After 15 Years, Does the Adam Walsh Act Need Rethinking?

By Derek W. Logue On July 27, the US Marshals Service (USMS) issued a press release[i] celebrating the 15th anniversary of the passage of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (AWA). But the Act continues to be controversial. Many states find it confusing or expensive to comply with. And, arguably, the additional scrutiny it places on registered sex

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The knock that tears families apart: ‘They were at the door, telling me he had accessed indecent images of children’

Every month in the UK, hundreds of homes are visited by police officers dropping a bombshell: someone has been viewing images of child abuse. What happens to the families left behind? It was an ordinary summer evening in 2016 for Emma when her ex-husband, Ben, dropped their young children back after a weekend visit at his place. The couple had

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A Look at the Sex Offender Registry’s Origins: Smith vs. Doe 2003

(Weekly Update #162) Dear Members and Advocates, Even though I’ve been deeply involved in advocacy for nearly a decade, I continue to learn new things and see things from a different perspective from time to time. I once had one of these “ah ha” moments when I realized that I’m not really advocating for reform, but I’m advocating for abolition.

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MI: Supreme Court says 2011 changes to sex offender law cannot be applied retroactively

Sex offenders whose convictions predated 2011 changes to Michigan’s Sex Offender Registration Act do not need to comply with those changes, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. The 2011 requirements — which included bans on living within school safety zones and “onerous” in-person reporting requirements — constituted a new form of punishment that cannot be applied retroactively to past cases, a

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