Controls on Sex Offenders After Prison
History of Registration and Residency Requirements
The United States witnessed an increase in sex offender management policy at the Federal, State, and local levels beginning in the 1990s. As a result, laws have been enacted which impose a variety of post-incarceration controls on sex offenders. Three such controls — residency restrictions, registration requirements, and civil commitment — have been especially at issue in judicial decisions in recent years. In two cases decided in the spring of 2010, United States v. Comstock and United States v. Carr, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed questions raised by Federal civil commitment and registration requirements. Residency restrictions are a matter of…
