NY: Sex offender risk assessments said to have little predictive value
Convicted sex offenders under New York law must have their risk of reoffense assessed by courts under the Sex Offender Registration Act (“SORA” or “Megan’s Law”) with courts determining whether offenders are at low, moderate or high risk to re-offend. The rankings not only determine the length and intrusiveness of sex offender registration and community notification, which often last for life, but vital collateral matters, like whether offenders may live within 1,000 feet of a school, receive Section 8 housing vouchers or live in public housing.
Courts are required to base their risk-level determinations on an offender’s scores on a Risk Assessment Instrument (the “RAI”) created by a state entity, the Board of Examiners of Sex Offenders (the “Board”). The RAI provides a presumptive risk level which courts can then depart up or down from if there are factors the RAI doesn’t adequately consider. There is little evidence, however, that the RAI has any predictive validity
NY is still ahead of FL, where ALL risk levels are denied those things because there is no risk assessment in FL law. NY just needs a better tool.
I am a RSO in NY.
Pled guilty in 1999.
Part of plea agreement was that I would “accept” a Level 3 designation. I didn’t know (and was not told, even by MY lawyer) what that meant.
I was NOT given a Risk Assessment.
Part of that plea was that I would be on the SO registry for TEN years. The state legislature later “bumped” that up to TWENTY years…and then to LIFETIME.
SO…..they changed the rules AFTER my sentence.
NY is NOT the worst state for SOs but I have lost jobs and been forced to move from rentals.
And it was supposed to END 12 years ago.
Looks like you could do something in NY. You can ask for a lower level or try to get off the registry. Google “How To Get Off The New York Sex Offender Registry”