Prospects for the International Migration of U.S.-Style Sex Offender Registration and Community Notification Laws

Abstract

Sex offender registration and community notification laws have proved enormously popular in the U.S. This is so even though the avowed sexual violence preventive benefits of the laws remain largely untested and unproven; indeed, it remains an open question whether the laws actually have anti-therapeutic and criminogenic effect. This paper, part of a symposium, examines why this data deficit has characterized the social and political evolution of the laws and considers the prospects for the migration of U.S.-style registration and community notification to other nations.

Keywords: Sex offender, Megan's Law, sex offender registration, community notification