OPPOSE: AB 1437 – Requiring Youth Registration

Why doesn’t it align with yli’s values?

AB 1437 would require youth adjudicated of certain sexual offenses to register upon their release from a secure youth treatment facility. After decades of state and federal registration requirements and studies of their effects, multi-disciplinary expert bodies all agree that registration of youth who have committed sexual offenses is a failed policy.

Registries are motivated by the false assumption that youth who commit sexual offenses are highly likely to recommit sexual offenses and consequently require a higher degree of surveillance. In fact, sexual recidivism rates among youth are exceptionally low (below 3%), and sexual offending during childhood or adolescence does not predict adult sexual offending. However, registration increases the likelihood that young people will experience physical and sexual violence. For example, in one study, registered youth were nearly twice as likely to have experienced an unwanted sexual assault that involved contact or penetration in the past year, and were five times as likely to report having been approached by an adult for sex in the past year.

yli partners with thousands of youth across the state, the majority of whom are low-income youth of color. We witness first hand the brutal impacts of our state’s harmful “justice” system on their lives, and are staunch advocates of measures that will reduce the criminalization and incarceration of our communities.

This policy aligns with our Racial Justice Platform, which addresses the impacts of the carceral system on communities of color.

What is yli doing about it?

We have just submitted a letter OPPOSING this bill, and we are showing our support on Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.

Who else opposes this bill?

• Sister Warriors Freedom Coalition
• Alliance for Boys & Men of Color