I think even the publication of a story like this in a respected magazine is because many in the USA are beginning to question these weird laws that sweep everyone into one basket and possibly create more dangers than help.

Appeal judges in one US state-can't remember which-overturned these laws as being unconstitutional which they obviously are but a challenge is needed in the Supreme Court for it to stick.

But local politicians simply re-introduced the law-the problem being that DAs and so many in law enforcement in the US are elected so it's all political.

I know one policeman in Oz who works in the area of tracking so-called registered sex offenders (although they aren't officially called that )and he basically says it's a pointless exercise because it takes resources away from tracking really dangerous repeat offenders and they spend most of their time monitoring people who have been convicted of one-off minor crimes unlikely to ever re-offend.

Oddly-in Oz they are about to introduce some of the strictest privacy laws that will prevent even the publication of a person's criminal record once they have served their time (you can imagine the apolexy of the tabloids) yet Europe-once far more liberal, is bringing all it's sexual law enforcement laws into line with Britain's.

Then again they have elected a proper left-wing government for the first time in decades.