Happy 10th Birthday, Sex Offender Registry!
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Connecticut’s sex offender registry has turned 10. Yay.
Along with this 10th anniversary comes the first wave of offenders (lucky enough to be sentenced to only 10 years) who will have their name removed.
By the end of October, 29 names will have been removed. In the next year, 153 names are expected to be purged. As of Tuesday, the list had 5,099 names on it, said Lt. Sam Izzarelli of the Connecticut State Police sex offender registry unit.
The purpose of the 10-year provision is to recognize that — as disturbing as sexual assaults may be — not all of the people who commit them are threats to public safety, said state Rep. Michael Lawlor, D- East Haven, co-chairman of the legislature’s judiciary committee.
Along with the immense public safety benefits of the registry have come the minor problems of persecution, homelessness, joblessness and recidivism. Not that there are any studies that evaluate the effectiveness of sex offender registries and sex offender recidivism that should guide us going forward. Just browse the sex offender category here to get an idea.
Ask yourself: are you safer today than you were 10 years ago?
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Focus needs to be aimed at the dangerous and violent offenders.
The sex offender registry, requirements and restrictions have gone too far, especially when placing individuals who are in a consenting relationship.
Experts need to be called upon to determine the risk of a sex offense, not by any law.
Thank you for allowing me to comment.
Jacquelyn Horst
Actually, there is a study measuring the impact of the registry on recidivism. Surprise! Recidivism increases!
“Our results correspond with a model in which community notification deters first-time sex offenses, but increases recidivism by registered offenders due to a change in the relative utility of legal and illegal behavior. This finding is consistent with work by criminologists suggesting that notification may increase recidivism by imposing social and financial costs on registered sex offenders and making non-criminal activity relatively less attractive.”
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1100663
Keep in mind, too, that if CT decides to comply with AWA, many of those folks may get put back on the registry–some for life.