Mercedes Perez’s paper on sex offender registries is published

September 10, 2009 - Windsor  - Mercedes Perez and Toronto lawyer Anita Szigeti have co-written an academic article entitled “Sex Offender Information Registries and the Not Criminally Responsible Accused:  Have We Cast Too Wide a Net?”.  The paper appears in a special volume of the Windsor Review of Legal and Social Issues dedicated to mental disability (Volume 25, September 2008, page 69) and is informed by their experience representing clients found not criminally responsible by reason of mental disorder who were caught by Ontario and federal sex offender registry legislation.  Addressing a void in Canadian legal writing, the article critically examines the decision to subject NCR accused to registry requirements.  The authors argue that the inclusion of NCR accused in both registry schemes undermines the special status accorded this group under Part XX.1 of the Criminal Code, potentially rendering the legislation unconstitutional.