Opinion ID: 1349802
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Registration and Limited Disclosure as an Affirmative Disability or Restraint.

Text: Appellants argue that because registration carries with it the right of law enforcement agencies to disseminate information to the public, the registration requirement amounts to a badge of infamy. We disagree. [7] Registration alone imposes no significant additional burdens on offenders. The statute requires an offender to provide the local sheriff with eight pieces of information: name, address, date and place of birth, place of employment, crime for which convicted, date and place of conviction, aliases used, and Social Security number. In addition, the local sheriff must obtain two items: the offender's photograph and fingerprints. We note that at least one criminal justice agency routinely has all of this information on file at the time of an offender's conviction and sentencing. See RCW 10.97.030(1), (3). Thus, only if this information has changed since sentencing could registration require an offender to divulge information which is not already in the hands of the authorities. We also find that the physical act of registration creates no affirmative disability or restraint. Collecting information about sex offenders in order to aid community law enforcement does not restrain sex offenders in any way. See, e.g., State v. Olivas, 122 Wn.2d 73, 856 P.2d 1076 (1993) (upholding DNA testing of sex offenders for law enforcement purposes). Sex offenders are free to move within their community or from one community to another, provided they comply with the statute's registration requirements. RCW 9A.44.130(4); see State v. Taylor, 67 Wn. App. 350, 357, 835 P.2d 245 (1992) (requirement that registrants inform the county sheriff of their current residence does not impede or restrict movement in any way). Moreover, it is inconceivable that filling out a short form with eight blanks creates an affirmative disability. Registration alone imposes burdens of little, if any, significance. Appellants contend, however, that the dissemination of registrant information creates hostile publicity and, ultimately, has a punitive effect on registrants. They direct our attention to the record which contains three sexual offender notification bulletins received by a resident of Mill Creek, and copies of five newspaper articles, all of which they assert are illustrative of the nature and impact of publicity. No such disclosure, though, appears to have occurred in appellants' cases. Nonetheless, we now examine whether the potential for disclosure of registrant information creates an affirmative disability or restraint. We begin with the Washington State Criminal Records Privacy Act, RCW 10.97.010 et seq. Under RCW 10.97.050(1), criminal justice agencies may release criminal conviction records without restriction. [6] Therefore, the disclosure of conviction information cannot impose an additional burden. It is only where the criminal history record contains nonconviction data, or where the criminal justice agency discloses that the person is a registered sex offender, that dissemination will have the potential for creating an additional restraint. We hold, however, that because the Legislature has limited the disclosure of registration information to the public, the statutory registration scheme does not impose additional punishment on registrants. The Legislature placed significant limits on (1) whether an agency may disclose registrant information, (2) what the agency may disclose, and (3) where it may disclose the information. The statute regulating disclosure, RCW 4.24.550, provides that [p]ublic agencies are authorized to release relevant and necessary information regarding sex offenders to the public when the release of the information is necessary for public protection. RCW 4.24.550(1). The Legislature found that [o]verly restrictive confidentiality and liability laws governing the release of information about sexual predators have reduced willingness to release information that could be appropriately released under the public disclosure laws, and have increased risks to public safety. Persons found to have committed a sex offense have a reduced expectation of privacy because of the public's interest in public safety and in the effective operation of government. Release of information about sexual predators to public agencies and under limited circumstances, the general public, will further the governmental interests of public safety and public scrutiny of the criminal and mental health systems so long as the information released is rationally related to the furtherance of those goals. Therefore, this state's policy as expressed in [RCW 4.24.550] is to require the exchange of relevant information about sexual predators among public agencies and officials and to authorize the release of necessary and relevant information about sexual predators to members of the general public. (Italics ours.) Laws of 1990, ch. 3, § 116. The Legislature's pronouncement evidences a clear regulatory intent to limit the exchange of relevant information to the general public to those circumstances which present a threat to public safety. The first limits to disclosure appear when an agency determines whether to disseminate registrant information. Because the Legislature clearly intended public agencies to disseminate warnings to the public under limited circumstances, in many cases, both the registrant information and the fact of registration remain confidential. This cannot impose any additional burdens to that of registration. [8] For those cases which merit disclosure, the statute requires an agency to have some evidence that the offender poses a threat to the public or, in other words, some evidence of dangerousness in the future. The release of the registrant information must be necessary for public protection. See RCW 4.24.550(1). We note that the statute, on its face, requires the disclosing agency to have some evidence that the offender poses a threat to the community. Absent evidence of such a threat, disclosure would serve no legitimate purpose. Therefore, we hold that a public agency must have some evidence of an offender's future dangerousness, likelihood of reoffense, or threat to the community, to justify disclosure to the public in a given case. This statutory limit ensures that disclosure occurs to prevent future harm, not to punish past offenses. [9] When disclosure is appropriate, the statute also limits what a public warning may contain. As stated above, the statute authorizes release only of relevant and necessary information. This standard imposes an obligation to release registrant information reasonably necessary to counteract the danger created by the particular offender. For example, release of an offender's Social Security number may be unnecessary in many cases, but critical where a potential employer must discover the offender's identity and criminal background. Furthermore, the statutory requirement of necessary information and, for that matter, the Legislature's primary goal of protecting the public, obligates the disclosing agency to gauge the public's potential for violence and draft the warning accordingly. An agency must disclose only that information relevant to and necessary for counteracting the offender's dangerousness. Finally, the statute limits where an agency may disclose the registrant information. The Legislature dictated that disclosure must be rationally related to the furtherance of the goals of public safety and the effective operation of government. See Laws of 1990, ch. 3, § 116. Accordingly, the geographic scope of dissemination must rationally relate to the threat posed by the registered offender. Depending on the particular methods of an offender, an agency might decide to limit disclosure only to the surrounding neighborhood, or to schools and day care centers, or, in cases of immediate or imminent risk of harm, the public at large. The scope of disclosure must relate to the scope of the danger. In addition, the content of a warning may vary by proximity: next-door neighbors or nearby schools might receive a more detailed warning than those further away from harm. As the Legislature indicated, however, we leave to the appropriate agencies the specific decisions of whether, what, and where to disclose within the parameters outlined above. We find that the statutory limits on disclosure ensure that the potential burdens placed on registered offenders fit the threat posed to public safety. Any publicity or other burdens which may result from disclosure arise from the offender's future dangerousness, and not as punishment for past crimes. We conclude, therefore, that registration and limited public disclosure does not alter the standard of punishment which existed under prior law. Our conclusion is supported by the Arizona Supreme Court's decision in State v. Noble, 171 Ariz. 171, 829 P.2d 1217 (1992), a case involving retroactive application of that state's sex offender registration statute. Applying the Mendoza-Martinez factors, the Noble court concluded that Arizona's registration statute did not affirmatively inhibit or restrain an offender's movement or activities; that some courts have viewed registration acts as punitive; that registration will have some deterrent effect; and that the registration requirement serves a valid regulatory purpose. Noble, at 176-77. The court held that, on balance, Arizona's sex offender registration requirement was not punitive. Noble, at 178. The Arizona and Washington statutes are not comparable in all respects. Unlike the Washington statute, the Arizona statute does not authorize dissemination of registration information to the general public. See Noble, at 176 n. 8 (citing Ariz. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 41-1750(B)). The court noted that the punitive effects of the statute were mitigated because outside of a few regulatory exceptions, registration information is kept confidential. Noble, at 178. This distinction does not alter our conclusion. The Noble court stated that the most significant factor in the case was its determination that the overriding purpose of Arizona's registration statute was to facilitate the location of child sex offenders by law enforcement personnel, a purpose unrelated to punishing the defendants for past offenses. Noble, at 178. We similarly find that the overriding purpose of RCW 9A.44.130 is to protect the public. In People v. Adams, 144 Ill.2d 381, 581 N.E.2d 637 (1991), the Illinois Supreme Court addressed the issue of whether the Illinois Habitual Child Sex Offender Registration Act imposed punishment for purposes of the Eighth Amendment prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. The court concluded registration under the act did not constitute punishment. Adams, 581 N.E.2d at 641. The court found that the Legislature designed the statute to aid law enforcement agencies by providing ready access to location information of known offenders. Adams, 581 N.E.2d at 640. Similar to the Arizona statute, the Illinois statute does not permit dissemination of registrant information to the general public. Adams, 581 N.E.2d at 640. The information supplied is to be held in confidence by the law enforcement agency; the unauthorized release of the supplied information is a class B misdemeanor. Adams, at 640 (citing Ill. Rev. Stat. 1987, ch. 38, ¶ 229 (1987)). Because registration information is generally withheld from the public, the court concluded that the duty to register does not attach any additional stigma to the offender; therefore, registration did not constitute punishment under the Eighth Amendment. Adams, 581 N.E.2d at 640-41. While we agree with the holding in Adams, we depart from the court's analysis inasmuch as it implies that any dissemination of relevant and necessary information to the public is punitive. The Adams court did not analyze whether the effects of registration, including the potential disclosure of registrant information to the public, were punitive. Indeed, the court noted that information concerning the registrant's criminal history is already available in the public record. Adams, 581 N.E.2d at 641. The Illinois court declined to analyze the Mendoza-Martinez factors, finding instead that legislative intent with respect to the registration act was clearly nonpenal. Adams, 581 N.E.2d at 641. Assuming arguendo that registration was punitive, the court proceeded to determine that registration was not cruel and unusual punishment since it was unlikely that any stigma would attach to the act of registration. Adams, 581 N.E.2d at 641. Although we concur in its holding, we do not find Adams dispositive on the issue advanced by appellants  that public stigma is a punitive effect of sex offender registration. Public stigma arises not as a result of registration nor as a result of release to the general public of information concerning a conviction. Any badge of infamy stigma that may exist arises from private reactions to the crime by members of the general public. Appellants cite another Eighth Amendment case, In re Reed, 33 Cal.3d 914, 663 P.2d 216, 191 Cal. Rptr. 658 (1983), for support. In In re Reed, supra , the petitioner was convicted of soliciting lewd or dissolute conduct and was ordered to register as a sex offender. In re Reed, supra at 917. Applying the Mendoza-Martinez factors, the California Supreme Court held that mandatory registration of sex offenders convicted under a misdemeanor disorderly conduct statute was an affirmative restraint and constituted punishment. In re Reed, supra at 920-22. Although the threshold determination in In re Reed, supra , was the same in this case  whether the duty to register as a sex offender constitutes punishment  the issue in In re Reed, supra , was whether the statute violated California's constitutional prohibition against cruel or unusual punishment. In re Reed, supra at 919. Critical to the court's decision was its finding that the continuing penalty of sex offender registration is out of all proportion to the [misdemeanor] crime of which petitioner was convicted. In re Reed, supra at 926. We do not find In re Reed, supra , dispositive on the issue of whether Washington's sexual offender registration statute is punitive. Unlike California's registration requirement, the Washington statute requires registration for felony sexual offenders only. RCW 9A.44.130(6); RCW 9.94A.030(29). Unlike the petitioner in In re Reed, supra , both Ward and Doe were convicted of felony sexual offenses. In summary, we hold that registration as a sex offender does not create an affirmative disability or restraint. While registrant information may be released under limited circumstances to the general public, we conclude the appropriate dissemination of relevant and necessary information does not constitute punishment for purposes of ex post facto analysis.