EFFORT TO TRACK SEX OFFENDERS DRAWS RESISTANCE

New York Times/Abby Goodnough and Monica Davey

An aggressive federal effort to keep track of sexual offenders is at risk of collapse becauseof objections from states and legal challenges from sex offenders and others.  The effort,approved by Congress three years ago, requires all states to adopt strict standards for registeringsex offenders and is meant to prevent offenders from eluding the authorities, especially when theymove out of state.  The law followed several heinous crimes by sex offenders on the run,including Joseph E. Duncan III, who in 2005 fled North Dakota, where he had been registered, andcommitted sex crimes and murder in three states, ending with the torture and killing a 9 year oldboy in Montana.