I oppose this proposed regulation.

The addition of more regulations to an already overly burdensome, punitive, and ineffectual sex offender registry system will not protect children, but instead ensure that more people are placed on the registry and given additional criminal charges for administrative offenses related to non-compliance with the registry system.

Sex offender registry systems have no substantial evidence supporting their proposed effect of reducing sex offense commission and recidivism. Additionally, a substantial and growing body of law is showing that sex offender registry systems are in fact used as punishment, which runs contrary to several basic elements of our legal system and a citizens’ right not to be abused by the legal system.

The extant registry has negatively affected not only my ability to pursue happiness, but has hampered my ability to rehabilitate and avoid recidivism. Specifically:

– The daunting amount of registration requirements and the uncertainties of knowing if I have met all of them, combined with the making public of my most shameful moment online, contributed to my suicide attempt in 2013.

– The need to double and triple check regulations around my ability to travel domestically and internationally have made it hard for me to plan trips to visit loved ones and has made me anxious that I missed an arcane regulation while I was visiting, resulting in my isolation.

– Regulations surrounding my ability to travel abroad have forced me to give up on my dream of a career doing aid work in the Middle East

– I constantly have a low-grade fear that I have forgotten one of the myriad registration requirements and am subject to punishment

– I have fears of forming relationships with other people because I am worried that my status on the registry, and the fact that my information is publicly available, will result in being despised by people I meet

– The isolation that results from the effects of these regulations has made my rehabilitation process arduous and difficult