Individual Rights vs. Public Order

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how the United States is a country that prides itself on the level of freedom afforded to its citizens and how freedom and the rights of the individual are two concepts that helped shape the very backbone of the country. It also discusses how the concept of public order provides a framework by which most citizens can operate. In particular, it looks at what happens when there is a clash between individual rights and public order in the context of sex-offender notification rules. It concludes that the safety of the community should and must take precedence over the sex offender?s individual right to privacy.

From the Paper:

"Many cities have sex-offender notification laws on the books. These laws mandate that a convicted sex offender must notify the local police in the community in which he (most sex offenders are male; in fact the Department of Justice [1996] has determined that all but 3 percent of offenders who commit violent crimes against children are male) decides to live upon being released from prison. He is required to provide to the police information such as his place of residence, his place of employment, if he moves and where he is moving to, and other basic information. The police then make this information available to the community in some form, whether it be through a Web site, mailings, announcements in the newspapers, announcements at neighborhood meetings, and so on."

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