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17 Wash. U. Global Stud. L. Rev. 181 (2018)
International Megan's Law and the Identifier Provision - An Efficacy Analysis

handle is hein.journals/wasglo17 and id is 187 raw text is: INTERNATIONAL MEGAN'S LAW AND THE IDENTIFIER PROVISION - AN EFFICACY ANALYSIS INTRODUCTION Sex offender laws play an important role in protecting our communities, deterring sexual misbehavior, and in keeping an eye on high-risk individuals. However, as in any law, we want to guarantee the law is well- directed, proportional, and efficacious. A good problem should be met with the right solution. The most recent Congress has set out to stop sex trafficking and sex tourism by passing International Megan's Law. This note will provide the legal context for International Megan's Law in three regards: sex offender laws, sex trafficking and tourism laws, and passport laws. From there, it will argue International Megan's Law's passport identifier requirement is not well suited to the aims of the law while taking an aggressive step away from the usual functions of the passport. There are three problems International Megan's Law faces. First, by using the passport to communicate things other than purely identificatory information, the United States moves away from near-universal international passport standards which other countries may use as precedent for improper purposes. Second, the impact of International Megan's Law only replicates existing policy or creates effects that are better serviced through alternatives. Third, because International Megan's Law impacts more than just offenders likely to engage in sex trafficking or sex tourism, the law places negative consequences on parties who were not the aim of the legislation's goals. BACKGROUND ON SEX OFFENDER LAWS The federal government first legislated sex offender registration in 1994 with the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act (hereinafter Wetterling Act).' The Wetterling * Note: there is no expectation by the author that the change in administration ofthe Presidency will impact this law. I. Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act § 170101, 42 U.S.C. § 14071 (1994), repealed by Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006, Pub. L. No. 109-248, § 129, 120 Stat. 600-01. 181

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