California lawyers are saying a law that would require minors to be listed on the state sex offender registry should not be enacted. The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 will require states to include sex offender as young as 14 on state registries. Some states already do this, but California does not.
Attorneys and human resource professionals say that research shows that a minor convicted as a sex offender in most cases does not reoffend. Being listed on the registry could penalize the child as an adult when searching for a job or getting into college.
States that have not complied say that it costs too much to comply. The estimated costs of complying are $1.5 billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
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