A total review and reconsideration of SORNA in its entirety is required. The three tiered level is completely flawed and must be reworked.

-The vast majority of those who are sexually abused (especially minors) are abused by a relative, friend or close acquaintance. SORNA does absolutely nothing to change that. In fact, the numbers of sexual abuse in this category has been steadily declining since the passage of SORNA and Adam Walsh Act in 2006.

-The ‘grab-and-run’ (kidnapping/sex assaults) that SORNA was ostensibly created to eliminate are almost exclusively perpetrated by individuals who not only have never been convicted of a sex offense, most have never been convicted of any felony. SORNA does not identify any of these individuals.

-Recidivism rates of ‘touch’ offenses (sexual abuse, criminal sexual contact, rape, manufacturing of child porn) are lower than the recidivism rates for almost all categories of felonies. Recidivism rates of ‘picture’ cases (possesion/reciept of child porn) are similarly low, and show little to no correlation to ‘touch’ cases.

-Those convicted of ‘picture’ cases almost never commit a ‘touch’ offense even though picture cases make up the majority of SOR citizens, as well as Federal sex offenses, but are often even more hampered in daily life than touch cases.

The real crime here is that in the case of many ‘picture’ offenses it is the FBI that is responsible for the dissemination of unverified videos of sexual acts with purported minors. Over zealous judges and prosecutors seize on those swept up in these sting operations and prosecute and sentence to the fullest extent possible in order to bolster their careers. And judges who see the flaws in the sentencing system are forced to impose unwarranted sentences because of the mandatory sentencing requirements. The individual is then caught in the SORNA cycle once they have served, with their lives and those of their family being trapped in this never ending program. Meanwhile the violent offenders are being charged with other felony crimes, like kidnapping, or assault, and are released and never register.

There must be empirical data to support the requirements set forth under SORNA. To date there is none.

-In the fifteen years that SORNA has been in effect, there is zero empirical evidence proving its effectiveness. Study after study presents no evidence that SORNA effectively reduces sex crime recidivism. In the absence of any empirical data showing that this is effective and in the face of so much evidence that registration only destabilizes and creates a barrier to successful reentry of a population that already has a low rate of recidivism, a complete review of SORNA is required.

The Walsh Act and resulting SORNA is a knee jerk reaction to a horrific tragedy. However, SORNA is being used to justify incarceration and monitoring of individuals that have not and will never commit a horrendous act such as the one that spurred the Act. This has become a money making venture for law enforcement, judiciary, prosecutors, prisons and jails and those tasked with ‘monitoring’ these individuals who fall under SORNA.