Professor J.J. Prescott talks about Michigan's Sex Offender list.
There are some 37,000 names listed in the Michigan Public Sex Offender Registry.
According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Michigan has the fourth-highest per-capita number of people on its list.
But there are questions about Michigan's registry – whether it's really keeping us as safe as we like to think.
People with misdemeanor offenses are listed alongside rapists, pedophiles, and hard-core offenders.
A federal judge recently declared parts of Michigan's registry law to be too vague, even unconstitutional.
J.J. Prescott is a law professor at the University of Michigan. And he's a widely recognized authority on sex offender laws.
Prescott says the state's attempt to monitor these sex offenders may actually contribute to recidivism, as those on the public list are ostracized from society. "It's public shaming to the point where somebody might actually say, what's the difference? I'm living as a pariah, miserably, outside of prison," says Prescott.He joins us today to talk about some of the law's unintended consequences.
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