Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-94fs2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T13:14:44.525Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

2 - Variations in the Structure and Operation of SORN Systems

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 June 2021

Wayne Logan
Affiliation:
Florida State University School of Law
J. J. Prescott
Affiliation:
University of Michigan Law School
Get access

Summary

Chapter 2 explores the structure and evolution of federal, state, and international SORN policies. The chapter first outlines the history of federal legislation in the United States that has shaped the current SORN environment, beginning with the 1994 Jacob Wetterling Act and continuing through the 2006 Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) and its subsequent amendments. The chapter then explores the key points of variation in state SORN policies, underscoring the elusive nature of fulfilling SORNA’s vision of a uniform national system. This analysis examines two particularly prominent points of interstate variation: provisions for the registration of juveniles and mechanisms for registrant classification. The chapter concludes with a brief examination of SORN systems outside the United States, indicating that, although many countries have adopted provisions for requiring registration with law enforcement, the provision of public access to registrant information is far less common.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, Pub. L. No. 109–248.Google Scholar
Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (2017). National Child Offender System. www.acic.gov.au/our-services/child-protection/national-child-offender-system.Google Scholar
Australian Institute of Family Studies (2013). Offender Registration Legislation in Each Australian State and Territory. https://aifs.gov.au/cfca/offender-registration-legislation-each-australian-state-and-territory.Google Scholar
Bichard Inquiry (2004). The Bichard Inquiry Report. London, UK: The Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Custer, B. (2019). Variations in State Sex Offender Statutes: Implications for U.S. Higher Education. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 30(6), 906924.Google Scholar
Edwards, D. (2003). ViSOR – Violent and Sex Offender Register. Criminal Justice Matters, 51(1), 28.Google Scholar
Florida Department of Law Enforcement (2017). Florida Sexual Offenders and Predators, Frequently Asked Questions. http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/FAQ.jsp.Google Scholar
Freeman, N. & Sandler, J. (2009). The Adam Walsh Act: A False Sense of Security or an Effective Public Policy Initiative? Criminal Justice Policy Review, 21(1), 3149.Google Scholar
Gotch, K., Ann, Q., & Harris, A. J. (2017). Sex Offender Registration and Notification Systems in the United States: A Review of System Characteristics. Working manuscript under development.Google Scholar
Government Accountability Office. (2013). Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act: Jurisdictions Face Challenges to Implementing the Act, and Stakeholders Report Positive and Negative Effects (Publication No. GAO-13–211). Reported to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security, Committee on the Judiciary, House of Representatives, Washington, DC: www.gao.gov/assets/660/652032.pdf.Google Scholar
Harper, C. A. & Harris, A. J. (2017). Applying Moral Foundations Theory to Understanding Public Views of Sexual Offending. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 23(2), 111123. DOI: 10.1080/13552600.2016.1217086.Google Scholar
Harris, A. J. (2011). SORNA in the Post-Deadline Era: What’s the Next Move. Sex Offender Law Report, 12(6), 8186.Google Scholar
Harris, A. J. & Lobanov-Rostovsky, C. (2010). Implementing the Adam Walsh Act’s sex offender registration and notification provisions: A survey of the states. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 21(2), 202222. DOI: 10.1177/0887403409346118.Google Scholar
Harris, A. J., Lobanov-Rostovsky, C., & Levenson, J. S. (2010). Widening the Net: The Effects of Transitioning to the Adam Walsh Act’s Federally Mandated Sex Offender Classification System. Criminal Justice and Behavior, 37(5), 503519.Google Scholar
Harris, A. J., Kras, K., & Lobanov-Rostovsky, C. (2020). Information sharing and the role of sex offender registration and notification: Final technical report submitted to National Institute of Justice (Award # 2014-AW-BX-K003).Google Scholar
Harris, A. J., Kras, K. R., Lobanov-Rostovsky, C., & Ann, Q. (2020). States’ SORNA Implementation Journeys: Lessons Learned And Policy Implications. New Criminal Law Review, 23(3), 315365. doi:https://doi.org/10.1525/nclr.2020.23.3.315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, A. J., Walfield, S. M., Lobanov-Rostovsky, C., & Cubellis, M. (2017). State Implementation of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act: A Multi-Dimensional Analysis. Justice Research and Policy, 18(1), 2447. DOI: 10.1177/1525107117745645.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, A. J., Walfield, S. M., Shields, R. T., & Letourneau, E. J. (2015). Collateral Consequences of Juvenile Sex Offender Registration and Notification: Results from a Survey of Treatment Providers. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 28(8), 770790. DOI: 10.1177/1079063215574004.Google Scholar
Home Office. (2010). The Child Sex Offender (CSO) Disclosure Scheme Guidance Document. London, UK: Home Office. www.gov.uk/government/publications/child-sex-offender-disclosure-scheme-guidance.Google Scholar
Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, 42Google Scholar
U.S.C. 14071 (1994).Google Scholar
Jones, T. & Newburn, T. (2013). Policy Convergence, Politics and Comparative Penal Reform: Sex Offender Notification Schemes in the USA and UK. Punishment & Society, 15(5), 439467. DOI: 10.1177/1462474513504801.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2015 (c.9).Google Scholar
Logan, W. A. (2010). The Adam Walsh Act and the Failed Promise of Administrative Federalism. George Washington Law Review, 78, 9931013.Google Scholar
Logan, W. A. (2011). Prospects for the International Migration of U.S. Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification Laws. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry, 34(3), 233238. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijlp.2011.04.007.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manson, W. (2015). “Keeping Children Safe”: The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme in Scotland. Journal of Sexual Aggression, 21(1), 4355. DOI: 10.1080/13552600.2014.950352.Google Scholar
National Conference of State Legislatures. (2009). NCSL’s Top 10 Issues of 2010. www.ncsl.org/default.aspx?tabid=19397.Google Scholar
National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics. (2009). SEARCH Survey on State Compliance with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). www.search.org/files/pdf/SORNA-StateComplianceSurvey2009.pdf.Google Scholar
O’Sullivan, J., Hoggett, J., Kemshall, H., & McCartan, K. (2016). Understandings, Implications and Alternative Approaches to the Use of the Sex Offenders Register in the UK. Irish Probation Journal, 13, 84101.Google Scholar
Petrunik, M. & Deutschmann, L. (2008). The Exclusion–Inclusion Spectrum in State and Community Response to Sex Offenders in Anglo-American and European Jurisdictions. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 52(5), 499519. DOI: 10.1177/0306624X07308108.Google Scholar
Police Service of Northern Ireland (2017). Child Protection Disclosure Arrangements. www.psni.police.uk/advice_information/child-protection/child-protection-disclosure-arrangements/.Google Scholar
Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA): Barriers to Timely Compliance by States: Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security of the Committee on the Judiciary House of Representatives. 111th Cong. 1 (2009).Google Scholar
Sex Offenders Act 1997 (c.51).Google Scholar
Shin, J. & Lee, Y.-B. (2005). Korean Version of the Notification Policy on Sexual Offenders: Did it Enhance Public Awareness of Sexual Crimes Against Minors? International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 49(4), 376391. DOI: 10.1177/0306624X04271255.Google Scholar
SMART Newsroom (2020). Available at https://smart.ojp.gov/press-releases-speeches (last visited February 28, 2020).Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Justice. (2008). The National Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification. Federal Register, 73(128), 3803038070.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Justice. (2011). Supplemental Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification. Federal Register, 76(7), 16301640.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Justice. (2015). Prosecution, Transfer, and Registration of Serious Juvenile Sex Offenders. www.smart.gov/pdfs/smartjuvenilessum.pdf.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Justice. (2016a). Supplemental Guidelines for Juvenile Registration Under the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. Federal Register, 81 (147), 5055250558.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Justice. (2016b). Global Survey of Sex Offender Registration and Notification Systems. https://smart.gov/pdfs/global-survey-2016-final.pdf.Google Scholar
U.S. Department of Justice SMART Office. (2016). Substantial Implementation of SORNA. https://smart.gov/substantial_implementation.htm.Google Scholar
Vess, J., Langskaill, B., Day, A., Powell, M., & Graffam, J. (2011). A Comparative Analysis of Australian Sex Offender Legislation for Sex Offender Registries. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Criminology, 44(3), 404424. DOI: 10.1177/0004865811419065.Google Scholar
Victorian Law Reform Commission (April 2017). Sex Offenders Registration. www.lawreform.vic.gov.au/sites/default/files/SOR_Final%20Report_Full%20text.pdf.Google Scholar
Whitting, L., Day, A., & Powell, M. (2017). An Evaluation of the Impact of Australia’s First Community Notification Scheme. Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, 24(3), 339355. DOI: 10.1080/13218719.2016.1247606.Google Scholar
Zgoba, K. M. (2017). Memorialization Laws in the United Kingdom: A Response to Fear or an Increased Occurrence? American Journal of Criminal Justice, 42(3), 628643. DOI: 10.1007/s12103-016-9376-0.Google Scholar
Zgoba, K. M., Miner, M., Levenson, J., Knight, R., Letourneau, E., & Thornton, D. (2016). The Adam Walsh Act: An Examination of Sex Offender Risk Classification Systems. Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment, 28(8), 722740. DOI: 10.1177/1079063215569543.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×