The Pros And Cons Of Sex Offender Laws

Sex offender laws need to be reevaluated and modified to reflect current factual data and not represent media induced panic and public misconception. In the United States, in the name of public safety, registries for sex offenders have increased to nearly three-quarters of a million registrants. The lists include some violent repeat offenders, which was the original intent of the laws, but some states now require the registration of exhibitionists, “peeping Toms,” first time offenders when there was neither violence, coersion, nor physical contact, consenting minor high school sweethearts, young schoolteachers who foolishly fell in love with their students, men who urinated in public, those caught having sex in their cars and/or remote areas …show more content…
Many organization, including Human Rights Watch, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, have criticized different aspects of the sex offender registration laws. Just laws are to deter crime, mandate punishment suited to the crime, and rehabilitation. Apparently, the US sex offender laws fail on all three counts. They violate basic legal principles and amount to excessive and enduring forms of punishment. There are measures that have shown to reduce repeat offenses in sex offenders. Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based treatment that works when it targets, based on research, all known features that predict reoffending. Closed registries, available to law enforcement and other officials, are an option, but should exclude minor offenses and focus on repeat and violent