ACSOL: Legal Scholars to Consider Elimination of Public Registry Next Week
Members of the American Law Institute (ALI), the most important and prestigious organization of legal scholars and prominent attorneys in the nation, will consider a proposal next week that could significantly change the nation’s sex offender laws. The most significant of those changes would be the elimination of public registries in all 50 state. The proposal also includes, but is not limited to, recommendations to abolish all public notification laws as well as most residency restrictions, internet restrictions and GPS location monitoring.
Those who oppose the proposal include journalist William Dobbs because he believes the ALI proposal does not go far enough. Instead of restricting the registry only to law enforcement officials, Dobbs advocates the total elimination of all sex offender registries.
[FAC NOTE: We agree with Dobbs – the registry needs to be abolished in it’s entirety.]
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This is an area where FAC board does not even agree among themselves, and that’s ok so long as we are delivering a consistent message to lawmakers.
Specifically, eliminate or reform?
FAC members tend to be pragmatic individuals. Has anyone here ever told a lawmaker in Tallahassee that the registry should be eliminated in its entirety? If so, how did that go?
We all know that the registry should be eliminated, but since that will not be happening any time soon, we are fighting to to tear down as many of the unconstitutional statutes and ordinances as we can. People not caring about facts, research, and the truth is becoming a growing problem in this country. I read this over and over again: Too many people think that their opinion is now fact.
Media
I think some registry workers are over it as well. Fortunately where I register, they push us through like cattle. They cannot keep employees and every time I register there is a new person at the window.
I agree that facts and research are our inherent strength.
If we are going to take the public position that even non-public registries (Canada, Australia, NZ, UK, Ireland) are ineffective for public safety, where are the facts and research to back up our position?
Maestro above pointed out some non-public features of the public (FL) registry that seem quite counter-productive, and I agree. But actual non-public registries (such as the examples above) lack those features. In particular, there are no officers blowing someone’s cover by knocking on the door for a “check.”
So all I’m saying is that if we are going to take a position that all forms of SO registry should be “abolished,” I think we need to be ready to address challenges to that position, using, as you say, facts and research.
Everybody who believes in a higher power please pray to them
Are any actual laws in effect that are traceable back to this American Law Institute?
If not, then what makes ALI “important and prestigious”?
ALI created the Model Penal Code, look it up on wiki. 33 states pattern much of their criminal law based on the MPC and some states like Oregon use it totally.
The group are the finest legal minds in all area of criminal law
I wonder if this will apply to all SO, or just the ones whos crimes were on or before a specific date
need to as well find AWA unconstitutional it as well has destroyed lives of people Including petitioning family Visas
It is obvious that these disgraceful laws are very similar, in principle, to the Jim Crow statutes that came into being during civil war reconstruction.
Not much is different, in principle, except for the targets of the discrimination.
The registry must be abolished in its entirety; for as long as Jim Crow exists for any single citizen of the US, then Jim Crow is alive and well.
Jim Crow must be utterly and completely destroyed!
Very good point!