Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA)

Abstract

Sex offender laws gained recognition in the United States with the creation of the 1994 Jacob Wetterling Act. The act called for each state to create a registry of convicted sex offenders. This act was later amended under Megan’s Law to include community notification of sex offenders that move into a neighborhood. In 2006, this was replaced by the Adam Walsh Act. Title I of the Adam Walsh Act, also known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, created a tier system for all 50 states in an effort to standardize the registration and notification requirements among the states. A number of years later, sex offender laws spread to the United Kingdom with the implementation of Sarah’s Law. To further efforts in the global fight against sexual violence, the US most recently established what is being called an International Megan’s Law. Several studies have shown that registration and notification laws are ineffective in reducing rates of recidivism among sex offenders. Instead, it is purported that these laws may actually result in released offenders returning to crime due to the numerous obstacles they face as they try to reintegrate into society.