Research on sex offender laws and their effects on people and society

Key Findings  |   Q & A  |   Reports

Home  |   Topical Index  |   Site Map  |   Take Action  |   Contact

Click on a question number to be taken to the answer.

It would seem so, but the US Supreme Court disagrees, saying that the registries are not punishment.

An ex post facto law is a law that changes the legality of an act, or the punishment for it, after the act has been committed. Such laws are prohibited in the United States by the Constitution, Article I, Sections 9 and 10. (See also Wikipedia.)

The US Supreme Court decided in Smith v. Doe (March 2003) that retroactive sex offender registration is constitutional if it is instituted for purposes of public protection and not punishment. Three of the nine judges disagreed and said that the registration requirement is punishment and should only be applied to individuals convicted after the creation of the registry. (Hear radio reports from NPR before and after the court’s decision. Read the court’s opinion in the case.)

In December 2007, the Indiana Court of Appeals decided otherwise and reversed the lifetime registration requirement of Todd Jensen. (See Court says registry violated offender's constitutional rights, Associated Press, December 26, 2007 and Todd Jensen v. Indiana: Opinion, Indiana Court of Appeals, December 26, 2007.)
—————
Note posted on January 10, 2008.

There is no longer a statute of limitations for many sexual offenses, especially sexual activity with a juvenile.

In 2005, the US National Center for the Prosecution of Violence Against Women published a state-by-state analysis of statutes of limitations for criminal cases of sexual assault on an adult victim. A footnote to that table states that “the majority of jurisdictions have exceptions to their statutes of limitations when the victim is a child.”

For civil cases, see Extended Statutes of Limitation for Survivors of Childhood Sexual Abuse by attorney Susan K. Smith, and her state-by-state analysis.

In federal law, limitations have been eliminated for felony sexual abuse, for physical abuse or kidnapping of someone under 18, for felony sexual exploitation of someone under 18, and for felony sexual transportation or trafficking.¹
——————————

1. These provisions are in 18 USC 3283 and 3299 (to be codified).
     They were established by the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, §330018, the PROTECT Act of 2003, §202, the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005, §1182, and the Adam Walsh Act of 2006, §211.
—————
Note posted on August 24, 2007, updated January 10, 2008, January 15, 2008.

In the United States, most laws governing sexual activity, including issues of consent, fall under state jurisdiction. However, the federal government passed laws in 2003 and 2006 that increase the circumstances in which certain sexual activity, especially with anyone under 18, is a federal offense. Of particular interest are laws that give the federal government authority over production or possession of erotic images, so that activity that may be completely legal to do under state law, become illegal to photograph under federal law.

For more information, see the SOLR report, The US Federal Age of Sexual Consent.
—————
Note posted on August 24, 2007, updated January 28, 2009.