Quickly Assuaging Public Fear: How the Well-Intended Adam Walsh Act Led to Unintended Consequences
![handle is hein.journals/utahlr2008 and id is 701 raw text is: QUICKLY ASSUAGING PUBLIC FEAR: How THE WELL-INTENDED
ADAM WALSH ACT LED TO UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES
Brittany Enniss*
People want a silver bullet that will protect their children,
[but] there is no silver bullet. There is no simple cure to the
very complex problem of sexual violence.1
I. INTRODUCTION
The past several decades have witnessed an increase in sexual violence
against children.2 This epidemic has created a national fear, which Congress has
tried to calm by quickly passing sex-offender registration and notification laws.
Most recently, Congress passed the most encompassing sex-offender registration
law to date by enacting the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 20063
(Adam Walsh Act or Adam's Law). This Note argues that by hastily appeasing the
public's desire of retribution and understanding, Congress passed legislation that
harms those it aims to protect-children.4 The Adam Walsh Act subjects juveniles
to the same sanctions and restrictions as adults for similar crimes. However,
juveniles who commit such crimes do so with very different motivations than do
adult sex-offenders. Therefore, this legislation, which aims to protect American
youth, harms them as well.
Part II of this Note retraces the origins of sex-offender registration and
notification laws. Next, Part III examines why the hotly debated Adam Walsh Act,
with a host of unintended consequences, passed with almost unanimous agreement.
Part IV discusses the Adam Walsh Act-textually as well as from the perspective
of juvenile justice-and suggests several possible solutions for alleviating its
unintended consequences. Part V concludes.
* J.D. candidate 2009, University of Utah, S.J. Quinney College of Law; Staff
Member, Utah Law Review.
1 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, No EASY ANSWERS: SEX OFFENDER LAWS IN THE US 2
(2007) [hereinafter HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH, No EASY ANSWERS], available at
http://hrw.org/reports/2007/us0907/usO907web.pdf (telephone interview by Human Rights
Watch with Patty Wetterling) (last visited May 30, 2007).
2 Joseph L. Lester, Off to Elba! The Legitimacy of Sex Offender Residence and
Employment Restrictions, 40 AKRON L. REv. 339, 345-47 (2007).
3 Pub. L. No. 109-248, 120 Stat. 587 (2006) (codified as amended in scattered
sections of 42 U.S.C.).
4 Elizabeth Garfinkle, Comment, Coming of Age in America: The Misapplication of
Sex-Offender Registration and Community Notification Laws to Juveniles, 91 CAL. L. REV.
163, 164 (2003).](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/utahlr2008&div=26&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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Quickly Assuaging Public Fear: How the Well-Intended Adam Walsh Act Led to Unintended Consequences
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