Risk relevance

Risk relevance, as used in the U.S. legal system and by psychologists, is a characteristic of material or behavior that increases or suggests a person's likelihood of engaging in illegal sexual acts involving minors. It is sometimes used as a justification for prohibiting possession of such materials, especially by convicted sex offenders who are in prison or on probation or supervised release.

Federal Bureau of Prisons policy describes risk relevant behavior as "[i]nstitution behavior related to a sexual offender’s history that indicates risk of future sexual offending upon release (e.g., an inmate convicted of child pornography who collects pictures of children; a sex offender who attempts to contact potential child victims)." The sex offenders' discharge evaluations include a "[s]ummary of risk classification based on actuarial instruments and other risk-relevant factors". Sex offenders can be expelled from treatment programs for "[p]ossession of pornography or other risk-relevant stimulus materials (e.g., collections of picture of children)." Such expulsion is recorded in the prisoner's discharge evaluation, which goes to "probation or community programs staff to promote more effective management and supervision of these offenders in the community."

Correctional management plans

In the Federal Bureau of Prisons, prisoners who are deemed to have acted in ways that are deemed risk-relevant can be subjected to increased restrictions, per BOP policy, which states that "[c]orrectional management plans may be imposed on personal property or contact with the general public to effectively manage the risk-relevant behavior of incarcerated sexual offenders". Sex Offender Management Program (SOMP) "staff may be expected to perform secondary monitoring of mail when an inmate has an active Correctional Management Plan, to determine the presence of risk-relevant material." This is based on a belief that "[e]ffective management of sexual offenders in prison requires accurate assessment of risk-relevant behavior and the implementation of modifications and restrictions in property, mail, correspondence, and visitation to minimize risk of re-offense."

These correctional management plans can be imposed only at SOMP institutions, specifically FCI Marion (Medium), FCI Marianna (Medium), FCI Petersburg (Medium), USP Tucson (High), FCI Seagoville (Low), FCI Englewood (Low), FCI Elkton (Low) and FMC Devens (Medical). However, per policy, "Inmates at non-SOMP institutions who demonstrate risk-relevant behavior may be referred for redesignation to a SOMP institution to receive a Correctional Management Plan." The policy also states, "If, during the course of routine security operations, a sexual offender is detected to have engaged in possible risk-relevant behavior, psychology staff should be notified".