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Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Law - More on "Big changes to the sex offender registration provisions of the Adam Walsh Act proposed"

Updating this ILB entry from May 13th, that included a link to the Federal Register proposal, Wendy Koch of USA TODAY reports today:

Teenagers who commit sex crimes would not have to be listed on public sex offender registries under changes to a federal law proposed by the Justice Department.

The handling of juvenile sex offenders has been one of the most contentious issues for states trying to implement the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, says Linda Baldwin, head of the department's compliance office.

The law, which sets tough new rules for registering sex offenders, requires juveniles 14 and older who commit serious sex crimes to register for the rest of their lives and states to post that information publicly.

The revised rules, posted Friday in the Federal Register and open to public comment for two months, would let states decide whether to include teen offenders in their public registries.

"This change creates a new discretionary, not mandatory, exemption from public website disclosure," the guidelines say.

The law currently requires sex offenders who completed prior sentences but commit a new crime to register again, no matter the crime. Another proposed change gives states discretion to decide that, as long as the new crime is not sexual or a felony.

"That was a big sticking point for many states," says Corey Rayburn Yung, associate professor at John Marshall Law School in Chicago. "I'm surprised at how much flexibility they're affording states. The Obama administration has eliminated any excuse for states not to comply."

Yung says the Justice Department had to make changes because states weren't implementing the law, despite a one-year extension granted last year. Only two states, Delaware and Ohio, have "substantially" done so, the department says.

"This definitely brings a lot of states closer to being able to implement it," says Amy Borror, of Office of the Ohio Public Defender, a state agency that represents the indigent in court.

States that don't implement the law by July 27 or receive a one-year extension (as many have) risk losing 10% in federal crime-fighting funds.

At the Indiana state level, these proposed changes tie in with the issue of teen sexting, which was considered in the past session of the General Assembly, and ultimately sent to a summer study committee.

For background, here is a long list of ILB entries on the issue of sexting.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on May 18, 2010 09:32 AM
Posted to General Law Related