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9 - Juvenile Registration and Notification Are Failed Policies That Must End

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2021

By
Elizabeth J. Letourneau
Edited by
Wayne Logan  and
J. J. Prescott
Wayne Logan
Affiliation:
Florida State University School of Law
J. J. Prescott
Affiliation:
University of Michigan Law School
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Summary

Chapter 9 examines the consequences of subjecting children to SORN laws. It argues that registration and notification laws are uniquely ineffective and harmful when applied to children. The chapter begins with a history of how SORN laws came to regulate juvenile sexual misconduct. In response to moral panics around “sexual predators” and “juvenile super-predators,” policymakers explicitly expanded the scope of SORN laws to cover children adjudicated delinquent of sex offenses. The chapter next evaluates the effects of these laws on juvenile offending, particularly recidivism. Contrary to the myths underlying their enactment, children found to have engaged in sexual misconduct very rarely reoffend. Further, the evidence is unanimous that SORN laws do not reduce recidivism. The chapter then compiles evidence on the many deleterious effects SORN laws produce when they are applied to children. Studies of providers and children who are registrants demonstrate that SORN laws increase substantially the risk of suicide and sexual victimization. Furthermore, SORN laws are associated with high rates of plea bargaining among children. In light of these failures and dangerous effects, the application of SORN to children should be abandoned.

Keywords

juvenilesex offenderregistrationnotificationpolicyrecidivismcollateral consequencesmental healthsuicidevictimization riskplea bargaining
Type
Chapter
Information
Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification Laws
An Empirical Evaluation
 , pp. 164 - 180
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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References

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