.
  38. ↑ Lovett, Ian (9 March 2013). "Neighborhoods Seek to Banish Sex Offenders by Building Parks". The New York Times.
  39. ↑ Jennings, Angel (28 February 2013). "L.A. sees parks as a weapon against sex offenders". Los Angeles Times.
  40. ↑ "Florida housing sex offenders under bridge". CNN. 6 April 2007.
  41. ↑ "Laws to Track Sex Offenders Encouraging Homelessness". The Washington Post. 27 December 2008.
  42. ↑ Samuels, Robert (27 July 2010). "Sex offenders seek housing after closing of camp under the Julia Tuttle Causeway". The Sun-Sentinel. Archived from the original on July 30, 2010.
  43. 1 2 3 "From Julia Tuttle bridge to Shorecrest street corner: Miami sex offenders again living on street". Palm Beach Post. 12 March 2012.
  44. ↑ Häntzschel, Jörg (17 May 2010). "USA: Umgang mit Sexualstraftätern - Verdammt in alle Ewigkeit". Süddeutsche Zeitung.
  45. ↑ "Miami Sex Offenders Live on Train Tracks Thanks to Draconian Restrictions". Broward Palm Beach New Times. 13 March 2014.
  46. ↑ Michael Schwirtz (4 February 2013). "In 2 Trailers, the Neighbors Nobody Wants". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  47. ↑ Corey Kilgannon (17 February 2007). "Suffolk County to Keep Sex Offenders on the Move". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 February 2013. Now officials of this county on Long Island say they have a solution: putting sex offenders in trailers to be moved regularly around the county, parked for several weeks at a time on public land away from residential areas and enforcing stiff curfews.
  48. 1 2 3 4 Office of Justice Programs (2012). "Chapter 8: Sex Offender Management Strategies". Office of Justice Programs - Sex Offender Management and Planning Initiative (SOMAPI).
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  51. ↑ Zevitz, Richard G. (June 2006). "Sex Offender Community Notification: Its Role in Recidivism and Offender Reintegration". Criminal Justice Studies. 19 (2): 193–208. doi:10.1080/14786010600764567. S2CID   144828566.
  52. ↑ Prescott, J.J.; Rockoff, Jonah E. (February 2011). "Do Sex Offender Registration and Notification Laws Affect Criminal Behavior?". Journal of Law and Economics. 54 (1): 161–206. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.363.1170 . doi:10.1086/658485. S2CID   1672265.
  53. ↑ DUWE, GRANT; DONNAY, WILLIAM (May 2008). "The Impact of Megan's Law on Sex Offender Recidivism: The Minnesota Experience". Criminology. 46 (2): 411–446. doi:10.1111/j.1745-9125.2008.00114.x.
  54. ↑ "Sex offender sentencing in Washington State: Has community notification reduced recidivism?". Washington State Institute for Public Policy. December 2005.
  55. ↑ "Studies question effectiveness of sex offender laws". Science Daily. 30 August 2011.
  56. 1 2 Levenson, Jill S.; Brannon, Yolanda N.; Fortney, Timothy; Baker, Juanita (12 April 2007). "Public Perceptions About Sex Offenders and Community Protection Policies" (PDF). Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy. 7 (1): 6. doi:10.1111/j.1530-2415.2007.00119.x.
  57. ↑ Anderson, A. L.; Sample, L. L. (4 April 2008). "Public Awareness and Action Resulting From Sex Offender Community Notification Laws". Criminal Justice Policy Review. 19 (4): 371–396. CiteSeerX   10.1.1.544.7814 . doi:10.1177/0887403408316705. S2CID   145080393.
  58. ↑ "Teenager's Jailing Brings a Call to Fix Sex Offender Registries". The New York Times. 4 July 2015.
  59. ↑ "The Today Show Weighs In on Our "Accidental Sex Offender" Story". Marie Claire. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
  60. ↑ "National conference aims to soften, reform sex offender laws". KOAT Albuquerque. 29 August 2012.
  61. ↑ "Child Molesters: A Behavioral Analysis" (PDF). National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. p. 15. Retrieved October 25, 2015.
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  63. ↑ Ellman, Ira M.; Ellman, Tara (16 September 2015). "'Frightening and High': The Supreme Court's Crucial Mistake About Sex Crime Statistics" (PDF). Forthcoming, Constitutional Commentary, During Fall, 2015.
  64. ↑ "How a dubious statistic convinced U.S. courts to approve of indefinite detention". The Washington Post. 20 August 2015.
  65. ↑ "Matthew T. Mangino: Supreme Court perpetuates sex offender myths". Milford Daily News. 4 September 2015.
  66. ↑ "[J-121B-2016oajc] IN THE SUPREME COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA" (PDF). Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  67. ↑ "Registered Sex Offenders May Shorten Registration Period According to PA Supreme Court". 20 July 2017.
  68. ↑ "Federal judge rules Colorado sex offender register unconstitutional". Reuters. 2017. Archived from the original on September 12, 2017.
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  70. ↑ "COLORADO SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION FORM" (PDF). Colorado Bureau of Investigation.
  71. ↑ Levenson, Jill; Letourneau, Elizabeth; Armstrong, Kevin; Zgoba, Kristen Marie (June 2010). "Failure to Register as a Sex Offender: Is it Associated with Recidivism?". Justice Quarterly. 27 (3): 305–331. doi:10.1080/07418820902972399. S2CID   145666215.
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