MANDATORY SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION Introductio

MANDATORY SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION

The purpose of this paper is to discuss mandatory sex offender registration, taking an ethical stand on this criminology/criminal justice issue. It must be noted here that the ethical position that is taken is formulated within the most current legal context of the issue, namely the context of Megan's law, stipulating that there not only be mandatory registration but also community notification. This law has wedded the two issues and to discuss one without the other would be to provide an incomplete assessment of the registration issue.

The discussion and formulation of an ethical stance on the selected issue is presented in five discrete categories. These are: (a) a historical overview of the issue; (b) a description of the current state of affairs as it relates to the sex offender registration/notification issue; (c) speculations as to the ways in which the issue will be addressed in the future; (d) a supported ethical stand on the issue; and (e) an exploration of the potential positive and negative consequences of the adopted stand.

Today, it is impossible to talk about sex offender registration without also talking about community notification of the fact that the sex offender has moved into the neighborhood. Regarding registration of sex offenders, this was originally mandated by the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act (Department of Just

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emedies other than those which have been offered by the court system. The position taken in this paper is that requiring, by law, sex offender registration and community notification consists of an action that sends an important message about the rights of children to be safe from convicted child molesters who wish to live secretly and unknown in American neighborhoods and communities. Moreover, it protects children in those instances when sexual predators move into their neighborhoods. Defense of Ethical Position The ethical position taken can be defended on several grounds. The first is that statistical studies indicate that offender registration and community notification methods are indeed making parents aware of sex offenders in their neighborhoods and allowing them to take steps to protect their children; in other words, the law is protecting children just as it was intended. For example, in California, there have been many reported cases where parents, who viewed a CD-ROM of the names and addresses of registered sex offenders in their area discovered that their children had been interacting (either at school or in the community) with convicted child molesters---molesters who, by the way, are suppose to, as part o

Category: Psychology - M