BILL NUMBER: S8983
SPONSOR: SCARCELLA-SPANTON
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the correction law, in relation to including authorized
internet entities in the information sex offenders are required to
disclose upon registration
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would require registered sex offenders to disclose any author-
ized internet entities that they use.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill amends the correction law in relation to adding
"authorized internet entities" to the list of required disclosures upon
sex offender registration.
Section two of the bill amends the correction law in relation to adding
"authorized internet entities" to the list of required disclosures upon
a change to a sex offender's registration.
Section three of the bill relates to the effective date.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
This bill would require registered sex offenders to disclose any author-
ized internet entities that they use. Authorized internet entities are
defined as websites or services where persons under the age of 18
"congregate or communicate with other users for the purpose of social
networking." This would include most social networking sites including
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. A recent Court of Appeals case
(People v. Ellis 2019) ruled that the statute does not require disclo-
sure of authorized internet entities only the internet identifier
(emails, screen names) that a registered offender uses. The court found
that since the registered offender used their email, which was
disclosed, to access Facebook and displayed their true name in the
profile, they were not required to provide this information to the Divi-
sion of Criminal. Justice Services (DCJS).
This bill seeks to rectify the court ruling by ensuring a sex offender
registration has the full picture of a sex offender's online an activ-
ities and personas. This will provide DCJS and probation departments
with the tools to ensure that offenders are compliant with their terms
of release. Furthermore, the case involved the failure to disclose the
use of Facebook; a social networking site whose terms and conditions
prohibit registered sex offenders from utilizing the platform. This bill
would improve public safety by providing clarity in the types of inter-
net activity that must be disclosed upon registration.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A.305 of 2021-22 A.8560 of 2020
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have
become law.

Statutes affected:
S8983: 168-b correction law, 168-b(1) correction law, 168-f correction law, 168-f(4) correction law