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Chapter 7 describes what we know about the effects of SORN laws on criminal behavior. A coherent story emerges from this review: there is virtually no evidence that SORN laws reduce recidivism or otherwise increase public safety. The chapter first delineates the various ways registration and notification alter the legal environment not only for registrants but also for nonregistrants, the public, and law enforcement. There are many channels through which SORN laws might impact the frequency of sex offenses, including some that would produce an increase in overall offending. The chapter assesses these possibilities in light of a large body of relevant empirical research, focusing on potential changes in registrant recidivism, nonregistrant criminal behavior, the geography of victimization, and the distribution of types of sex offenses and victims. Scholars have plumbed many different data sources using a range of methodologies, yet nearly every study finds no evidence that SORN laws – in particular, community notification laws – reduce sexual recidivism. In fact, notification laws may increase recidivism risk. The final section discusses registrant beliefs about the effects of SORN laws. In sum, the chapter comprehensively engages with the pressing question of whether SORN laws protect the public and concludes that they do not.
Chapter 6 explores the broad range of ancillary consequences that stem from registration and notification laws. These consequences disrupt nearly every facet of daily life for registrants, their families, and their communities. The chapter begins with the most acutely felt consequences – the difficulty registrants experience finding jobs and housing. Since locating employment and housing is critical to successful reentry, the negative effects of SORN laws on both inhibit registrants’ ability to reintegrate. These difficulties have also led to the spatial clustering (“ghettoization”) of registrants. Other consequences include increased vigilantism by the public and decreased property values near registrant residences. All these consequences may lead to negative secondary effects on nonsexual criminal behavior and mental health outcomes, and in turn may affect the wellbeing of the family members of registrants and the overall community. Importantly, these wide-ranging consequences may also have hydraulic effects on charging and reporting decisions. Ultimately, this chapter concludes that SORN laws’ wide-reaching deleterious effects, and their high implementation costs, outweigh their supposed benefits. As a result, it maintains that SORN laws must be tailored to higher-risk offenders and that community notification must be curtailed.
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