Sex Offender Laws

A sex offender is anyone who is convicted of a sex crime. The crimes that qualify as sex crimes vary by state, but most states include rape (forced and statutory), sexual assault or battery, child molestation or any sexual conduct with a minor, production or possession of child pornography, and attempts to commit any of these crimes. The history of sex offenders has been active since the 1800’s according to author Philip Jenkins. Jerkins explains that in the Middle Ages, children were constantly coming up missing and he also explains that sex crime laws have existed as far back as biblical times with a number of penalties ranging from fines to death for various sexual acts considered deviant at one time or another in society. (Jenkins, 1998)

There have been many federal acts passed in correspondence with sex offenses that illicit feat with the public. There are many different types of ways in which Levenson & colleagues’ (2007) describes the perceptions that the public has based on certain factors. For instance, in relation to the perception about the sex offender notification system, a survey produced results of around 80 percent in favor of these registries, because these individuals felt safer in their communities knowing who was in their neighborhood. Further, due to this fear that resonated in the early 1990’s communities do have tools such as residential restrictions, civil commitment, notification procedures, etc. that aid in the protection. However, there are myths associated with sex offenders, for example legislation often states that the reasoning for new laws and regulations is due to the high recidivism rates. However, sex offenders have significantly lower recidivism rates than believed. Also, there are countless people who do not believe that sex offenders can be assisted with techniques from a psychological standpoint. Most people think that these offenders cannot be treated, however, there is research being conducted that is promising. Finally, there is a common misconception that sex offenders kill their victims, especially children more often than other killers, however this is not true.

Sexual assault occurs every two minutes in the United States. Sexual violence against women is still endemic in the United States. Statistics show nearly one in five women have been sexually assaulted. Managing sex offenders is still an issue in the criminal justice system. Repeat offenders are extremely difficult to monitor. The national legislature monitoring system contains an absence of effective research in monitoring sex offenders. Sexual offender registration and notification Act (SORNA) operates in all the US states and territories. The objective is to monitor and track sex offenders by law enforcement. Also they provide information to the public and the communities about the offenders. For example, the National registry allows the public to be informed of a registered offender and their demographics.

California enacted the first sex offender register law in 1944. However, sex offender registers in the United States did not become widespread until the 1990s. The Jacob Wetterling Act 1994 was named after 11-year-old Jacob Wetterling who was abducted and to this day has never been found. The Jacob Wetterling Act implemented the first nation-wide sex offender register. Originally, the concept of a sex offender register was intended to for use solely by law enforcement; it was not an intention for the sex offender register to be public. However in 1996, Megan’s Law was added to the Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act 1994 and made it a requirement for the information on sex offender registers to be accessible by the public. Megan’s Law was enacted as a result of a heinous crime where 7-year-old Megan Kanka was raped and murdered by her neighbour, who had two previous convictions for sexually assaulting young girls. In 2006, Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. This Act required states to enact stricter registration requirements, including an increase in the penalty for not registering and more frequent verification of sex offenders’ locations. Since 2006 public access to sex offender registers has been accessible on the Internet in most states. On these websites you can search for an offender by name or location, and find information such as their photo, convictions, address,

Notification: Public Attention, Political Emphasis, and Fear”, by Richard G. Wright, makes the following statement that goes along with issue involving the allocation of funds, “For the millions of direct and indirect expenditures spent on compliance and implementation with registration and notification laws, there is very little funding spent on sexual assault prevention, victim support, and offender treatment” (Wright 102). It is extremely important to put money towards rehabilitation, and the support of the victims of sexual assault, not just the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

“Megan's Law is a term that describes laws designed to provide information and notification to communities when a potentially dangerous sex offender moves into the neighborhood.” Offenders register with authorities, then in an online registry. They just provide their name, address, photo and conviction information (Markos 1). This Law is a controversial topic. It is about a seven year old girl named Megan Kanka who was sexually abused and murdered by her neighbor across the street (Fodor 1).In spite of critics who complain that it invades the privacy of convicted and released sex offenders, Megan's Law is vital in order to provide children's safety.

In the year of 1994, the New Jersey Legislature passed a law known as Megan’s Law. The law was named after Megan Kanka, a seven year old girl who was raped and killed in Hamilton Township, New Jersey, by a known child molester who had moved across the street from the family. Megan’s Law, in short, created a registration and notification procedure to alert law enforcement, schools, community organizations and neighbors to the presence of a sex offender who authorities believe may pose a risk to the community (Morris County Office of the Prosecutor, 2015, p. 1). States must provide relevant information about these sex offenders to their communities in order to enhance public safety

Jennifer, I enjoyed reading your post, especially when you mention employers hiring sex offenders taking opposing employment action against that employee based on the sex offender status. Megan’s Law is different from state to state. Tennessee Megan’s Law says that within 48 hours upon release from prison the offender must register; can one commit a crime within that 48-hour window. (Megan’s Law for Tennessee, 2016) Tennessee Megan’s Law states if you move into Tennessee from another state and are a registered offender you must register with Tennessee, who notifies Tennessee when an offender relocates here. (Megan’s Law for Tennessee, 2016) Offenders want the chance to move back into society, but the Megan’s Law needs more classification to make offenders accountable. It seems as if the Fourth

The constitution of Massachusetts is a subordinate to the constitution of United States, as would any other state’s constitution be. It is therefore mandated to register sex offenders within its borders. The presence of decentralized statutes in the different states however results to different regulations on registration of sex offenders among many other laws. The constitution of Massachusetts abundantly outlines what is considered as sexual crimes and offenses. Not all of them, however, require their perpetuators to register as sexual offenders. Some examples of the major crimes that would mandate registration are such as rape, assault with the aim of committing rape, kidnapping a child and introducing a minor to prostitution. The rest of the crimes mandated for registration are further listed an outlined on http://www.mass.gov/eopss/crime-prev-personal-sfty/sex-offenders/information-for-sex-offenders.html

Facts: John Doe was arrested in Marion County in 2000 and convicted of two counts of child exploitation. A recent Indiana statute prohibits most registered sex offenders from using social networking websites, instant messaging services, and chat programs. He was released from prison in 2003 and was required to register as a sex offender under this Indiana law. John Doe, on behalf of a class of similarly situated sex offenders, challenges this law on First Amendment grounds and files suit against Marion County. The district court held that the law implicates Doe's

Sex offenders have been a serious problem for our legal system at all levels, not to mention those who have been their victims. There are 43,000 inmates in prison for sexual offenses while each year in this country over 510,000 children are sexually assaulted(Oakes 99). The latter statistic, in its context, does not convey the severity of the situation. Each year 510,000 children have their childhood's destroyed, possibly on more than one occasion, and are faced with dealing with the assault for the rest of their lives. Sadly, many of those assaults are perpetrated by people who have already been through the correctional system only to victimize again. Sex offenders, as a class of criminals, are nine times more likely to repeat their

The number of registered sex offenders have increasingly grew over the years. Every day you see a man or women added to the registry for crimes against women and mostly children. The sex offender registries biggest and main focus is to keep the people in the community in each city and state informed and protected. ”Sex offenders and sex crimes provoke a great deal of anxiety in our society.” Baker, J, Brannon, Y, N., Fortney. , Levenson, J.S. (“Public Perceptions about Sex Offenders and Community Protection”). The sex offender registry is based solely on protecting the public from being a victim

Megan’s Law created a registration and notification procedure to alert law enforcement, schools, community organizations and neighbors to the presence of a sex offender who authorities believe may pose a risk to the community ( Verniero 1) .When sex crime offenders are released from prison according to this new law, they must register themselves with the police. If they are thought to be dangerous and will possibly strike again, they must also register with the

Stories of sex offenders have been increasingly a focus of attention by the criminal justice system over the past years. By legal definition, a sex offender “is a person who is convicted of a sexual offense (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition),” an act which is prohibited by the jurisdiction. What constitutes as a sex offense or normal/abnormal sexual behavior varies over time and place, meaning that it also varies by legal jurisdiction and culture. In the United States of America, for example, a person can be convicted of wide range of sexual behavior that includes prostitution, incest, sex with a minor, rape, and other sex offenses (Sex Offender Law & Legal Definition). As the nature of sex crimes have long held the

The Sex Offender Register is the common appearance for the records held by the police rising from the statutory requirement that sex offenders should notify the police of their address details and change of conditions. The register is providing greater knowledge of the whereabouts of such offenders in the interests of public protection (Stone, 2008). The Sex Offenders Act of 1997 provides that offenders convicted of cautioned, warned or reprimanded for a relevant offence are subject to notification requirements commonly known as registration requirements in respect of specified personal details, recorded and retained by the police.