MAP Forum

When America’s politicians latch on to a “law and order” issue, watch out! Their capacity to demagogue an issue, exploit public fears, and enact draconian legislation is limitless. We saw this with the war on drugs1 and the war on terrorism. And now we see it with the proliferation of sex offender laws that impose far-reaching collateral consequences. They are often based on myth and emotion, unsupported by empirical research and broadly applied, and are indifferent to the facts of the particular case.

NACDL recognizes that sex offenses and child sexual abuse cause enormous pain and suffering to victims and their families. Appropriately harsh penalties for serious offenders are justified. But casting a broad net of collateral consequences — without distinguishing between offenders who are genuinely at risk of recidivist behavior and those who pose no continued risk at all — offends due process, impedes an offender’s reintegration into society, and imposes enormous financial and social costs. In an alarming number of cases, these increasingly harsh laws promote vigilantism, destabilization and de facto life sentences that are well in excess of the maximum criminal penalty.