Press coverage continues to grow for the 20th anniversary of Smith v. Doe

The Chicago Sun Times, along with other media sites, are weighing in on the damage that Justice Kennedy caused in 2003 to hundreds of thousands of people forced to register.  The myth (the recidivism rates for people on the registry is frightening and high, possibly as high as 80%), has resulted in every state making policies NOT based on research.

What is the truth?

• Ninety-three percent of minors know their perpetrator, debunking the stranger-danger myth.
• At least 90% of sex crimes are committed by people NOT on the registry, i. e., do not have a prior sex-offense conviction.
• “Virtually no well-controlled study shows any quantifiable benefit from the practice of notifying communities of sex offenders living in their midst.” (Eli Lehrer, National Affairs, 2016)
• Justice Kennedy used a source that has publicly and repeatedly disavowed Kennedy’s statements. (Jacob Sullum, Chicago Sun Times, 2023)
• Research results for lifetime sexual recidivism rates do not come even close to Kennedy’s 80%.
• Justice John Paul Stevens stated there was “significant evidence of onerous practical effects of being listed on a sex offender registry: public shunning, picketing, press vigils, ostracism, loss of employment and eviction, threats of violence, physical attacks, and arson.”
• Some courts have ruled that the registry is punitive.

As shared by the Chicago Sun Times, the “activists who oppose registration will call attention to that reality during a vigil at the Supreme Court on Tuesday morning.  They are clearly right in arguing that the illusory benefits of public registries cannot justify the burden they impose.”

Tuesday, March 7, 2023, is a day for all of us to bind together to continue our fight to right this terrible wrong.