West Virginia's violent sex offenders and sexual predators are already branded for life by being listed on the West Virginia State Police Sex Offender Registry, said Robert Bastress, professor of constitutional law at WVU.
The natural question arises, should state police get more specific about where sexual offenders live? State police have decided to add streets and addresses of registered sex offenders to the state's registry by August 1.
Some say more information infringes on the rights of those who've paid their debt to society and won't repeat their crimes. Others say every drop of information contributes to public safety.
"In a sense, a person's address is not necessarily private information," Bastress said. "But there certainly is a stigmatizing effect for merely listing a person as a sex offender. It's really a branding for life."
The registry, available to the public, already lists offenders' birth dates and county of residence, as well as some specifics about the crimes and victims. It displays a police photo of each.
People deemed by judges to be sexual predators, or those who have committed an offense or violent offense against a child, have a lifelong listing there, said Maj. Dave Williams at state police headquarters in South Charleston.
Others listed are there for 10 years for crimes including kidnapping, sexual assault, sexual abuse or the use of minors in filming sexually explicit content.
All listed have been found guilty and have paid for that crime, said Lt. Mike Lantz of the Morgantown Police Department.
Morgantown, like many other communities, looks up records in the state registry and databases nationwide when a new crime is committed involving children, Lantz said.
"When we have a person, say in a park or around a school that we're getting calls or concerns about — (registries) can give us an idea how to go look for this person," he said.
Keeping the community safe is the goal. That goal includes keeping sexual offenders safe, Lantz said.
"Keep in mind the people on this list have already paid for their past crimes, and they are not guilty of anything else unless proven. And not everybody on the registry commit more crimes. Some make one mistake in life and are in that registry and will never commit another one," Lantz said.
The issue of repeat offenses is the reason Bastress said the registry list needs to be trimmed down. He would like to see some safe way of listing only repeat offenders.
"The law seems to lump people together... intruding on former offenders' rights," he said.
Monongalia Prosecuting Attorney Marcia Ashdown said courts and legislators throughout the country have concluded that having more information, such as addresses, available can lead to a safer environment.
"Any concept of invasion of privacy is overridden by the public need to have that information," she said.
Does it matter that the decision to list addresses didn't come from the Legislature? "There was a rule change proposed by the state police," Williams said.
Delegate Cindy Frich, R-Monongalia, said she supports the change although it was done without legislative approval.
She said time will tell if the change will stick. "I hope it doesn't cause a court battle," she said.
She would have liked to see only street names added to the registry, not house and apartment numbers. She said she plans to introduce legislation to that effect. There are more than 2,000 offenders in the registry. The exact number varies daily, as people move in and out of the state, said Terri Swecker, coordinator of the registry.
Forty-three states already list addresses, Williams said.
All information in the registry is listed for public safety, Williams said, and that it's not unfair to offenders.
There is, however, concern for convicted sex offenders' safety.
"We don't want any vigilantetype incidents to take place. If there are, the law (against it) will be enforced," he said.
That sentiment is echoed on the registry Web site:
"Sex offenders have always lived in our communities, but it wasn't until passage of the sex offender registration law of 1993 that law enforcement even knew where they were living.
"In many cases, we are now able to share that information with you. Citizen abuse of this information to threaten, intimidate or harass registered sex offenders will not be tolerated."
Ashdown said she has never encountered harassment of or attacks on sexual offenders. But if that became commonplace, information on offenders might no longer be available.
"Whenever public meetings are held for disclosure of sexual offenders and those designated as sexual predators," she said, "there is always encouragement to people to be sure to use the information properly so there isn't some reason down the line for the Legislature to have to repeal (the registry) in order to keep order in the community."
The information helps protect our children. It protects everyone.