Sex offender registry

[Masterhawk]

It all started in 1993 with the passage of the Wetterling Act. This act of congress called upon states to require people who committed sex crimes against minors to register their current address with law enforcement for 10 years. The registry wouldn't be available to the public until the high profile murder of Meghan Kanka. A month after her death in 1994, the state of New Jersey passed a law which notified the community whenever a sex offender moved into the neighborhood. A year later, this law made its way to the federal level. It required states to make the registry available to the public. It does not specify how states are required to make said notification available (could be through newspaper or the internet). Once again, sex offenders should be on the registry for 10 years. The Adam Walsh Act which is also known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) became the next step. It created a 3 tier system. Tier 1 offenders are on the registry for 10-15 years, tier 2 is 25 years, and tier 3 lasts 25 to life. Whether someone is registered as a sex offender and what tier they end up in is based not on the risk of offending but on the offense itself. The act also allowed federal judges to sentence offenders to civil commitment if (in theory) it can be proven that the offender attempted to engage in rape or child molestation, is mentally ill, and would have trouble not reoffending if released.

State governments often went beyond what the federal government mandated. In many cases, people who were sentenced in a lower tier found themselves in a higher tier. An Ohio study found that while previously most offenders were in the least restrictive tier, the majority eventually found themselves in the third tier. Some states also imposed residency restrictions which prohibited sex offenders from living within a certain distance of a place "where minors may gather" which includes schools, parks, malls, theaters, etc. And when state governments didn't, local governments often did. In some places, there was almost nowhere in the city that sex offenders could live. This was the case in the City of Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Common Council votes to lift sex offender residency restrictions

The measure repeals residency "buffers," meaning that sex offenders could basically live anywhere in the City of Milwaukee.

www.jsonline.com

And if sex offenders happen to be living in a prohibited area already and cannot afford to get a new place, they end up homeless. In Miami Florida (where the registry is especially strict), there was a settlement of sex offenders living under the Julia Tuttle Causeway. Under Miami law, sex offenders cannot live within 2,500 feet of a school, bus stop, park, or homeless shelter. In practice, this meant that sex offenders could only live in the Miami Airport or the Florida Everglades.

Julia Tuttle Causeway sex offender colony - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Now maybe all of this would be justifiable if it actually worked. In 1994, when the sex offender registry was just getting started, the DOJ conducted a 5 year study of inmates getting released. They found that although property criminals had very high recidivism rates (70-80%), only 5% of rapists were arrested again for another rape. Murderers also had a low rate of 1.2%.
The DOJ did another study lasting from 2005 to 2014 with similar results. 67% of those who finished serving time for a sex offense ended up behind bars again. That was lower than for property, drug, and public order offenses which were in the 80s. Although 67% is certainly a majority, most of them were not for sex offenses. 24% went back for a property crime, 18.5% for drug crimes, and 59% for public order crimes (which makes sense once you realize that it includes parole and probation violations). Only 7.7% of released sex criminals were rearrested for another sex crime.

BJS fuels myths about sex offense recidivism, contradicting its own new data

A new government report reinforces harmful misconceptions about people convicted of sex offenses. Here's our take on how to parse the data.

www.prisonpolicy.org

*End of part 1*

 

[Masterhawk]

The reason why we often have the assumption that they will most certainly do it again is because of media reporting. Obviously, the sex offenders who don't commit another sex offense don't make the news because people not committing crimes is not news. Furthermore, those who do make the news are often what most people think of when they hear of sex offenders: either serial rapists or child molesters. You'd be pretty shocked to find what crimes land people on the registry. Some states consider indecent exposure, public urination, incest, and prostitution to be registerable offenses. Furthermore, there are children on the registry and not just teenagers but actual children as young as 8. This is often due to sexting, sexual experimentation (prepubescent), or age of consent laws with weak or no close in age exceptions.

Raised on the Registry

This 111-page report details the harm public registration laws cause for youth sex offenders. The laws, which can apply for decades or even a lifetime and are layered on top of time in prison or juvenile detention, require placing offenders’ personal information on online registries, often...

www.hrw.org

At this point, you might be wondering why in the world this is allowed. Our constitution protects people from punishment without due process of law, it prevents cruel and unusual punishment, and it prohibits ex post facto laws. The answer to that is quite simple. You see, the sex offender registry technically isn't a punishment as the SC ruled in Smith v. Doe. The same goes for civil commitment. As long as it's for the sake of public safety and not punishment, everything is fair game.

 

[Bodi]

The reason why we often have the assumption that they will most certainly do it again is because of media reporting. Obviously, the sex offenders who don't commit another sex offense don't make the news because people not committing crimes is not news. Furthermore, those who do make the news are often what most people think of when they hear of sex offenders: either serial rapists or child molesters. You'd be pretty shocked to find what crimes land people on the registry. Some states consider indecent exposure, public urination, incest, and prostitution to be registerable offenses. Furthermore, there are children on the registry and not just teenagers but actual children as young as 8. This is often due to sexting, sexual experimentation (prepubescent), or age of consent laws with weak or no close in age exceptions.

Raised on the Registry

This 111-page report details the harm public registration laws cause for youth sex offenders. The laws, which can apply for decades or even a lifetime and are layered on top of time in prison or juvenile detention, require placing offenders’ personal information on online registries, often...

www.hrw.org

At this point, you might be wondering why in the world this is allowed.

Nope. I am wondering why you are making two huge posts about the sex offender registry

Our constitution protects people from punishment without due process of law, it prevents cruel and unusual punishment, and it prohibits ex post facto laws. The answer to that is quite simple. You see, the sex offender registry technically isn't a punishment as the SC ruled in Smith v. Doe. The same goes for civil commitment. As long as it's for the sake of public safety and not punishment, everything is fair game.

I think that this is your reason but it doesn't really state what you think should happen, etc.

 

[nucky9]

It all started in 1993 with the passage of the Wetterling Act. This act of congress called upon states to require people who committed sex crimes against minors to register their current address with law enforcement for 10 years. The registry wouldn't be available to the public until the high profile murder of Meghan Kanka. A month after her death in 1994, the state of New Jersey passed a law which notified the community whenever a sex offender moved into the neighborhood. A year later, this law made its way to the federal level. It required states to make the registry available to the public. It does not specify how states are required to make said notification available (could be through newspaper or the internet). Once again, sex offenders should be on the registry for 10 years. The Adam Walsh Act which is also known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) became the next step. It created a 3 tier system. Tier 1 offenders are on the registry for 10-15 years, tier 2 is 25 years, and tier 3 lasts 25 to life. Whether someone is registered as a sex offender and what tier they end up in is based not on the risk of offending but on the offense itself. The act also allowed federal judges to sentence offenders to civil commitment if (in theory) it can be proven that the offender attempted to engage in rape or child molestation, is mentally ill, and would have trouble not reoffending if released.

State governments often went beyond what the federal government mandated. In many cases, people who were sentenced in a lower tier found themselves in a higher tier. An Ohio study found that while previously most offenders were in the least restrictive tier, the majority eventually found themselves in the third tier. Some states also imposed residency restrictions which prohibited sex offenders from living within a certain distance of a place "where minors may gather" which includes schools, parks, malls, theaters, etc. And when state governments didn't, local governments often did. In some places, there was almost nowhere in the city that sex offenders could live. This was the case in the City of Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Common Council votes to lift sex offender residency restrictions

The measure repeals residency "buffers," meaning that sex offenders could basically live anywhere in the City of Milwaukee.

www.jsonline.com

And if sex offenders happen to be living in a prohibited area already and cannot afford to get a new place, they end up homeless. In Miami Florida (where the registry is especially strict), there was a settlement of sex offenders living under the Julia Tuttle Causeway. Under Miami law, sex offenders cannot live within 2,500 feet of a school, bus stop, park, or homeless shelter. In practice, this meant that sex offenders could only live in the Miami Airport or the Florida Everglades.

Julia Tuttle Causeway sex offender colony - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Now maybe all of this would be justifiable if it actually worked. In 1994, when the sex offender registry was just getting started, the DOJ conducted a 5 year study of inmates getting released. They found that although property criminals had very high recidivism rates (70-80%), only 5% of rapists were arrested again for another rape. Murderers also had a low rate of 1.2%.
The DOJ did another study lasting from 2005 to 2014 with similar results. 67% of those who finished serving time for a sex offense ended up behind bars again. That was lower than for property, drug, and public order offenses which were in the 80s. Although 67% is certainly a majority, most of them were not for sex offenses. 24% went back for a property crime, 18.5% for drug crimes, and 59% for public order crimes (which makes sense once you realize that it includes parole and probation violations). Only 7.7% of released sex criminals were rearrested for another sex crime.

BJS fuels myths about sex offense recidivism, contradicting its own new data

A new government report reinforces harmful misconceptions about people convicted of sex offenses. Here's our take on how to parse the data.

www.prisonpolicy.org

*End of part 1*

Interesting - quite some time back, my wife did some research on the likihood of sex offender recidivism based on physcological assessment, and found (if I remember correctly) that the imprisonment had essentially no effect on sex offender's urges. This would suggest the recedivism rate would be high, not low. I wonder if this is an endorsement of treatment programs, or if there were issues with the assessment tools. Or, perhaps some other factors are at work.

 

[swing_voter]

Interesting - quite some time back, my wife did some research on the likihood of sex offender recidivism based on physcological assessment, and found (if I remember correctly) that the imprisonment had essentially no effect on sex offender's urges. This would suggest the recedivism rate would be high, not low. I wonder if this is an endorsement of treatment programs, or if there were issues with the assessment tools. Or, perhaps some other factors are at work.

Sounds like really, really long prison sentences needed to be handed down, like 40 to 50 years.


.

 

[nucky9]

Sounds like really, really long prison sentences needed to be handed down, like 40 to 50 years.


.

I suppose that depends on the objective you are trying to attain. But, if the actual recidivism rates are low, then I don't see the argument.

 

[calamity]

I prefer they keep sex offending scum locked up. Executing the violent ones would be fine by me, as well..

 

[Bodi]

I prefer they keep sex offending scum locked up. Executing the violent ones would be fine by me, as well..

What if they were executed and came back to life, walking dead style, but instead of wanting eat you they were horny.

 

[soylentgreen]

I suppose that depends on the objective you are trying to attain. But, if the actual recidivism rates are low, then I don't see the argument.

There are to many variables to make such a broad claim. Studies of sex offenders have a fairly similar outcome in most countries. Recidivism is broken down into a few sub groups. Those that molest children and those who molest adults. Those who act violently and those who groom. Age makes a difference as studies show child molesters are far more older than those who rape adults. Recidivism is also measured by recidivism within jail and recidivism when released. The results of such studies also tend to show that many sex criminals are rearrested but on crimes other than sexual.

 

[nucky9]

There are to many variables to make such a broad claim. Studies of sex offenders have a fairly similar outcome in most countries. Recidivism is broken down into a few sub groups. Those that molest children and those who molest adults. Those who act violently and those who groom. Age makes a difference as studies show child molesters are far more older than those who rape adults. Recidivism is also measured by recidivism within jail and recidivism when released. The results of such studies also tend to show that many sex criminals are rearrested but on crimes other than sexual.

Makes sense, but the OP certainly doesn't support the idea that lifetime incarceration is the answer, so I don't understand swing_voter's conclusion. I think there is certainly nuance that presents a counter-argument to the OP, but I didn't present it, and neither did swing_voter.

 

[calamity]

What if they were executed and came back to life, walking dead style, but instead of wanting eat you they were horny.

I'd buy a ticket to that movie.

 

[soylentgreen]

Makes sense, but the OP certainly doesn't support the idea that lifetime incarceration is the answer, so I don't understand swing_voter's conclusion. I think there is certainly nuance that presents a counter-argument to the OP, but I didn't present it, and neither did swing_voter.

Politicians are more interested in votes than solutions. It is easier for them to create fear about sex offenders than to suggest good ways of dealing with them. A life time sentence sounds like they are being tough on crime. And there far to many people who think that is all that is needed to deal with crime.

Solutions of course are not a one size fit all situation. Solutions to violent men who rape adult women are different to men who groom small children.

 

[Masterhawk]

Nope. I am wondering why you are making two huge posts about the sex offender registry

I think that this is your reason but it doesn't really state what you think should happen, etc.

I realize that abolishing the sex offender registry at this point would be a hard sell. I would propose some reforms:

• Only offenses which pertain to rape or child molestation (I mean like with large age differences, not just an 18yo with a 15yo) can be registerable
• No juveniles can be registered
• Residency restrictions only apply to sexually violent predators
• Sex offenders may petition to be removed from the registry every 5 years. This is because the vast majority of repeat offenders reoffend pretty soon after release

If we're really going to cut the registry back, I would suggest two things: making it so that only households with children can check the registry and even then, only for their neighborhood and only placing sexually violent predators on the registry.

 

[soylentgreen]

I realize that abolishing the sex offender registry at this point would be a hard sell. I would propose some reforms:

• Only offenses which pertain to rape or child molestation (I mean like with large age differences, not just an 18yo with a 15yo) can be registerable
• No juveniles can be registered
• Residency restrictions only apply to sexually violent predators
• Sex offenders may petition to be removed from the registry every 5 years. This is because the vast majority of repeat offenders reoffend pretty soon after release

Before you can even think about the registry there must be a conversation about the arbitrary nature of the laws regarding the legal age at which people can engage in sexual activity. In america a person can legally consent in one state at 16 and be arrested for rape if they take one step over the border where the legal age of consent is 17 or 18.

If we're really going to cut the registry back, I would suggest two things: making it so that only households with children can check the registry and even then, only for their neighborhood and only placing sexually violent predators on the registry.

I can think up so many problems with this. It really is not worth going down that hole.

Consider that its quite probable that the kids in the house hold have a better understanding of computers than the adults.

In a country that has your record of shootings you want the public to have access to information of where every violent child molester lives. And you can actually keep a straight face when you say this is a good idea.

What do you think putting a registered violent child molester in a house in a neighborhood will do to house prices?

A register of criminals will do nothing to stop nimby. And this is one of those cases where nimby is justified. There is just no good argument for putting a violent child rapist back into the public.

 

[Allan]

It all started in 1993 with the passage of the Wetterling Act. This act of congress called upon states to require people who committed sex crimes against minors to register their current address with law enforcement for 10 years. The registry wouldn't be available to the public until the high profile murder of Meghan Kanka. A month after her death in 1994, the state of New Jersey passed a law which notified the community whenever a sex offender moved into the neighborhood. A year later, this law made its way to the federal level. It required states to make the registry available to the public. It does not specify how states are required to make said notification available (could be through newspaper or the internet). Once again, sex offenders should be on the registry for 10 years. The Adam Walsh Act which is also known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) became the next step. It created a 3 tier system. Tier 1 offenders are on the registry for 10-15 years, tier 2 is 25 years, and tier 3 lasts 25 to life. Whether someone is registered as a sex offender and what tier they end up in is based not on the risk of offending but on the offense itself. The act also allowed federal judges to sentence offenders to civil commitment if (in theory) it can be proven that the offender attempted to engage in rape or child molestation, is mentally ill, and would have trouble not reoffending if released.

State governments often went beyond what the federal government mandated. In many cases, people who were sentenced in a lower tier found themselves in a higher tier. An Ohio study found that while previously most offenders were in the least restrictive tier, the majority eventually found themselves in the third tier. Some states also imposed residency restrictions which prohibited sex offenders from living within a certain distance of a place "where minors may gather" which includes schools, parks, malls, theaters, etc. And when state governments didn't, local governments often did. In some places, there was almost nowhere in the city that sex offenders could live. This was the case in the City of Milwaukee.

Milwaukee Common Council votes to lift sex offender residency restrictions

The measure repeals residency "buffers," meaning that sex offenders could basically live anywhere in the City of Milwaukee.

www.jsonline.com

And if sex offenders happen to be living in a prohibited area already and cannot afford to get a new place, they end up homeless. In Miami Florida (where the registry is especially strict), there was a settlement of sex offenders living under the Julia Tuttle Causeway. Under Miami law, sex offenders cannot live within 2,500 feet of a school, bus stop, park, or homeless shelter. In practice, this meant that sex offenders could only live in the Miami Airport or the Florida Everglades.

Julia Tuttle Causeway sex offender colony - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Now maybe all of this would be justifiable if it actually worked. In 1994, when the sex offender registry was just getting started, the DOJ conducted a 5 year study of inmates getting released. They found that although property criminals had very high recidivism rates (70-80%), only 5% of rapists were arrested again for another rape. Murderers also had a low rate of 1.2%.
The DOJ did another study lasting from 2005 to 2014 with similar results. 67% of those who finished serving time for a sex offense ended up behind bars again. That was lower than for property, drug, and public order offenses which were in the 80s. Although 67% is certainly a majority, most of them were not for sex offenses. 24% went back for a property crime, 18.5% for drug crimes, and 59% for public order crimes (which makes sense once you realize that it includes parole and probation violations). Only 7.7% of released sex criminals were rearrested for another sex crime.

BJS fuels myths about sex offense recidivism, contradicting its own new data

A new government report reinforces harmful misconceptions about people convicted of sex offenses. Here's our take on how to parse the data.

www.prisonpolicy.org

*End of part 1*

Interesting read Masterhawk.

Generally speaking I'd prefer all offenders' privacy be kept. Not only for accused but also convictions.

I think that a criminal's ability to be rehabilitated would benefit if their convictions were kept private even from employers. The exception would be where they would work with vulnerable groups. A sex offender couldn't work with children or the elderly for example.

Rehabilitation trumps the public's right to know imo.

 

[Masterhawk]

Before you can even think about the registry there must be a conversation about the arbitrary nature of the laws regarding the legal age at which people can engage in sexual activity. In america a person can legally consent in one state at 16 and be arrested for rape if they take one step over the border where the legal age of consent is 17 or 18.

Actually, most states have close in age exceptions to prevent most such situations from happening. But yeah, that's a problem.

In a country that has your record of shootings you want the public to have access to information of where every violent child molester lives. And you can actually keep a straight face when you say this is a good idea.

I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say. Are you trying to compare child molesters with mass shootings?

What do you think putting a registered violent child molester in a house in a neighborhood will do to house prices?

A register of criminals will do nothing to stop nimby. And this is one of those cases where nimby is justified. There is just no good argument for putting a violent child rapist back into the public.

I guess that's another alternative. I always wondered why these people were let out of prison in the first place if they can't be trusted to behave.

 

[soylentgreen]

Actually, most states have close in age exceptions to prevent most such situations from happening. But yeah, that's a problem.


I'm not quite sure what you're trying to say. Are you trying to compare child molesters with mass shootings?

I guess that's another alternative. I always wondered why these people were let out of prison in the first place if they can't be trusted to behave.

It is still an arbitrary law that is based more on prudishness than logic.

No, I am pointing out that giving people the address of someone who is already a symbol of hate and fear in a country where stupidity with guns is an accepted norm for gun owners is a recipe for vigilantism

In the end it is a small handful that are extreme in violence. They just get a lot of publicity when they are violent. Our prison system is built so as to punish those who do wrong which is useless against someone who is convinced they have done no wrong.