The U.S. uses sex offender registries at dramatically higher rates than any other nation, with over 800,000 people currently listed; the six other countries that have registries list a combined total of 20,000 people. All fifty states have a registry, and sex offenders convicted of everything from public urination to statutory rape to child molestation are listed, along with their addresses, descriptions, employers, etc. They’re subject to federal laws banning them from living near schools and daycares, and many are also subject to municipal laws with much stricter limitations. This creates a de facto banishment from many densely populated areas, such as Brooklyn and Miami.
Check out this great, short NYT Op-Doc on one Florida community that has developed in the wake of sex offender residency restrictions, and look forward to more on these laws later this week.
Abolish Prisons 