The Oregon Web site is likely to feature just a fraction of the state's sex offenders, lawmakers say.

February 5, 2001

Eighteen months after sex offenders sued to block the state from posting names, photos, addresses and other information about Oregon’s 9,000 registered sex criminals on the Internet, lawmakers are planning to try again.

This time, they hope to avoid any legal hassles by authorizing state police to put a scaled-down sex offender registry online.

"We’re definitely going to come back to it," said Sen. Peter Courtney, D-Salem. "I think what we will do is narrow it to predatory types. They’re the ones that scare me to death because we still don’t know what to do with them."

Initially, the sweeping sex offender site was to go online Sept. 1, 1999. But lawyers representing nearly 20 offenders filed suit, calling it a violation of their rights and an invasion of privacy. Lawyers criticized the Web site because it lumped hard-core child molesters and serial rapists with people convicted of relatively minor offenses, such as indecent exposure.
State police put the site on hold until the legal challenge was resolved. The case now is with the Oregon Court of Appeals.

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Source: Statesman Journal, by Alan Gustafson