A federal judge in California has found a key part of the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) to be unconstitutional. SORNA makes it a federal crime when a sex offender fails to register and then travels outside their state. People convicted...
sex offender registry
Can a state order a new resident onto the sex offender registry?
It’s a relatively common requirement. If you are a registered sex offender in one state and you move to another, the new state will often require you to comply with its registry. However, the state of Indiana went a step further. It required new residents to register...
Sex offenders’ addresses should not be outed before Halloween
Every year before Halloween, newspapers publish maps showing the location of registered sex offenders in various neighborhoods. The idea is to keep children safe from sexual abuse when they trick-or-treat. However, there is no evidence that children are at risk...
Does registering and banning people actually prevent crime?
Although we're not from New York City, we can agree that there is probably too much public lewdness and unwanted touching going on in the city's subways. Earlier this month, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a plan to clean up public transit: banning "repeat...
Follow the evidence when evaluating sex offender registries
To many, sex offender registries seem like a good way to prevent people from committing repeat sex offenses, thereby keeping the public safer.Many believe that people who have committed sex offenses in the past are much more likely to commit them in the future....
In New Jersey, sex offenders fight for chance to get off registry
In New Jersey as in most states, there is a sex offender registry that was created by a "Megan's Law." These laws were enacted after a 7-year-old girl, Megan Kanka, was raped and murdered by a man who had been convicted twice of sexual assault. The law requires all...
When people with intellectual disabilities commit sex crimes
When Adam N. was arrested for exposing himself to a neighbor, it was hard to understand it as a sex crime. Adam is 32 but functions at the level of a 10-year-old. His mother says that the neighbor was actually abusing Adam and coerced him to expose himself. Adam pled...