IA- New rules for sex offenders might be worse

3-6-2009 Iowa:

A problematic issue facing the Iowa General Assembly this year is the possible implementation of Title I (Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act) of the Adam Walsh Child Protection Act of 2006. In a nutshell, this federal act requires states to "substantially" comply with its provisions or lose up to 10 percent of federal funding from Byrne Memorial Grants.

A Byrne Grant is named after a police officer killed in the line of duty while protecting a drug-case witness in New York City. Congress named these grants in his memory, and the grants are specifically earmarked for eradicating drug-dealing offenses. The funds have nothing to do with sex offenders.

The Adam Walsh Act contains statutory requirements that states must enact to receive 100 percent of the state's allotment of Byrne Justice Assistance Grants. States that don't "significantly" comply will have their grant awards cut by up to 10 percent. No one really knows what "significant" means. In any case, compliance with this act will cost more than the 10 percent grant money that could be lost through noncompliance. The grants are temporary, but changes to Iowa law will be permanent and cause long-term problems.

Many political people passionately, but erroneously, believe that the Adam Walsh Act is the answer for getting rid of Iowa's 2,000-foot residency restriction for sex offenders. This emotional response keeps the same people from seeing the many flaws in making this exchange. Sex offenders have difficulty finding a place to live. Under the provisions of the Adam Walsh Act, sex offenders will have difficulty finding employment, locating a place to live (based upon enhanced notification requirements), furthering their education, and focusing on rehabilitation.

The Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act requires sex offenders to provide the name and address of any place where the sex offender is an employee or employer, and this includes self-employment, volunteer work, transient work, etc. Although the act does not require the employer's name appear on the public Web site, it does require the employer's address. The cost to counties verifying this information will be burdensome at a time when government is trying to cut costs. Iowa law does not require registration nor verification of employment information.

Sex offenders attending school - and this applies to all students, college level, high school, and yes, grade school - must register in the jurisdiction of the school, as well as the jurisdiction where the student resides. Although Iowa law does require students attending a post-high school educational institution to register in the jurisdiction where they attend school, as well as their residential address, there is no such requirement for students in high school or elementary school.

License-plate numbers of all vehicles owned by a sex offender must be part of the information required for registration. This requirement includes the vehicles owned by the sex offender, but driven by a spouse, teenage child, mother-in-law, grandparent, etc. Iowa has no such requirement.

This act would be retroactive. Iowans who have completed their 10-year registration process without incident may have to begin the process all over again because of the nature of their crime. They could be required to now register for life.

The safety of children was overlooked as Congress enacted this legislation. Sex offenders complying with current Iowa law may be forced to go underground to survive. A report by the Fiscal Service Division of the nonpartisan Iowa Legislative Services Agency cites U.S. Department of Justice statistics that, in Iowa, 2008 data indicate that "approximately 98 percent of minor victims knew the offender."

Focusing limited resources on federally mandated sex-offender registration would be both costly and ineffective.

It is admirable that policymakers want to undo the damage done by the 2,000-foot residency restriction. The Adam Walsh Act is simply more bad policy based on emotional response. It selfishly enacts a false sense of security for adults, when Iowa should be finding better ways to educate and protect our children.

MARTY RYAN is the legislative director of the ACLU of Iowa. Contact: marty.ryan@aclu-ia.org ..News Source.. by MARTY RYAN