IP: U.S. Supreme Court to hear case over Internet list of sex offenders

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

------ Forwarded Message
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>



http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/02/19/scotus-sex-offender-regis
tries.htm

   High court mulls legality of online sex offender lists
                   
   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to consider the
   constitutionality of Internet registries listing the names of
   convicted sex offenders who long ago completed their punishment.
   
   The ruling could affect sex offender laws in about a dozen states that
   publish the names, addresses or other personal information about
   convicted sex offenders on the Internet. The question is how far
   states may go in requiring previously convicted sex offenders to be
   included in a state registry that is available to anyone.
   
   The court accepted an appeal from Alaska, where part of the state's
   sex offender law was struck down last year.
   
   Alaska's sex-offender law, modeled after New Jersey's pioneering
   "Megan's Law," allows the public to track known sex offenders. All
   states have some version of a sex-offender law.
   
   In general, such laws have withstood court challenges if they were
   narrowly directed at improving public safety. It is unconstitutional
   to punish someone twice for the same crime.

   [...]


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