Opinion ID: 896360
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Whether Registration Promotes the Traditional Aims of Punishment.

Text: [¶18] The next pertinent Mendoza-Martinez factor is whether the sex offender registration statute promotes retribution or deterrence, the traditional aims of punishment. Requiring registration is not retribution, because the offender has generally served time or been given some other form of punishment and the payment demanded for the crime cannot be found in incidental registration. Although registration may have a minimal deterrent effect on the offender, we conclude an offender may be deterred from reoffending because of the conviction and punishment already served, whether required to register or not. Ward , 869 P.2d at 1073. The courts applying these factors have routinely found the deterrent effect of registration laws to be incidental and minimal when compared with the threat of conviction and long-term incarceration for a new offense. State v. Taylor , 835 P.2d 245, 249 (Ct. App. Wash. 1992); Doe v. Poritz , 662 A.2d 367 (N.J. 1995); Adams , 581 N.E.2d 637.