Off to Elba! The Legitimacy of Sex Offender Residence and Employment Restrictions

This article will look at why sex offenders are treated differently than other criminal offenders. Sex offenders are subject to sanctions and prohibitions above and beyond what other criminal offenders must face. Next, the article will look at some of the residence and employment restrictions placed on sex offenders to determine if they are rationally related to any legitimate government interest without overbearing the sex offender’s constitutional rights. Finally, the article will offer an alternate means of sex offense prevention that encourages sex offender assimilation back into society instead of further exclusion. This article will focus on those individuals who have been classified as sex offenders and who have successfully completed their sentence, however long it may have been. This article does not deal with laws aimed at restricting the freedom of individuals released on probation or parole. Any type of supervised release is a contractual agreement between the individual and the state and any rights an individual wishes to waive to have some limited degree of freedom are within the individual’s discretion and the state’s prerogative to require