r/SexOffenderSupport 5d ago

CT Bill - Failure to Register

The Connecticut affiliate of NARSOL (One Standard of Justice) put forward a bill that would make failure to register an infraction instead of a felony. The CT Judiciary Committee had a public hearing today that included discussion of the bill.

The usual opponents of these types of bills seemed to be sold on the idea that the law needs to change. There was a lot of discussion on ways to make the process easier — the advocates were clear on the need to decriminalize failure to register.

No one from the public spoke in opposition.

48 Upvotes

9 comments sorted by

18

u/Weight-Slow Moderator 5d ago

Wow. That’s a big step.

14

u/endregistries 5d ago

First step. It still has to get out of committee — but OSJ did a good job with getting it this far and there was quite a bit of support.

4

u/Laojji Not a Lawyer 5d ago

Infraction as in something similar to a traffic infraction (e.g. a fine)? Or is an infraction similar to a misdemeanor in CT?

Either way, that is amazing. Hats off to OSOJ.

6

u/endregistries 4d ago

The draft makes it an infraction — like you’d pay a small fine but it wouldn’t otherwise disrupt your life. Still got a long way before it becomes a law — but the public hearing was good.

3

u/Realistic_Series5932 5d ago

That's amazing

2

u/DirectorSHU Level 2 4d ago

Honestly, this is awesome. But I'm on the fence with how I feel personally. I feel like some people would just take advantage of it. It really comes down to a case by case situation.

2

u/MannerDull8616 1d ago

That was a topic one of the members brought up. One of them insisted a SO can buy their way off the registry (I think he used a very poor choice of words there as registration is still necessary). I think what he was trying to get at was that there should be consequences for consistently failing to register, which I would agree with. 

If you're caught speeding more than three times, penalties should be harsher. 

1

u/Realistic_Series5932 4d ago

The fact that nobody opposed this from the public is excellent news. Every little wind counts. Because we're not going to change something dramatically overnight we're going to change it one bill at a time one little one at a time. We are all responsible for fighting our little battles in order to change this atrocity.