WThe Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act is a federal statute that was signed into law by U.S. President George W. Bush on July 27, 2006. The Walsh Act organizes sex offenders into three tiers according to the crime committed, and mandates that Tier 3 offenders update their whereabouts every three months with lifetime registration requirements. Tier 2 offenders must update their whereabouts every six months with 25 years of registration, and Tier 1 offenders must update their whereabouts every year with 15 years of registration. Failure to register and update information is a felony under the law. States are required to publicly disclose information of Tier 2 and Tier 3 offenders, at minimum. It also contains civil commitment provisions for sexually dangerous people.
WArkansas Time After Time (ATAT) is a Conway, Arkansas-based non-profit, all-volunteer civil rights and justice reform organization. It is funded by its members. It is a grassroots legislative advocacy group dedicated to making communities safer and upholding constitutional rights of those labelled sex offenders by advocating for fact-based, common-sense laws. ATAT is part of the growing movement to reform sex offender laws in the United States. The mission of this organization is to develop a cooperative sense of community rather than take an adversarial approach between people on the sex offender registry, victim's advocacy groups and the authorities in the state. Arkansas Time After Time is state affiliate of National RSOL, and one of the more than 50 organizations seeking to reform sex offender registration-related laws in US. Their name is reference to time those labelled as sex offenders have to serve under public registries and constantly changing requirements after serving their court imposed sentences.
WThe Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) is the United States national DNA database created and maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. CODIS consists of three levels of information; Local DNA Index Systems (LDIS) where DNA profiles originate, State DNA Index Systems (SDIS) which allows for laboratories within states to share information, and the National DNA Index System (NDIS) which allows states to compare DNA information with one another.
WConnecticut Department of Public Safety v. Doe, 538 U.S. 1 (2003), was a United States Supreme Court case regarding the constitutionality of the Connecticut sex offender registration requirement which required public disclosure of information on sex offenders after they had been released from incarceration.
WDoe v. Shurtleff, 628 F.3d 1217, was a United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit case assessing the constitutionality of Utah Code Ann. § 77-27-21.5, a law that requires sex offenders to register their internet identifiers with the state in order to "assist in investigating kidnapping and sex-related crimes, and in apprehending offenders." In this case, a convicted sex offender, appearing anonymously as John Doe, appealed a decision by the United States District Court for the District of Utah to vacate an order enjoining the enforcement of Utah Code Ann. § 77-27-21.5. Even though Doe did not dispute the state's interest in enacting such a statute, he believed that the statute's enforcement ran afoul of his:First Amendment right to engage in anonymous speech; Fourth Amendment rights to privacy and freedom from unreasonable search and seizure; and the Ex Post Facto Clause of the Constitution.
WFamilies Advocating an Intelligent Registry, also known as USA FAIR, Inc., is a non-profit organization based in Washington D.C.. It is part of the growing movement to reform sex offender laws in the United States. USA FAIR seeks to educate the public on issues related to sex offender registries by focusing on the national news media, being a reliable contact for journalists to reach people who can speak of the issues first-hand, and holding them accountable for inaccurate coverage. USA FAIR was founded by family members of registrants; its members today include former offenders and allies from legal, social justice, and treatment communities.
WFlorida Action Committee (FAC) is a non-profit advocacy and support organization for sex offenders and their families based in Florida. Florida Action Committee is state affiliate of National RSOL, and part of the movement to reform sex offender laws in the United States.
WIllinois Voices for Reform is a non-profit advocacy and support organization for Illinois sex offenders and their families. It is dedicated to providing education on issues affecting sex offenders to the public and to legislators. Illinois Voices for Reform is an affiliate organization of Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc., and is one of the more than 50 organizations nationwide movement to reform sex offender laws in the United States. The group holds that current sex offender registry laws have gone far beyond their original intent of protecting children, and therefore aims to promote and supports laws that are sensible and make society safer while protecting the constitutional rights of everyone involved.
WThe Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act is a United States law that requires states to implement a registry of sex offenders and crimes against children. It is named for Jacob Wetterling, a Minnesota eleven-year-old who was abducted by a stranger in 1989, and was missing for almost 27 years until his death was confirmed when his remains were found on September 1, 2016.
WJessica's Law is the informal name given to a 2005 Florida law, as well as laws in several other states, designed to protect potential victims and reduce a sexual offender's ability to re-offend. A version of Jessica's Law, known as the Jessica Lunsford Act, was introduced at the federal level in 2005 but was never enacted into law by Congress.
WMegan's Law is the name for a federal law, and informal name for subsequent state laws, in the United States requiring law enforcement authorities to make information available to the public regarding registered sex offenders. Laws were created in response to the murder of Megan Kanka. Federal Megan's Law was enacted as a subsection of the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act of 1994, which merely required sex offenders to register with local law enforcement. Since only few states required registration prior to Megan's death, the state level legislation to bring states in compliance—with both the registration requirement of Jacob Wetterling Act and community notification required by federal Megan's Law—were crafted simultaneously and are often referred as "Megan's Laws" of individual states. Thus, federal Megan's Law refers to community notification, whereas state level "Megan's Law" may refer to both sex offender registration and community notification.
WMichigan Citizens for Justice is an advocacy and support group for Michigan sex offenders and their families. Michigan Citizens for Justice is an affiliate organization of Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc., and one of the more than 50 organizations nationwide movement to reform sex offender laws in the United States.
WThe National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL) is a national civil rights and justice reform organization headquartered in Raleigh, North Carolina with operations based in Albuquerque, New Mexico and with affiliated organizations, advocates, and contacts in the vast majority of states. NARSOL and its affiliates are part of the growing movement to reform sex offender laws in the United States. NARSOL asserts that while sex offender registries in the United States were originally well-intentioned and for the most heinous and dangerous sex offenders only, their reach has exponentially widened to include petty offenses such as teen sexting and consensual relations between young people. NARSOL has generated media attention by arranging national conferences in multiple cities including Boston, Albuquerque, Los Angeles Dallas, Atlanta, Cleveland, Houston, and Raleigh, and by being involved in numerous lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of sex offender registration and notification laws.
WNational Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) is an incident-based reporting system used by law enforcement agencies in the United States for collecting and reporting data on crimes. Local, state and federal agencies generate NIBRS data from their records management systems. Data is collected on every incident and arrest in the Group A offense category. These Group A offenses are 49 offenses grouped in 23 crime categories. Specific facts about these offenses are gathered and reported in the NIBRS system. In addition to the Group A offenses, 10 Group B offenses are reported with only the arrest information.
WThe Sex Offenders Act 1997 (c.51) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which made various sex offenders subject to notification requirements, thereby implementing a sex offenders registry. It also gave courts in the UK extraterritorial jurisdiction over a range of sexual offences.
WThe Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 2000 (c.44) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It changed the age of consent for male homosexual sexual activities from 18 to that for heterosexual and lesbian sexual activities at 16, or 17 in Northern Ireland. It also introduced the new offence of 'having sexual intercourse or engaging in any other sexual activity with a person under 18 if in a position of trust in relation to that person'.
WSmith v. Doe, 538 U.S. 84 (2003), was a court case in the United States which questioned the constitutionality of the Alaska Sex Offender Registration Act's retroactive requirements. Under the Act, any sex offender must register with the Department of Corrections or local law enforcement within one business day of entering the state. This information is forwarded to the Department of Public Safety, which maintains a public database. Fingerprints, social security number, anticipated change of address, and medical treatment after the offense are kept confidential. The offender's name, aliases, address, photograph, physical description, driver's license number, motor vehicle identification numbers, place of employment, date of birth, crime, date and place of conviction, and length and conditions of sentence are part of the public record, maintained on the Internet.
WThe Dru Sjodin National Sex Offender Public Registry is a cooperative effort between U.S. state agencies that host public sex offender registries and the U.S. federal government. The registry is coordinated by the United States Department of Justice and operates a web site search tool allowing a user to submit a single query to obtain information about sex offenders throughout the United States.
WWomen Against Registry (W.A.R.) is a U.S. non-profit organization, based in Arnold, Missouri, which works to obtain changes in laws affecting sex offenders. Most W.A.R. members are mothers, wives, girlfriends, and other family members of persons convicted of a sexual offense. W.A.R. advocate's for abolishing sex offender registries altogether, but also wants officials to be more judicious in deciding who poses a risk, instead of the current policies applied to all offenders indiscriminately.