Special considerations for sex offenders - Columbia Law School

(e) Additional AmendmentsA number of amendments effective on January 1, 2000, however, brought the SORA into compliancewith the federal district court decision in Pataki. Therefore, all sex offenders who were assigned a risk levelon or after January 1, 2000, can be included in the directory. See Figure 1, below.Date Crime Committed Date Assigned a Risk Level In Directory?Before January 21, 1996 Before January 1, 2000 NoBefore January 21, 1996 On or After January 1, 2000 YesAfter January 21, 1996 Any time YesFigure I: Table Determining an Offender’s Risk Level and Inclusion in the Sex Offender DirectoryThe amendments that went into effect on January 1, 2000, also define a person who has committed a“sexually violent offense” 118 as a “sexually violent offender,” or as a “sexual predator” if the person“suffers from a mental abnormality or personality disorder that makes him or her likely to engage inpredatory sexually violent offenses.” 119 This new language in the statute guarantees an individualizedreview of the perceived risk of committing an offensive act again, however, to a sex offender, there is nosubstantive difference between “sex offenses” and “sexually violent offenses” under the Act. All sexoffenders, even those convicted of misdemeanor offenses, face the possibility of a level 3 designation.Additional amendments to the Act now give sex offenders the right to a civil appeal from the trialcourt’s risk level determination and the right to a lawyer on appeals. 120 A right to counsel also now extendsbeyond the direct appeal, so you have the right to appointed counsel at post-judgment motions fordownward modification of the risk level score, which sex offenders may seek on grounds of changedcircumstances. It should be noted that none of the amendments are retroactive and that sex offenders whoalready have been classified will remain classified until new legislation presents itself. In the meantime, thestate cannot proceed with community notification against sex offenders who were in prison, or on probationor parole, on the original effective date of Megan’s Law (January 21, 1996). 1213. Title I of the Adam Walsh Act: The Sex Offender Registration andNotification Act 122In July 2006, Congress passed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. Title I of the Act setout a national system for the registration of sex offenders called the Sex Offender Registration andNotification Act (“SORNA”). 123 States may adopt this scheme, but adoption is not mandatory.In New York, for example, there has been no move to adopt the registration system set out in theAdam Walsh Act as of the writing of this Chapter. Therefore, if you live in New York, you are still subjectto the New York state registration system (New York Sex Offender Registration Act of 1996) describedabove in Section G(2) of this Chapter. It is important to check to see if your state has adopted the AdamWalsh registration system for sex offenders or has kept its own registration system. 124118. N.Y. Corr. Law § 168-a(3) (McKinney Supp. 2006).119. N.Y. Corr. Law § 168-a(7)(b) (McKinney Supp. 2006).120. N.Y. Corr. Law § 168-n(3) (McKinney Supp. 2006).121. Doe v. Pataki, 120 F. 3d 1263 (2d Cir. 1997) (refusing to apply certain aspects, includingcommunity notification, against those convicted before the law went into effect).122. For more information on the Adam Walsh Act, see Section H below.123. The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-248, 120 Stat.587 (2006). SORNA created a new sex offender registry law at 42 U.S.C. §§ 16901-16962 and creatednew criminal offenses and penalties for failure to register at 18 U.S.C. § 2250.124. For a list of state laws, see footnote 79.