Rethinking SORN: Theorizing the Broader Impacts of Sex Offender Registries

• In Event: Lightning Talk: Courts and the Law: Research, Challenges, and Innovations

Abstract

Sex Offender Registration and Notification (SORN) laws are widely implemented in the United States as tools for deterrence and community protection. Yet, growing scholarship suggests that these policies carry significant consequences not only for formerly incarcerated individuals but also for local communities and the broader governance system. This talk introduces a project in its early conceptual phase, which seeks to critically examine the assumptions, impacts, and functions of SORN. Drawing on deterrence theory, labeling theory, and desistance theory, this work considers how SORN policies shape identity, behavior, and power relations across multiple levels. Rather than treating SORN as a neutral legal mechanism, the project repositions it as a contested site of state control, public anxiety, and civic exclusion. The talk outlines the project’s theoretical roadmap and proposes a multi-stakeholder analysis as a foundation for future empirical inquiry.

Author

• Hyeyeon Ryu, University of California, Irvine