Posted on 07/05/2006 10:37:50 AM PDT by Clint Williams
Georgia’s new sex offender law, ostensibly designed to keep some of society’s worst elements far from where they can cause harm, is already a failure.
The law, which had been scheduled to take effect on July 1, is tied up in court already, a move that likely has law enforcement agencies across the state sighing with relief.
The law has good intentions. It prohibits sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a number of places where no one wants them: schools, day care centers, churches, etc. The problem is that once many municipalities began drawing 1,000-foot circles around everything the law enumerates, there were not many places left for sex offenders to live.
The new law prevents sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of school bus stops. There are more than 2,000 bus stops in Camden County. Once the county finishes drawing 1,000-foot circles around all of them, there probably won't be much real estate, if any, left over in Camden County for sex offenders.
And if there's no room in a mostly rural county like Camden, there won't be any in most of Georgia. This is likely what lawmakers intended when they wrote the law, but it's irresponsible lawmaking at best.
Why?
The law is embroiled in a Constitution-level lawsuit and has had a temporary restraining order placed upon it by a federal judge, blocking its enforcement. The question is whether the law imposes an ex post facto — after the fact — punishment and is therefore unconstitutional is one that will be tied up in court for some time. It's likely the lawmakers knew this before passing the law, but were just hoping to score some points by appearing tough on crime, even though the law can't be enforced and, therefore, has no value.
There are other parts of the legislation that make sense and have the desired effect of clamping down on sex offenders. The law mandates a 25-year prison sentence for rapists and child molesters and requires sexual predators to be monitored by electronic tracking devices.
Perhaps the greatest danger of the new law is that it is so strict that sex offenders will simply stop registering with police departments as required. This registration is vital to helping law enforcement monitor the whereabouts of sex offenders and if sex offenders fail to use it, there is no law enforcement organization in Camden County with the resources to track them all. Other states that have enacted laws similar to Georgia have seen registration rates drop from more than 90 percent to less than 50 percent.
We are all for laws that increase safety for children, but this one needed a little more thought before being enacted.
Best way to deal with the situation is to lock them up forever...
Even better. Execute them.
Laws based in hysterics are usually do the exact opposite of what was intended. This is an excellent example. Unintended consequences are a pain.
Funny how the media and the cops never have a problem with outlawing gun ownership within 1000 feet of a school or church. They never cry that that level of gun control is unenforceable and forces the drawing of 1000-foot circles around everything.
You won't get the emotion laden hysterics to hear your point. What this needs is calm, thoughtful, rational control. If they keep pandering to emotion, there is no effectiveness and therefore no control of the situation.
I've heard this before, the reason is that many of the offenders simply leave the state.
Which I think was the original intent all along.
One is how easy it is for the press to manipulate emotions and overhype "risk."
And no amount of statistics will ever win when people are buying into the emotional angst. The press lives to frighten the masses and even conservatives will buy into it.
"Even better. Execute them."
Even better, execute everyone. We can't be victims if we're dead.
Registered Sex Offender does not equal Child Molester in Georgia folks. If you stop on the side of the road and run into the woods to pee, you can be charged, tried, and convicted of indecent exposure...which requires you to register as a sex offender after paying your nominal fine. Oral sex is still illegal in Georgia. Getting that special favor from your spouse and forget to close the curtains? Uh, oh! You can be charged, tried, and convicted, etc, etc.
child raping USED to be a capital offense. now it's just an alternative lifestyle
The article says: The law mandates a 25-year prison sentence for rapists and child molesters and requires sexual predators to be monitored by electronic tracking devices.
The above scenario qualifies. There was a story posted last week about a 19 yr old who got his girlfriend pregnant and served 6 yrs. And now can't find a place to live because of this law. Common sense has to step in soon. Eveytime the hysterics start, the Constitution takes another hit too.
Rape against adults used to be a capital offense too.
He had his kid with him when giving the interview. But he can't take the child to the park or to school. Totally insane.
Exactly.
This is true. Nevertheless, I saw a lot posts on stories about this law where other Freepers were cheerleading this stupid and inane law. Those people don't live in or near any state that has passed such legislation. Talk about a bunch of ignorant fools. The truth is that these laws do not protect children. 80% to 90% of sexually abused children are done by somebody they know, usually in their own home. It takes up more time of police departments and a sheriff's day to enforce compliance, even though they know where most of these deviants are living. It pushes the freaks out to the country and you've got a bunch of sex offenders living near each other in motels. Meanwhile, you've got a bunch of politicians walking around, acting like they're protecting kids. Just wait, in a few months in Georgia you will see articles from law enforcement about what a mess this is. You'll see compliance rates drop.
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