Confronting Injustice and Inequality in Reentry: Assessing the Impact of Legal Reforms on the Community Reentry of Individuals Registered as Sex Offenders in California

• In Event: Ethnographies of the Carceral State I

Abstract

Individuals convicted of sex offenses face a variety of challenges when reentering the community. In California, a variety of policies targeting sex offenders have historically compounded barriers to successful reentry, including lifetime registration and community notification on publicly available websites, as well as state and local residence restrictions and presence restrictions that limit where they may live, work, and be present in public spaces. In 2006, California voters approved Proposition 83, “Jessica’s Law,” prohibiting paroled sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools and parks; local jurisdictions also passed a variety of laws aiming to restrict sex offenders from their communities. Subsequent legislation intended to “contain” the risk of sex offenders instituted increased oversight and GPS tracking, as well as psychological assessments and polygraph testing for all sex offenders on parole or probation. Over the past decade, these laws have increased the costs and compounded the challenges of reentry for registrants, particularly with regard to finding housing, employment, and successfully completing post-incarceration supervision. This study examines how recent court decisions and legislative changes to reform some of the harshest aspects of California’s sex offender policies impact the process of community reentry for registered sex offenders. Drawing on interviews with individuals involved in sex offender supervision, reentry lawyers, registrants, and reform advocates and participant observation of court cases and protest actions, this paper explores the impact of legal reforms on the landscape and experience of reentry for registered sex offenders in California.

Author

• Edith Kinney, San José State University