Pros and Cons of Sex Offender Registration Laws

Pros and Cons of Sex Offender Registration Laws Criminal recidivism poses a serious risk to public safety. In the middle 1990s, the United States passed a series of laws to deal with the sex offender threat to the public. The legislative solution for the problem of sex offenders was found in sex offender registration and notification laws. This legislation stemmed from a series of highly publicized incidents where the offender had prior record of committing sexual offenses and where the crimes often resulted in a murder of a child in addition to the sex offense. Today, these same laws punish all sex offenders, without regards to the nature or circumstances surrounding the crime. Sex offender laws should be modified to fit the nature of the crime. Criminal recidivism poses a serious risk to public safety. In the middle 1990s, the United States passed a series of laws to deal with the sex offender threat to the public. The legislative solution for the problem of sex offenders was found in sex offender registration and notification laws. This legislation stemmed from a series of highly publicized incidents where the offender had prior record of committing sexual offenses and where the crimes often resulted in a murder of a child in addition to the sex offense. Today, these same laws punish all sex offenders, without regards to the nature or circumstances surrounding the crime. Sex offender laws should be modified to fit the nature of the crime. Sex offender laws, originally, were designed to protect the children of a community. Harsher sex offender laws must surely protect children more effectively; unfortunately, this is neither accurate nor constitutional. It is inaccurate for its reliance on unproven recidivism statistics and false claims of security, and unconstitutional for its excessive and punitive effect. The Jacob Wetterling Crimes against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act of 1994 formalized the practice of registering sex offenders in centralized databases. It was Megans Law, however, that is credited with making the information on sex offender registries accessible to the public. Both of these laws stemmed from sex crimes against children, which resulted in the death of the child. Today, the same laws govern sex offenders, regardless of if their crimes involved a child or resulted in the death of the victim. Some registered sex offenders crimes did not actually involve the act of sex. The face of registration includes Dean Edgar Weisart, who was convicted of indecent exposure for skinny-dipping with his girlfriend in a hotel pool in 1979 and then required to register more than twenty years later. It contemplates offenders such as Ricky Blackmun, whose family moved to Oklahoma from Iowa for a fresh start after Ricky was convicted as an adult sex offender for having sex with a thirteen-year-old girl when he was sixteen. Even though Rickys record was expunged in Iowa, he was required to register as a tier III sex offender- the highest level- in Oklahoma until a change in law terminated his duty to register. Registration rolls are also populated by children- adjudicated juvenile offenders who, despite their ages, face the same burdensome registration requirements for certain offenses, as do convicted adults. The face of registration also compromises offenders displaced from their homes because of onerous residency restrictions. (Berlin v. Evans, 923). In South Florida, numerous convicted offenders live under the Julia Tuttle Causeway, a large bridge, because there is no community in South Florida where they may reside without violating residency restrictions (Skipp 2010). In Georgia, Anthony Mann, a registered sex offender was prohibited from entering the restaurant he half owned and ran because child-care facilities located themselves within 1000 feet of Manns business. Society has long detested sex offenders, a group which has traditionally been considered to be among the most heinous and repulsive of all criminals as evident by historically harsh treatment and their subjectivity to severe sentencing laws (Quinn et al. 2004). Recent responses have included publicly accessible sex offender registries developed under the guise of increasing community awareness of sex offenders. Sex offender registries and notification procedures were also created with the intent of promoting public shaming and societal ostracism (Blair 2004). Quinn and colleagues (2004) describe this shaming or branding as a mechanism used by society to control deviance throughout history. In short, shaming is useful for establishing and publicizing boundaries between persons and groups. Registries and notification procedures are not without problems, however, and have been deemed to be a flawed strategy for controlling sex crime (Presser and Gunnison 1999, p. 311). One of the major tenets of sex offender registration and notification laws is the idea that sex offenders are more likely to recidivate than other types of offenders. This is also one of the biggest myths about sex offenders according to the Center for Sex Offender Management (2001). From a review of sex offender recidivism studies, Sample (2001, 106) argued that because of methodological difficulties, differences in sample size, and variability in follow-up lengths, most studies report inconsistent levels of reoffending among sexual offenders. Hanson and Bussiere (1998) conducted a meta-analysis of studies on sex offender recidivism. From an international sample of 87 research projects (representing 28,972 sex offenders), the average recidivism rate for sex offenses was only 13.4%, while the average recidivism rate for any offense was 36.3%. Findings on offender characteristics showed that only age and marital status predicted sex offense recidivism. This was particularly true if the offender had prior sexual offenses, victimized strangers, had an extrafamilial victim, began offending at an early age, had a male victim, or had engaged in diverse sexual crimes. Sex offenders who committed new crimes that are non-sexual in nature were those most likely to have used force against their victims and less likely to have chosen child victims. Hanson and Bussiere (1998, 357) argued that their findings contradict the popular view that sexual offenders inevitably reoffend . . . even in studies with thorough search and long follow-up periods the recidivism rate almost never exceed 40%. History has shown that a collective response to a national problem concerning safety and security does not necessarily make it the right one. Todays sec offender registry laws are no longer rationally connected to their regulatory purpose, more driven to appease a fearful public, legislation has been transformed into excessive criminal penalties. It is time to provide meaningful guidance on the parameters that will support the states interest in keeping their communities safe while providing constitutional protections to offenders. References Wright, R. G. (2009). Sex offender laws:  failed policies, new directions. New York:  Springer Pub.. Zott, L. M. (2008). Sex offenders and  public policy. Detroit: Greenhaven Press. Tofte, S., Fellner, J. (2007). No easy  answers: sex offender laws in the US.  New York: Human Rights Watch. Laws, D. R. Hudson, S. M. (2000).  Remaking Relapse Prevention with Sex  Offenders A Sourcebook.. Thousand  Oaks: SAGE Publications. Ewing, C. P. (2011). Justice perverted:  sex offender law, psychology, and public  policy. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Blair, M. (2004). Wisconsins Sex Offender  Registration and Notification Laws: Has  the Wisconsin Legislature Left the Criminals  and the Constitution Behind? Marquette Law  Review 87(5):939-981. Quinn, J., C. Forsyth, and C. Mullen-Quinn. (2004).  Societal Reaction to Sex Offenders: A Review of  the Origins and Results of the Myths Surrounding  their Crimes and Treatment Amenability.  Deviant Behavior 4(3):215 -233.

The movie fracture is an example of a psychological drama

The movie fracture is an example of a psychological drama, played by set of talented movie actors. Among the talented actors in Hollywood, Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling are chosen to play the two lead roles of the movie. A multi awarded and one of the most popular actors in his time and at present, Anthony Hopkins played the lead role in the movie fracture as the Tem Crawford.Who was a local engineer who had attempted to murder his wife after discovering that her young wife Jennifer that was played by another young talented actress Embeth Davidtz, which was having an affair with local police detective. On the other hand, Ryan Gosling a talented actor as well, plays the critical role of the movie as the young and promising district attorney who is about make a defining moment of his career as a lawyer moving to a much glamorous law firm.From the moment Ted Crawford discover that her young wife Jennifer is having an affair with a local police detective, he then starts to master plan the process of killing her wife. One day after making all the necessary plans, Crawford held his wife Jennifer inside their house and he shot her on the head in point blank range. This incident cause alarm to the community and police respondents starts to move all over the place.Among the entire hostage negotiator who responded on the crime scene, only one detective Nunally was allowed to enter the house where Crawford shot his wife. Upon entering the crime scene he saw Ted Crawford on the floor and was shocked when he sees Jennifer his long time lover that was in the other room swimming on her own blood. Due to this crime Ted Crawford was held liable for shooting his wife and will face court trials.This case was handled by Willy Beachum, a young and talented district attorney as his last case before moving to a better position in a law firm. With his record of 97% successful conviction cases Willy Beachum had achieved as a local district attorney, he accepts to handle the case bef ore leaving district attorney’s office. With the belief that this case will no longer be a difficult one for this case is an open case of attempted murder, Willy does not made the needed preparations as much as he did on his previous cases. Apart from Willy's knowledge he did not thought this case will be a battle of psychological intelligence between him and Ted Crawford. In the end, Ted Crawford was acquitted on doing frustrated murder on her wife Jennifer.In relation of the movie fracture by Anthony Hopkins to business law,   the scenario of the battle between the two leading character of the movie Ted Crawford and Willy Beachum on the court could be perfect to cite. Furthermore, this movie has something to do with law cases such as frustrated murder and probably business law in terms of actions of the leading role. Business law is often characterized as corporate law that was divided into many different areas. One of its is the law of negligence or malpractice.In the mo vie fracture, Ryan Gosling as the young successful district attorney Willy Beachum, may violated some the law of malpractice. This law is type of professional negligence in which a practitioner in a professional field is generally accepted failure to perform or achieve professional standards as required to their duty. In the case of Willy Breachum that was portrayed by the famous actor Ryan Gosling, as a district attorney he may possibly violated the law of malpractice in which he failed to perform professionally on the case of Ted Crawford.It is understandable though in court trial a winner and a loser are inevitable. However, on the movie fracture the public district attorney Willy Beachum had possibly committed negligence since he do not give enough attention and did not make needed preparation upon handling the case of Ted Crawford resulted to the not guilty verdict of the court to the person on trial.

Punishing Criminals by Death Will Deter Future Crimes...or...

Outline The paper introduces the assumptions that people have that punishing criminals by death will deter future crimes. The paragraph further explains how human behavior is related to acts of crime. The essay gives an example of Canada. How crime was not deterred by the imposition of death penalty as a tool used by the system of justice. The essay states some of the research that has been conducted with the intention of proving that capital punishment can deter crimes. This paper points out the effects and imposition of capital punishments on criminal activities. The paper finally makes a conclusion on the issue of capital punishment as deterrence. Introduction Many people assume that punishment by death will prevent crime,†¦show more content†¦However the research does not imply that death penalty is having a brutal effect on countries with capital punishment; it only shows that capital punishment is not resulting in a decrease in the number of homicides that are committed in those countries per year. A review was conducted from the Law and society Association, American society of criminology and the Criminal Justice sciences Academy and it revealed that a big majority concluded that capital punishment was not a deterrent to homicide. More than 80 percent of those interrogated believe that the survey doesn’t hold up the effect of deterrence for the death penalty. Other criminologists suggest that more homicides are caused due to the fact that there is death penalty. The outcome of brutalization argues that the rates of homici des will increase because of the example served by state executions. State executions influence the potential and active criminals by the simple â€Å"you kill, we put you to death†. A conclusion drawn from that idea could be that punishment by death would be a prevention of crime. Regrettably the information does not get along with the proposal of deterrence being effective. The truth of the matter is that the death penalty does not affect potential criminals physiologically; the effect brought about by brutalization does not deter criminal activities. An economic writer and Professor IsaacShow MoreRelatedPunishment vs Rehabilitation1661 Words   |  7 PagesAbstract The expectations that our society has for the criminal justice system  is to punish and rehabilitate individuals who commit crime. Punishment and rehabilitation are also two of the four acknowledged objectives of the criminal justice system, with deterrence and incapacitation being the others. 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