How Chelsea Changed the Law

Date

2015

Authors

Morgan, Erin

Access rights

Worldwide access

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Abstract

Sexual assault has always been an issue in the United States, but in recent years it has been given more attention due to high profile cases, new legislation, and recent initiatives, such as the White House’s “It’s On Us” campaign. While new legislation is being introduced, one must question why this new legislation is needed and evaluate the shortcomings of sex crime legislation as a whole. I have found that sex crime legislation in the past have been good laws in theory, but when their effects are studied, these laws have largely failed to fulfill their intent. The ineffectiveness of these laws have allowed sex offenders to use loopholes to their advantage and have not deterred first time offenders or curbed recidivism in the desired amount. The ineffectiveness of these laws has prompted the need for one of the strictest sex crime laws, Chelsea’s Law. Chelsea’s Law created a one-strike policy for sexual predators who commit the worst and most violent sex crimes against children while also revising other sex crime laws to improve upon their shortcomings.

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Keywords

Sexual Assault., Chelsea's Law., Sex Offenders., Sex crime legislation., Sex offender registries., sex crimes.

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