CHICAGO — State and federal laws intended to monitor released sex offenders and protect the public actually "may cause more harm than good," a study by Human Rights Watch released Wednesday contends.
Laws restricting where such sex offenders can live and requiring widespread public notification of their past crimes have not been shown to reduce the number of new sex crimes, the report says, but may be driving them underground.
"There's no evidence these laws actually work and they may be making things worse," said Sarah Tofte of Human Rights Watch, the author of the report. "These laws are making it significantly impossible for former offenders to re-enter the community."
The rights organization's report, "No Easy Answers," says that in recent decades, misinformation and political zeal have contributed to overly broad laws that put the names of sex offenders on publicly-accessed Web sites and restrict where they can live, regardless of the severity of the crime or the fact that most will not re-offend. The report says no studies have definitively linked community notification of the presence of convicted sex offenders and reduced sex offenses.
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But advocates for victims of sexual abuse say no study can show how some crimes may not have been committed.
"You can't prove a negative," said Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law and the Crime Victims Center.
The report says U.S. laws governing sex offenders are some of the most restrictive in the world. No other countries govern where sex offenders can live, and six have laws requiring registration of offenders, but only with police.
The study is the most comprehensive to date of U.S. sex-offender laws, and focuses attention on possible negative effects on sex offenders. Researchers conducted 200 interviews with sex offenders, experts, law enforcement officials and victims, and details abuses to which some offenders have been subjected, from ostracism to murder. The laws also make it difficult for offenders to get and keep jobs.
Supporters of the laws say they are not intended to harass offenders but to help the community be informed of potential risks. Extreme vigilante cases are rare, they say.
"They're making public safety and the protection of children and our most vulnerable population a priority," Ahearn said. "If they're not happy with it they shouldn't commit the sex crime in the first place."
local angle
In Arizona, sex offenders must register with law enforcement officials and cannot live within 1,000 feet of schools or child-care facilities.
Arizona Daily Star
