A Study in “Actuarial Justice”: Sex Offender Classification Practice and Procedure

Criminal registration laws trace their origins in the United States back to at least the 1930s.See Note, Criminal Registration Ordinances: Police Control Over Potential Recidivists, 103 U. Pa.L. Rev. 60, 62 (1954).California is believed to have enacted the first exclusively sex offender-oriented registration law in 1947.See Elizabeth A. Pearson, Status and Latest Developments in Sex Offender Registration and Notification Laws 45, in National Conference on Sex Offender Registries (U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics 1998).The State of Washington, in 1990, became the first U.S. jurisdiction to implement a "notification" provision for sex offenders.Id.For an insightful examination of why sex offenders, in particular, historically have been singled out for special treatment, see Deborah W. Denno, Life Before the Modern Sex Offender Statutes, 92 Nw.U.