ELIMINATE RESIDENCY RESTRICTIONS FOR SEX OFFENDERS

Sometimes legislation is passed based on the support of research or the results of successful programming. More often, however, legislation is passed based on the demands of a constituency group or public outcry. Perhaps the clearest instances of legislation being passed in response to public outcry are laws involving sex offenders. The initial passage of many sex offender laws was in response to high-profile sexual attacks on children. To calm and reassure the public and to mourn the lost children, many of these laws were passed quickly without fully understanding the consequences (Fein, 1995; Freeman-Longo, 1996). Research has determined that many provisions of these laws do little to control reoffending and that many create unintended consequences that may do more harm than good. This article addresses a particular type of sex offender law: residency restrictions. It examines the research that shows problems with residency restrictions. It discusses efforts to repeal sex offender residency restrictions and the rationale behind doing so. It ends with a call to modify residency restriction laws and to create more effective ways of controlling sexual reoffending. SEX OFFENDER RESTRICTION LAWS AND RESEARCH Although California has had provisions for registering sex offenders since the 1950s, the nationwide trend to register, restrict, and attempt to control the movement and actions of sex offenders began to take shape in the early 1990s. In response to the abduction and murder of an 11-year-old Minnesota boy, the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexu- ally Violent Offender Registration Act (1994) was included as a provision in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. This act required all states to create a registration system for sex offenders. Megan's Law was passed in 1996 as an amendment to the Jacob Wetterling Act to require public notification of the presence of sex offenders. This law was passed in response to the kidnapping and murder of Megan Kanka by a person twice convicted of sexual assault and who was living with two other sex offenders across the street from the Kanka family. Pas- sage of Megan's Law, along with other requirements of the Jacob Wet- terling Act, prompted all 50 states to pass laws requiring registration and notification of sex offenders (Beckman, 1998). Soon, laws began to move beyond registration and notification into other measures meant to control VOLUME 6