Juvenile Sex Offender Panic and the AWA

There has been an increasing trend to target juvenile sex offenders in various restriction and punishment schemes.  Sentencing Law & Policy points to a recent article about the reason for this trend:

A state law that went into effect July 1 will list teens as young as 14 on the same Web site as adults who are convicted pedophiles and sexual predators. The designation will follow them and their families as they enter schools, move to new communities and eventually apply for colleges, trade schools and jobs....

Florida legislators unanimously approved the measure to comply with the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act and to qualify for millions of dollars in federal funding. The Adam Walsh Act, which went into effect last year, requires children 14 and older who engage in genital, anal or oral-genital contact with children younger than 12 to be included in community-notification laws, such as the predator list.

The intent of the federal law, according to state officials, was to add juveniles who use force or coercion while committing sex crimes to the state and national sex offender lists.

Issues arise when applying adult standards of force or coercion to situations involving juveniles, say juvenile law specialists. For example, is coercion or force involved if a teen coaxes another child to expose himself or to experiment by touching each other? The new state law also covers cases in which a teenager exposes himself or herself to younger children.

This is in contrast to those states passing Romeo & Juliet laws (in part due to the backlash against the Genarlow Wilson prosecution).  However, the entrance of the federal government into things could sway a lot of states to take the federal money by complying by any means necessary.  The AWA doesn't negate the possibility of a R&J law, but it narrows the degree to which states have flexibility in forgiving childhood sexual experimentation (at least if the state wants federal dollars). 

Comments

[Dave]

It's just another way the federal government gets around the 10th amendment and the Commerce Clause. What's astonishing is how we give so much power to a small group of people who are swayed by the same hysteria and emotions the common public suffer from. Post modern America is yet another slice in history that proves absolute power corrupts absolutely. The legislative branch complains that when the judicial branch rules against them, they are somehow "activist" and are endangering the country. The judicial branch, fearing a backlash from voters, blindly lays down and conforms to the whim of opinion. Where is the fact based legislation in this country, and why does the Federal government feel the need to force states to confirm to this Act if it is so desperately needed? A brave move would be for a state to refuse to conform and make up the lost money through its own sovereign means.

I live in Florida and this state will bend over backwards for Washington and special interests at the expense of its citizen. Never has there been a time when I've been so ashamed of my state and my country.

[ZMan]

My comments on these draconian sex offender laws are here. Let me know what you think by posting a comment.

http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/2007/04/my-thoughts-sex-offender-law-issues.html

Also, were is the ACLU, ACLJ, Lawyers and everyone else to help uphold the Constitution of the United States and repeal these laws?

Why is nobody helping with these issues?

[George]

The question is, is there actually a rational basis for these new laws? Aren't studies finding them no only ineffective but harmful?

[George]

The question is, is there actually a rational basis for these new laws? Aren't studies finding them no only ineffective but harmful?

[eAdvocate]

Florida claims it is complying with the Adam Walsh Act (AWA) in its latest group of laws.

However, what should be said is, Flordia is complying with ITS interpretation of what AWA says. Unfortunately, Florida has closed ITS eyes to a plain reading of AWA, as written, where juveniles are concerned.

Romeo and Juliet cases:
AWA does have a loophole in it because it does say: "If the victim is at least 13 and the offender is no more than 4 years older," coupled with "consensual sex" then that would fall into being a RJ type of case. Sec 111(5)(C) AWA.

Strickly read could mean, if the victim was 35 and the offender no more than 39, then that could be a RJ type of case.

Due to the poor wording of AWA they left a loophole. Florida has closed that loophole by reading AWA another way. Other states may or may not read AWA as Florida has.

Juvenile offenders:
Here Florida has misconstrued AWA and as a result included juveniles which AWA, properly read, did not want to include.

Florida is including juvenile cases by reading AWA as though it said "force and coercion" but that is not what AWA said.

AWA compares a juvenile's case to federal law, Title 18 sec. 2241. That sec requires including a juvenile's case BASED ON whether there was "force or threats, or threat of serious harm." Sec. 111(8) AWA.

Coercion is not a factor in the federal law. Including cases based on coercion virtually includes any juvenile case because it can be claimed the victim was coerced, a much lower standard that forced or threatened.

So we have Florida reading AWA in a way that includes folks that Congress did not want included.

On my site, todays "Spotlight Report" gives a little more explanation: http://www.geocities.com/voicism/index.html

Florida lawmakers definitly need glasses.

[Jay Macke]

The AWA hasn't been funded by congress, and may never be. Any state that enacts it thinking they're going to get federal money is wrong. And it shouldn't be funded-it should be repealed. It's a stupid measure that's going to create far more problems than it solves. I live in Ohio, which was one of the first states to buy into this nonsense despite the best efforts of a *huge* coalition of interested parties.