In a study published this year, researchers surveyed 183 sex offenders in Florida and found 27 percent said they lost a job because a boss or co-workers found out about their crime, 20 percent had to move from their home because a landlord found out, 15 percent had to leave after neighbors complained, and 33 percent were threatened or harassed by neighbors.

The Scarlet "A" has been replaced by a scarlet "SO." Branding individuals as sex offenders may be counterproductive if the branding limits rehabilitative options. Even more importantly, not all sex offenders are at equal risk of reoffending, and laws that may be needed to protect society from the most dangerous offenders shouldn't be applied so sweepingly that they ensnare offenders who are unlikely to reoffend.

Christopher Uggen, a professor of sociology at the University of Minnesota, noted that "sex offender" is a broad term that can include both a child molester and an 18-year-old with a 15-year-old girlfriend. ... "I don't think that we really earn that much with these blanket, one-size-fits-all policies," [Jill Levenson, a professor at Lynn University in Florida] said. "They're going to be over-inclusive in some ways and not enough in other ways."