108
Souter, J., concurring in judgment
our past cases, which have relied heavily on the legislature's stated label in finding a civil intent. See Hudson, supra, at 103; Kansas v. Hendricks, 521 U. S. 346, 361 (1997); Allen v. Illinois, 478 U. S. 364, 368 (1986). The placement of the Act in the State's code, another important indicator, see Hendricks, supra, at 361, also leaves matters in the air, for although the section establishing the registry is among the code's health and safety provisions, which are civil, see Alaska Stat. § 18.65.087 (2000), the section requiring registration occurs in the title governing criminal procedure, see § 12.63.010. What is more, the legislature made written notification of the requirement a necessary condition of any guilty plea, see Alaska Rule Crim. Proc. 11(c)(4) (2002), and, perhaps most significant, it mandated a statement of the requirement as an element of the actual judgment of conviction for covered sex offenses, see Alaska Stat. § 12.55.148 (2000); Alaska Rule Crim. Proc. 32(c) (2002). Finally, looking to enforcement, see Hudson, supra, at 103, offenders are obliged, at least initially, to register with state and local police, see §§ 12.63.010(b), (c), although the actual information so obtained is kept by the State's Department of Public Safety, a regulatory agency, see § 18.65.087(a). These formal facts do not force a criminal characterization, but they stand in the way of asserting that the statute's intended character is clearly civil.
The substantial indicators relevant at step two of the Kennedy-Ward analysis likewise point in different directions. To start with purpose, the Act's legislative history shows it was designed to prevent repeat sex offenses and to aid the investigation of reported offenses. See 1994 Alaska Sess. Laws ch. 41, § 1; Brief for Petitioners 26, n. 13. Ensuring public safety is, of course, a fundamental regulatory goal, see, e. g., United States v. Salerno, 481 U. S. 739, 747 (1987), and this objective should be given serious weight in the analyses. But, at the same time, it would be naive to look no
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