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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted on: Tuesday, August 17, 2004

Registry of sex offenders returns

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawai'i's sex offender registry Web site was back online yesterday, two years after it was declared unconstitutional and shut down.

The so-called Megan's Law site lists the names, photos, addresses, and criminal history of sex offenders who live in Hawai'i. The state's Web site, eHawaii.gov, has a link to the registry.

At the site, the public can search for a sex offender by name, street name or ZIP code.

As of yesterday, however, there were only three names on the registry and it will take a while before the estimated 1,900 convicted sex offenders will be listed, said Norman Ueno, supervisor of the Criminal History Record Checks unit. All three listed offenders are in prison and not living in the community.

Ueno said the list will grow as prosecutors go through a hearing process before a state judge who will rule whether a sex offender's name should be made public.

In November 2001, the Hawai'i Supreme Court struck down the state's 1997 Megan's Law that required convicted sex offenders and predators to notify the public whenever they move into a community. The court said the law violated a defendant's right under the state Constitution to due process, privacy, prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment and equal protection under the law.

The Legislature has since passed a law that gives felony sex offenders the right to object to being placed on the list. The defendants need to show that they do not pose a threat and that publicizing their names and addresses is not necessary.

Reach Curtis Lum at 525-8025 or culum@honoluluadvertiser.com.