In Denver, Valencia estimated that 50 to 55 of the sex offenders he tracked actually were homeless. Yet the reported numbers of homeless sex offenders in the city have nearly doubled in two years, from about 85 to 162.

Laws To Track Sex Offenders Encouraging Homelessness

In 1947, California became the first state in the United States to have a sex offender registration program.[10] C. Don Field was prompted by the Black Dahlia murder case to introduce a bill calling for the formation of a sex offender registry; California became the first U.S. state tomake this mandatory.[11] In 1990, Washington state began community notification of its most dangerous sex offenders, making it the first state to ever make any sex offender information publicly available. Prior to 1994, only a few states required convicted sex offenders to register their addresses with local law enforcement. The 1990s saw the emergence of several cases of brutal violent sexual offenses against children. Heinous crimes like those of Westley Allan Dodd, Earl Kenneth Shriner and Jesse Timmendequas were highly publicized. As a result, public policies began to focus on protecting public from stranger danger.[12] Since the early 1990s, several state and federal laws, often named after victims, have been enacted as a response to public outrage generated by highly publicized, but statistically very rare,[13] violent predatory sex crimes against children by strangers.[12]

In 1989, an 11-year-old boy, Jacob Wetterling, was abducted from a street in St. Joseph, Minnesota. His whereabouts remained unknown for nearly 27 years until remains were discovered just outside Paynesville, Minnesota, in 2016. Jacob's mother, Patty Wetterling, current chair of National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, led a community effort to implement a sex offender registration requirement in Minnesota and, subsequently, nationally. In 1994, Congress passed the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act. If states failed to comply, the states would forfeit 10% of federal funds from the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act.[neutrality is disputed] The act required each state to create a registry of offenders convicted of qualifying sex offenses and certain other offenses against children and to track offenders by confirming their place of residence annually for ten years after their release into the community or quarterly for the rest of their lives if the sex offender was convicted of a violent sex crime. States had a certain time period to enact the legislation, along with guidelines established by the Attorney General.[12][further explanation needed] The registration information collected was treated as private data viewable by law enforcement personnel only, although law enforcement agencies were allowed to release relevant information that was deemed necessary to protect the public concerning a specific person required to register.[17] Another high-profile case, abuse and murder of Megan Kanka led to modification of Jacob Wetterling Act.[12] The subsequent laws forcing changes to the sex offenders registries in all 50 states have since troubled Patty Wetterling and she has been vocal about her opposition to including children on the registry as well as allowing full access to the public. In an interview with reporter Madeleine Baran, Wetterling stated, "No more victims, that's the goal. But we let our emotions run away from achieving that goal." In lamenting how we treat sex offenders she stated, "You're screwed. You will not get a job, you will not find housing. This is on your record forever, good luck." She believes that by not allowing sex offenders who have served their time to reintegrate to society we do more harm than good, "I've turned 180 from where I was." [18]

In 1994, 7-year-old Megan Kanka from Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey was raped and killed by a recidivist sex offender. Jesse Timmendequas, who had been convicted of two previous sex crimes against children, lured Megan in his house and raped and killed her. Megan's mother, Maureen Kanka, started to lobby to change the laws, arguing that registration established by the Wetterling Act was insufficient for community protection. Maureen Kanka's goal was to mandate community notification, which under the Wetterling Act had been at the discretion of law enforcement. She said that if she had known that a sex offender lived across the street, Megan would still be alive. In 1994, New Jersey enacted Megan's Law. In 1996, President Bill Clinton enacted a federal version of Megan's Law, as an amendment to the Jacob Wetterling Act. The amendment required all states to implement Registration and Community Notification Laws by the end of 1997. Prior to Megan's death, only 5 states had laws requiring sex offenders to register their personal information with law enforcement. On August 5, 1996 Massachusetts was the last state to enact its version of Megan's Law.[12]

Laws restricting where registered sex offenders may live or work have become increasingly common since 2005.[31][32] At least 30 states have enacted statewide residency restrictions prohibiting registrants from living within certain distances of schools, parks, day-cares, school bus stops, or other places where children may congregate.[33] Distance requirements range from 500 to 2,500 feet (150 to 760 m), but most start at least 1,000 ft (300 m) from designated boundaries. In addition, hundreds of counties and municipalities have passed local ordinances exceeding the state requirements,[33][34] and some local communities have created exclusion zones around churches, pet stores, movie theaters, libraries, playgrounds, tourist attractions or other "recreational facilities" such as stadiums, airports, auditoriums, swimming pools, skating rinks and gymnasiums, regardless of whether publicly or privately owned.[34][35] Although restrictions are tied to distances from areas where children may congregate, most states apply exclusion zones to offenders even though their crimes did not involvechildren.[35][36] In a 2007 report, Human Rights Watch identified only four states limiting restrictions to those convicted of sex crimes involving minors. The report also found that laws preclude registrants from homeless shelters within restriction areas.[34] In 2005, some localities in Florida banned sex offenders from public hurricane shelters during 2005 Atlantic hurricane season.[35] In 2007, Tampa, Florida's city council considered banning registrants from moving in the city.[37]

Restrictions may effectively cover entire cities, leaving small "pockets" of allowed places of residency. Residency restrictions in California in 2006 covered more than 97% of rental housing area in San Diego County.[38] In an attempt to banish registrants from living in communities, localities have built small "pocket parks" to drive registrants out of the area.[39][40][41] In 2007, journalists reported that registered sex offenders were living under the Julia Tuttle Causeway in Miami, Florida because the state laws and Miami-Dade County ordinances banned them from living elsewhere.[42][43] Encampment of 140 registrants is known as Julia Tuttle Causeway sex offender colony.[44][45] The colony generated international coverage and criticism around the country.[45][46] The colony was disbanded in 2010 when the city found acceptable housing in the area for the registrants, but reports five years later indicated that some registrants were still living on streets or alongside railroad tracks.[45][47] As of 2013 Suffolk County, New York, was faced with a situation where 40 sex offenders were living in two cramped trailers, which were regularly moved between isolated locations around the county by the officials, due to local living restrictions.[48][49]

Critics of the laws point to the lack of evidence to support the effectiveness of sex offender registration policies. They call the laws too harsh and unfair for adversely affecting the lives of registrants decades after completing their initial sentence, and for affecting their families as well. Critics say that registries are overly broad as they reach to non-violent offenses, such as sexting or consensual teen sex, and fail to distinguish those who are not a danger to society from predatory offenders.[60][61][62]

Sex offender registration and community notification (SORN) laws carry costs in the form of collateral consequences for both sex offenders and their families, including difficulties in relationships and maintaining employment, public recognition, harassment, attacks, difficulties finding and maintaining suitable housing, as well as an inability to take part in expected parental duties, such as going to school functions.[70][71] Negative effects of collateral consequences on offenders are expected to contribute to known risk factors, and to offenders failing to register, and to the related potential for re-offending.[72]

Limited housing availability for sex offenders is not a problem unique to Werner or to Wisconsin. Across the United States, residence restrictions and other ordinances have made it exceedingly difficult, and in some cases impossible, for sex offenders to find housing. Research confirms that there are few housing options available for sex offenders subject to residence restrictions. In addition, research shows that sex offender residence restrictions do little, if anything, to prevent sex offender recidivism (Socia, 20122). Indeed, by increasing housing instability and homelessness, such restrictions may inadvertently increase risk of recidivism. Stable housing is a precondition for successful community reintegration, but many laws have made stable housing next to impossible to secure.

California cities also need to enforce laws to address the homeless crisis. Typhus, tuberculosis, and hepatitis are widespread in some areas of Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego. City streets are littered with human waste and 2 million used hypodermic needles annually in San Francisco, where one out of every 38 residents has a substance-abuse problem. Tolerating this aspect of homelessness makes everyone, including the homeless, much worse off.

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