Sex offender registration

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Sex offender registration is a system in place in a number of jurisdictions 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. In many jurisdictions registered sex offenders are subject to additional restrictions, including housing. Those on parole or probation may be subject to restrictions that don't apply to other parolees or probationers. Sometimes these include (or have been proposed to include) restrictions on being in the presence of minors, living in proximity to a school or day care center, or owning toys or other items of interest to minors.

Contents 1 Past, present, future 1.1 United States 1.1.1 Ex post facto 1.1.2 Due process 1.1.3 Hawaii due process 1.1.4 Missouri 1.2 Canada 1.3 United Kingdom 2 Registration requirements under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (USA) 3 Application to offenses other than felony sexual offenses 4 Public notice 5 Additional restrictions beyond public notice 6 Effectiveness and consequences 6.1 Registration and homelessness 7 See also 8 References 9 External links

[edit] Past, present, future

In 1948, California became the first state in the United States to have a sex offender registration program.^[1] Community notification of the release of sex offenders from incarceration did not occur until almost 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. In Connecticut Dept. of Public Safety v. Doe (2002) the Supreme Court of the United States affirmed this public disclosure.^[2][3]

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act became law in 2007. 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. Since its enactment, the Adam Walsh Act (AWA) has come under intense grassroots scrutiny for its far-reaching scope and breadth. Even before any state adopted AWA, several sex offenders were prosecuted under its regulations. This has resulted in one life sentence for failure to register, due to the offender being homeless and unable to register a physical address.[2]

In the United States, all 50 states have passed laws requiring sex offenders (especially child sex offenders) to register with police. Accordingly, the law requires offenders report where they take up residence upon leaving prison or being convicted of any crime.^{[citation needed]}

In 2006, California voters passed Proposition 83, which will enforce "lifetime monitoring of convicted sexual predators and the creation of predator free zones."^[4][5] This proposition was challenged the next day in federal court on grounds relating to ex post facto. The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, Sacramento, found that Proposition 83 did not apply retroactively.

Patty Wetterling, the mother of Jacob Wetterling and a major proponent of the Jacob Wetterling Act, has openly criticized the evolution of sex offender registration and management laws in the United States since the Jacob Wetterling Act was passed.^[6]

[edit] United States

The Supreme Court of the United States has upheld sex offender registration laws twice, in two respects. Two challenges to state laws (in Hawaii and Missouri) have succeeded, however.

[edit] Ex post facto

In Smith v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84 (2003), the Supreme Court of the United States upheld Alaska's sex-offender registration statute. Reasoning that sex offender registration deals with civil laws, not punishments, the Court ruled 6-3 that it is not an unconstitutional ex post facto law. Justices John Paul Stevens, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and Stephen Breyer dissented.

[edit] Due process

In Connecticut Dept. of Public Safety v. Doe, 538 U.S. 1 (2003),^[7] the Court ruled that Connecticut's sex-offender registration statute did not violate the procedural due process of those to whom it applied, although the Court "expresses no opinion as to whether the State's law violates substantive due process principles."

[edit] Hawaii due process

In State v. Bani, 36 P.3d 1255 (Haw. 2001), the Hawaii State Supreme Court held that Hawaii's sex offender registration statute violated the due process clause of the Constitution of Hawaii, ruling that it deprived potential registrants of "of a protected liberty interest without due process of law." The Court reasoned that the sex offender law authorized "public notification of (the potential registrant's) status as a convicted sex offender without notice, an opportunity to be heard, or any preliminary determination of whether and to what extent (he) actually represents a danger to society."^[8]

[edit] Missouri

The most successful challenges to sex offender registration in the United States have been in Missouri because of a unique provision in the Missouri Constitution (Article I, Section 13) prohibiting "laws retrospective in operation."

In Doe v. Phillips, 194 S.W.3d 837 (Mo. banc 2006), the Supreme Court of Missouri in Jefferson City held that the Missouri Constitution did not allow the state to place anyone on the registry who had been convicted or pleaded guilty to a registrable offense before the sex offender registration law went into effect on January 1, 1995.^[9] and remanded the case for further consideration in light of that holding.^[9] On remand, the Jackson County Circuit Court entered an injunction ordering that the applicable individuals be removed from the published sex offender list.^[10] The Missouri State Highway Patrol appealed that order to the Missouri Court of Appeals in Kansas City, which affirmed the injunction on April 1, 2008.^[10] The Highway Patrol indicated that it may attempt to appeal to the Supreme Court of Missouri.^[11]

The Doe ruling prompted a flurry of similars lawsuits throughout Missouri.^[12] In July 2007, in Doe v. Blunt, 225 S.W.3d 421 (Mo. banc 2007), the Supreme Court of Missouri held that the 2006 ruling applied to potential registrants whose offenses did not become registrable (via amendment into the Sex Offender Registration Act) until after they pleaded guilty or were convicted, and thus could not be required to register.^[13] On February 19, 2008, the Court held that the Missouri Constitution's bar on retrospective laws also prohibited enforcement of a requirement that a registered sex offender move from his home located within 1000 feet of a school when he lived in that home prior to the enactment of the law requiring that he move.^[14]

In response to these rulings, in 2007, several Missouri state Senators proposed an amendment to the Missouri Constitution which would exempt sex offender registration laws from bar on retrospective civil laws.^[15] The proposed amendment passed the State Senate unanimously but was not passed by the Missouri House of Representatives before the end of the 2007 legislative session. ^[16] The same constitutional amendment was proposed in and passed by the Missouri Senate again in 2008, but also was not passed by the House of Representatives by the end of that year's legislative session.^[17] As a result, the decisions of the Missouri courts prohibiting the retrospective application of sex offender laws remain intact.

[edit] Canada

Canada's National Sex Offender Registry (NSOR) came into force on December 15, 2004, with the passing of the Sex Offender Information Registration Act (SOIR Act)^[18] Since then, any offender who is convicted of a designated sexual offence may be ordered, at the time of sentencing or as soon as possible thereafter, by the court to register with the registration site that serves the area of their main residence. A person so ordered must register within 15 days, or if they are incarcerated for their crime, within 15 days from their release date. The information that is collected from the offender is confidential, and is not available to the public.

The main purpose of Canada's NSOR is to assist a police officer who is investigating a crime of a sexual nature. NSOR analysts can provide the most current information available about a suspect who is already a registered sex offender, or can search the NSOR database for possible suspects in sexual offence cases where the offender is unknown.

The NSOR database also contains details concerning many sex offenders who were convicted and sentenced prior to December 15, 2004, referred to as "retrospective" offenders, the criteria being that they must have still been serving an active portion of their sentence on the date that the SOIR Act came into force (eg. still incarcerated, on probation, or on parole). These retrospective offenders were tracked down by various law enforcement authorities, and were served with a Notice that they were required to register for the NSOR after a one-year grace period. The last day of that grace period was December 15, 2005.

Anyone required to register with Canada's National Sex Offender Registry is required to comply with the following obligations:

1. to register with their registration site once a year. (The registration site is usually the police agency that serves the area where the offender's main residence is located, although this description varies somewhat by province or territory);
2. to advise their registration site, within 15 days, of any change of name;
3. to advise their registration site, within 15 days, of any change of address;
4. to advise their registration site, within 15 days, of any absence from their main address that will be for at least 15 consecutive days. They must advise of their date of departure, their actual or estimated date of return, and of the address(es) where they will be while absent. In addition, the offender is required to advise the registration site, within 15 days of their return to their residence, of their actual date of return.

An Order or Notice requires an offender to comply with the SOIR Act for a term of either 10 years, 20 years, or life. The term is determined by the maximum possible penalty the offender could have received for the offence for which he/she was sentenced. Also, if the offender has a previous conviction for any sexual offence (it does not have to be the same sexual offence for which they're now being sentenced), or if they're already under a previously-issued Order or Notice, the minimum term that will apply, is Life.

[edit] United Kingdom

See Violent and Sex Offender Register

[edit] Registration requirements under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (USA)

The required retroactive application of requirements will be defined by criteria relating to the nature of their sex offenses. For example a tier 3 sex offender who was released from imprisonment for such an offense in 1930 will still have to register for the remainder of their life. Tier 2 sex offender convicted in 1980 is already more than 25 years out from the time of release. In such cases, a jurisdiction may credit the sex offender with the time elapsed from his or her release.

[edit] Application to offenses other than felony sexual offenses

Sex offender registration has been applied to crimes other than rape, child molestation, and child pornography offenses.

In California, some types of drug offenders must comply with registration closely resembling that of sex offenders, although drug offender registration is not life-long. Examples of drug convictions requiring registration are heroin possession and marijuana sales to minors on school grounds. This type of registration expires five years after the felon completes his or her probation or parole period, if that person has remained arrest-free.^{[citation needed]}

In New York and various other states, crimes that society does not necessarily view as sexual in nature are also considered to be registerable sex offenses, such as kidnapping, unlawful surveillance, "sexual misconduct" (such as mooning or streaking), unlawful imprisonment, and in some cases "sexually motivated offenses" (such as assault, burglary, etc.) that are not categorized as sexual offenses unless the court determines that the offense was committed pursuant to the offender's own sexual gratification.^[19]

[edit] Public notice

In some localities, the lists of sex offenders are made available to the public: for example, through the newspapers, community notification, or the Internet. However, in other localities, the complete 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, who are at low risk to reoffend; Level II offenders, who are at moderate risk to reoffend; and Level III offenders, who are at high risk to reoffend. Information is usually accessible related to that risk (information being more accessible to the public for higher risk offenders). There are penalties for failing to register as required.

[edit] Additional restrictions beyond public notice

Sex offenders on parole or probation are generally subject the same restrictions as other parolees and probationers.

Sex offenders who have completed probation or parole may also be subject to restrictions above and beyond those of most felons. In some jurisdictions they cannot live within a certain distance of places children or families gather. Such places are usually schools, churches, and parks. It could also include public venues (stadiums), apartments, malls, stores, shopping centers, and certain neighborhoods.

Some states have Civil Commitment laws, which allow very-high-risk sex offenders to be returned to prison or forced to live under very heavy supervision after the end of their normal sentences. See also: Child Sex Offender penalties.

The State of Missouri now restricts the activities of registered sex offenders on Halloween, requiring them to avoid Halloween-related contact with children and remain at their registered home address from 5PM to 10:30PM, unless they are required to work that evening. Regardless of whether they are at work, offenders must extinguish all outside residential lighting and post a sign stating, "No candy or treats at this residence."^[20]

[edit] Effectiveness and consequences

The vast majority of offenders 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. Thus, despite the public awareness of the whereabouts of convicted sex offenders, there has been no evidence shown that mandatory registration has made society safer.

Sex offender registries are designed to protect and alert the public about the dangers of sex offenders; however, in at least two instances, convicted sex offenders were murdered after their information was made available over the internet.^[21]

[edit] Registration and homelessness

People who are registered in offender databases are usually required to notify the government when they change their place of 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 not all states have such provisions. 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.

News reports in 2007 revealed that some registered sex offenders are living outside or under a bridge in Miami, Florida because city ordinances made it virtually impossible for them to find housing. [3][4][5]

[edit] See also

Sex offender registration laws

• Violent and Sex Offender Register, a non-public UK registry for violent offenders and sex offenders.
• Megan's Law, a series of state laws in the United States that require sex offenders to register with the police.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• FamilyWatchdog.us National Sex Offender Registry
• US Dept. of Justice sex offender registry
• NZ Sensible Sentencing Trust website, a New Zealand registry of violent and sexual offenders
• Sex offender registry by state on PublicRecordsWire.com
• Sex offender registry by zipcode on LookupAmerica.com
• Registry inaccuracies
  • Sex Offender Accused of Falsely Registering Family's Address
  • Sometimes 'sorry' doesn't cut it Police raid apartment long after sex offender has moved out