Guest post by Sandy Rozek

Sex offenders have always been with us. Those who are convicted of committing rape and sexual assault and child molestation have always been punished and then released into the community.

They were not registered. They did not have to “check in” with law enforcement once they were no longer on probation or parole. Their presence in the community as former sexual offenders was largely unknown. They lived and worked wherever they could with no restrictions on where; there were no imaginary lines drawn around parks or schools, no prohibition against trick-or treat or other Halloween activities, no requirement to notify law enforcement if their telephone number or place of employment changed.

According to the wisdom of today, reoffense should have been rampant. As each year more individuals, virtually all “first-timers,” are released after serving a sentence for a sexual crime, the sheer mass of these felons unleashed on an unsuspecting public, with no one tracking or constantly monitoring them, must have resulted in ever-increasing numbers of victims.

Stranger-rape victims must have been piling up in the streets. Those suffering from sexual assault must have overwhelmed the hospital system. Children must have been kidnapped from schools and parks in record numbers on a daily basis.

But none of those things happened. Continue reading →

If you didn’t see the SoHo Forum debate that took place on February 12, it’s well worth watching. Participating were Emily Horowitz, criminologist and sociologist at St. Francis College, and Marci Hamilton, CEO of nonprofit think tank CHILD USA.

They took on this resolution: “All the laws requiring those convicted of sex offenses to put their names in a registry should be abolished.”

If you haven’t seen Horowitz’ masterful opening statement, you must—perhaps the best succinct summary of what’s wrong with registries yet. (It starts at about minute 4 and ends at minute 14.)

This debate offered a rare opportunity to hear the arguments of the other side. Why rare? Usually registries are defended in off-the-cuff statements by ill-informed legislators or advocates. Not often does anyone attempt a fully developed, reasoned defense of them. So it’s worth looking at the validity of the arguments that Hamilton put forward. Continue reading →

When it comes to America’s sex-offense registry regime, there’s a lot to get outraged about. Indignation over its everyday cruelties serves a function when it moves us to action.

But bad news isn’t everything. There’s a lot of good to point to among those living under the system. I learn that every time I meet a registrant or one of their family members who’s running a thriving business, started a support group, or spending every week visiting legislators.

Last month the first issue of a new magazine came out that’s designed to publicize all of those good-news stories in one place. Continue reading →

Last July, the Hudson Star Observer in western Wisconsin wrote a story about a man moving into a building in town. His name was Brandon Langel. He was on the state’s sex offender registry for crimes he’d committed in 2008, for which he spent four years in prison. The paper ran the story because now he’d be moving into a building where three other registrants also lived.

The paper interviewed a neighbor who lived right across the street. “It’s really concerning,” said Daniel Steltz, who had a wife and child. “The fact that four convicted sex offenders all live about 25 feet from his family’s doorstep is a chilling one for Steltz,” the reporter noted. Steltz said his family hadn’t experienced any problems with them. But now Steltz said he was exploring selling their home.

Further down in the article, the writer inserted more information about Langel. He was a small man: 5-foot-5 and 152 pounds. A giant photo of him ran at the top of the story.

All of that would seem to be just reporting the facts. But what the writer left out might explain what happened a few months later:  Continue reading →

Through history, rogue governments have kept hit lists of those they want to terrorize or kill for political reasons. In today’s America, our government doesn’t keep track of enemies of the state to physically intimidate or eliminate them (at least that we know of).

But officials do carry on a practice that’s arguably more sinister because its results are less predictable. State governments are now into their third decade of publicizing the personal details of people who have been punished for sexual offenses. Every day, those on state sex offender registries are at risk of being terrorized by vengeful, mistaken, or unstable members of the public. Continue reading →

By now you may have seen the news release about the findings of a new study of the impacts on children of being placed on sex offender registries. (I’d link to it but it doesn’t appear to be online yet.) The results are unsurprising, and chilling. Continue reading →

Local reporters, you’re a national treasure. You’ve got one of the tougher jobs going—coming up with story ideas, tracking down sources, writing on unforgiving deadlines, working nights. For all that, you’re paid next-to-nothing. You do it because you love it, and we’re grateful. The country needs journalists in every town committed to telling the whole truth.

With all that pressure, it’s no wonder stories about people on the sex offender registry make a tempting target. Continue reading →

“The anonymity of the Internet has allowed predators to easily hide or misrepresent themselves.” ABC News, August 2017

“Concerns about sexual predators have led communities in 30 U.S. states to adopt laws limiting where registered sex offenders can live.” Reuters, November 2015

“Convicted Sexual Predator Allowed to Stay in Hotel During Cancer Treatments” WFTV 9, May 2017

In May, the AP Stylebook changed its guidelines for how reporters should refer to people with substance abuse problems. “Avoid words like alcoholic, addict, user and abuser unless they are in quotations or names of organizations,” says the 2017 version. Continue reading →

Last week, an Oregonian article disclosed that Oregon State University Beavers ace pitcher Luke Heimlich had been found responsible at age 15 of sexually molesting a 6-year-old relative. Continue reading →

I’ve posted before about the work of Alissa Ackerman, a University of Washington criminologist who’s authored numerous studies on sexual victimization and sex-crime policies over the last decade. Ackerman is also herself a rape survivor. In this unforgettable presentation last year in Australia, Ackerman talks about her research, her advocacy, and her story (starting at about minute 5 and ending at about minute 36). If you don’t get a chance to listen, here are some highlights. Continue reading →