Public Opinion and the Criminal Justice System: Building Support for Sex Offender Management Programs

Public fear about sex offenders presents a unique challenge to leaders working to establish or improve policies related to supervising and treating sex offenders in the community. Public sentiment that the criminal justice system should do more to safeguard the community from sex offenders has led to the enactment of a host of measures in recent years, such as sex offender registration, community notification, and involuntary civil commitment for some sex offenders. Numerous statutes have also been passed that reflect the public’s belief that violent criminals, including sex offenders, should be incarcerated for longer periods of time. Despite such laws, however, most convicted sex offenders will be released into the community at some point – whether directly following sentencing, or after a term of incarceration in jail or prison. The criminal justice system has the responsibility to manage these offenders without unduly risking victim and public safety or undercutting the offender’s habilitation1 or successful reintegration into society. While the sex offender management field is fairly well united in the belief that the responsible management of sex offenders includes rigorous community supervision and sex offender-specific treatment, public opinion can influence whether such initiatives will be supported or accepted in a jurisdiction.

Public opinion has the power to shape legislation, funding decisions, and the political landscape related to the community supervision of sex offenders. Given this, those working in the field of sex offender management must understand public sentiment about their work, provide citizens with accurate information, and recognize the public as a legitimate partner in deciding how to effectively manage sex offenders, in order to prevent future victimization. However, many practitioners have implemented mandated sex offender legislation and developed specialized supervision and treatment programs without considering the impact of public opinion on these new laws or practices. This brief draws on the experiences of jurisdictions that have incorporated public opinion into their response to sex offenders, as well as lessons learned from jurisdictions that have utilized public opinion to influence other criminal justice system policies and practices. It will address three areas of interest:

why the public’s perspective is important;

how leadership in different states has benefited from studies of public opinion about crime and criminal justice issues; and

why it is essential that the criminal justice system view the public as a partner rather than an adversary or simply a group of consumers.

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http://www.csom.org/pubs/pubpinion.pdf