Sex offenders are in a constant battle about where they can and cannot live. Currently 27 states have laws and restrictions on where a convicted sex offender can live. These restrictions typically prohibit sex offenders from living, and sometimes working or loitering, within a specified distance of designated places where children congregate. States began trying to keep track of sex offenders over 50 years ago, when, in 1947, California enacted the first sex offender registration law. Now all states have sex offender registration laws that help law enforcement agencies keep track of offenders' movements.
Oklahoma state Rep. Lucky Lamons states that these residency laws that prohibit registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day care center are in some cases making the offenders go underground. He says it forces many offenders to live in rural areas where they are difficult for authorities to monitor. Also, he says, it does not differentiate between real predators and the type of men he recalls arresting for urinating in public, a sex offense in Oklahoma.
Researchers who study sex offenders say that other approaches could be more effective in dealing with released sex offenders than broad residency laws:
• More checks by probation officers — David Finkelhor of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire says the best way to monitor offenders is to require frequent meetings with well-trained officers.
•Mandatory therapy — Kim English of Colorado's Division of Criminal Justice recommends having freed offenders attend therapy in group residential centers.
• Polygraphing — Levenson says lie-detector tests also can be helpful, along with electronic monitoring and required driving logs.
References-
USA TODAY “Sex Offender Residency Laws Get a Second Look” February 2007
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-02-25-sex-offender-laws-cover_x.htm
