The palm card is a collection of the most salient facts regarding sexual offending, quickly available for reference or for distribution. Since space is at a premium, citation references are omitted with one citation being given that will point here. The actual palm card is viewable and downloadable here. To print your own copy, you will need to download and print the front and the back separately.
- Approximately 800,000 names are on U.S. sex offender registries as of early 2025.
https://www.safehome.org/data/registered-sex-offender-stats
- In more than a third of sexual abuse cases against minors, the perpetrators were also juveniles.
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/227763.pdf https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/saycrle.pdf page 8
- 23% of contact offenders were under age 18 at the time of their offense, with 16% under age 12.
https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/pdf/saycrle.pdf page 8
- Putting youth – some as young as 8 – on registries severely negatively impacts their futures.
https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/09/11/no-easy-answers/sex-offender-laws-us ;
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-sex-offenders-list-teens-risk-perspec-0529-md-20170526-story.html
https://www.hrw.org/report/2013/05/01/raised-registry/irreparable-harm-placing-children-sex-offender-registries-us
- Over 95% of new sexual crime is committed by persons NOT on a registry.
http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-18509-003
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/231989.pdf page 15
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232505213_Does_a_Watched_Pot_Boil_A_TimeSeries_Analysis_of_New_York_State’s_Sex_Offender_Registration_and_Notification_Law
- Public urination, sexting, underage sex, and indecent exposure can trigger a requirement to register.
https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/09/11/no-easy-answers/sex-offender-laws-us third section
- Many registrants face unemployment, homelessness, instability, and personal danger.
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1043986204271704?journalCode=ccja ; https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/231989.pdf page 9
- Only a small fraction of those on registries are truly high-risk.
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/231989.pdf page 11
- “Stranger-danger” is rare; 90% or more of victims know their attackers, higher for children.
https://www.rainn.org/statistics/perpetrators-sexual-violence
https://www.innovations.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/105361.pdf page 7
- Re-offense is rare. In the largest recidivism study ever done, the DOJ reported a 5.3% re-arrest rate and a 3.5% reconviction rate after 3 years.
https://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/press/rsorp94pr.cfm
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/231989.pdf page 7
- Research studies have found no relationship between having a registry and a decrease in sex offenses.
http://psycnet.apa.org/record/2008-18509-003
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/225370.pdf pp. 7, 41
- Sex offender registries put innocent family members of registrants in harm’s way.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12103-008-9055-x
https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/231989.pdf pages 9-10
- Registrants are frequently denied special housing such as nursing home care and section 8 housing.
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/06/aging-sex-offenders/528849/
http://scholarship.law.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1386&context=elders
- Former sex offenders are less and less likely to reoffend the longer they live offense-free.
https://www.hrw.org/report/2007/09/11/no-easy-answers/sex-offender-laws-us
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0886260514526062
https://ofm.wa.gov/sites/default/files/public/legacy/sgc/sopb/meetings/board/2015/10/research_outline.pdf
https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/024_hanson_decl_11.7.12.pdf
- Current sexual offense laws create conditions that lead to increased crime.
https://qz.com/869499/new-evidence-says-us-sex-offender-policies-dont-work-and-are-are-actually-causing-more-crime/
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1100663