Your reputation has pretty much hit rock bottom once you've been labeled a sex offender. To most people, that moniker means that you're either a rapist or child molester -- neither of which is likely to win you any popularity points. Unfortunately, a sizable number of who were convicted long ago of now-legal acts such as sodomy or oral sex have also been stamped with this unsavory label, snared in the same net with those who committed violent sexual crimes. Now that sexual offender databases are accessible to the public in the wake of Megan's Law, having your name in the database can have devastating consequences.

Addressing the issue of unfairly stigmatizing those convicted of victimless crimes, California recently amended its sex offender registration law to exempt people convicted of certain now-defunct crimes -- mostly acts of consensual gay sex that were legalized in 1976 -- from being registered as sex offenders. If already registered and included in any sex offender database, they can have their names removed. The exemption process involves submitting documents to the California Department of Justice to prove that the conviction was for conduct between consenting adults. If the DOJ denies the application, the person can appeal the decision to the California Superior Court.

Inquiring Minds Want to Know

• maintain a database of sex offenders

• optionally let the states develop their own databases, and

• require the states to enact public notification laws or lose federal crime-fighting funds.

Once a database is created, the public can browse the contents of the disk at sheriff's offices and police departments across the state.

Caught in the Swell of Public Outrage

Most states and localities say that these types of "sex crimes" should not and would not appear in any records available to the public, but that is not always true. In California, for example, those who were prosecuted for consensual gay sex before 1976 were convicted under the same statute that is now used against child molesters. State statute § 286(a) used to prohibit all sodomy; it was amended in 1976 to prohibit sodomy with a minor. But since both types of criminals were convicted under the same statute number, the computer database has no way to distinguish between the two.

California's amended sex offender notification law should help to filter out of the system some of those who most agree really don't belong there. And other states are working on their registration and notification systems in an effort to protect those likely to be smeared with the same broad brush as criminal offenders. But even California's new law only protects a small class of people: those convicted of now-legal consensual gay sex. Other types of offenders such as a teenage boy who is busted for having sex with his underage girlfriend won't be able to take advantage of the exemption. For him and others who were convicted for essentially victimless crimes, the name "sexual offender" is a heavy cross to bear.