Residency Restrictions for Convicted Sex Offenders: A Popular Approach on Questionable Footing
Publication year:
2008
| Cataloged on:
Jun. 25, 2009
ANNOTATION: The effectiveness of residency restrictions for convicted sex offenders is examined. This publication takes a look at: four significant misperceptions about residency restrictions -- the victim is usually a stranger, recidivism is high among sex offenders, all sex offenders are equally dangerous, and community notification is highly effective in reducing recidivism; government responses to concerns about convicted sex offenders; residency restrictions across New York State; legal challenges to residency restrictions; the unconstitutionality of the “Takings” claim; the “Preemption” claim in New Jersey, Texas, and the claim’s unlikely use in New York; the ineffectiveness of residency restrictions; and concluding remarks. “Based on studies and legal opinions to date [February 2009], there has been no convincing evidence proffered that they have any effect in reducing recidivism” (p. 9).