The United States Government review: Branding People as Sub Citizens 31

why is usa spending SO much MONEY outside? do they have a brain? they are like women spend spend, spend.fix the problem here you idots!look at what you are doing to the gov. spending?

I don't know all sex offenders but I have met some child molesters who finally got convicted and served their time in prison and are now out on the streets doing their thing. One thing I noticed about these guys I know, they believe children are equal with adults, they believe any child having sex with them wants it and therefore the child molester does not believe they did anything wrong to the child. They are sick individuals who prey on the innocence of others, be they children or other naive adults.
I believe child molesters should not be trusted because they will continue to harm others but of course they will learn new tricks and try to convince everyone of their so called innocence

Amanda thanks for the article. We have had several teen boys commit suicide for having 5 images on their computer of girls their own age. We know who the real perverts are, the ones who want to watch a death of a 16 yr old kid. These people are so sick someone should have them put into a mental hospital. These people wont read the truth they will just follow whatever the media says because they can't think . I guess they would rather have their children die from a drunk driver than live next door to some 16 yr old who looked at a photo of another 16 yr old.

What is going to be even more hysterical is when one of these pro slavery people get locked up themselves, There young son just may piss off his girlfriend and she cries rape. People who yell the loudest have the most to hide.Make sure you come back here when you need support when your hubby is trolling on the internet for porn and accidently end up with child porn.

Don't worry it will happen to your children. Maybe your hubby already has a porn addiction. I think people who want to view people dying are for more perverted than some sex offenders.

WOW all I can say is wow. The registry has it's good point and its bad points. If you committ a sex crime as an adult against someone you should be punished. But if you are juvenile and do a sex crime it should be all the other laws in this country that protect juveniles. You should not be placed on the registry for life. Even football players get second chances in life why shouldn't our children, be taught, eduated and showed the proper ways in life. Many of these children are victims themselves and where never taught it wasn't right. Education is the only key for the juveniles. If you are a true sex offender than you should be punished as so. But not the youth of this country or someone peeing along side the road, and by the way in michigan it doesn't have to be in front of a child it could be in front of anyone, that drove by. SAD STATE.

I am in a similar situation. I've tried on several occasions to cancel or even give away the points to Flexiclub for free, but to no avail. I am sure there must be a way to protect consumers against these kind of predators. All other types of investments has an exit option/strategy. Perhaps one should lodge a complaint with the department of Trade and Industry. I'm sure they would blacklist you if you are unable to pay the annual levies. This could have a direct impact on your credibility and future credit ratings. If the scale of the problem is highlighted with an appropriate authority I am sure it can be adequately addressed. I am ready to do what it takes.

Some of you folks need to keep in mind that "sex offender" doesn't automatically mean they molested kids.
If you're caught peeing in public, THAT can get you a sex offender fine.

Yet you're more than willing to say they should be killed when that could be you some day if you make one mistake.

Drive time needs to be shut down...plain and simple. I would love to join in a class action suit against them.

Samuel my family has a rich military history and has always been proud to serve its country - yes the same country you are serving - but never would any of them make the statement you just did. In effect, you are saying you are intentionally fighting for (and proudly) the right for people to commit sex crimes. That is truly shameful.
Brenda, I don't think a single person supporting this bill is saying they think 15 year olds swapping pics with a classmate are in the same group as those who this bill is actually targeting. And i have to agree that you must be a close relation to an offender or yourself are an offender. Yes I am a victim; not just a onetime victim but repeated by multiple persons. Now don't you dare tell me that I must in some way have solicited these actions as they occurred between the ages of 5 and 18. Not one of these people was a one time offender. They were all repeat offenders.
The push for increasing punishment is because this is societies most heinous crime. To forcibly take a person's innocence, to cause children and families, grown women (and yes men) who have fallen prey to sexual offenders both in childhood and as adults to live in fear.
Perhaps you think there is nothing sacred about a child's innocence or about sex or intimacy but there is. You have told us all to search ourselves and decide whether we would want the world knowing life's actions and I wouldn't have a problem with that. Yes there are things I probably should not have done but I have served the consequences to those actions; like slashing the tires of a seemingly abandoned car with my brother and his friend when i was 10 only to have it turn up NOT abandoned. We had to pay to replace the tires and 18 years later still hear about it at family gatherings. May I suggest you also meditate on your life's actions only please spend the bulk of the time contemplating why it is you do not think innocence is something to be protected why children are not sacred and we should not protect them with everything we possibly can.
Every action has a consequence. If teenagers are sending risque photographs of themselves to others then parents need to have conversations with them about long-term consequences. If they are caught they should have to sit through a mandatory class about safe sex and social awareness. If they continue their actions without reform they should be sent to therapy before it does develop into something greater. But convicted sex offenders - and i think the majority of us can agree we're talking about rapists, molesters and the such - should never be released from prison and if they are EVERYONE has a right to know if they are living in their neighborhood, community, town or state.
No I am not a parent. I am a victim. I am an Aunt. I am a childcare provider. It is my obligation to know if there are predators in the area; rapists, molesters and murders alike.
One last note. Samuel, Brenda, Amanda and anyone else who commiserates with their view, it is views such as yours (however seemingly harmless you think they may be) that encourage the offender to repeat, that brings the thought of normalcy into their illness. Their actions are not normal, common though they may be. Please think before you calcify a position such as you have. Do not make it just because you have known someone wrongfully convicted; rather, please think of all those out there who have not been convicted yet should be, of the countless children world wide being sold into prostitution, of the child living down the street being molested by a brother or father or uncle or mother etc., of the men and women walking home from work only to not make it because they have fallen prey to an outcasts heinous desires. Think of all those people. It happens to so many more than you would ever suspect.
And if you're thinking the statistic is 1 in 5 women is victim to sexual abuse sometime in their lives you are wrong. I don't know a single woman who isn't the victim of sexual abuse.

Dawn,
you do know that those kids that are not tried as a adult are still put on the registry when they turn 18 dont you? Thats a Federal law. They are put on the registry because of something they did while being a KID. some for 30 years, some for life. No matter what age they were, because a felony from ANY state carries on your record for life.
Do you think that is fair?
and also dawn, just so you know.. not everyone on the registry has a victim. not all are child molesters or rapist. However since you supposedly work in the court system, you should already know this. That is why i am calling your bluff!

Dawn,
A 15 year old caught sexting another 15 year old will be on the registry for that offense, Because they are distributing Child Porn, Because they are MINORS. See thats the problem here, you want to talk about something you dont have a clue about.
The registry starts at age 14.
Please make sure you know what the registry laws are before trying to tell me, the person who has 16+ caseloads of minors with sex offenses.

I just got one more thing to say,

When people give up their liberties for more protection from the government, their will be more crime. Also when people ask the government for more help, there is always a price to pay.

People today have the mentality that everything has to be done for them by others. No one wants the responsibility of being responsible anymore.
I have people that come in my office everyday always looking for a hand out, when they have everything already. Needless to say I do not feel sorry for those people, However I do feel that not all crimes are done because they are a bad person. People make mistakes, its naturally human to make mistakes. Should that person pay the rest of their life for their first mistake? NO
Lets take one situation to light, sting operations. I see alot of this locally.
This is where a police officer will act like a child on the internet talking to anyone that will talk, trying to entice the other person to meet using whatever carrot they need to dangle to make it happen. If and when it does happen, the person is arrested. There was no child involved, no sex involved yet they are now a sex offender?
Ok, now lets take a prostitution sting, Man walks into room with a girl talks about paying for sex, It does not become Illegal until money changes hands.
Do you see how these two situations are very alike? Now one is only illegal if something changes hands, How can the other be illegal for merely talking about it?
we have two very similar situations here, but the rules are very different.
I say make a registry for every crime, or none at all. Keep government out of your home life. Act like the adult you should have been raised to be, And be Responsible.
And no one here on this site would ever need to worry if there was a sex offender registry.

Erin,
you asked:
How many people have been victimized by sexual reoffenders? I have no exact statistic to quote here but isnt ONE enough? How many lives need to be ruined in order to coddle sexual offenders?

I can ask the same question about drunk drivers, people who hurt others for texting while driving, people charged with assault, People who have ever been charged with a crime! BUT you do not see them and all their info plastered all over the internet, and they do not have to abide by lower living conditions for the rest of their life either!
If the government wants to classify 100 different charges into one group ie: the sex offender registry, Why dont we have a registry for every crime?
You cant actually say its because Sex Offenders are more dangerous can you? How many children a year die from a sex offender? NOW how many children die a year from a drunk driver?
OH i get it, you want to know if your neighbor is a drunk! OK tell you what.. why dont we just create a law where Everyone must put all their information online, Including bank accounts, account numbers, when they last seen a doctor, Every detail of their life so you know the danger of your neighbor!
I must say I see the dumb logic in that, sorry i must not be on your mentality level to want or even care what my neighbor has done in the past. Want to know why? Because unlike 99% of lazy americans today, I watch my kids, I know where my kids are, I take part in their growing up, instead of pawning them off to a babysitter. I react with my neighbors, get to know them NO matter what there past is.

People in their teens up to the mid 30's dont have a clue how to raise a child anymore, they give them a game to occupy their time so the parents can do what they want. Man, i sure would hate see what they would have done back in 50's and 60's era.
If parents would take the time to raise their children instead of letting society raise them, you would not have to ever worry about a sex offender.
And just for the record, I am a probation officer for the state of NC, I deal with all likes of people everyday, and I see alot wrong with the laws today. Laws are made today to take the Bordon off parents to raise their children correctly!

Everyone here is talking about Victims, Do you know that half the people on the registry do not have a victim? Not every person on their has raped or touched a child, or woman for that matter. Some are falsely accused, like many school teachers are now days because they verbally punished a child. Some are accused of bumping up against a young girl, and the parents overreact, All it takes is someone to blame you for any little thing, and they haul you off to jail, Your Face plastered in every newspaper 50 miles away. The courts do not care if you are innocent, they will prosecute you until you prove you are innocent. Now, How can anyone prove they are innocent from jail when you have a 2 million dollar bond?
Point is, innocent or not a lot of people take a plea bargain to just get out of jail because its living conditions only to find out the laws they agreed to at that time have changed for the worse with many new regulations added on every year. And america gets away with it because they use civil laws? For a Criminal charge?
What about a person in their house walking around naked? Where is the victim there? What about the two high school students texting naked pictures to each other? Where is the Victim there? What about the person on the side of the road taking a leak? Where is the victim there? See not all people on there have a victim.
To take one persons crime, and group it with another' s of a different charge is really wrong. The people on there with NO victim is treated the same way as a rapist and physical child molester. I see a big problem there..
To say you agree with this, is saying that speeding ticket you got is the same as killing 15 people, Do you feel that is a fair deal?
You think about it long and hard, and if you still have the same conclusion that the registry is fair, then please move to change all the laws to have the same equal punishment.

@Brenda - yes, next, drive through, please. You think you speak for the majority? You seem barely able to speak for yourself.
@ErinSadler - So you think sex offenders can't be treated by time in a cell? You agree it's a sickness? Well, the Supreme Court of the US and those of many states have repeatedly decided that a person cannot be imprisoned for mental illness! Now what? How about treatment? I do grieve for the victims as well, but I feel certain that many of them go on to lead normal, productive lives and excel, where the sex offender does not have the opportunity to do so after they have paid their debts. Many victims continue to carry on screaming victim, when they should be labeling themselves a survivor and moving on with their lives. And you enable all of this by your attitude and point of view. Oh, I do have two friends who are sex offenders, one of them with a child of 13 when he was 21. They are always welcome in my home and I view them no differently than any other person who has been to prison.
Listen, this Holiday Season, when you're sitting in Christmas Mass or are out yodeling carols on the streets, think about the phrase "Peace on earth, goodwill towards men, " and think about what you have written today. Everyone deserves a second chance, and none of us have the right to take that away. No one forces you to associate with an ex offender, but you do not have the right to arbitrarily punish them further after their release. That *is* unconstitutional, as well as morally wrong, just like the ex post facto laws the government is trying to push. Courts have already shot them down.
Have a good Holiday Season. Peace, out.

@immodest - Thanks for the eloquent reply. It does nothing to shore up your opinions.
@ErinSadler - that comparison was first done by a Rabbi, so... Further, I would not trust anything from the federal govt., especially the Dept. of Justice, which has stood for anything but. My goodness, they have a horrible record. Their existence depends on keeping folks in jail! I would far rather see an independent analysis. I really think your moral rage is blinding you. It goes back to my argument that Americans need someone to kick around or they just don't feel right about themselves or their lives. I suspect the 43% of sex offenders that the DOJ claims are re-arrested, are re-arrested because they fail to register since they are not allowed to live anywhere. They can't get jobs, state assistance, people spit on them, assault and murder them, and you would sit in judgment? No one has the right to do that to another human being after they have paid their alleged debt to society. It does not say much for American society if it allows this to continue. It is a gross miscarriage of justice and an offense to human rights.

@JerseyGuy46
Thanks for the stats. Kinda backs up what people have been saying that sex offenders are less likely to re-offend.
Can you explain this one? "Sex offenders were about four times more likely than non-sex offenders to be arrested for another sex crime after their discharge from prison –– 5.3% of sex offenders versus 1.3% of non-sex offenders."
As English is not my first language, is this comparing sex offenders to non-sex offenders in being re-arrested for a sex crime? That's a strange comparison.
The stats also show a good basis for keeping the re-offenders in prison for a much longer time, but provide no basis for the registry to function as it is. I would also be very wary of any statistics coming from the US Government. It would be interesting to see a nationwide aggregate that was independently done. Do you have any stats from, say, 2007 onwards?

So, thought crime, huh? Wow, George Orwell would be pleased!
Further, you show your humanity by saying: "There would be no devastation to the offenders families and communities had they not offended in the first place. The damage to both the offender's family and community as well as the victims and their families and communities is caused by the offender. " That is so sad and so wrong. This public listing shames and endangers the families and children of offenders as well.
This is supposedly a country of opportunity and second-chances, but you would deny sex-offenders a second chance. How wrong is that? You apparently don't think people can change, and you say there is no cure. But where are you getting these statistics? Is there some quantum leap in psychiatric medicine that says this? I haven't read of it yet. Would you please pass along your references?
Immodest, I had hoped you would be able to be reasoned with, but you just slam doors. Are you really that close-minded, or are you just writing things to prolong this discussion so the buffoon who goes through and rates everyone who is pro with a "-" and everyone who is contra with a "+" has something to do in their spare time?

Mine are based on what I have seen and read and the premise of right and wrong as well as history. What the US is doing now is no better than what Hitler did to the Jews or the Jews have done to the Palestinians. I believe in Human Rights as well as punishment, but I also believe in rehabilitation and treatment. The problem with so many of your ilk is that you immediately want to crucify people without regard to the extent of damage your actions may cause to their families or to the community in general. Not to mention the fact that the law just doesn't work.
Shame on you if your assertions are based on your education. Obviously, you have cut it short somewhere or attended rural parochial schools. I think somewhere deep inside you is a better person than this.
And for the record, your assertions are just as self-serving as Amanda's and you still have provided no cites.
I'm really curious though. have you ever known anyone who is a "sex offender?" What did they allegedly do? Were you surprised when you found out, because they seemed to be such a good person to you? Have you met them again since? How did you treat them? Here is a chance for you to expound on your theories and observations.

My status? Really? What do you know about me? Nothing. But let's talk about you and your hyped statistics.
Please do give us citations to the studies wherefrom you derived your ludicrous assertions. Amanda was the only one to give citations. Can you or won't you? Without that, your assertions are just that: assertions.
All you have done is parrot some fear-mongering politician somewhere and parts/excerpts of the law and proposed bill.
Try using that omnipresent brain of yours and think for yourself for once instead of eating the hype and fear generated by others. Oh, and grow up!

And we thank you for doing so, immodest.

1. Don't feed the trolls. These people get vacuum dents in their foreheads every time they attempt a cogent thought.
2. The only statistics I saw on this board so far which were backed up by any citations were from Amanda. How about the rest of your Witchfinders General come up with citations to your quoted statistics. You can't, because they were simply made up in your addled minds.
3. Who on earth are YOU to decide where anyone lives, or whether they live or die? You bloated lardasses would be the first ones screaming blue murder if someone did that to you with the same arbitrary and capricious methods being applied to sex offenders.
4. This is one of the reasons we are laughing stock to the rest of the world. Doing this is against the UN Charter of Human Rights as well as the European Charter of Human Rights. It's also against the constitution and it's only a matter of time before this gets brought up in the World Court of Human Rights or there is armed revolution by the 800, 000+ people you have forced onto this registry. Be warned!
5. We understand that, for some reason, it is human nature, and oddly enough, a pillar of US society, to need someone to feel better than. Beating on sex offenders empowers you to feel better about your own miserable lives and takes your mind off the failing economy and government and basically that the whole US is circling the drain and in the tank. There always has to be a dog for you to kick just so you can feel better about yourselves. Well, remember, you animals, that every dog shall have his day!

Even John Walsh has said he didn't want the sex offender registry going this far, that the politicians are using it for personal gain.
Since he is the one who pushed to create it, and he sees the wrong in it, I would suspect most of America does too.
Yea, put the Physical rapist and Child molesters on there, leave all the rest out as their crimes did not harm anyone but "usually" a parents EGO.
Sorry, but i agree it needs to be revamped

This sickens my heart. My son is on the registry and never touched a soul. He chatted online with a teenager when he was in his very early 20's! My gosh, I only dated guys in their 20's when I was a young lady that age! I'd have personally put 10 dudes on the registry if today's laws were in effect.

Remember, it doesn't take much to get on the registry. Don't shoot my son in the head. He's not dangerous and didn't touch anyone. Please remember this. Some of the comments make me worry for his own life and his childrens' lives and his wife! Do you want them all dead? How can we call this America if we want someone who chatted with a teenager dead? (no, he never attempted to meet her, she tried to meet up with him and he told her NO)

The evidence is there - learn the truth of how YOU can so easily become someone who has to register. It's scary and I tell every man I meet how easy it would be for me to put them on the registry. All it takes is me saying something untrue..and voila, they're in prison and on the registry - no evidence needed. It's my word against theirs and men are all ### I guess, according to these laws. We are no longer a freedom loving country if some of these commentors want what they want. I'm shocked and dismayed. EVERY American has rights.

He who is innocent, case the first stone, I sure can't.

yeah erin i can compare it to the perscution of the jews those men went over there fought and died so that the people of the US would not have to have those types of laws here.they fought and died for FREEDOM so that their children and grandchildren could live FREE lives and not to be told by the state on where they can and cant live if you start taking away peoples rights what makes you think that the next right to be taken away is the right to bear arms? think about it.go ahead be like sheep let big brother tell you what they think is best for you and your family.once they see that that can get away with doing this whats to stop them from taking away something else you hold dear? i am not saying not to punish or if someone is doing it over and over my god yes! punish them but not someone who did something almost 30 years ago they have a right to be left alone

i had a feeling someone would take what i said the wrong way its the concept behind freedom what this country is suppose to stand for its what we fought england for unjust laws you cant sentance someone 20 years ago and expect them to keep paying for their crime over and over and over.if someone does it over and over then YES! by all means punish them for it but if they went to court and asnwered for that crime 12 15 or 20 or even 30 years ago and have been crime free since then they have a right to live where they want they have a right to be free they payed their debt and the laws that was voted on are even catching up kids kids are now branded for life is this what you wanted? do you think that its fair to do this? i dont get it the law makers say that at 13 a kid can not consent to sex or 14 but yet you take that same 13 or 14 year old kid and they go out and do a crime say murder then all of a sudden they say the kid knows right from wrong and then want to try them as a adult!?...now i am at aloss for words

My dad 26, my Mom 17. Today he would be a sex offender. Thankfully this was in 1944 when they married and no one thought twice about it! If those out there think teens having consensual sex should be on the registry, I hope someday they don't get a wake up call and it is their child! AND, it doesn't even have to be sex; a semi nude photo or inappropriate touching are enough to land them on the registry! Follow this link and see what almost happened; thankfully someone came to their senses! But, I can just imagine the psychological damage that was done to this ALMOST sex offender! http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=94641&page=1 Or google the story from AZ on the parents who nearly lost their children because of pictures of their kids in the bathtub! Be VERY careful if you think you can't get caught up in this hysteria. It may someday be you!

back in 1941 japan bombed pearl harbor which pushed the US into world war 2 3 days later Germany declared war on the US it was then decided to go to Germany to take hitler out first because he seemed to pose the most threat now millions of men enlisted to go and fight. what Germany did was strip the jews of their homes their jobs their lives a lot of american men went overseas to fight this and a lot of them died gave their lives so that the German jew could be free to be able to live where they choose without the scorn from government is this the way the US is heading? i have been reading a lot of posts here about killing shameing tattoing people is that not what the german people did to the jews? is that what all of those american men went over there to fight and die for? is this how we cherish the memory of the men who fought and died so that someone in another country could be free? by doing the same thing to some Americans what the Germans have done to the jews during world war 2? you can say all day they did it to themselves and in some cases it is true but we do have laws we have the consitution that says no ex post facto laws will be enacted people who have served their time and payed their debt and who have been crime free since then have a right to be left alone and to live. is this what we have become? a nation of fear? we do not need govenment to raise and watch our kids we need to be parents we need to be responsable we need to watch our kids teach them right from wrong. and before any of you start yelling and screaming for my head and saying wait until it happeneds to one of your kids let me stop you right there it has happened to my child and it was not from a stranger it was someone that was well known to me someone that i had trusted with my child.and i will leave you to think about this think about that man the one who put on that uniform who raised his hand swore to defend the consitution then went overseas to fight and to die so that YOU could be free.

There is so much wrong with the sex offender registry laws. The worst thing is that now because of the national hysteria about the rare but horrible cases of stranger-danger, MOST who are put on the registry are NOT dangerous, and ESPECIALLY NOT DANGEROUS to pre-pubescent children. The registry is BLOATED and this does not help protect our children. It does, however, help unscrupulous politicians, overly zealous prosecutors wanting to use it as job advancement, judges scared of losing their jobs and mostly the drama-driven"news" stations, esp. FAUX news.
Garrida was in COMPLIANCE people...what does that tell you? The more non dangerous people on the registry, the better it is for the truly dangerous to hide..and that's exactly what happened and will continue to happen. BAD LAWS DO NOT PROTECT CHILDREN. These laws are not effective...they only are a smokescreen for protecting kids...they don't actually do it... but some people are buying it. That's a shame because it can backfire...If people 's lives are ruined (who are not dangerous) and they can't live in their own homes, lose their jobs, etc. what are they supposed to do?
I am not arguing to help truly dangerous offenders here (though the nutcases will take it that way). But we should want to help anyone with that kind of a problem to PREVENT crimes. (see COSA and it does work where it's been tried)
I'm arguing for those thousands on the registry who are on there for downloading porn (NO REAL VICTIM--just virtual ones...AND WHAT IS CALLED "CHILD PORN" COULD BE A SEXY 15 YR. OLD ...Now this man has a FELONY on his record and is on there for life? IS he really DANGEROUS? iS A MAN WHO GOES TO A TEEN PROSTITUTE WHO LIED TO HIM AND THE COPS about her age dangerous? These people and the mooners, public urinators, porn downloaders, esp. the texting nude pics, etc. BELONG IN A DIFFERENT CATEGORY than a dangerous child predator. Do distinctions matter? Obviously not to some people.

The sex offender registry is everything I signed up to fight wars against. It is un-American and I'll be damned if I won't say so if I was willing to take a bullet to keep other men free.

There are no real arguments here from the pro-shackles crowd, just trolls and internet rednecks slavering over the opportunity to make fools of themselves. I stand with honor and with truth and I stand against this abomination.