Every American state keeps a register of sex offenders. California has had one since 1947, but most states started theirs in the 1990s. Many people assume that anyone listed on a sex-offender registry must be a rapist or a child molester. But most states spread the net much more widely. A report by Sarah Tofte of Human Rights Watch, a pressure group, found that at least five states required men to register if they were caught visiting prostitutes. At least 13 required it for urinating in public (in two of which, only if a child was present). No fewer than 29 states required registration for teenagers who had consensual sex with another teenager. And 32 states registered flashers and streakers.
Because so many offences require registration, the number of registered sex offenders in America has exploded. As of December last year, there were 674,000 of them, according to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children. If they were all crammed into a single state, it would be more populous than Wyoming, Vermont or North Dakota. As a share of its population, America registers more than four times as many people as Britain, which is unusually harsh on sex offenders. America’s registers keep swelling, not least because in 17 states, registration is for life.
[…]
So laws get harsher and harsher. But that does not necessarily mean they get better. If there are thousands of offenders on a registry, it is harder to keep track of the most dangerous ones. Budgets are tight. Georgia’s sheriffs complain that they have been given no extra money or manpower to help them keep the huge and swelling sex-offenders’ registry up to date or to police its confusing mass of rules. Terry Norris of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association cites a man who was convicted of statutory rape two decades ago for having consensual sex with his high-school sweetheart, to whom he is now married. “It doesn’t make it right, but it doesn’t make him a threat to anybody,” says Mr Norris. “We spend the same amount of time on that guy as on someone who’s done something heinous.”
That same people who claim “the government can do no good” still trusts Big Brother to get it right with with “no fly” lists; “sex offender” lists, “terrorist watch” lists and similar.
It is absolutely asinine that as an example an 19 year old could have consensual sex with a 17 year old, and if the 17 year old’s parents decide to pursue it the 19 year old would be a sex offender?
My mother found the online registry and discovered a “sex offender” lived almost next door. Turned out some 20 years earlier he’d walked naked into the living room and someone saw him through the window. Can you imagine living your life with the tag “SEX OFFENDER”, having to report yourself any time you decide to move, not being allowed to get within a certain distance of a school, etc. simply because your bathrobe was in the dryer? Hey, child abusers and rapists? Lock ’em up and throw away the lubricant. But there should be some sanity, some scale to the laws.
Not that I would expect anything completely balanced to come from government in America, but to be consistent, people on no fly lists should be called “airplane offenders” and people on terror watch lists should be called “safety offenders”.
This is a serious questions to conservatives,
After DECADES of _you_ complaining about big government, you then cheered as _your_ leaders started compiling lists and secretly spying on our citizens?
When I was 18, my girlfriend was 17. I was arrested for statutory rape. Made me respect authority much more.
American mass hysteria – nothing like it.
Sexual offender registries are nothing more than an easy way for preening politicians to try and one up each other to show that they are “tough on crime.”
But like the article says, these registries are meaningless, except for the symbolic value to the huge population of people who are afraid to venture outside of their house lest they walk into a crime. Of course, the odds are very much against people becoming a victim of a violent crime, but it doesn’t stop millions from hand wringing about it.
And I would like say it’s unbelievable that oral sex or public urination would land you on one of these lists in many states. But it is entirely believable that public shunning persists in a country where it was written about in The Scarlett Letter more than a hundred years ago.
I agree. This is the Republican fascist state over compensating as usual and running the lives of millions.
Case in point. I have a condo rented to a 22 yr old “sex offender”. The crime? He was 12 years old and she we 10.
So, for the rest of his life, this pre-teen boy has his life ruined by the conservative taliban. It makes me sick to see this.
Hey, don’t worry, these lists are losing value anyway. Very soon it will be impossible to not be on one unless you are a member of the ruling elite. So just chill and be happy proles.
#9,
What are you talking about??? The lists are already useless… Say you found out your next door neighbor was on a list, it is not as if you could sell your house in an economy where there is a surplus of forclosures on the market, or a buyer could even get a loan…
I find it interesting that IF’ you released ALL the people out of jail that were JAILED for minor offenses.. Offenses that endangered NO ONE except the individual DOING THEM..
we could empty about 1/3 to 1/2 of most prisons and jails.
That means that the jobless rate would only double.
One way to keep the numbers down, pay $40,000 per year to keep them in jail. Whonder how many people they could help if they PAID the PERSON $20k per year?? and gave him a job cleaning up the roads??
As Jack (#7) quite rightly points out, this does seem to placate the most afraid among us. Those that feel freedom comes from carrying a gun. Those who insist anyone who commits a crime must be thrown into a prison and raped by all there.
#11 .. This is ridiculous. It makes too MUCH sense to be a good idea.
Beg pardon, Mr. Fusion? Just because you’re terrified of guns, don’t go projecting your fears onto gun owners. Feel free to move to England. They’ve already done with guns and gone on to banning knives, there. Can’t wait until they get to forks.
The point needs to be made that many of the lists are crap. The schools are supposed to watch out for everybody on the bleeping lists and the way things are going way to many parents, grandparents and family members are going to be on the lists most of them for doing things that don’t suggest we have a problem with them unless they show up drunk.
We need to know who is dangerous to kids and forget the rest of this crap.
This is from a lack of courage from our politicians to do the right thing. The insane law in Florida that leaves sex offenders no place to live except under a bridge. If they are too dangerous to live around normal people, then what in the hell are they doing out of prison in the first place?
>then what in the hell are they doing out of prison in the first place?
People like the ones complaining about the sex offender registries, also complain about prisons and harsh prison sentences, and police in general.
17,
SO,
you think a person that gets 5-10 years in prison BECAUSE they were caught smoking hash, is Fair.
OR,
A boyfriend in the bathroom ablutions, is seen by his girl friends DAUGHTER..the school hears about it and Takes the daughter and sends the boy friend to jail.. for 10 years..
This is even BEYOND Puritanism. This is idiocracy..
How about the father and mother that are TRYING to train their kids..and are reported for abuse, for spanking or letting their kids go to bed without eating dinner..
#18, ECA,
In fairness, can you point to anyone that got 5 years in jail for smoking some pot or hash?
Minor possession for cannabis is almost always a misdemeanor and at most, would be a couple of months in jail. Anyone getting 5 years or more was caught with enough for trafficking or was trafficking.
Dallas, If you believe that this is purely the fault of Republicans, then you are a clueless tool of epic proportions!
#19,
ok..yes I can.
HOW much is enough to SHOW position with intent to sell?? 1oz? 2oz?? 1 ton?
If you think about it..I would rather confiscate the 1 ton. and let them loose.
Then monitor them. HOW many times do you think they can afford to BUY 1 ton, or even GROW 1 ton, before they get tired of you TAKING IT AWAY??
Do you THINK a dealer will GIVE a Pound of smoke to someone to sell, if he KEEPS getting it taken away and CANT pay him back.
Also look at what the DEA is doing in california. WHERE medical MJ is legal.
So many problems like these are due to our desire to have politicians (who are looking out for their careers only) to enact and expand laws for publicity sake with no incentive or stipulation to ever re-examine or expire them.
After years of this stuff, we are a nation burdened with selectively enforced laws that micromanage our lives. It’s to the point that any idiot who dies from doing something stupid or in excess, a politician will immediately sponsor a new law to prevent anyone the freedom to do it at all. All their micro meddling in our lives has distracted them from the important and difficult macro work that has caused this country to fail.
Laws are like everything else, too many of them and they all lose value. Someone, needs to update these laws to a sensible standard and pardon those that have been convicted on laws that are no longer considered criminal.
The other failure of our pitiful legislative system is excessive punishment laws like the RIAA have lobbied to get enacted. When you can purchase extreme enforcement penalties for minor crimes, the law also loses credibility and respect. While the elite freely steal billions of tax dollars after colluding and corrupting our financial system, a kid gets fined over $600,000 for P2P sharing of a few songs. Seems fair…No?
When the local, county, state, and federal office holders and law enforcement are forced to live within these laws, is when they will stop. But not before then.
Let us see too the records of workers living from the tax money who have:
— Been caught visiting prostitutes.
— Urinating in public
— Teenagers who had consensual sex with another teenager.
— Committed sexual assault during the conduct of arrests or interrogations
etc
As long as the ruling class have their records secret and only get secret “administrative reviews”, but can and do enforce the law upon others who don’t get the “professional courtesy” then they will remain a ruling class.
@CB/#22
You are correct sir. very.
Do you write elsewhere? You have enough good material for about half a dozen articles.
In Arizona I have a female friend that was arrested for urinating in public when she was 18. She too is on the registered sex offender list. For peeing.
#21, ECA,
#19,
ok..yes I can.
Ok, so where are your examples. Pulling numbers out your butt is not the same as showing us a case where someone was sentenced to jail for 5 or more years for simply possessing a few joints or even smoking.
If you know of someone caught with 1 oz or less and received 5 years for THAT crime then please post it.