So I've been really bored and couldn't find anything THAT new or interesting to blog about, so I'll go with an ongoing issue and a two week old article that is addressing it. The article is from the Times describing how so sex offenders go untracked: http://tinyurl.com/2xpzqa. So basically because I just feel like these guys (and I say guys because not very many girls are classified as sex offenders) are often judged unfairly, and I think that people already start out with a prejudice against them, I'm going to go ahead and protect the rights of sex offenders in this post. Why? Those reasons, and because I enjoy being controversial and am interested in how people will respond. You'd be surprised at how much stuff I say just to start up some healthy debate, because frankly a lot of people argue without having any real substance to what they are saying. And here we go on this wild ride.
To start off, basically last year a bill was passed (Proposition 83) that forced all sex offenders to be monitored for life (I believe by satellites) and they can't live within 2000 feet of any parks or schools. And as everybody knows, just about everywhere (if not everywhere, I'm not totally sure) sex offenders are required to be registered and I'm fairly certain that anybody can look up where they live, and if there are any in their neighborhoods. I'm pretty sure that you actually have to go tell everybody in your new community personally that you are a registered sex offender and living in their neighborhood, but I can't be positive. That's messed up. Now I understand that this was voted on by the public, and this is what they wanted. But I'm not arguing about that, what I'm saying is that it's unfair, not that it isn't what the public wants. For one, it is totally ridiculous for only sex offenders to have to do this. Let me ask you this question: A man brutally stabs a stranger 5 times when he is 17, but he survives. He serves 20 years in prison, comes back and lives in your neighborhood like nothing happened. Now who would you rather know about: this man or a sex offender? And for that matter, why are sex offenders the only people that get labeled so negatively. I mean besides calling somebody an ex-felon nobody else really gets tagged so badly. And you can never really be an ex-sex offender. Once you make that mistake, it sticks with you the rest of your life.
As far as the rest of your life goes, apparently society just gives up on you after you commit a sex crime. By forcing these people to register and letting the world know about them you are labeling them as dangerous to the community. Do we officially just have no faith in our prison system anymore? Sex offenders are just that hopeless, that they can never be rehabilitated? Or maybe it has actually already been working. According to this site http://www.kare11.com/cs/blogs/scott_goldberg/archive/2006/05/17/1988.aspx, the majority of sex offenders aren't even second time offenders. 92% are first time offenders. So why do we need to do so much harm to the dignity of these people who most likely won't even commit a second crime? Oh right, because we already declared them to be a lost cause. And instead of protecting children in these 2000 feet 'safety zones' from registered sex offenders, maybe we should do something to protect them where they have been proven to be most vulnerable, in their own homes. As it turns out, everybody is WAY more likely to be sexually harassed by people they know, and not by stranger registered sex offenders. So why is there such a prejudice against these people who, just like many other people in America, just made a mistake at some point in their lives?
I just want to tackle one more point before I finish this. Some people say that many sex offenders ARE lost causes because most of the people who commit these crimes do so because they are mentally ill, and as such they should be monitored etc. etc. Well if this is the case and they are mentally ill, then they can't really be criminals can they? At that point they would obviously no longer be capable of being in any state of mind to control their own actions, and as such should not get such a bad stigma for doing things that they can't even control.
As you can see, anti-sex offender laws really don't make any of us that much more safe. At worst, you can probably admit that the resources and time used on these laws could have been better allocated. Most of these people did their time AND their probationary time, so why do we need to make them suffer more?
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6 comments:
Oddly, I tend to agree. The sticking point is that the label of sex-offender will follow these people for their entire lives. Basically, humans are, at a very basic level, sexual, just as they are violent. Sexuality, even if perverted by these criminals is something that will not go away. Sex offenders cannot simply stop being sexual, but instead are condemned for their entire lives.
You basically covered everything else that I would say, though I have one more thing to point out. The label of sex-offender is incredibly wide ranging. Sex crimes, in fact, are often not even considered crimes. Things like statutory rape, or juvenile molestation, while gross, are considered okay in some circumstances by some people.
All this is not to say that rapists are ok, or just misunderstood, but I think that sex offenders probably deserve the right to be rehabilitated as well.
Eric velasco just trying to start and argument. I truly have not thought about sex-offender label and have personally never looked at the website that tells me if one lives near me or not. However, I personally am a supporter of rehabilitation of individuals (not only sex offenders)who commit crimes. I think that i forced to hope that indiviuals have the ability to fix their problems. Labeling someone of any form is not right. Yet, I also think that until that time criminals (sex offenders, murders, and anyone who has committed a felon) should be better monitored.
I'm not really sure where to stand on this issue. I mean, yes, sex offenders have the label that's goign to follow them their enitire lives, making it difficult. But in order to get that label, they did something pretty bad. Why shouldn't they have to pay for that; own up for what they did? Now, "sex-offender" does include a variety of different crimes committed, and those all range in severity, but I think I'd want to know if there was a sex offender near me.
Tracking sex offenders isn't a bad idea, it just seems like one that isn't extrememly realistic and also very complicated.
Kim, really I am against all this legislation against sex offenders.My point is that they are unfairly treated differently from all other criminals, if you see them as criminals. No other criminals have to go through the process of being labeled. Also, they in fact already DID pay up for what they did, They already DID own up for what they did. They did their time, and they went through their probation, why make them suffer more? Why is it that when somebody who assaulted somebody with a deadly weapon has finished their time in jail, they have "paid their debt to society?" For some reason sex offenders get singled out as never being able to pay their debt, now matter how much time they do in jail. And that just isn't fair.
I agree with you on most of your points, I actually had never thought about how harsh the rules are for them. But in my opinion, most of the hate, some of it misdirected, is because parents are horrified of something like that happening to their children, and would probably if given the otion open the death penalty for offenders, because it can and usually does ruin the lives of the abused child. How we classify offenders however, really should be changed, if an 18 year old has sex with a 17 year old, even if they have been in a relationship for 3 years, constitutes a sexual offence and they will have to register as a sex offender forever. That seems more than a little excessive, the courts need to differentiate between reckless kids and perverted molesters.
hmm..when i read the first paragraph of this article, i was so ready to fire back and tell you how ridiculous your agrument was. However, now that i have read the entire thing, i somewhat see where you are coming from. it is not fair that sex offenders make a mistake and have to live with it their entire lives, even after serving time. i am not sure how to make this issue fair though. there is a possibility that they can "strike again" and repeat their past actions, but it is quite unlikely. how much trust should we give sex offenders? i don't know the answer, but i think the government needs to change the rules for sex offenders to some extent.
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