http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/2002/02/19/scotus-sex-offender-registries.htm
High court mulls legality of online sex offender lists
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to consider the
constitutionality of Internet registries listing the names of
convicted sex offenders who long ago completed their punishment.
The ruling could affect sex offender laws in about a dozen states that
publish the names, addresses or other personal information about
convicted sex offenders on the Internet. The question is how far
states may go in requiring previously convicted sex offenders to be
included in a state registry that is available to anyone.
The court accepted an appeal from Alaska, where part of the state's
sex offender law was struck down last year.
Alaska's sex-offender law, modeled after New Jersey's pioneering
"Megan's Law," allows the public to track known sex offenders. All
states have some version of a sex-offender law.
In general, such laws have withstood court challenges if they were
narrowly directed at improving public safety. It is unconstitutional
to punish someone twice for the same crime.
[...]
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