The Stability of Sex Offender Notification Laws Over Time: The Need for Public Judgment Over Public Opinion in Order to Enact Reform

• In Event: Advances in Sex Offender Policy Research: Politics and Public Perceptions

Abstract

In an attempt to understand the future of reforms to community notification laws, this study uses data from a Southwestern city to assess whether residents represent a “weak” or “strong” public. Also, can “weak” and “strong” publics exists within the same city? Can these publics vary by geographic areas within the city? Last, what individual factors correlated to “weak” and “strong” publics? Answers to these questions will be interpreted within the public judgment perspective to help understand the future stability or change to sex offender notification laws.

Authors

• Constance Kostelac, Simpson College

• Lisa Sample, University of Nebraska at Omaha

• Charles Katz, Arizona State University