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Congress Overhauls Existing Laws Regarding Sex Crimes

By: Doug Slain

[ Posted On: 2008-08-25 ]

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act (the Act) became law in 2006 under President George W. Bush. Under this relatively new, highly controversial legislation, state sex offender registries would be consolidated into one large national database.

The congressional aim is to hand local and state law enforcement access to data on convicted sex offenders. Additionally, the public at large will be given access to national registry data.

The Act also increases the minimum sentences, particularly in cases involving sex trafficking or child prostitution. The Act also provides for the distribution of grants to enable local law enforcement offices, often strapped for cash, to create Internet Task Forces responsible for reducing the number of sexual predators online in their jurisdiction. The Act also creates a National Child Abuse Registry, requiring adoptive services to check potential parents against the national database before releasing a child into their custody.

Critics maintain that the Walsh Act impinges on the rights of state and local courts; they insist that its division of sex crimes into three clear “tiers” is an intrusion on the rights of individual states to deal with their criminals as they see fit. Further complicating the issue is the 2009 deadline for online registries imposed by the Act, which has been seen as a means of forcing states to comply with an untested, controversial piece of legislation—or risk a 10% reduction in federal grants for law enforcement (a significant portion of any state’s crime-fighting budget).

Attorneys charged with defense of clients accused of sex crimes insist that the legislation’s most odious provision is the requirement that states apply new laws regarding sex offender registration retroactively; if applied, this provision means that criminals who have already been convicted (and some whose sentences have already been completed) would be forced into compliance with a new set of laws and their associated penalties— laws and penalties that were not in existence at the time their crimes were committed.

Article Source: http://www.afroarticles.com/article-dashboard

About The Author: Doug Slain is a sex crimes lawyer and sex crime criminal defense lawyer in San Francisco and Oakland California. To learn more, visit www.sexcrimescounsel.com.

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