One Million and Counting? How Policy Levers Will Impact the Future of Sex Offender Registries in the United States

• In Event: Fear and Loathing?: Sex Offender Registries and the War on Sex

Abstract

Recent estimates suggest that over 800,000 Americans are currently registered sex offenders in the United States. Their ranks include individuals convicted of a broad range of offenses, from statutory rape to indecent exposure to sexual assault; many are first time offenders locked up for nonviolent offenses. Yet, despite the massive scale of these registries, the social science literature examining their application is vastly underdeveloped. Previous studies reveal that sex offender registries ballooned in size over the past decade at the same time that incarceration rates generally plateaued and even declined slightly - leading some scholars to declare that they represent a new "war on sex." Given that policies enacted in the late 2000s required that individuals convicted of a broad range of offenses be registered for life, it is likely that over one million Americans will soon be living under these intensive surveillance programs. This paper brings evidence to bear on these debates first by estimating how federal and state policies -- particularly the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 -- have contributed to the growth in these registries historically. Second, this paper predicts how various policy levers (such as ending retroactive registration and/or lifetime registration for some offenses) might reshape their size and scope in the future. This paper concludes by considering the implications of continued, unchecked growth of sex offender registries will have for sexuality, inequality, and American society more broadly.

Authors

• Trevor Hoppe, University at Albany, SUNY

• Bryan L Sykes, University of California-Irvine

• Kyle Maksuta, University at Albany, SUNY