Registry for drug dealers debated

Cape Cod Times ^ | April 19, 2010 | Jake Berry

[chapin2500]

Legislation proposing to create a registry for convicted drug dealers is meeting with positive reviews across the state, according to state Rep. Demetrius Atsalis, who introduced the proposal last year.

Some law enforcement authorities say the proposal, modeled after the state's sex offender registry, could help police identify and track convicted drug dealers, who often bring drug-related violence into a community. And some education professionals say it could better ensure safety through the school community.

"It would definitely be good to know that you're not establishing a bus stop directly outside the home of a narcotics distributor," said Arthur Dulong, assistant director of the state Secondary Schools Administrators Association, which reviewed the proposal at a recent meeting.

"There could definitely be some benefits," echoed Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe, who is considering the matter. "It's worth looking into."

The proposal, which would not affect convicted drug users, is set to go to the House Judiciary Committee, though it's unlikely to go to a vote during the current legislative session, said Atsalis, who plans to reintroduce the matter next year.

But some legislators and human rights advocates contend such registries infringe on convicts' personal freedoms, and the proposal should be quickly dismissed.

Drug registries — Minnesota and Tennessee, among other states, have launched methamphetamine databases — can stigmatize reformed dealers, making it more difficult for them to find work or housing as they seek to rehabilitate, according to officials from the Massachusetts branch of the American Civil Liberties Union.

"It amounts to a secondary punishment," agency spokesman Christopher Ott wrote in an e-mail to the Times.

"Sometimes (it lasts) years or even decades after they thought they'd 'paid their debt to society.'"

[Dem Guard]

"Legislation proposing to create a registry for convicted drug dealers is meeting with positive reviews across the state."

I think these guys can find each other rather well now don't you think? ;-)

[Dem Guard]

"Legislation proposing to create a registry for convicted drug dealers is meeting with positive reviews across the state."

Let's make it easier on their customers too. Perhaps we can set it up like a bridal registry! ;-)

[The Magical Mischief Tour]

Its the ultimate goal of the elected machine, to have total control over our lives. They can't do it directly so they aim to criminalize as much as they can, then require those guilty of those crimes to register on a list for life. The want to add to the list of existing registries we now have. An Animal Abuse Registry A registry that tracks those accused of threats of violence against law enforcement. And now a drug dealer registry. On top of a sex offender registry where states like Georgia just ruled that you can be put in the sex offender registry even if the crime is not a sex offense. Ruling: State Can Dump Non-Sex Offenders Into Registry http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/03/sex-offender-databases/#ixzz0lXhxpNsW Its all about control. They cannot ban guns, but they can make you a criminal, place you on a list and bar you from gun ownership. Same for voting, having children, owning property in certain areas etc... Anyone who stands for this should be striped of their citizenship and forcefully removed from this country.

[TLI]

Yep. Slippery slope folks. What is next?
<p.
Health Insurance avoidance?

[maine yankee]

Will they be able to advertise on the state web site ? Or just have their name and address listed for free ?

I suggest they also list all the state level politicians. They seem to be doing much more harm than the dope dealers.

[Dem Guard]

Good points!

[chapin2500]

Umm, that's already here in MA.

[JimRed]

Its the ultimate goal of the elected machine, to have total control over our lives. They can't do it directly so they aim to criminalize as much as they can, then require those guilty of those crimes to register on a list for life.

If I'm reading you correctly then, you believe there should not be criminal databases for real criminals (drug dealers, child molesters, etc.) because the system can be abused by an out-of-control government creating "crimes" out of thin air? Interesting concept, right out of 1984 and Atlas shrugged.

You may be right; what's the alternative?