For one of my classes, I’m doing a persuasive speech against the sex-offender registry. From the rudimentary research I did, I concluded sex-offenders could not lead normal lives here in the US once released from prison(for better or worse, but that is neither here nor there for the moment).
Anyway, what would happen to an american sex-offender who moved to Canada, hypothetically? First, would his probabtion allow him/her to move out of the country? Second, once in Canada, would residents there have anyway of knowing his past? When seeking a job, would Canadien companies background checks show his criminal record?
I assume the offender would not be allowd to move out of country. I also assume his criminal record would show up in Canada, but I cannot find sites for either point. Hopefully you geniuses can help me out.
Ilsa_Lund: It’s entirely possible the OP actually supports the registry, but was handed the con side by the teacher. The point of those classes is to teach people to argue both sides of any argument.
In Oz, our government would ask your government if the person applying for a visa was a person of good standing and act accordingly. See also Willie Briggite.
Actually, I choose to argue against a sex-offender registry…
But this is a General Question and not a Great Debate…
The answer to my question is not vital to me speech. I was trying to put myself in the shoes of a sexual-offender( ), and, being Canadian, I thought I would move back to Canada. So I guess I’m working under the assumption that the offender is a Canadian citizen.
Well, we did have sex offender a few years back here in Canada, I think his name was Graham James, who was a minor hockey coach and had sexual relations with teenage boys, hockey players he was coaching, and did some jail time for it. imagine the surprise when it was revealed in the press that he had done his time, completed probation, and moved to Spain where he was… working as a hockey coach.
Probation doesn’t generally let you move out of the state you are living in, let alone the country. You have to meet with your probation officer on a regular basis, which can be difficult if you leave. However, once your probation is over, you are free to leave.
As for background checks in Canada showing US criminal history, my guess would be “no”. No cite, but having dealt enough with non-criminal cross-border legal issues, I’d have a hard time believing that there is any co-ordination on this.
It seems that a sexual assault conviction would make it very difficult for an offender who is not a Canadian citizen to get into Canada at all. I’m trying to look up information on what happens to Canadian citizens who, say, are convicted in the US, serve their time, then return to Canada.
That “assumes Canadian” changes everything. First, if you are a Canadian citizen and are not a US citizen, the US and Canada have a deal where they will send prisoners to their home country to serve out their sentence. I don’t know if that means you now have a record in Canada and the US, but I wouldn’t be surprised.
On the other hand, lets say you are a dual citizen. The US (correctly) regards you as a US citizen, and could care less about what other citizenship(s) you have. You serve out your time in a US jail, get out on probabtion, then enter Canada as a Canadian citizen. This is like your original question - I doubt Canadian authorities have any idea of your past.
And Googling shows me that there are a lot of companies offering “international background checks,” which seems to mean that 1) They’re entirely possible, but 2) Regular background checks may not include them.
So, based on this, a Canadian citizen who was convicted of a sex crime in the US would not be required by law to participate in the sex offender registry, at least in Ontario, and might not have his/her US record discovered during a normal background check. But someone might have some other ideas.
Uh, the US does. Here’s what the US asks of visitors http://travel.state.gov/DS-0156.pdf and immigrants (page 6) http://uscis.gov/graphics/formsfee/forms/files/i-485.pdf. As they say, answering yes isn’t automatic grounds for exclusion, however, what they don’t say (but should be obvious) is that if you answer yes, you better have a very good excuse. If you lie and answer no, and they find out, you lose.
I know somebody who is having trouble entering the US because of what most people would consider a prank. The dude used fake ID to get into a bar while underaged, was arrested, held in jail overnight, then released. No charges were ever filed. A few months later he left the US to return to his home country. Now, a few years later, he’s trying to get back to the US. He’s been told to sit tight for 6 months while they investigate.
