Posted on 01/31/2008 6:01:18 PM PST by Drew68
KINGSTON - Starting next year, urinating in public could land you on the sex offender registry.
But two state lawmakers are trying to make sure that doesn't happen.
"People who are caught in a situation of public urination, as part of the complaint they're charged with indecent exposure," said Rep. David Welch, R-Kingston.
This year, that isn't a problem. But starting next year, when New Hampshire complies with a new federal law, anyone convicted of two indecent exposure charges within three years will have to register as a sex offender.
Welch and Rep. Stephen Shurtleff, D-Penacook, think that's wrong.
"I know there are many homeless people in New Hampshire," Shurtleff said. "There are older people with medical conditions ... and also young people may have too much to drink in a bar."
While there should be a law against public urination, he said, the penalty should fit the crime.
Sex offenders must live with numerous restrictions: they're not allowed to live near schools, they often can't coach youth sports, and they're not allowed to stay in homeless shelters, Shurtleff said.
Beyond that, a number of people have been forced, at one time or another, to relieve themselves outdoors, Welch said.
"I don't think it's a major crime wave," he said. "I think what happens is, in most cases, these things happen if the individual might have a medical reason, he just can't help himself; hunters, there's no bathroom in the woods."
That's why the two lawmakers have offered a different law - one that prohibits public urination. Violating the law would result in a violation - a fine that wouldn't leave a permanent criminal record.
Shurtleff had originally recommended a Class B misdemeanor charge, which would leave a permanent criminal record. But he said Welch convinced him the violation charge is preferable.
The issue came up when the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 was passed. A federal law, the Child Protection Act means states will have to start treating indecent exposure cases differently.
Shurtleff is on the committee tasked with aligning the new federal requirements with their New Hampshire law. When he realized that public urination - which is typically punished by a fine - could land someone on a sex offender registry, he proposed a bill to change that rule, House Bill 1294. He expects the bill to be taken up sometime next week.
Kingston police Chief Donald Briggs said these charges are pretty rare, anyway.
"We have a few incidents a year referencing indecent exposure," he said, but doubted there are more than two or three instances over a 12-month period.
I think that any one who is watching me take a pee and wants to arrest me is a voyuer and should be arrested as a sexual devient and a criminal!
Well, I can see how this might be a valid problem,
then again, maybe not.
In addition...,
ooops, ‘scuse me...be right back...damn Budweiser...
“Hey, turn yer headlights off!”
Follow the money! They’re probably on the take from the makers of Depends!
Then, they'll form a circle and pee on you.
Can't imagine what the neighborhood sex offender registry is going to look like when they add this "crime" to it. People aren't going to know if they live next to a violent serial rapist or someone who took a leak in the bushes.
And do they all carry portable outhouses? I bet they don’t run very fast, then.
I agree.
The traffic came to a standstill about 20 miles north of Florence and we spent hours moving at a crawl.
I had three kids in the car and the oldest, at age 12, had to pee so bad he could taste it. We were sitting still on the Autostrada so I tell him to get out and do his thing which he does.
I'm watching him pee on the median in the rear view mirror when the cars ahead of me move out. The cars behind are honking, as the Italians are prone to do, so we left him there and moved on.
One of our favorite Christmas memories is of our son peeing in front of dozens of Italian families and then having to run after us on the Autostrada yelling for us to stop.
I wouldn’t worry. I think that you have to be tried before a jury of pee-ers.
>Then, they’ll form a circle and pee on you.<
That’s when they’d find out about the snub .38 I keep under my arm. Yes’ I’d aim for the head.
At a certain age, when you’ve got to go, you’ve got to go NOW!
For men, the entire world is a urinal.
I’ve done it. Not in many, many years, but it certainly wasn’t an exposure thing. I was a drunken college student who had to go.
And Ozzy Osbourne was banned from San Antonio for years for taking a leak on the Alamo.
Happens a lot with Bear Whiz Beer.
Oh they are exempt due fact they never had indoor plumbing etc ......
if there was a little red light everywhere I have taken a pee, the earth would outshine the sun
A golf course is actually a very nicely landscaped rest room...
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