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CJJ Submits Comments on Proposed Supplemental Guidelines for the Adam Walsh Act
On July 13, 2010, CJJ joined more than 325 organizations and agencies nationwide in submitting comments to the U.S. Department of Justice in response to the Justice Department’s proposed Supplemental Guidelines for Sex Offender Registration and Notification as related to implementation of Title I of the Adam Walsh Child Protection & Safety Act – better known as the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).
First enacted in 2006, the Adam Walsh Act mandates, among other things, that youth age 14 or older adjudicated for certain sex-based offenses in juvenile court be required to register for a period of 25 years to life with a national, publicly-accessible sex offender registry. States and other U.S. jurisdictions, including federally-recognized tribes, that fail to amend their laws to require this population of juveniles to so register, and who fail to expend their resources to enforce the new registration requirements, are subject to a 10% withholding of their federal Byrne Justice grant funds.
The original deadline for states to come into compliance with SORNA was July 27, 2009. On May 26, 2009, at the urging of Congressional leaders and more than 100 national and state organizations, the U.S. Attorney General granted a one year blanket extension of the deadline to July 27, 2010. As of the writing of this column, only three states and two federally-recognized tribes have been deemed to have substantially implemented the mandates of SORNA, and more than 150 jurisdictions and tribes have requested an extension of the compliance date. Four years post-enactment of the law, states continue to express opposition to the mandates of SORNA, prompting the Justice Department to revise some of its original implementation guidance.
In its comments, CJJ commended the Justice Department for proposing a supplemental guideline that would provide greater protections for youth adjudicated within the juvenile court by allowing jurisdictions to exercise their discretion not to include youth on a public access registry. CJJ also urged the Attorney General to grant another extension of the SORNA compliance deadline to give states more time to substantially implement SORNA as modified by the new rules. Finally, CJJ reiterated its strong opposition to the application of SORNA to youth adjudicated within the juvenile court, in accord with CJJ’s formal position statement on the Adam Walsh Act.
To view the comments in their entirety, click here. To view CJJ’s formal position statement, click here.
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