Opinion ID: 896360
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Whether Registration has Alternative Purposes other than Punishment.

Text: [¶19] The legitimate public interest in having sexual offenders register with police is to notify law enforcement of the person’s presence in their community. Recidivism rates among sexual offenders are high, see John S. Murray, California’s Chemical Castration Law: A Model for Massachusetts? , 24 New England Journal on Criminal and Civil Confinement 729, 734 (1998) (citing sources showing recidivism rates among sexual offenders can be as high as 80 percent), and the public is better served when police are notified of a sexual offender’s presence in their community. One commentator said “[t]he probability that a sex offender will commit a similar crime in the future can be predicted from known prior criminal sexual conduct,” citing a source indicating child abusers and pedophiles may have a 30 percent recidivism rate. Sherry L. Scott, Comment, Fairness to the Victim: Federal Rules of Evidence 413 and 414 Admit Propensity Evidence in Sexual Offender Trials , 35 Houston L. Rev. 1729, 1739 (1998) (citing Thomas J. Reed, Reading Gaol Revisited: Admission of Uncharged Misconduct Evidence in Sex Offender Cases , 21 Am. J. Crim. L. 127, 154-56 (1993)). A bigger problem with recidivism rates among sexual offenders is that since many sexual crimes are not reported, more accurate rates are difficult to establish. Id. The National Institute of Justice recently claimed a “‘cure’ for sex offend[ers] is no more available than is a cure for epilepsy or high blood pressure.’” Katie Isaac, Note, Kansas v. Kendricks: A Perilous Step Forward in the Fight Against Child Molestation , 35 Houston L. Rev. 1295, 1327 (1998) (quoting Mike Tharp, Tracking Sexual Impulses: An Intrusive Program to Stop Offenders From Striking Again , U.S. News & World Report, July 7, 1997, at 34). Tharp reports nationwide recidivism rates for sex offenders are thirteen to twenty-seven percent higher than for other criminals. Id. [¶20] Given the broad view of the nonpunitive purposes recognized by the courts, the party challenging the statute is required to provide the “clearest proof” that the statutory scheme is so punitive either in purpose or in effect as to negate the state’s nonpunitive intent. See Russell v. Gregoire , 124 F.3d 1079, 1087 (9th Cir. 1997) (citations omitted). Burr has not met this burden, and we are not persuaded the nonpunitive aspects of the statute are outweighed by the punitive.