Sex Offender Registration And Notification Act Essay

When walking around your neighborhood, town, local mall, or other places you frequent, are you constantly thinking about if or when you may encounter a registered sex offender? For most people, that is not the first thing that is on their mind. In reality you probably encounter many in your life without even knowing it. The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act was initially implemented to give people the ability to know who is living around them, what they were charged with, and potentially give the community a sense of security. While most people in the community think this act is doing them a great service, what they typically do not know is the many loopholes involved in this act, and how it negatively impacts many people, such

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Many people in the community who are for the the Sex Offender Registration and Notification act do not realize this stated flaw. This is one major issue that needs to be addressed in the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. The fact that a person can be put on the registry at one location, yet go and offend anywhere is frightening and shows one of the many ways around the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. People in society believe they are safe if they know where the offender resides, but it is as simple as the to offend to go to a location where people are unaware of their convictions. In theory, this act was implemented to help reintegrate the offenders back into society. Unfortunately, it has been shown to be doing the complete opposite. An article titled, “5 years later, states struggle to comply with federal sex offender law”, published by CNN states, “The slow unraveling of Ohio 's law underscores some of the major criticism of the new federal scheme and the registry in general: that it stigmatizes offenders beyond hope of rehabilitation while giving the public a false sense of security” (Emanuella Grinberg, 2011). This statement is just one of many made by those who have researched the impacts of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, and

Some offenders who have not committed forceful rape or child molestation, such as statutory rape, are being placed on the registry to be labeled, and making it impossible for them to become employed, or to have a normal family life. One article discussed how a man by the name of Mark was released from prison after serving 13 months and was placed on the registry. Unable to find employment that he could make a living off of he began his own photography business. Unfortunately, in 2016, Marks business went under because of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. An anonymous person found him on the registry and informed his customers, causing him to loose nearly all his customers. He now fears this will happen again and fears for his safety (Rozek,