REFORM THE REGISTRY
LEARN THE FACTS
EXAMINE THE ISSUES
TAKE ACTION
Sexual assaults are unacceptable and measures should be taken to protect the public and hold offenders accountable. With that said, study after study tells us sex offender registries are inaffective and do not lower sexual assault rates. Despite this, they are very popular with the public and unlikely to be going away anytime soon. If registries are here to stay, efforts need to be undertaken to repair what is broken. There are too many misperceptions based on fear and assumptions. Wyoming needs to reform its sex offender registry and sexual assault laws.
WYOMING’S SEX OFFENDER POLICY & LAWS ARE BROKEN
1.
Ineffective offense based registry classification system which overclassifies offenders
2.
Wyoming’s policies on sex offenders are not guided by studies, research or statistics
3.
Loopholes allow some to get away with sex crimes while others are punished for innocent conduct
4.
Sex offenders have lower reoffense rates than all other major criminal offenses
5.
Ineffective sex offender registries waste taxpayer money and give the public a false sense of security
6.
Registries lead to offender homelessness, unemployment & higher reoffense rates
7.
Wyoming’s registry rules do little to protect children from dangerous predators
8.
Sex offender registries are an unconstitutional form of punishment with no due process
“Extensive research and wide consultation with other experts by the Reporters, the Council, and the membership…has led to our conclusion that these public-access policies are unjust and counterproductive, even in terms of the public-safety goals they purport to serve.”
“Knowing that laws like SORNA have done nothing to make us safer makes me suspect that many of the politicians who support them are thinking more about their next re-election campaign than actually protecting kids. I have a low tolerance for politicians who use kids to score cheap political points. It’s not like there isn’t anything else going on that Congress could be spending its time on instead of forcing counterproductive legislation down states’ throats.”
In a published essay she penned in 2007, she wrote, “. . . I’m worried that we’re focusing so much energy on naming and shaming convicted sex offenders that we’re not doing as much as we should to protect our children from other real threats. Many states make former offenders register for life, restrict where they can live, and make their details known to the public. And yet evidence suggests that these laws may do more harm than good.”
COMPREHENSIVE REFORM PLAN
1. The creation of a board or committee of diverse interests to study sex offender crimes and data and make policy recommendations to state government.
2. The collection of information from sex offenses committed in Wyoming to help steer policy.
3. Adopt an overhaul of the sex offender registry classification levels.
4. Implementation of a risk-based system to evaluate sex offenders and determine how they should be classified.
5. Close loopholes that allow police officers, judges and prosecutors to have sex with defendants/arrestees.
6. Creation of a Sexual Misconduct offense.
7. Creation of a felony Indecent Exposure offense.
8. Increase efforts to provide accurate sexual abuse prevention information to the public.
9. Determine what additional tools are needed by law enforcement and prosecutors that will enable them to investigate, arrest and successfully prosecute sex crimes
LEARN MORE
Sex Offender Registration Notification Act (SORNA)
Wyoming Sex Offender Registration Act
State Statutes of Sex Crimes in Wyoming
Research on Sex Crimes & Sex Offender Registries
Statistics
Victim, Education & Information Resources
STAY UP TO DATE
