미국 SORNA 정책 고찰

Abstract

Sexual offense is a devastating social problem. It has also become a highly publicized issue today in the global village across cultures and boundaries. Effective laws and policymaking are imperative. In this sense, international comparative studies can be useful. As an example, this essay analyzes the strengths and weaknesses of the American SORNA (Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act)policy. The SORNA policy is world-famous for its rich legislative history developed and inspired by the emergence of horrible child-abuse crimes in U.S. in the past two decades. Despite its various constitutional and technical shortcomings, the SORNA policy appears to be receiving a nationwide approval from the U.S. public. Although there is no conclusive empirical result proving the benefits and effectiveness of SORNA, American people in general now feel more informed about their community's safety,thanks to the existence of SORNA. Also, if implemented properly,the successful example of California has shown that the recidivism rate decreases as the legislators had hoped. Further expansion and progress in SORNA are to be expected as the public awareness of the policy increases over time. A similar path of development is also expected of the United Kingdom, which has a common-law based legislative history closely resembling that of the U.S. When it comes to the Rep. of Korea, it appears that although the country has started its sex offender registration and notification policy rather late in comparison to the other two, it already possesses a technologically advanced system which supports the Korean legislature's goal of reducing sex offense quite successfully. After all, the American SORNA, British Sarah's Law, and Korean Alim-e notification systems are internet-based today. The Korean competitiveness on electronic technology appears to be contributing to the good result. It can be expected that sex offender registration and notification policy is bound to expand and develop further in Korea. For those policymakers and academics concerned with improving the sex offender policy around the world, it will be interesting to observe the Korean development for the future.