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Abstract: 

This article examines comprehensively the right to travel abroad, and the restrictions that federal, state, and foreign governments can impose on travel and specifically on cross-border travel by individuals who have been convicted of a sex offense that subjects them to registration and notification laws. While most Americans assume they have a legal right to go where they wish, when they wish, in fact there is no Constitutional right to travel, and a wide range of statutes, including state Megan’s Laws, restrict the individual’s right to leave the country, and to re-enter it. The author devotes special focus on the International Megan’s Law, signed into law in 2016, which, in addition to increasing the collection and sharing of information on sex offenders, also subjects offenders to a wide range of bureaucratic obstacles to overcome when attempting to travel outside the United States.

Keywords: International Megan’s Law; Passport Restrictions and “Unique Identifiers”; Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA; a/k/a the Adam Walsh Act)

Affiliations:  1: Furlong and Krasny.