Sex Offender Legislation: Necessary Or Harmful?

Many states believe in rehabilitation for violent sex offenders while others believe in long term incarceration. Either way, the belief of proper legal sanction for sexual offenders are all the same. In states like Florida and New Jersey, laws were created to prosecute violators who abused, raped, molested, assaulted or kidnapped someone against their will. States then began to create laws that will give the victims of these horrifying sex crimes justice and in turn give the sex offender the correct punishment they deserve. When some civil commitment laws were revoked, the public’s outcry made states revisit and establish new laws that would help decrease the sex crime rate (Chittom and Cushman). Laws like Megan’s Law, Jessica’s Law, and Adam Walsh’s Law were created when their children had been abducted, raped,

The internet has become so helpful and useful about keeping the public alerted and informed on their surrounding as well as their children’s surrounding. The internet is now the primary source for finding for finding information on any registered sex offender no matter where they might be. The sex offender registry was created the public about sexually predators that might live in any area. The registries increase the

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.

Summary of Article or Findings: The key problem the authors raise is if there is a stigma directed at registered sex offenders. The research focuses on certain consequences that register sex offenders deal with because of their status. The data gather in the research shows key problems in being a registered sex offender. The evidence that shows the key problem of being a registered sex offender is actual insight from actual registered sex offenders. The key finding of the research is there are main consequences that registered sex offender’s deal with because of being a registered sex offender. The sex offender’s deal with family and intimate relationship issues, loss of employment, denied promotions at work, lack of housing, different types of harassment. The key concept which leads to the conclusion is that there is a stigma directed at registered sex offenders. Since the registered sex offenders have consequences because of their status as a registered sex offender it gives the look that no matter what, they will never fulfill their debt to society. The conclusion the author’s made is that there are problems with registered sex offenders in locations that have need been studied and those that have been studied. The consequences the registered sex offenders receive could cause further problems such as reoffending and that the stigma regarding sex offenders is still active.

When we hear the phrase, sex offender, we normally feel repulsed. We think of dirty old creepy men. I for one used to do this, I won’t lie. This is because people like to rush to judgment. But my opinions changed when I came to the realization that it’s not just creepy old men who are sex offenders. I want to talk about them, but not those who are serial rapists or child molesters; they don’t deserve to be talked about. I’m talking about people who are convicted, whether it’s falsely, or unjustly, and have to wear a stamp on their forehead for the rest of their lives saying they are a sex offender.

Not only that but they are labeling them as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. How confusing this must be to the young people of America today. So many young people are finding this out the hard way by being accused of a sex offense for being

They brought “R” in for questioning and he was released. Later arrested again for statutory rape and the mother (of the girl) came to defend him saying she knew and approved. He received a year in jail and so did the mother. Ten years later was required to start registering and was given life. He should not have been given a life sentence. He is a tier one offender and should only be required to register for 15 years. Tier three individuals the most violent are required to register for life. He is now 42 years old and is functioning however being on the registry has caused extreme difficulty in getting jobs and being able to function without society opinions being forced upon him. I just think that this story is one of many who are non- violent and are lifelong registrants. All crimes that a person is on the registry for are wrong; I just think that the non-violent ones need to be reviewed more thoroughly.

Now what are the details of Megan’s laws? Require states to have convicted sex offenders who are no longer incarcerated to register where they live to the police of that town. In an article Megan’s Law assessing the practical and monetary efficacy written by Kristen Zgoiba the two main elements are registration and notification. Megan’s Law allows the states to establish criteria for private and personal information on registered sexy officer to be available to the public. (Zgoba,

With the sex offender’s registries controlled by each individual jurisdiction, maintaining a registry is time consuming and costly. The separate jurisdictions maintain their own registry is through the Justice Assistance Grant (JAG). The grant only deducts 10% of their budget if that jurisdiction in not following the minimal guidelines of SORNA. We see an issue with who to hold accountable when the inaccurate information and lack of information is projected to society. Take for instance an article wrote titled, Sex offender registration changes: not worth the cost? by Gunnarsson. In her article she states, “Estimates of how much Illinois risks losing for its noncompliance with SORNA range from $900,000 to $1.6 million. But the loss of Byrne

In extending the current sex offender and housing literature, this study explored whether the presence of RSOs were associated with a decrease in sale prices of homes in a major metropolitan U.S. county. Previous research has established that sex offender legislation has produced unintended social and financial consequences in communities located in urban areas. Economically speaking, scholars have demonstrated a relationship between home sale values and the presence of RSOs (Bian et al., 2013; Caudill et al., 2014; Larsen et al., 2003; Linden & Rockoff, 2008; Pope, 2008; Wentland et al., 2014). Based on this scholarship, home sale values have financially reacted in decreased values to the nearby presence of RSOs, even though public members

The purpose of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 was established to protect children from sexual exploitation and violent crimes, to prevent child abuse and child pornography with an emphasis on comprehensive strategies across federal/state/local communities, to prevent sex offenders access to children, to prevent internet safety.

Laws regarding child abduction and molestation have strengthened and improved over time. Liam Dillon describes the improved consequences for sex offenders due to Chelsea’s Law.

A considerable question could be whether an offender can be deregistered. Without a doubt, there are a few sex offenders who have been convicted of this crime who do not pose any threat to the community. These people suffer from consequences such as being unable to have employment, return to school, or even social interactions. In cases like these, they often look for an alternative option. For many years, deregistration was not probable for anyone until now. Looking into the research of deregistration, an attorney from Austin, Texas by the name of Scott Smith, has provided certain step for an eligibility of deregistration. The first step is to determine the eligibility of the offender. To be eligible, they must not have more than one violation

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