At its meeting on January 20 and 21, 2022, the American Law Institute (ALI) Council reserved consideration of revisions to portions of the Model Penal Code’s (MPC) chapter on Sexual Assault and Related Offenses, including the MPC revisions relating to sex offense grading and registration. This delay comes despite approval of the relevant revisions from ALI membership in June of 2021. Prior to the June approval, some had opposed the draft provisions in the belief they will do more harm than good by placing a seal of approval on an inherently harmful system. See Letter to American Law Institute on Model Penal Code: Sexual Assault and Related Offenses, The Center for HIV Law and Policy (2021). Some called upon ALI to instead “support the complete abolition of sex offender registries and the attendant collateral consequences that often accompany such schemes.” See Comments to American Law Institute on Model Penal Code: Sexual Assault and Related Offenses, National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (2021). While several minor amendments to the draft were adopted at the June meeting, the draft went forward to the January meeting of the Council largely intact.
The Council’s decision to delay final consideration to March resulted from letters received from the Department of Justice, the National Association of Attorneys General, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. All three groups opposed provisions of the draft that eliminated the Megan’s Law websites and all other public identification of registrants, as well as eliminating registration entirely for almost all those with only one sexual offense. For additional information about the provisions in the draft MPC, see Ira Ellman, American Law Institute Adopts Revisions to Model Penal Code That Include Major Changes to Sex Offender Registries, SOLPRC (June 16, 2021).
The Council will continue its discussion of the reserved sections and topics at its March 2 meeting.
Additional information can be found on ALI’s website.