I participated once again in the SMART symposium. This is an information only presentation intended for law enforcement agencies including the federal Marshall service and local law enforcement agencies around the country to be brought up to date on SORNA. As I...

There is no evidence that sex offender laws like the ones in New York keep Americans safer. The laws are predicated on the false notion that sex offenders are exceptionally likely to re-engage in sex crimes. A recent Bureau of Justice Statistics study showed that rape and sexual assault offenders were less likely than other prisoners to be arrested after being released from prison. The laws also assume that sex crimes typically take place between a victim and a stranger — hence the idea that the identity and location of past sex offenders needs to be constantly policed and publicized. This also is not true. Perpetrators of sexual violence are usually people known to the victim.

Sex offender registration laws “aren’t based in any data,” said Erin Harrist, a senior staff attorney at the New York Civil Liberties Union. “They’re just knee-jerk reactions to certain horrible instances.”

The 19 child sex offenders who were told they must leave Wayside Cross Ministries by July 26 have filed a civil federal lawsuit against the city of Aurora, arguing the men should not have to move and challenging the state’s residency laws for registered sex offenders....

...it is important to understand that many registries are bloated with names that probably shouldn’t be there. Public urination, streaking or sex between consenting teenagers can land a person on the registry. A man involved in a nasty divorce and falsely accused by...

We just received the following notice from a member and wanted to share it with our community. It is always a loss to lose one of our family. Our condolences go out to his family and friends. I humbly regret to inform you that Frank Lafergola has passed away this past...

Guy Hamilton-Smith was interviewed for a weekly radio show called "The Takeaway". The topic was the Inequity of Sex Offender Registries. You can listen to the interview below: If you want to thank the show producers for giving attention to this important topic, you...

Below are two interesting slides from the SMART Conference, which started today. This slide acknowledges that re-offense rates are low contrary to the "Frightening and High" myth previously used. This slide acknowledges that not all persons required to register are...

In addition to some of the other presentations posted by ACSOL from their conference, was Guy Hamilton-Smith's presentation, "The Advantage of Adversity". We included some of the presentations from lawyers and academics in a separate post earlier today, but thought...