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Thursday, June 21, 2012
by Michael Loatman
Louisiana has garnered national attention for its new law that requires registered sex offenders to post the details of their conviction on their social media profiles.
The law, effective August 1, will create La. Rev. Stat. § 15:541.2(D), which requires a sex offender's profile to include that "he is a sex offender or child predator and shall include notice of the crime for which he was convicted, the jurisdiction of conviction, a description of his physical characteristics . . . , and his residential address." The information must be visible to other users or visitors on the social networking service.
The law serves as a social media version of various laws–often dubbed Megan's Laws–that require the provision of information about sexual predators to the public.
Louisiana enacted a tougher law last year, an outright ban on registered sex offender use of social networking websites. However, a federal judge ruled that law unconstitutional in Doe v. Jindal, No. 11-554-BAJ-SCR (M.D. La. Feb. 16, 2012), after it was challenged by the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana.
It remains to be seen whether any groups successfully challenge this new law, or if it serves as a popular model for states seeking to update their Megan's Law.
Copyright 2012, The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.
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