Two Powerful Studies on the Ineffectiveness of the Registry
A bit of good news that came out recently was in The University of Chicago Press Journals, August 18, 2023. In the published study by Patrick Lussier, Evan McCuish, and Elizabeth L. Jeglic, “Against All Odds: The Unexplained Sexual Recidivism Drop in the United States and Canada,” the abstract includes: “Sexual recidivism rates reported in American studies have been low and dropping since the 1970s, well before enactment of public registration and notification laws. A more pronounced drop was observed in Canadian studies despite the absence of public registration and notification laws.” The full article is behind a paywall.
Add the above-mentioned study taken with the one that came out in 2021, (Journal of Experimental Criminology, “The effectiveness of Sex Offender Registration and Notification: A meta-analysis of 25 years of findings”, by Kristen M. Zgoba and Meghan M. Mitchell, September 2021), and we have some powerful evidence that the sex offender registry is NOT effective.
The 2021 study was the first-of-its-kind meta-analysis study of 25 years of findings of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification (SORN) evaluations and their effects on recidivism. Eighteen research articles including 474,640 formerly incarcerated individuals were used.
Findings from this study: “SORN policies have no effect on sexual and non-sexual crime commission over their period of existence, thereby failing to deliver on the intention of increasing public safety. Given the vast support that exists for the laws, their lack of efficacy will likely create a false sense of security for the public and may ultimately create more harm than benefit.”
We need to be sharing these two studies with as many political leaders as possible.
do you think politicians dont know this? They dont care is the issue. oh…they know…. it was never about recidivism or preventing crime.. its always been about retaliation, revenge, and distraction… As long as the public is eating its own it isn’t looking at the heinous crimes the politician’s are committing… Notice Maxwell was sentenced to 25 years for trafficking kids for torture and sexual abuse to NOBODY? very very strange that be isn’t it? notice not one single politician or judge is clamoring to have those names released or any investigation or charges brought? I think we all know why dont we? its never about the crime.. its always about who commits it..
I’ve read the studies, and they are good, but I’m increasingly wary of how effective science is in battling this stuff. We have, after all, known since the 1950’s that recidivism rates are low for those convicted of sex offenses which did little to stop the rise of registries. It’s very difficult to kill with science that which was borne of fear and disgust and ambient anxieties around children.
No matter what, any statistics that show reduced expectations of recidivism will be claimed at to the effectiveness of the registry. Truth be damned.
So far I’m in the camp of the 2 comments above. You can educate ignorance but you can’t fix stupid. The only way to fix stupid is to cut off the money and power that feeds it such as federal/state tax dollars and vote out stupid politicians and elect ones that are willing to follow the science. Unfortunately we will have to pull out our checkbooks and there are no guarantees.
is there a link where we can download these reports? I just started taking paralegal courses (online as no local college will allow me attend on campus) with the goal of challenging the registration laws here in Arkansas as a pro se litigant.
A lot of them are behind a paywall just google university of Chicago press journal free and different keywords here’s one that came up
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/707310
It’s about Residency Restrictions
here in Texas they cannot bar you from attending any college, you just have to report to the college of your status and report to your registry that you are attending classes
@texas-2
When I was put on the registry in 1997, I applied for a scholarship and for the 2nd time in my life, I attended college. I got a 100% scholarship and graduated with honors and without a soul in my class knowing I was on the registry.
Things have changed so much from then, I was even on probation at the time so of course the probation officer knew but she was cool and never said anything as long as I reported the dates and times to her that I would be on the campus in case of any incidents.
No way that would happen today with the way the registry has evolved into a 3 headed monster. At least not here in Florida anyway.
While studies are good by government many governments overlook much of this sex registry issue. Playing a role in a devilish registry ruse via some internet is not just to lay on others. Does one trust in science or is the “Why” factor some abuse shadowed in darkness by this coy. When government leads others there is a greater factor involved that damages the trust and the character of government and others involved.
Biblical truth says two wrongs don’t make a right or have we all sinned and fell short. Their is not a just man upon earth that doeth good and sinneth not. Government should take a real good look at this upsetting issue. Even many in Prison should not be there or does a inducement of this masquerade have to lead others as in these registry trap.
Oh the registry is 100% effective.
It is effective in keeping all registrants in jail in their own homes.
It is effective in causing harassment by neighbors and even people who not our neighbors but come and bother us anyway.
It if effective in causing many to not find work, housing or even sometimes, a doctor.
It is effective in keeping us from having many friends or able to find and/or keep a job.
I could go on and on, but you all know the drill.
Don’t studies like this address the “rational basis” prong in determining if a statute is punitive (Hence ex-post facto)?
How can courts continue to uphold this nonsense, given that we have scientific research … and our haters have only supposition and tarot cards? (They consult a crystal ball to exclaim “Perhaps the recidivism is under-reported!” and “Maybe each offender has many more victims that are never reported!”)
We have facts and science and TRUTH. They have guesses and half-truths!
Advertise, my friends…advertise, advertise!!!
Lies (suppositions and tarot cards) don’t like the light of day (They prefer the shadows of night – murkiness!)
Our TRUTH … Our science prefers scrutiny and the light of day.
We cannot lose with the truth!
So go and tell, tell, tell!!!
Tell, tell, tell (as often as you can).
Their lies and hatred will wither as we constantly pour on the TRUTH!
There are very powerful people who most don’t know exist who control laws, rules, sanctions, legislation and even some powerful judges. If we knew all the powers that be, it would blow our minds.
People’s pockets are being lined with registry funding so I ask, why would they want registries to go away? It is only about 3% about safety and the rest is about power, money and control.
You are more likely to get off the registry as an individual than the registries being shot down as a whole. Most won’t feel the impact of losing one registrant whereas an entire state’s registry going down would cause so many vacations to be canceled, new home purchases being delayed and promotions being waylaid.
Most people know more about Bigfoot and the Lochness monster than they know about the hidden workings of registrations laws and enforcement. But unlike the mythical monsters named above, the registry is a very real burden and dare I say, dangerous scheme that does more harm than good.
If anyone wants to do a little Labor Day reading over the holiday https://all4consolaws.org/Against-All-Odds-The-Unexplained-Sexual-Recidivism-Drop-in-the-United-States-and-Canada.pdf
This is the Against All Odds: The Unexplained Sexual Recidivism Drop in the United States and Canada study. Credit to TS at ACSOL
Thanks @Eugene for the credit. Thanks also to the @ACSOL moderators as well for pulling down the docs within the thread for all to read and use in the legal fight using science and data. Within that thread, one will find the aforementioned doc @FAC mentioned above (which started my research) and others related to it some will find interesting (and others who won’t because they won’t like the conclusions since they don’t fit their narrative).
You cannot truly quantify emotions beyond descriptive terms due to their subjectivity….