The final, published version of my article Banishment by a Thousand Laws: Residency Restrictions on Sex Offenders, 85 Washington University Law Review 101 (2007), is now available on SSRN. You can download the article for free at this link. There were a lot of revisions from the last posted draft and I'm really happy with the way the article has turned out. This is the final abstract:
Across America, states, localities, and private communities are debating and implementing laws to limit the places of residence of convicted sex offenders. Twenty states and hundreds, if not thousands, of local communities have adopted statutes which severely limit the places where a sex offender may legally live. In this article, I trace these new laws to historical practices of banishment in Western societies. I argue that the establishment of exclusion zones by states and localities is a form of banishment that I have termed "internal exile." Establishing the connection to banishment punishments helps to explain the unique legal, policy, and ethical problems these laws create for America. Ultimately, residency restrictions could fundamentally alter basic principles of the American criminal justice system. While those supporting these laws have the interests of children at heart, the policies they are promoting will be worse for children and society.
Is anyone able to download it without registering and signing in? I can't but will register with SSRN if necessary.
Posted by: George | January 19, 2008 at 02:12 PM
Scratch that. My FireFox security settings must have been too high. IE was able to download it.
Posted by: George | January 19, 2008 at 02:24 PM
Looks fantastic! I'll be sure to give it a read.
Posted by: Guy | January 19, 2008 at 11:48 PM