NCJ Number
167428
Journal
Vanderbilt Law Review Volume: 48 Issue: 1 Dated: (January 1995) Pages: 219-255
Date Published
1995
Length
37 pages
Annotation
This paper analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of releasing information to the public regarding sex offenders.
Abstract
Part II of this note analyzes the legal history of sex offender legislation and the use of public humiliation as punishment in the early history of the criminal justice system. Part III proposes appropriate policy goals for post-sentence sex offender legislation, based on a review of legal history and fundamental theories of criminal psychology. Part IV then discusses the statutory approaches of various States in response to the demand for tougher laws for sex offenders and how current legislation fails to attain the appropriate goals of an effective sex offender policy as discussed in Part III. Finally, Part V proposes general legislative suggestions that would be more effective in achieving these goals. The suggestions focus on the enhancement of State registries for sex offenders to make an even tighter net for catching recidivist sex offenders. Another suggestion pertains to rehabilitation and prevention; this would involve a type of extended parole in which convicted offenders would be required to attend treatment sessions with a trained therapist on a basis that would allow psychiatric therapy and preventive monitoring. Public notification provisions likely will be challenged as unconstitutional. This analysis identifies possible arguments in support of these challenges but concludes that public notification fails because it does not meet any policy goals intended by the legislation. 214 notes