Ethics

The Economist Takes On Sex Offender Registries

By Ed Brayton

The Economist has an excellent article on the absurdity of America's sex offender registries and the various state laws that create them and impose conditions on those who appear on them. After describing the origins of "Megan's law" the article notes the current reality:

America's sex-offender laws are the strictest of any rich democracy. Convicted rapists and child-molesters are given long prison sentences. When released, they are put on sex-offender registries. In most states this means that their names, photographs and addresses are published online, so that fearful parents can check whether a child-molester lives nearby. Under the Adam Walsh Act of 2006, another law named after a murdered child, all states will soon be obliged to make their sex-offender registries public. Such rules are extremely popular. Most parents will support any law that promises to keep their children safe. Other countries are following America's example, either importing Megan's laws or increasing penalties: after two little girls were murdered by a school caretaker, Britain has imposed multiple conditions on who can visit schools.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on August 14, 2009 (boomark / email).