Is the Sex Offender Registry Fair?

Source: legalreader.com 1/11/22

Failure to Register, in most states, is a serious felony, punishable by jail or prison time.

The 1990s saw a significant rise in horrific sex offenses directed towards children, prompting the federal and state governments to formulate laws to help deter offenders and ensure public safety. One of these laws was the 1994 Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, requiring convicted offenders to register with their local law enforcement after their release from prison.

In 1996, Congress passed Meghan’s Law (a subsection of the Jacob Wetterling Act), which was then signed into law by President Bill Clinton. This law required law enforcement agencies to publicize the information of convicted sex offenders. This meant that any person needing to look up a person’s name when doing a background check for sex offenses could find their name in the sex offenders register if they had had a sex crimes conviction. Under some jurisdictions, the police must conduct community notification in neighborhoods where convicted sex offenders live.

The intentions of the creators of sex offenders’ registry were considered noble. However, in recent years, sex registry laws have come under much criticism from proponents of criminal justice reform and human rights watch groups as unfair and ineffective in attaining the initial objective. Additionally, sex offenses are the only crimes where offenders suffer double jeopardy for their crimes, which is unfair.

Sex Offender Registration Requirements

All states across America have laws requiring sex offenders to register with their local law enforcement agencies upon release from statutory confinement.

While these laws may differ from one state to another, they have some basic similarities in their requirements. For example, some of the information required in offender registration include:

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Yes they are unfair. So, here is my final draft for CA suit,

hopefully ACSOL puts the link as is. This will be filed soon.

Hell no it’s not fair. This entire scheme is long overdue to fall apart. Megan Kanka’s disgusting parents should be ashamed of themselves, along with that bastard chris smith. Unamerican, enemies of democracy the lot of them.

So what’s the case with SORNA in CA? I have been off probation for 6 years now, got my record expunged (1203.4)

Mike R – I will keep reading a little later as I am getting ready for work. So, I don’t know if you addressed anything about the 7 years for a background check in California, or the Ban the Box law. If a background check does not go back past 7 years, AND you have to consent to a background check before an employer, etc does it, Megans Law seems to be clearly in violation of that, especially with a 1203.4. Nobody should be able to easily access your conviction, but with Megans Law, it is just the click of a button. If you don’t have to disclose your conviction, why should it be public on Megans Law?

I was in a church where an ex ms-13 gang member was in charge of watching kids for Sunday school time to time. He never got busted, did it for most of his life. Reformed Christian the last few years. Ms-13 is known for heinous violent crimes, weapons trafficking, and sex trafficking. I fell into porn addiction for less than a year and went down the spiral into cp for a few months. Got busted. Did my time. Went to therapy(something he didn’t) and proved for years my redemption. They knew of my crime for a year. But once I went to court and got that title, well to this day I am still banned from that same church because of my title of “Sex Offender.” But hey, hands on offenses more heinous then mine for liner periods of time are okay cause he never go busted publicly. God I hate churches.

If the need arises to ask if something is “fair,” then it most likely isn’t.

It was never designed to be fair.

PUNITIVE & PUNISHMENT! DISABILITATING!

There is not ONE THING fair about the registry, and nobody can or will tell me otherwise. It is not administrative in any way, shape or form. All the retroactive punishment is getting out of hand. Modifying the registry, getting rid of certain restrictions, etc, is just not cutting it anymore. It has to be abolished in its entirety. All of the over 100,000 PFRs and their family members need to sue for defamation, lost job or housing opportunities, harassment…and the list goes on.

If the registry is fair I rather deal with a rattlesnake at least I know what I’m looking at and how to protect myself. Nothing about the registry is anywhere near fair it’s straight punitive non stop punishment.

Is the registry fair.? good question for all to know. So should one say all is fair in love and war or is hindsight better than foresight or say being rich is better than being poor, or are computers better than pen and paper in this think tank world. Sure the registry is good but fair has a double meaning in and of itself or could some even say what is registry good for or who puts themself in jeopardy without a cause or even goes to war without a cause.

Now ACSOL has already mentioned to me about preaching so I will only say …. does one reap what they sow or who can make a blind man see. So who is seeing evil today or could it be who is doing wickedness today in many of these registry ordeals. Who is deceiving or receiving this type of challenge. Bottom line is understanding actions in a who done it affair.

Wow, its nice that they called it unfair, but then they flat lied in the section titled “Can a Person Get Off The Register”. In that section they state that that Adam Walsh Child Protection Act of 2006 Standardized the removal process for all states. It did no such thing! If it did there would be NO states where you could not get off the list after the specified time. There would be NO variations between time frames for petitioning for removal. According to the article Tier 1 can petition for removal after 10 years, Tier 2 can petition for removal after 15, and Tier 3 can never be removed, but if you go to California Tier 1 = 10 (5 for minors), Tier 2 = 15 (10 for minors) and Tier 3 = life time. So where is the standardization? In Florida every sex offender must register for life (even after death)

BTW Good article, except the recidivism report referenced. Once again even this article is using a distorted incomprehensible and totally misleading report on recidivism. Anyone that reads the report will think recidivism rates are off the charts and it is pushing false narratives on actual rates. BS report right there.

As a family member of a registrant the registry is not only unfair to the registrant, but what all of society doesn’t come close to comprehending is the horrible treatment to the family members who are not listed and have done nothing wrong. Many, many elderly parents and grandparents of a registrant have had to sell their homes and move sometimes to areas they have no connections or close medical care. The children, brothers, sisters, spouses, friends of registrants have been terribly and unnecessarily harassed by neighbors, local school officials, law enforcement, parole officers and websites like in CA “Next Door Neighbor”. Spouses have lost employment or not been offered jobs when employers run background checks and the address is flagged as having a registrant at that address, even though the spouse is qualified and has never committed a crime. Employers have had to let go of good employees who are listed on the registry due to the public finding out a registrant has been fortunate enough to find work there. The public forces the employer to fire the registrant by picketing, sharing of that information which causes the Employer loss of reputation and business.

When law enforcement and the media work together to save one child and run the stories over and over again on the news of the suspected crime…children of the registrant all over our USA become targets and ostracized at their schools by their friends/peers, other parents, principals and teachers. I was personally told in 2014 by the principal of my children’s school “The school cannot protect your children from what other kids say at recess, it would be better for you to relocate.”

The list goes on and on so “No” the registry is not fair…by a long shot.

Last edited 2 years ago by Laura

So what is fair in the Offender registry. Its about the database as one says on here, and Laura gave us a good examples of ostracizing and even Will Allen also gave a good example, so who is plagiarizing others with this sex inducement..Sure one can be slow at many things in one’s thinking to come up with a quick answer about the fairness of this registry or this abuse but are we all intimidated?

Yes one can talk about a coat of many colors in judgement but when truth is of many colors, even a lie is stained in many respects. Much of this registry is Vain and blind Justice. Sure everyone on here has theories about the sex registry or the word sex offender. Does government offend more than it amends? This registry is a constutitional battle.

 Sure many can be involved in this registry in a “white washed” type of way, so where is the knowledge in all this registry. Even women’ rights took 60 or longer years to even give them the right to vote, hold office, have a business, etc. Yes women were second class. Now it seems the sex offender is the outcast today. Is murder in a different class or is government murdering in government today?