But there is ample evidence, as documented in our recent report that unfettered access to registries can and does lead to extensive harassment and sometimes violence against former offenders (Fellner, 2007).
Highly publicized cases that deal with the abduction, rape, abuse, and murder of young children have led federal and state governments to introduce new laws that require stricter punishments, requirements, and prohibitions for sex offenders. Increasingly rigorous and over-inclusive necessities for sex offenders are almost unanimously accepted and easy for legislators and politicians to support because they are popular among the general public. As Congress passes law after law cracking down on sex offenders, experts and officials question whether the requirements of those acts even work to achieve the goals of legislators (Farley, 2008).
The most recent act, the Adam Walsh Act (AWA), raises many questions as Congress again expands punishments and requirements of sex offenders. The AWA contains over-inclusive sex offender registration requirements and punishment. The AWA is an unfunded order that overly burdens the state governments and places severe and unfair requirements and punishments on sex offenders. In addition, the AWA does not differentiate between violent and non-violent crimes when determining whether an offender must register as a sex offender. This ends up stigmatizing many non-violent offenders who are unlikely to recidivate but are required to register (Farley, 2008).
Children deserve laws that protect them. And former offenders need laws that allow them to rebuild their lives. The goal should be to help these people succeed in safely rejoining their...
Law makers need to work together across the party divide in order to reform these laws. The first step would be to repeal the residency restrictions that have been enacted across the country. "The public needs to understand that focusing so much attention on convicted offenders distracts us from developing effective and fair responses to the complex reality of sexual violence" (Fellner, 2007).
Sex offenders have been around since the beginning of time and for many years there were no laws regarding them at all. It seems that laws get enacted in response to crimes that happen. Legislators react to public outcry after these crimes occur and often fail to look at the consequences that these laws bring. Even though sex offenders are convicted criminals they still have rights that are guaranteed to them by the U.S. Constitution. Lawmakers need to be more careful when enacting legislation in order to make sure that the rights of victims as well as the offenders are protected equally.
References
Farley, Laura Geer. (2008). The Adam Walsh Act: The Scarlet Letter of the Twenty-First Century. Retrieved May 28, 2009, from Web site:
http://washburnlaw.edu/wlj/47-2/articles/geerfarley-lara.pdf
Fellner, Jamie. (2007). The wrong sex offender laws. Retrieved May 28, 2009, from Los Angels
Times Web site: http://articles.latimes.com/2007/sep/18/news/oe-fellner18
How Sex Offender Laws Circumvent the Constitution: Civil / Regulatory vs. Criminal/
Punitive. (2007). Retrieved May 28, 2009, from Once Fallen Web site:
http://www.oncefallen.com/CivilVCriminal.html
