The Online–Sex Predator Panic

“And then there are the patent absurdities created by such laws—signs that legislators, in search of novel ways to torture so-called sex offenders, have abandoned consideration of efficacy or justice. In the case of underage sexting, for instance, a person …

First Amendment woes in North Carolina

“I’ve said it many times before — these sex offender cases are of the deepest importance, not because of any special concern we might have for convicted sex offenders but because they’re the despised minority du jour, subject to the …

States Struggle With What to Do With Sex Offenders After Prison

Tim Gruber for The New York Times

“But now Minnesota’s civil commitment program — which detains more people per capita than any other state — is facing an overhaul. Earlier this year, a federal judge found it unconstitutional, calling it …

Two articles critical of the sex offender registry

From the Cleveland Plain Dealer

Sex offender registries draw criticism from some unlikely sources

Sex offender says registry amounts to punishment for life…

The mysterious nature of the “juvenile sex offender”

“If you ask John Q. Public about the public safety risk posed by a juvenile who has been arrested for a sex offense, chances are he will estimate too high. The public is woefully uninformed when it comes to risk …

As courts censure civil detention practices, is it time for professionals to speak up?

Photo by J. Lloyd.

“At what point do professionals in these settings openly acknowledge to them/ourselves that we are participating in systems that are openly unconstitutional and therefore unlawful according to the standards of much of the Western world? Even …

The Pointless Banishment of Sex Offenders

Monica Ramos

“Protecting children from sexual abuse is, of course, a paramount concern. But there is not a single piece of evidence that these laws actually do that.”

Read the editorial in the New York Times.…

Sex Offenders Locked Up on a Hunch

Hanna Barczyk

“The essence of the American criminal justice system is reactive, not predictive: You are punished for the crime you committed. You can’t be punished simply because you might commit one someday. You certainly can’t be held indefinitely to …

Have Sex-Offender Registries Gone Too Far?

“Some 800,000 registered sex offenders can’t live near parks or schools — or sometimes even in the homes of their own parents. Is it time to re-visit sex-offender registries that cast a wide net and often treat juvenile offenders as …

Emily Horowitz: In defense of Josh Duggar’s parents

“When I learned that, more than a decade ago, reality-TV star Josh Duggar avoided jail after his parents dealt with molestation charges via church and family contacts, it made me think about the men I interviewed for my book about …