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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It would be great but I see another stumbling block those who are on probation will still have to face . the fact that while on probation they are still required to divulge they’re status to any perspective landlord or employer so will effectively still have a hard time finding housing and or employment
I agree, the registry did nothing but paint a worse picture for people on the list than needed to be. It is an archaic system that has only been used to get politicians re-elected because the general public is clueless to its true ineffectiveness. It is nothing more than a list used to keep people who have served their time for their mistakes and keep them from truly bettering themselves.
It limits work, housing, continued education, and even ones social life limiting vacations and relationships.
And it only targets one group of individuals, many who were first time, non violent offenders that now have had their lives completely compromised and painted in a certain way. What about the murder or the violet drug dealer who was released with no such fanfare and is now living on your street with you being non the wiser?
The registry needs to go completely, so hopefully this is the start and they will vote and do the right thing, and not just make a decision based on re-election.
The draft proposal also reduces the number of offenses that trigger registration to the offenses below. The proposal lowers nearly every crime level for sex offenses.
1) Triggering offenses. Section 213.11A sharply restricts the class of individuals to whom the duty to register and other sex-offense collateral consequences apply. It precludes registration of nearly all juveniles, and for adults, it imposes the threshold duty to register only upon conviction of offenses that most strongly arouse public concern, specifically:
(i) Sexual Assault by Aggravated Physical Force or Restraint.
(ii) Sexual Assault by Physical Force, but only when committed after the offender had previously been convicted of a felony sex offense.
(iii) Sexual Assault of an Incapacitated Person, but only when committed after the offender had previously been convicted of a felony sex offense.
(iv) Sexual Assault of a Minor, but only when the minor is younger than 12 and the actor is 21 years old or older.
(v) Incestuous Sexual Assault of a Minor, but only when the minor is younger than 16.
A brief respite from our nightmare. The decision to change the law is up to legislatures, not rational attorneys. Most legislators are not attorneys and far less are rational. The legislators won’t read the report, and even if they read it, they likely won’t understand it. Their decisions are driven by: “if it saves one vote”
But for a brief moment we can dream.
GL
THANK YOU
This was all I was saying when I said this was dead in the water before it even started. I was not being negative just a realist. All the lawyers in the U.S could ban together and not stop the registries if the law makers don’t want to go along with it, which we know they don’t, won’t, will not, ain’t gunna happen.
Talk about trying to justify the need for the registry, this is one that really irks me;
“… if adopted, the proposal “would attempt to unravel sex offender registration and notification systems nationwide, severely limit law enforcement information-sharing capacity, weaken youth-serving organizations’ ability to conduct background checks to protect children,…”
The Justice Dept knows damn well they are LYING!! If an employer does a background check, your felony conviction AND THE DETAILS OF IT come up. You don’t need a registry for that. I’ve Googled my own name and my history comes up that my offense was of a sexual nature. And I’m no longer on the registry. So this “talking point” of theirs is BS and they know it. I hope Janice is wise enough to shut this talking point down real fast.
Let me know when I can stop holding my breath. 🤣