CJ 375: Sex Offenders Quizlet

Registration is Florida date?

as early as 1937

Illinois (1986) Habitual Child Sex Offender Registration Act

• purpose was to protect children from the crimes of repeat offenders.

• individuals convicted of a second offense of criminal sexual assault against persons under 18

• non violent offenses included

1994 Jacob Wetterling Act: Crimes against children & sexual violent offender registration act

• federal level

• mandated 10% of a states Byrne grant funding go toward statewide and tracking system

• encouraged DNA collection

Community Protection Act (Washington, 1990)

• state level

• permitted dissemination of sex offenders' personal information to the community.

Megan's Law (New Jersey, 1994)

• state level

• named after a girl killed by a neighbor that was a repeat offender.

• parents had the right to know if dangerous sexual predator moved into their neighborhood

Wetterling Act (1996)

amended to include Megan's law

• federal level, but included non specific instructions regarding notification

Pam Lynchner Sex Offender Tracking & Identification Act (1996)

central federal database to assist tracking registrants from state to state

Issues with the Tracking and Identification Act

• sex offenders are required to proactively update information if their address changes

• some are homeless

-not all offenders are listed on the registry

Adam Walsh Child Protection Act of 2006

• expanded federal policies regarding sex offenders greatly

• one uniform national sex offender registry

Walsh Act Title I (SORNA)

• establish nationwide network of sex offender registries and notification procedures

• normalize requirements in terms of duration and accuracy information

-mandates juvenile registration (above age of 14)

Tier I

• minor offenses

• individuals register for 15 years and report annually

• can be reduced to 10 years with "clean record"

Tier 2

• sex trafficking, use of minor prostitution

• register for 25 years & report every 6 months

Tier 3

• abuse related

• register for life and report every 3 months

* based on type of crime*

underlying assumptions

-SO's inevitably reoffend

-SO's have a propensity to kill their victims

-SO's often choose children as victims

-SO's are often strangers

differences in laws by state

• conviction/ type of offense

-retroactive application of the law

-length of registration

-removal of registry

-time period in which to register

Smith v. Doe (2003)

• questioned constitutionality of the retroactive requirements of Alaska's sex offender registration act

-John Doe I and II filed suit claiming the Act was punitive & violate the Ex Post Facto clause of the constitution

• DISTRICT COURT ruled against Doe stating the act was non punitive.

• APPEALS COURT ruled that it was in fact punitive and violated Ex Post Facto

• SUPREME COURT ruled the act as non punitive

Connecticut Dept of Public Safety v. Doe (2003)

• challenged constitutionality of Megan's law in CT - claimed it violated due process clause of 14th amendment because registrants were not given a predetermination hearing to determine whether they are likely to be currently "dangerous"

-district court ordered an injunction

Carr v. U.S

• does SORNA apply to sex offenders whose conviction and interstate travel both predated SORNA's enactment

• Ex Post Facto

• federal appeals court held SORNA did not violate Ex Post Facto

Anderson & Sample

to what degree do citizens know & are informed about sexual registries

residency restriction laws

• at least 30 states and many cities have implemented some form of law

• includes schools, day cares, public parks, etc & other "sex free zones"

• range from 500 ft to 250 ft

• only handful of states limit restrictions to persons convicted of sex offenses involving child victims

Florida Restriction Laws (1995)

• only SO's on probation for minor victims

• 1000ft buffers, around schools, parks, play/areas…

• 2005 Jessica Lundsford death

2007 doubled states

Iowa Restriction Laws (2002)

• 2000ft distance btwn schools.. etc

-Doe v. Miller & White (2004)

• 8th Circuit- Doe v. Miller (2005)

• state v. seering (2005)

• retroactively applied to 2002

Georgia Restriction Laws (2006)

• registry restriction laws

• Mann v. Georgia Dept of Corrections et al. (2007)

-unconstitutional due to protection of property rights

• applied only to homeowners

California Restriction laws (2006)

• proposition 83 - Jessica Law

• includes 2,000ft boundary

Kansas restriction laws (2006)

• solicited testimony from sexual violence experts & state legislature decided not to enact a statewide law & prohibited cities from creating their own

• 2005- municipal ordinances that often exceeded state laws

• Lynn, MA

Legislative Intent for Restrictive Laws

• protect children from sexual assault

• prop 83 (Jessica's Law)

• Jacksonville ordinance

• role of sex offenders myths

Proposition 83

aka Jessica's Law- Proposition 83 was named after Jessica Lunsford, a 9-year-old girl. She was the victim of a convicted sex offender who had failed to report his whereabouts, in spite of laws requiring him to do so.

Unintended Consequences

• housing availability

• increase transiency

• reentry/ instability

-psychosocial

Sexually Violent Predators (SVP)

generally 3 elements

• conviction for a sexually violent offense

• some form of mental abnormality

• likely hood to reoffend

SVP civil commitment policy framework

sociopolitical- legal parameters- operational parameters

Sociopolitical

Briggs Act- used civil commitment to seminal events to seminal events and citizen mobilization

• Shriner & Krane- WA's community protection act

• MN call it the sexually dangerous person's law

Community Protection Act

• In 1990, the first SVP law was established in Washington following two high-profile sexual assaults and murders by Earl Kenneth Shriner and Gene Kane.

• The Task force provided its recommendations to the state legislature which then enacted the "Community Protection Act of 1990.

New penology

• deals with offenders esp. more violent offenders

• idea of groups/ types of offenders.

• role of mental health professionals & health systems

• expansive- very selective w/ who they're going to deal with.

• selective perspective

• once civilly committed, they tend not to be released.

Legal context of civil commitment

validating existing practices, as well as mandating reform

3 main areas for legal context

• fundamental constitutionality