As Minnesota lawmakers mull a bill that would authorize local units of government to enact tough new restrictions on where sex offenders can live, its advocates face one major obstacle: finding a single authority in the field who believes it’s a good idea.
At least, that’s the opinion of Mitchell Hamline law professor Eric Janus, who has written extensively on sex offender laws and policies.
“I don’t think you can find any experts — or a person who actually deals with sex offenders — who thinks residency restrictions are effective,” said Janus. “It’s amazing and quite uniform. That goes from Departments of Corrections to county attorneys and prosecutors to state task forces. Everybody says it’s a bad idea. It inhibits re-entry. It inhibits stability. It inhibits supervision. And most likely it increases recidivism.” Full Article
Most of us are 1 time offeners and yet we are sentenced to lifetime parole requiring anual reporting in to law enforcement. No other crime even comes close.
Welcome to HELL! Everyone should have to endure one week of what we experience everyday, or for many of us, what screwed up past pushed us toward this. The anxiety, depression, and other physical and mental issues. I have never, nor will ever recover from this. I watch the news and I understand why so many cultures hate us.
Will the courts rule on fear, the misfact of “frightening and high” recidivism rates, or the actual empirical evidence?
The more states that rule upon empirical evidence, the more chances registration will under the same empirical scrutiny.
This is the same country that thought Japanese internment camps were constitutional – the possibility “they might do something wrong”.