| Sex-Offender
Laws
History
Prior to 1994 only five states required convicted sex offenders to register
their addresses with local law enforcement. As recognition of the severity
of this problem grew, Congress passed the Jacob Wetterling Crimes
Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Act, 42 U.S.C.
§§14071, et seq. (“Wetterling Act”). This
requires state implementation of a sex-offender registration program or
a 10 percent forfeiture of federal funds for state and local law enforcement
under the Byrne Grant Program of the U.S. Department of Justice. Today,
all fifty states have sex offender registries.
The realization registration alone was not enough came after the tragic
murder of 7-year-old Megan Kanka by a released sex offender living on
her street. The public outcry created a call for programs to provide the
public with information regarding released sex offenders. In 1996 Congress
passed a federal law mandating state community notification programs.
Megan’s Law, section (e) of the Wetterling Act,
requires all states to conduct community notification but does not set
out specific forms and methods, other than requiring the creation of internet
sites containing state sex-offender information. Beyond that requirement,
states are given broad discretion in creating their own policies.
The Challenge
There are currently 566,782 registered sex offenders in the United States.
Sex offenders pose an enormous challenge for policy makers: they evoke
unparalleled fear among constituents; their offenses are associated with
a great risk of psychological harm; and most of their victims are children
and youth. As policy makers address the issue of sex offenders, they are
confronted with some basic realities
- Most sex offenders are not in prison, and those who are tend to serve
limited sentences
- Most sex offenders are largely unknown to people in the community
- Sex offenders have a high risk of re-offending
- While community supervision and oversight is widely recognized as
essential, the system for providing such supervision is overwhelmed
Loopholes in Current State Programs
The increased mobility of our society has led to “lost”
sex offenders, those who fail to comply with registration duties yet remain
undetected due to law enforcement’s inability to track their whereabouts.
A conservative estimate of the number of “lost” sex offenders
is at least 100,000 nationwide. The wide disparity among the state programs
in both registration and notification procedures permits sex offenders
to “forum-shop,” research which states have the least
stringent laws, in order to live in communities with relative anonymity.
Recommendations
- There is a clear need for more consistency and uniformity among state
programs for sex offender registration and community notification.
- There should be more funding to assist states in maintaining and
improving these programs.
- New technology should be developed for tracking offenders and improving
communication between and among various agencies (law enforcement, corrections,
courts and probation).
List of State Sex-offender Registry Web Sites
U.S. Department of Justice
National Sex Offender Public Registry
http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/cac/states.htm
http://www.ice.gov/graphics/predator/sexoffenders.htm
Resources
Registered Sex Offenders
in the United States 
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