JACOB SULLUM — This Sunday marks the 20th anniversary of Smith v. Doe, a Supreme Court decision that approved the retroactive application of Alaska’s sex offender registry, deeming it preventive rather than punitive. That ruling helped propagate several pernicious myths underlying a policy that every state has adopted without regard to its justice or effectiveness.

Writing for the majority in Smith, Justice Anthony Kennedy took it for granted that collecting and disseminating information about people convicted of sex offenses made sense as a public safety measure. But that premise was always doubtful.

The vast majority of sexual assaults, especially against children, are committed by relatives, friends, or acquaintances, and the perpetrators typically do not have prior sex-offense convictions. That means they would not show up on a registry even if someone bothered to check.

It is therefore not surprising that research finds little evidence to support Kennedy’s assumption that publicly accessible registries protect potential victims. Summarizing the evidence in a 2016 National Affairs article, Eli Lehrer noted that “virtually no well-controlled study shows any quantifiable benefit from the practice of notifying communities of sex offenders living in their midst.”

To reinforce the logic of registries, Kennedy averred that “the risk of recidivism posed by sex offenders is ‘frightening and high.'” He was quoting his own opinion in an earlier case, which in turn relied on an unsubstantiated estimate from a source who has publicly and repeatedly disavowed it.

According to Kennedy’s paraphrase, “the rate of recidivism of untreated offenders has been estimated to be as high as 80%.” By contrast, a 2003 Bureau of Justice Statistics study found that the three-year recidivism rate for sex offenders was 3.5 percent.

Studies covering longer periods find higher recidivism rates but still nothing remotely like 80 percent, even for high-risk offenders. Despite its empirical emptiness, Kennedy’s “frightening and high” claim has been quoted again and again in legal briefs and judicial opinions across the country.

Although registries are ostensibly based on the risk of recidivism, they apply indiscriminately to broad classes of people, even when there is little reason to think they pose an ongoing danger. Dissenting in Smith, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg noted that Alaska’s law “applies to all convicted sex offenders, without regard to their future dangerousness.”

One of the men who challenged Alaska’s law, Ginsburg pointed out, “successfully completed a treatment program” and “gained early release on supervised probation in part because of his compliance with the program’s requirements and his apparent low risk of reoffense.” A court determined that “he had been successfully rehabilitated,” based partly on “psychiatric evaluations” indicating that he had “a very low risk of re-offending” and was “not a pedophile.”

That man nevertheless was required to renew his registration four times a year for the rest of his life. The online registry included his name, photograph, criminal record, address, physical description, date of birth, and place of employment, along with the license plate numbers of vehicles he used.

In 1994, Congress enacted a law mandating that all states create registries of people convicted of sex offenses and crimes against children. Two years later, it passed what’s known as Megan’s Law, a follow-up bill that made information in those registries available to the public. Since then, a broad slate of new laws has been passed, which expanded the types of crimes that classify someone as a sex offender and imposed strict rules they must meet to avoid further criminal punishment. As of 2018, there were an estimated 900,000 people in the U.S. listed on sex offender registries.

The vast majority of Americans believe sex offender registries make their communities safer, according to polls. A growing body of research, however, suggests otherwise. A long list of studies using decades of data have found no significant evidence that registries prevent sex crimes. Some even indicate that the laws imposed on sex offenders may make them more likely to commit crimes in the future.

Unlike most criminals, sex offenders face strong restrictions on where they can live, work and travel that last long after their sentence has been completed — often for the rest of their lives. Many report experiencing “social death” that makes it difficult to maintain employment or be part of their communities. For example, sex offenders are often barred from living within a certain distance of schools or other areas where kids gather. In some dense areas of the country, that rule can make entire cities inaccessible and, in the most extreme situations, force sex offenders to remain in jail or live clustered together in makeshift encampments.

Why there’s debate

Those calling for reform of sex offender registries emphasize that their criticisms do not stem from a desire to be “soft” on people who commit heinous crimes. Instead, they hope to fix an ineffective system that does little to promote public safety while imposing a serious burden on nearly a million people, and often their families too.

Many experts say the main problem with sex offender registries is that they are based on two myths about sex crimes — that sex criminals are uniquely likely to re-offend and that strangers pose the greatest danger to children. In reality, evidence suggests that sex offenders have a lower recidivism rate than most other criminals and that the overwhelming majority of child sex crimes are committed by someone known to the victim.

Another major issue, they say, is the way many laws impose the same rules on all sex offenders, regardless of the severity of the crime. They argue that, while it may make sense to place strict restrictions on offenders who are considered particularly dangerous, it’s unnecessary and counterproductive to place the same burdens on everyone who has committed a sex offense — a category that can include sex acts between teenagers, public urination and even consensual sex between adults.

What’s next

A number of state-level courts have ruled that certain elements of some registry laws are unconstitutional, particularly rules that require juvenile offenders to register for life. Despite the questions Jackson raised about registry laws two and a half decades ago, it’s unclear whether her presence on the Supreme Court would affect the legal precedents that allow sex offender registries in their current form to exist nationwide.

Perspectives

Protecting kids means being honest about where they face the most danger

“This is not a call to ‘go soft’ on crime, it is an encouragement to ‘go smart’ on crime and use data to make informed decisions. This reimagining requires us as a society to confront the uncomfortable truth that those who commit sexual offenses are usually not strangers — they are more likely to be the most trusted figures around us — our loved ones, our babysitters, coaches, teachers and close family friends.” — Meghan M. Mitchell, Kristen M. Zgoba and Alex R. Piquero, Tampa Bay Times

Outdated laws must be updated to account for how integral the internet has become to everyday life

“While the internet has certainly created new opportunities for sexual harms, the legislative response has often centered on efforts to ban people convicted of any type of sex crime from using technology at all. As the internet is now the de facto venue for public life, it’s been difficult to justify these laws without violating the Constitution and creating a massive class of people unable to survive in modern society.” — Sarah Lageson, Wired

Don’t treat juvenile offenders the same as adults

“Nothing about juvenile registration helps our nation’s children. … Advocating against harmful policies for these kids can seem like advocating against justice for survivors, but subjecting children to a failed policy that harms them in the worst possible ways does not help survivors or prevent child sexual abuse.” — Elizabeth Letourneau and Luke Malone, Slate

Registries should focus on preventing the most serious offenses

“The registry as we know it today was designed in the wake of a few horrific situations where children were abducted and murdered, and it is for such cases as these that it was intended. The similarity between the perpetrators of those crimes and the nearly 1 million people who are listed on sexual offense registries today is non-existent, with children themselves being registered as young as 9 for childish, inappropriate behavior.” — Sandy Rozek, Tennessean

Registries must be narrowed down so they can be reasonably maintained

“The registry really doesn’t work. It’s a bloated, inefficient system that is incredibly expensive to maintain. I don’t think it really protects anybody.” — Kelly Socia, criminologist, to NPR

Sex registry laws need to allow much more room for nuance

“​​Registry systems rarely take into account the complexities of sexual abuse or incorporate evidence on the factors that will reduce reoffending. Even when they do split registrants into high-, medium- and low-risk categories, they typically base these assessments on their crime alone. This leaves out critical information about the circumstances of their crime and the factors that could lead them to commit another.” — Michael Hobbes, HuffPost

Communities should stop wasting money on registries and invest in what actually works

“If our goal is to end sexual offending, we need to invest in prevention, hold people accountable, support survivors, and ensure that people with past convictions can reenter society successfully.” — William Buhl, J.J. Prescott and Miriam Aukerman, Detroit Free Press

Strict restrictions on sex offenders, not the registries, are the real problem

“The registry can make the lives of those on the registry extremely difficult when coupled with misguided laws at the local level that govern where those on the registry can live and with overly aggressive community members who use the information in a punitive way. … Municipalities must revisit their punitive rules to make them reasonable and workable while still ensuring public safety. But those misguided laws could exist even without a statewide registry.” — Editorial, Denver Post

No reforms can fix an inherently unconstitutional system

“Repeated punishments violate the Eighth Amendment by imposing cruel and unusual punishment. The government is prohibited from imposing a criminal sentence that is either vindictive or far too harsh for the crime committed. Incarceration is intended to be a punishment and a deterrence, so any subsequent punishment can only be vindictive.” — Jesse Kelley, The Hill

Sex offenders, like all criminals, should be given the opportunity to rehabilitate themselves

“The category of ‘sex offender’ not only fails to account for the vast range of offenses for which one might be forced to register (from streaking to rape). It also implies an indelible, untreatable predatory impulse that must be vigilantly policed and suppressed, even though those convicted of sexual offenses have lower recidivism rates than those convicted of virtually any other offense.” — Paul M. Renfro, Jacobin

This also means that this season is ripe for scammers posing as law enforcement officers targeting people on the sex offender registry. “The registry has harmed the people listed rather than providing safety to the community”, said Dwayne Daughtry, NCRSOL Executive Director. Daughtry went on to say, “Each time a registrant provides internet identifiers and other information stored on a computer it has the potential in becoming compromised. Who is to say information hasn’t been compromised recently or long ago?” 

Current federal law exempts law enforcement from alerting the general public of data breaches of law enforcement based data. A bill was introduced to congress in 2017 to amend that law. But it failed in committee. 

This holiday season is unique that online purchasing power along with internet, phone, postal, and texting orders are in high demand. Quick convenience also is a recipe for fraud and complicated scams. The constant change of COVID19 conditions has been somewhat of an information overload that has created and continues to create confusion. 

The federal government has suggested to report telephone scams and ID spoofing to the Federal Trade Commision by calling 1-877-382-4357. If you think you have been contacted that might be a sex offense related scam, most police departments have advised that you call them directly at their non-emergency number rather than contacting the telephone number on the letter, flyer, voice mail, or email you received. Allowing police to research and receive a report of potential scams so that they may document as much information as possible to hopefully put an end to it or raise issue that scams are targeted in their jurisdiction. 

The holiday season is quickly approaching. Please take extra precautions as to not being victim to scam artists or sex offense related scams. 

And my reply?  “Boo-hoo.”  I am sick to death of hearing it.  Come on, peeps.  Life IS hard due to the virus.  But you know what else is hard?  Living ON or WITH someone on the registry.  People are now getting a small taste of what it is like to live by the laws of the registry.

This little pandemic, not to disregard the severity of it, will pass.  It will.  The effects of the registry will not pass.  Let’s compare – maybe you lost a job due to the virus outbreak.  Many people on the registry are continually denied jobs, and not for lack of trying but simply because of their label.  Maybe you say you have to watch church on Facebook because you can’t attend right now.  Well, Registrants can’t use Facebook.  Nor can they attend church in many states.  Your park is closed and you can’t run your trail?  Guess what?  Neither can registrants.  Your library is closed?  Registrants can’t go anyway, and yes – they can read.  <Insert the sarcasm.  I am feeling snarky today.>

I honestly have self-diagnosed myself with PTSD after living through the effects this registry puts on families.  Every step we take is calculated.  It is much more than “should I wear a mask to the store and use my hand sanitizer.”  Again, these things are critically important right now, but so is my life and my well-being.  So is the life of my family.  So is the life of every other registrant out there trying to stay sane despite laws that work extremely hard to tear you apart.  Life on the registry is a 30 year or longer “quarantine sentence.”  So pardon me if I don’t take kindly to the whining that Walmart closed early or you have to order your toilet paper from Amazon.  Your life will soon be back to some kind of normal.  Mine, not so much.

And you know what else?  People seem scared to interact with a registrant, as if they will catch “the virus.”  Yes, registrants are ostracized from the rest of the world and it is the very laws that set it up to be this way.  This is why we need voices.  We know that squeaky wheels get the oil.  Why aren’t registrants and family and friends of registrants being squeaky right now?  IT. IS. TIME.

We are in a day and age where the talks of equality are bubbling to the surface.  I hope we all remember that humans are real people with flaws.  No matter their age, gender, race, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, or registry status, we are all humans.  Please don’t make this turmoil we are experiencing be about you.  Don’t sing the “oh woe is me” song.  Take this opportunity to value people.  All people.  Including those who are reformed registrants.  Give second chances.  Show compassion.  Experience forgiveness.  Resist making assumptions that all people are guilty.

I know, I know.  I am not feeling quite so positive right now.  This is actually why I write these blogs – to heal my wounds.  I am whining now, but I’ll be over this soon. I am the very thing I am annoyed by – a whiner.  Okay, whining is officially over.

It is time to be inspired for change.  It is time to voice your concerns over the registry.  It is time we work together.  NARSOL is hosting a VIRTUAL webcast this weekend to replace the annual conference and we need you.  Everything is different this year.  We’ve never had a virtual webcast like this, and we still need people to register.  Sit in the comfort and privacy of your home and listen to influential people with great knowledge educate us on how to be change agents against these laws.  I challenge you.  It will be the best $35 you’ve ever spent.

FARGO — The Fargo Police Department is allowing sex offenders to register by phone in an effort to prevent the spread of coronavirus, while other local law enforcement agencies continue the registration process with few changes.

The staff of NCRSOL has researched every North Carolina Sheriffs’ official website for Covid-19 information as it pertains to registered sex offenders in the state.

Of the 100 counties in North Carolina, only three counties have posted amended sex offender registration procedures on its official website. Naturally, there will be discourse from those in the law enforcement community that registrants should call their sheriffs department or visit a social media site for the latest information. However, if sheriffs can implement augmented pistol permit and jail policies, then it can amend sex offender in-person requirements. These are not permanent acts – these are temporary acts of mercy and public safety that benefit the bigger picture at hand.

By current law, registrants in North Carolina are prohibited from accessing a website where a part of its terms and conditions prohibits registered sex offenders. Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, Nextdoor, and a few others are platforms that many law enforcement websites use! NCRSOL encourages all registrants to obey the law and remain compliant. Don’t be a fool and assume that one law supersedes another by getting caught up in a legal imbroglio. The first line of defense of credible information is the official county website maintained by various sheriffs departments. The county website should be the sole credible source of public information.

Here are the North Carolina sheriffs departments that have amended sex offender in-person policies by notice on its official website during the Covid-19 pandemic: (effective 3/29/2020)

(F-Facebook; T-Twitter; B-Blogger; X-Nixie; G-GooglePlus; P-Pinterest; L-LinkedIn; S-Snapchat; N-Nextdoor; Y-YouTube; V-Vimeo; K-Flickr; I-Instagram)

Click on any county to be redirected to the official website of that particular sheriff’s department. Sheriffs may quietly change policies or directives without making it public via their website or social media blasts. You are encouraged to use this tool to show the law enforcement community that either there is no, limited, or ambiguous information from the department entrusted and elected to keep you and your community safe.

Upon researching each of the county sheriff websites, some may display a section for Emergency Alerts. However, in nearly all circumstances, no emergency alerts have been activated, updated, or mentioned for Covid-19, jail closings, pistol permit holds, or other sheriff related functions. Instead, many sheriffs have left those decisions to other county officials. 

A majority of sheriff official websites had no information posted about the governor’s recent mandatory “Stay-At-Home” order. A noticeable trend was that many sheriff websites used social media sites such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, and in some cases defunct websites or broken links. Additionally, some of the sheriffs websites redirect to county administrative social media platforms with no mention of sheriffs operations amended or not. The scope of this particular research did not scour social media sites maintained by individual sheriff’s offices.

NCRSOL staff identified the following problems with sheriff official websites:

• websites neglected over time with no relevant or updated public information,
• no information about Covid-19 information regarding jail and/or public operations,
• no information about the governors stay at home order,
• no alternative emergency information or guidance procedures,
• broken or inoperable links,
• Sheriff’s updated concealed pistol permit information, but no other information was updated.
• No sheriffs department had alternative solutions for the sex offender community such as mail-in forms, documentation available online, or temporary change of address forms for the registry community.
• There is no standardization of law enforcement websites to simplify emergency data or services.

In a high-tech society surrounded by flagship universities and a state population where internet, webpages, and technology is a significant part of our daily lives combined demonstrates a lag in online technologies or features to keep society moving forward. It has been nearly two decades since 9/11. Yet a majority of our sheriffs departments are greatly unprepared to meet the simple challenges of the 21st century by leaders failing to change policy towards an on-line or application method rather than antiquated and expensive in-person requirements. Sheriffs have a unique ability to step aside of the political compass and begin to look at the human compass. 

While social media appears to be the new facilitation to traditional webpages, there is little to no standardization across the board for the general public to better understand changes under emergency conditions; especially a platform that serves communities such as the poor, homeless, registrants, or seniors without smartphones and social media outlets. North Carolina leaders must do more to simplify our information flow and processes to reduce not only our carbon footprint, but to reduce our public health criteria for the overall safety for all citizens. This is an opportunity to stop the “guessing games.” 

Despite emergency conditions and the putting innocent citizens further at risk, deputies all across North Carolina are still knocking on doors of registrants to verify if they live there. Basic constitutional rights include that citizens are not required to answer the door or talk to the police when they’re knocking at your door without a warrant. Yet, deputies continue to knock on registrants doors without a warrant despite those same registrants go in-person to the sheriffs office to verify his/her address.

NCRSOL staff would like to keep this data and information up-to-date. Please reply with updated information about specific counties to share with other registrants.

In the meantime, please contact your sheriff’s department to learn more about your county’s sex offender in-person registry policy during the Covid-19 pandemic. Most of all, please stay safe and follow the CDC recommended guidelines. Lastly, pay attention to the President and Governor by staying at home until this crisis has passed. 

The lawsuit was filed March 3 against the commonwealth, Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet as well as Probation and Parole officer Megan Goss.

Attorneys Daniel J. Canon of Saeed and Little, LLP out of Indianapolis, and Darren C. Wolff, a Louisville attorney, are representing Jones.

The lawsuit alleges Jones’ constitutional rights were violated for being required to register as a sex offender after receiving a pardon and commutation letter from former Gov. Matt Bevin.

The lawsuit states, “To counsel’s knowledge, there is no Kentucky case which squarely addresses whether a convicted felon must comply with Kentucky Sex Offender Registration Act once their sentence has been pardoned or commuted.

“However, the Kentucky Supreme Court has stated that a pardon relieves a convicted felon of ‘all the consequences which the law has annexed to the commission of the public offense of which he has been pardoned and [the convicted person] attains new credit and capacity, as if he had never committed that public offense.”

Jones’ counsel states that nothing in the pardon and commutation document suggests that Jones should have to register, noting that it would have been within the power of the governor to require him to do so.

“If forced to register under SORA, Jones’ rights under Kentucky law will be violated,” the document states.

The suit further claims that if Jones is required to register as a sex offender, he will suffer “immediate and irreparable injury, loss and/or damage.”

The suit claims Jones will suffer from registering in the form of reduced employment opportunities, severe social stigma, traveling restrictions, psychological harm and the ability to live wherever he chooses.

It also argues that Jones was granted a pardon instead of a commutation.

“On December 9, 2019, Bevin issued Executive Order No. 2019-1332, which styled ‘PARDON & COMMUTATION,’ ” the lawsuit wrote.

“Though the document clearly states that it is a ‘PARDON,’ the document simply states the fact of Jones’ conviction, and concludes that the Governor ‘hereby commute[s] the sentence of Dayton Ross Jones to time served.’

“There is no further limitation or requirement placed on Jones by the plain language of the ‘Pardon & Commutation’ document. The Secretary of State’s Website lists this document as granting an ‘unconditional pardon’ to Petitioner (Jones).”

It goes on to say that since the executive order was made by Bevin, the commonwealth has treated the document as granting a pardon.

However, on Jan. 13, the Kentucky Secretary of State’s office clarified to the New Era that the 15-year sentence of Dayton Jones was commuted, not pardoned, after the heading on the executive order was unclear.

While the lawsuit focuses largely on the commonwealth’s actions against Jones, it also accuses Goss of violating Jones’ rights.

The lawsuit alleges Goss caused a letter to be delivered to Jones’ grandparents’ house, which contained a signed notice of discharge declaring that Jones is on sex offender post-incarceration supervision.

However, Jones and his counsel say Jones had not signed the notice and had not seen it prior to Feb. 26, the date the letter was received by his grandparents.

His counsel further alleged that Goss required Jones to report to her office Feb. 28 for sex offender supervision.

In the lawsuit, Jones’ counsel requests several orders be made by Franklin Circuit Court, including a speedy hearing and declaring that Jones was granted an unconditional pardon by the former governor and doesn’t have to register, among other requests.

According to New Era archives, Jones pleaded guilty Aug. 22, 2016, to first-degree sodomy, first-degree wanton endangerment and first-degree distribution of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor.

In November 2016, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison with no possibility of probation and a lifetime requirement to register as a sex offender upon release.

Jones, Colton Cavanaugh, Tyler Perry and Samuel Miller all pleaded guilty to the Oct. 12, 2014, sexual assault of a 15-year-old who was sodomized with a sex toy during a party. The boy suffered severe internal injuries as a result of the attack. It was also captured on video and shared on social media.

Reprinted from The Eagle Post | www.kentuckynewera.com

Copyright © 2020 Kentucky New Era

There is perhaps an overload of information circulating the internet, television, and social media with various discussions about the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The COVID-19 strain is a serious issue, and NCRSOL is watching developments closely for our registry, family, and ally communities. 

Coronaviruses are a large family of viruses that can cause illness in humans. Human coronaviruses commonly circulate in the United States and usually cause mild illnesses like the common cold. Coronaviruses like COVID-19 are most often spread through the air by coughing or sneezing, through close personal contact (including touching and shaking hands) or through touching your nose, mouth or eyes before washing your hands.

The CDC recommends to follow these common-sense measures to protect yourself and others from spreading viruses, including COVID-19:

• Wash hands frequently with soap and water for at least 20 seconds at a time.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Avoid close contact with people who are ill.
• Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
• Do not reuse tissue after coughing, sneezing, or blowing your nose.
• Clean and disinfect surfaces that are frequently touched.

The CDC does not recommend that people who are healthy wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory viruses. Facemasks should be used by people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses like flu to protect others from getting infected. 

Currently, there is no vaccine to protect against COVID-19. The best way to protect yourself from respiratory diseases like COVID-19 is to take common-sense precautions. 

Most people with illnesses due to coronavirus recover on their own. There are no specific treatments for COVID-19, but treatments to bring down fever or alleviate other symptoms may help. For people who become severely ill, hospitals can provide care. 

Older adults and people who have severe chronic medical conditions like heart, lung, or kidney disease and those with weakened immune systems seem to be at higher risk for more serious COVID-19 illness.

If you develop symptoms within 14 days after travel from an affected area or have contact with a person known to have COVID-19, you should call to discuss this with your health care provider and your local health department. Effective 3/13/2019, President Trump authorized a national emergency declaration. That declaration allows states to set up emergency operation centers “effective immediately” and asking “every hospital in the country to activate its emergency preparedness plan.” 

Those impacted by the N.C. Sex Offender Registry bi-annual and in some cases, quarterly in-person sheriffs visits have not been put on hold or suspended. The staff at NCRSOL urges all those directly impacted by the sex offender registry to continue to obey the law and appear when notified by letter to do so. It is advisable to check with the Sheriff in your county of registration for up-to-date information should COVID-19 procedures and closing suddenly escalate. Never assume because the courts are closed that the Sheriff’s office will be closed. Law enforcement is a continual 24-hour cycle. Additionally, there is no legal remedy within current state registry laws that allows for national emergencies. NCRSOL urges all registrants to remain compliant to avoid unnecessary legal problems. 

Most of all, NCRSOL urges everyone to be safe, healthy, and informed. Hopefully, soon the COVID-19 will pass so that we may get back to a sense of normalcy in our daily lives.