WSJ: "Sex-Registry Flaws Stand Out"

September 3, 2009 |
Valor

In a recent article, the Wall Street Journal discussed the California Sex Offender Management Board and the Jaycee Dugard case.
The article also discussed the number of sex offenders on parole in California, the state’s sex-offender registry, risk classification, and the amount of resources spent monitoring sex offenders.
Janet Neeley, a deputy California attorney general and member of the state’s sex offender board said:

There are now so many people on the registry it’s difficult for law enforcement to effectively track them all, and “it’s more helpful for law enforcement to know…who the highest-risk offenders are,” said Neeley.
…California has been trying to sharpen its focus, but federal and state laws passed in 2006 offer conflicting rules for monitoring sex offenders, Ms. Neeley said.
Under its law, California has chosen to use a program called Static 99, which categorizes sex offenders based on their likelihood to reoffend. To predict risk, it looks at things like the nature of the crime, the offender’s relationship with the victim and whether the offender has been able to form long-term intimate relationships. But the system hasn’t been introduced by most local jurisdictions for those convicted before 2007. Click here to read the full story.