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Sex-offender registry
will have fair rules

THE ISSUE The state's registry of sexual offenders would be expanded under rules in a bill before the Legislature.

VOTERS gave the state Legislature authority last year to regulate exposure of sexual crime offenders on the state registry, and lawmakers have fashioned a bill that is an acceptable compromise. The measure would allow past sex offenders an opportunity for a hearing to remove their scarlet letters after a period of good behavior.

Sex-offender registries have spread across the country since the 1994 rape and murder of Megan Kanka by a convicted child molester who lived across the street from her home in New Jersey. The Hawaii Legislature was among the states to enact Megan's Laws, but the state Supreme Court ruled four years ago that it violated the Hawaii Constitution.

The court ruled that sex offenders must be afforded court hearings before being placed on a registry accessible to the public at police stations and on the Internet. The constitutional amendment approved in November authorized the Legislature to create a system for determining who should be included in the registry.

The bill before the Legislature would require that sex offenders' names, photos, work and home addresses and past sex offenses be posted on the registry for 10 to 20 years, depending on the seriousness of their crimes. In some cases, the offender would be automatically dropped from the rolls after a certain time unless prosecutors make a case for continued exposure. In others, the offender would have the burden of proving the listing should be dropped.

The registry now consists of 64 offenders, all of whom were provided hearings, while some 1,900 will be added if the bill is enacted. Five offenders have prevailed in hearings and were able to dodge the registry. The most recent was a 45-year-old man who was convicted of a 1978 rape but has not committed another sex offense, although he has committed other crimes. His omission is consistent with the bill's rules.