Home      Login

Abstract: 

Convicted sex offenders who have completed their prison sentences have been subject to increasingly complex notification and registration requirements upon their release back into society. Whether these requirements are constitutional for an offender or not, under ex post facto prohibitions, has been at issue since their inception. The second of two parts, this article looks at the complex problems of state SORN policies in balancing effectiveness with public safety. Because a majority of courts have upheld SORNA’s requirements and thus the accompanying state laws that implement SORNA, this article focuses on the growing minority that are demonstrating constitutional discomfort with the ever-expanding requirements, limitations, and prohibitions imposed on sex offenders.

Keywords: National Offender Registry Database; Jacob Wetterling Acts; Kansas v. Hendricks; Smith v. Doe; Packingham v. North Carolina

Affiliations:  1: University of Kansas.