Collateral damage: Harsh sex offender laws may put whole families at risk

Research says that registries and residency bans leave children of sex offenders vulnerable to bullying, homelessness

August 27, 2015 5:00AM ET

No studies have looked at what proportion of the country’s nearly 850,000 people on state sex offender registries are providing for families of their own. But activists say that thousands of female partners and children are being hurt by laws that aim to protect kids.

Sam Ward for Al Jazeera America

But today there’s a growing body of research and court opinions questioning those laws’ effectiveness and constitutionality. No studies have looked at what proportion of the country’s nearly 850,000 people on state registries are providing for families of their own. Activists say, however, that thousands of female partners and children are being hurt by laws that aim to protect kids.