By: Sharon Wilson
Georgia. Iowa. And soon....Kentucky. The Welcome Wagon of these states have a message for persons convicted of a sex-related offense. Sex offender? Living within 1000 feet of a school, playground,
Georgia. Iowa. And soon....Kentucky.
The Welcome Wagon of these states have a message for persons convicted of a sex-related offense.
Sex offender? Living within 1000 feet of a school, playground, day care, public bus stop, school bus stop, or any other place where children are known to congregate?
Get out. Pack your bags. NOW.
Own your home? Lived there for years? Too bad. Break up your family? So sorry.
No grandfather clause. If the above designated locations exist in your neighborhood now or is built in the future, time to relocate. Don't slap yourself in the rear on your way out the door.
You are hereby evicted.
"I don't care how inconvenient we make it for these guys," said Kenton County, Kentucky Sheriff Chuck Korzenborn. "Don't commit the crime and you won't have to do the time."
Korzenborn's comments lead all to believe that all sex offenders are child molesters.
Well, aren't they?
WRONG.
Welcome to the Witchhunt of Modern Times.
Much controversy exists regarding how persons become labeled a sex offender. Most Americans believe that the registry lists convicted child molesters when in actuality, many offenders listed on the Registries have been convicted of poor-behavior-choice offenses, which involve no victim and no physical contact. An example of such would include online talk with an undercover police officer posing as an underage minor. Teenagers involved in a consensual sexual relationship, known as "Romeo and Juliet" relationships, with the male or female partner considered underage in the eyes of the law, are also listed as sex offenders on the nation's registries. ("Groups Propose Tier System For Sex Registry" Internet Broadcasting Systems and Local6.com, May 2006).
"This new law has a great amount of surface-level attraction," said Richard Tewksbury, justice administration professor at the University of Louisville. But the negative effects are significant enough that they far outweigh the positive benefits." Tewksbury says Kentucky's new law is "a bit misguided" in that it assumes all sex offenders are targeting children. He called it "politically popular."
"It's a furthering and widening of the sentence (sex offenders) received in a court of justice," Tewksbury said.
In other words, a violation of constitutional rights. Ex post facto, i.e. after the fact, retroactively, repunishing an American citizen repeatedly, over and over and over until politicians have sufficiently vote-mongered respective constituencies into full-fledged fear and hysteria.
The United States Constitution. Remember that document? Signed by our forefathers? The impressive groundwork for our country that apparently, has been RECYCLED?
Holy crap, people! Are you paying attention?
Kicked out. Spit out. Forced to move. In Georgia, the residency restriction law puts everywhere off limits. No place to live. Banished from the entire state!. Whether you have lived there 3 months or 30 years. Bye-bye. In Iowa, cars have become home. Those without cars are camped out in the woods. Many are choosing to go underground, refusing to comply with registration requirements. Kentucky residents, designated as sex offenders, will soon face the same choices, come July 12.
Fresh out of prison, Kerry Skora would much rather be known as a murderer than a sex offender, due to the stigma. "The reality is sex offenders are a great political target," said Rep. John Fritchey, a Chicago Democrat.
The legal battles are brewing. "We are looking into the constitutional issues and are concerned that people's civil liberties are being impacted," said Lili Lutgens, a lawyer with ACLU of Kentucky. Well, Lili, depends on your local ACLU. In Florida, the organization has been unnaturally silent on the issue. In Michigan, the ACLU has no problem defending the civil rights of male cheerleaders.
So much for the ACLU.
We have blacklisted Americans known as sexual offenders based on misrepresentation of the truths swirling about this issue. The collective "we" have allowed politicians to exploit our most vulnerable fear, the safety of our children, for personal political advantage. We are all responsible for allowing hysteria driven legislation, at the city, state, and federal level, to remain unchecked due to the manipulation of our emotional bonds to our children by politicians.
We are better than that.
Enough is enough.
References Cited:
Rebecca Van Drunen, Confederation College,"Outcast Society: A Closer Look at North American Sexual Offenders in the Twenty-First Century", May 5th, 2006.
Sharon Wilson is a freelance writer who rants and raves via her political blog, Smashed Frog, http://smashedfrog.blogspot.com Get Smashed! Join the online discussion regarding the absurdities of government.
