Sex offender registration

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Sex offender registration is a system in place in a number of juridisdictions designed to allow government authorities to keep track of the residence and activities of sex offenders, including those who have completed their criminal sentences. In some jurisdictions (especially in the United States), information in the registry is made available to the general public via a website or other means.

[edit] History and Analysis (in the United States)

In 1947, California in the United States became the first state to have a sex offender registration program. Community notification of the release of sex offenders from incarceration did not occur until amost 50 years later. In 1994, a federal statute called the Jacob Wetterling Act required all states to pass legislation requiring sex offenders to register with state sex offender registries. Then again in 1996, based on a set of New Jersey Laws called "Megan's Laws," the federal government required states to pass legislation mandating public notification of personal information for certain sex offenders. The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act became law in 2006. This law implements new uniform requirements for sex offender registration across the states. Highlights of the law are a new national sex offender registry, standardized registration requirements for the states, and new and enhanced criminal offenses related to sex offenders.ahh thats scary

All fifty states have passed laws requiring sex offenders, especially child sex offenders, to register with police authorities. They report where they live when they leave prison or are convicted of a crime. This requirement is often in addition to the offender's legal sentence (punishment) and other restrictions, such as not allowing contact with children and not living within certain distances from schools, parks, stores, and stadiums. In most places sex offenders are subjected to an exit ban meaning they can't travel or leave a certain place at a certain time, most often the offender can't leave his/her hometown without permission from a probation officer. The exact provisions vary with each locality.

The purpose of such registration and restrictions are to encourage the protection of children and society by increasing the awareness of the community about the recidivism risk that some offenders may present on release. Policy makers and the public who support this intervention also hope that community awareness will assist in preventing future sex offenses. Child molesters are often thought to be highly susceptible for recidivism.

In some localities, the lists of sex offenders are made available to the public: for example, through the internet. However, in other localities, the lists are not available to the general public but are known to the police. In the United States offenders are often classified in three categories, Level I offenders which are at low risk to reoffend. Level II offenders which are at moderate risk to reoffend, and Level III offenders which are at high risk to reoffend. Information is usually accessible related to that risk (more information for more risky offenders). There are penalties for failure to register as required.

Although female sex offenders are often sensationalised in news media, the vast majority of sex offenders registered are male. The vast majority of offenders also victimize individuals who are known, related or intimate to the victim -- contrary to media depictions of stranger assaults or child molesters who kidnap children unknown to them.

While sex offender registries are designed to protect and alert the public about the dangers of sex offenders, in at least one instance two convicted sex offenders were murdered after their information was made available over the internet.^[1]

Recently, (November 3, 2006) the state of California has put out a piece of legislation which would enforce "lifetime monitoring of convicted sexual predators and the creation of predator free zones". This legislation will be voted on in the upcoming national elections.

Dr. Henry Rogan of the University of Santa Barabara has this to say about convicted sex offenders: "[The ‘predator-free’ zone] doesn’t solve anything." He remarked in a recent interview, “It’s just punishment. Sex offenders don’t pick up people they don’t know—that’s what kidnappers are for.”

[edit] Registration and homelessness

Persons who are registered in offender databases are usually required to notify the government when they move their residence. This notification requirement is problematic in cases where the registered offender is homeless. The state of Washington is among those that have special provisions in their registration code covering homeless offenders, but this forethought has not been shown by all states in the United States. A November 2006 Maryland Court of Appeals ruling exempts homeless persons from that state's registration requirements, which has prompted a drive to compose new laws covering this contingency.^[2]