Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Resisting "the urge to regulate mindlessly" on sex offenders

The Galveston Daily News published a thoughtful editorial today arguing that "People should have second thoughts about new laws that regulate where sex offenders can live. After seeing drafts of bills to be considered when the Texas Legislature meets in January, we’d say the urge to regulate mindlessly is worse than we thought." Read the whole thing. Thanks to Dennis for the tip.

1 comment:

K.Grovo said...

What happened to the concept of "having paid their debt to society?" Basically what these bills are doing is saying an SO hasn't paid their debt and therefore must continue to be punished. Bottom line, they are not all child molesters, but these bills are ignoring that fact. You have to consider the broad reaching effects of the bills. Not just on the SO's but on everyone else. Because if the trend continues then it isn't going to be just SOs that have to register, it will be anyone who commits a felony.

Personally, I think if we are going to micro-regulate one group of offenders we should micro-regulate all groups. I have always been taught no one sin is greater than another in the eyes of the Lord. Or as Jesus said, "Ye, who are without sin, cast the first stone." SO serve their time and pay for their crime, just like other offenders. And statistically, as a group, they are less likely to re-offend than a person convicted of drug use.