A Study on Sex Offenders Registration and Notification Act of the U.S.

Abstract

Congress enacted the sex offender registration and notification act in order to prevent sexual offenses and protect public safety in the U.S.. Namely, in 2006, the Jacob Wetterling Act and Megan's Law were integrated into the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act as a comprehensive sex offender supervision and management scheme. The AWA aims to eliminate loopholes and gaps formed by inconsistent state laws and statutes as well as to provide the federal standards for sex offender registration and notification. However, the AWA contains over-inclusive sex offender registration requirements and punishments. For this reason, the implementation of the AWA may cause problems for states, sex offenders, and citizens, both as taxpayers and as beneficiaries of the AWA. Therefore, the AWA that does not differentiate between violent and non-violent offenders should be reformed to allow law enforcement officials to focus on sex offenders convicted of violent and heinous crimes. That is, the AWA should not apply to sex offenders who are not dangerous, not likely to recidivate, and who committed non-violent crimes. In addition, because the AWA requires juvenile offenders to registrate on public notification forums, it may result in a greater risk to community safety and potential risk of reoffense. Accordingly, juvenile offenders convicted of non-violent sex offenses and not likely to recidivate will be provided appropriate treatments to be rehabilitated as members of community.