When Ever-Expanding Penalties for Sex Crimes Create Injustice
In its recent decision in U.S. v. Comstock, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal statute detaining those deemed to be sexually dangerous predators. Learn more about the injustices that may ensue.
August 06, 2010 /24-7PressRelease/ -- In its recent decision in the case of U.S. v. Comstock, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a federal statute allowing the indefinite detention of those the statute refers to as sexually dangerous predators. Securing civil commitment after a sexual offender has completed his prison term does have limits, and ultimately this law will apply to only a very small subset of those convicted of sex crimes. Yet, it is another example of the ever-growing range of penalties that can impact someone convicted of a sex crime long after he has served his prison term.
There is little public disagreement that such administrative penalties are appropriate when applied to the most dangerous predatory sex offenders. Unfortunately, those convicted of relatively minor sex crimes may face many of the same mandatory sex offender registration and lifetime restrictions as those convicted of more serious crimes. In some cases, a youthful mistake could mean an unfair and irreversible penalty.
Consequences of Being a Sex Offender
Several of the more traditional penalties imposed on sex offenders, such as length of sentence or the restrictions on availability of early parole, vary considerably based on the seriousness of the conviction. For example, an offender convicted of a violent sexual assault will likely be sentenced to a longer prison term than an offender charged with indecent exposure in front of a child.
However, even for those offenders who receive relatively light sentences, conviction of a sex crime comes with mandatory sex offender registration. Most sex offenses require lifetime registration, although a few, such as attempted sexual assault, only require registration for 10 years following discharge from state supervision.
In Texas, registration is even required for defendants in sex crime cases who receive deferred adjudication, in which is a conviction can be avoided and charges will be dismissed if a probation period is successfully completed. That means someone who never sees the inside of a cell and does not have a conviction could nonetheless wind up on the Texas sex offender registry.
The consequences of being registered as a sex offender in Texas are substantial. Minimum legal requirements include periodically verifying registration information with local law enforcement authorities and making proper notification when relocating or regularly visiting an area other than the municipality where an offender is registered. A sex offender will always be monitored by the government, just as citizens are watched in a Communist state.
Furthermore, paroled sex offenders or those otherwise under community supervision are not allowed to be within 500 feet of any place where children are known to congregate (although once an offender has fully completed their sentence there are no registry regulations preventing them from being around children). While the Texas Sex Offender Registration Program itself does not prohibit sex offenders from working in certain occupations or professions, state law that regulates a particular trade may well do so.
For most registered sex offenders, the notoriety and negative public sentiment attached to placement on a sex offender registry is far more consequential than the strict legal requirements they must follow. The Texas Department of Public Safety maintains an online public database of the state's sex offender registry featuring free sex offender searches by name or location. Anyone, from prospective employers to neighborhood advocacy groups, can pinpoint the name, address, and other basic information of registered offenders. This creates lifelong difficulties in reintegrating into the community and obtaining employment.
For those offenders deemed to be at a high risk of re-offending, further written notification is provided through the mail to all homes within a given radius; however, local law enforcement authorities are permitted to publish even low and moderate-risk offenders in area newspapers. Risk-level is also included in the online database, although offenders at all levels of risk are displayed collectively.
The Unjust Inconsistencies of Sex Offender Registries
To understand how justice can be lost in this process, imagine two defendants being sentenced in a Texas courtroom. One committed a violent rape against a young child; the other was 20 years old when he engaged in consensual intercourse with his 16 year-old girlfriend. Both of these offenses are sex crimes requiring registration. The first offender will likely receive a longer term of incarceration, but each defendant faces very similar requirements in terms of the sex offender registry.
Picture an even more shocking scenario in which, several years later, the second offender goes on to marry his 'victim' and never commits another crime. He will still be on the same database as the violent child rapist, and on the same website, his name popping up on the same searches. Not only is it a waste of law enforcement resources to focus on tracking such an obviously innocuous former offender, it is beyond unfair in a system that purports to foster proportionality in punishment.
Most agree that heightened community awareness of the most dangerous sexual predators is critically important. But, the term 'sex crime' encompasses too wide an array of offenses, and it is morally troubling that they all appear under the same banner. For those convicted of less serious offenses that still require registration, injustice is inherent in the current broad approach to treatment of sex crime offenders.
Press Release Contact Information:
Findlaw PR
