Families of SOs Community Group
WE HAVE MOVED!!! ............................. ............................... ......................... ............................ ............................. .......................... HERE: http://support-for-families.boards.net ............. ................ ............... ................ ............................... .................Please create a profile...
http://www.app.com/article/20110922/NJNEWS/309220061/Court-Electronic-monitoring-sex-offender-violates-his-constitutional-rights
@wethepeople22, though it is admirable that you recognize the preservation of Constitutional Rights, you are slightly in the dark when it comes to whether s e x offenders can be rehabilitated. First off, only about 5% of those on the registry fall into the classification of actually being deviant, or dangerous, the vast majority are there as a result of first offenses, or a myriad of newly criminalized "offenses". Are you aware that hundreds of thousands of children and teens are on the registry for exploratory and consensual s exual behavior? In some states if a 19 year old has sex with a 17 year old they will be charged with "statutory rape of a child" regardless of the fact that it was consensual. The 19 year-old will be on the registry more than likely for the rest of his life and the older he gets, the worse the charge will look. And BTW Jake54, the registry HAS been ruled punitive (punishment) by several states recently, especially after the effects of the registry were studied by experts. When it is ruled punishment by a high enough court, it will be declared unconstitutional and returned to its original purpose as a tool for law enforcement only. As long as it is a public registry, it will continue to punish, not only the offender, but their families, friends, employers (if they can even find a job), and many innocent people. There have been cases of homes being burned down because they were the former residence of an offender who moved on, but even though they registered at a new address, the registration office was so backlogged that the change had not been made on the public registry. People have been judged, beaten harassed, ostracized and killed for being on the registry or related to someone who is. Does this not seem like punishment to you? The registry was not created as punishment, but society has turned it into one by using it as a public hit list.