RT Article
T1 The dangers of federalizing crime law: consequences of the Adam Walsh Act and sex offender registry expansion
JF Journal of crime and justice
VO 48
IS 3
SP 406
OP 424
A1 Freeman, James
LA English
YR 2025
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/192930031X
AB I evaluate the 2006 Adam Walsh Act (AWA) and the sex offender registration and notification requirements that it established. I find that the law expands registry size in compliant states but does not reduce sex crimes, including those made registerable or more severe by the AWA. My results suggest that the conviction-based approach to determining inclusion on registries mandated by the AWA instead has the counterproductive effect of making registries less likely to reduce sex crimes and notification requirements are not effective at alerting prospective victims about unfamiliar offenders.
K1 Sex offender
K1 Sexual Assault
K1 Law and economics
K1 Crime
DO 10.1080/0735648X.2024.2365726