(which reportedly comes from a document was prepared by Alisa Klein, Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers, last updated: April 3, 2008).
This document gives the up to date information on states compliance to the Adam Walsh Act and SORNA. Of all the states in this compliance list Kansas has gone the way of requiring nearly everyone called and/or labeled a sex offender to register for life. It is more than obvious that some states care more about not losing 10% of Byrne Funds than they do about the injustice of the Adam Walsh Act.
You will see that only about 10 states have yet enacted legislation in reaction to the Federal Adam Walsh Act guidelines. Some of these laws do not satisfactorily fall into compliance with the federal guidelines. And they vary greatly in their restrictiveness, and therefore in their degree of constitutional violation.
It is up to everyone who is targeted by the Adam Walsh Act to fight these laws. If you don’t fight, the lawmakers will continue to be emboldened in their efforts to trample your constitutional rights.
USAToday: 6 May 2008 - States mull retroactive sex-offender registries
A federal law that requires states to establish a new system for registering sex offenders by 2009 is prompting some states to mandate retroactive registration — forcing offenders to register even if their crimes were committed before registry laws went into effect. Under the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, states have until next year to establish a tier system for offenders to register for 15 years, 25 years or life, based on the nature of their offenses.
Though the law does not mandate retroactive registration, Tennessee passed a law last July requiring it. The law applies to anyone who has ever been convicted of a sex offense that requires registration, said Kristin Helm of the Tennessee Bureau for Investigation.
At least two other states are moving in that direction:
• Michigan. The House Judiciary Committee is considering a bill that would force adults convicted of criminal sexual conduct with a child to register, regardless of conviction date.
•Missouri. A Senate committee is considering a resolution that would require almost all sex offenders to register, regardless of conviction date. If passed, the measure could appear on November ballots.
A USA TODAY search of state registry laws shows that at least 15 other states required retroactive registration prior to the Walsh Act becoming law.
U.S. Constitution bars states from passing ex post facto laws — those that punish someone for activity committed before the law was enacted. However, retroactive enforcement of Megan's laws — the informal name for sex offender-registration laws named for New Jersey abuse victim Megan Kanka — was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2003. The court found that Alaska's retroactive Megan's law was a regulatory measure, not punitive.
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL) has been critical of the retro-registration laws.
"It's a fiction to say that this is a civil matter when this is, in fact, an extension of the criminal punishment," said Mike Kopie, co-chair of the NACDL's Sex Offender Policy Task Force.
