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100 Wash. Univ. L. Rev. Online 1 (2022)

handle is hein.journals/wshuvylw100 and id is 1 raw text is: 




     Washington University



         Law Review Online



VOLUME 100                                                  2022



     REGISTERED FOR LIFE: ADDRESSING THE
     REMOVAL ISSUE WITHIN MISSOURI'S SEX
           OFFENDER REGISTRATION ACT

                     MICHAEL MCWATERS*

I. BACKGROUND  TO STATE AND FEDERAL SEX OFFENDER
  R EGISTRA TION LAW S ........................................................................... 3
    A. Federal Legislation Regulating Sex Offenders ............................4
    B. Missouri's Sex Offender Registration Act.................................... 8
    1. The Development ofMissouri 's SORA ..................................... 8
    2. Judicial Interpretation of Missouri 's SORA .............................10
    3. The Generalized Removal Statute............................................. 13
II. THE PROBLEM WITH MISSOURI'S SEX OFFENDER REGISTRY ............. 16
III. PROPOSED SOLUTION .......................................................................... 21
C O N C LU SIO N  .......................................................................................... 2 6

                          INTRODUCTION

   Based on plain text, Missouri's Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA)
appears to permit sex offenders to petition for removal from the state's sex
offender registry.1 But, in practice, the statute's removal provision is useless
for almost all Missouri offenders.2 A 2018 amendment to Missouri's SORA

       J.D. Candidate (2023), Washington University School of Law. Thank you to the Volume
100 staff at the Washington University Law Review for their contributions and guidance. Special
thanks to my fiancee, Danielle, for her support in law school and throughout the writing process.
   1.  See Mo. REV. STAT. § 589.401 (Supp. 2021) (permitting removal for certain qualifying
registrants). All statutory references are to Mo. REV. STAT. 2021 Cumulative Supplement, unless
otherwise indicated.
   2.  See infra Part II.


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