What are your thoughts on sex-offender residency laws...Should they be treated like others released from jail

Question

Sex-Offender Residency Laws Get Second Look
By Wendy Koch
USA Today
(Feb. 26) - Oklahoma state Rep. Lucky Lamons was a police officer for 22 years. He calls himself a "lock-'em-up kind of guy."

Yet Lamons wants to loosen his state's law that bans registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day care center. He says it forces many offenders to live in rural areas where they are difficult for authorities to monitor. Also, he says, it does not differentiate between real predators and the type of men he recalls arresting for urinating in public, a sex offense in Oklahoma.

"We need to focus on people we're afraid of, not mad at," says Lamons, a Tulsa Democrat who wants the rules to focus more on high-risk offenders.

Lamons is among a growing number of officials who want to ease the "not-in-my-backyard" policies that communities are using to try to control sex offenders. In the past decade, 27 states and hundreds of cities have reacted to public fear of sex crimes against children by passing residency restrictions that, in some cases, have the effect of barring sex offenders from large parts of cities. They can't live in most of downtown Tulsa, Atlanta or Des Moines, for example, because of overlapping exclusion zones around schools and day care centers.

Now a backlash is brewing. Several states, including Iowa, Oklahoma and Georgia, are considering changes in residency laws that have led some sex offenders to go underground. Such offenders either have not registered with local police as the laws require or they have given fake addresses. Many complain they cannot find a place to live legally.

The push to ease residency restrictions has support from victims' advocates, prosecutors and police who say they spend too much time investigating potential violations.

They're battling a mountain of momentum, however, because residency restrictions remain popular.

New or expanded ones have been proposed in 20 states this year. Some legislators are reluctant to pare back restrictions they passed only recently.

Answer 1

This certainly isn't an easy one to answer. There is no proven method or program to rehabilitate these individuals. Of all the people who we put back out on the streets after a crime was commited, the sex offenders have by far the highest repeat rate of doing the same crime again. Big cities are pushing these people on the smaller communities by passing laws that restrict these people from living there. I realize that this may infringe somewhat on their rights but we may have to think about placing those ankle bracelets on them (sex offenders) so that they can be tracked and traced anywhere they may go. If you did this, you may be able to help slow down this issue with these people who repeatedly go out and do the same thing over and over.
Your thoughts?

Answer 2

That Lamons lost me at, "We need to focus on people we're afraid of, not mad at,",,,to be afraid is to be weak. To be cautious of what you know to be a danger is wise.
The prisons are to Punish and Rehabilitate. The man that got caught with a joint for the third time is a Felon also. Is that felon Rehabilitated or does that felon need to be banished from Freedom in perpetuity. If it gets the Professional Politician re-elected, they will promise free cake and candy on your 89th Birthday, Lock up every one that you want, Cut Taxes, vote themselves a protective raise and retirement, and never look back.
If a Citizen is going to commit a crime, there is not really much that will stop the criminal. Does one think about the death penalty as they plot and plan a murder. Of course they do. Does the fear of death penalty stop them, no.
I read that Cali is so overcrowded they are going to rent Prison space in other states, or try to. Federal Court said they cannot, so now the citizens are scared of early releases.
I do not like some laws, I do like some laws. We have the largest per capita prisoner-to-free and law abiding in the world. Something is terribly wrong with that.

Answer 3

I think they need to triage the circumstances of why they went to prison to allow those who urinated, etc. to be under looser rules than someone who raped a 6-year old who died.

Here's why: I have a friend I've known for 35-plus years who has a friend (I don't personally know). My friend's friend had a girlfriend who was not disciplining her kids; consequently they were sassy, arrogant, violent and truant. Being someone who wished to instill discipline and in an attempt to mold these brats into civilized humans, he made the mistake of locking them in their bedrooms for small periods of time (about 5-10 minutes). Unfortunately, even though he did this only three times, because he was not married to their mom and was not their legal guardian, he is now currently serving the remainder of a ten-year prison sentence and must register as a sex-offender once he gets out all because he never asked their mom's permission in writing, duly Notarized and filed with a Court Clerk, to discipline them. In fact, he was so ethical that he volunteered all the evidence that was eventually used against him because he felt that what he did was right for society and he had nothing to hide.

It is going to be hard on the guy when he does get out as he will have people labeling him a pedophile when his only crime was to try to straighten out such anti-social behavior. I and my friend have vowed that if it is within our earthly power we will make sure he has a job when he gets out. If anyone tries to mess with him at that point we will not turn a blind eye .......

Answer 4

It should be offense specific. If they are molesters they should be away from children, rapists away from the college dorms, public urinaters located close to public restrooms. It's insane that public urination is treated as a sex offense in Oklahoma.

I believe strongly in having an accessible list of sex offenders in your community. I've checked my county out a few times and showed the pictures to my son.

Each locality has to address the unique problems they are having and try to make protocols that get the maximum number of sex offenders situated in a place where they can be easily monitored...and hopefully, medicated.

Answer 5

This is just a hysteria society is going through while comming to terms with sexuality. Many "sex offences" are instances of consentual sex amongst mature people judged by he laws made by a superficial society fearful and xenophobic society. And why should sex offenders be treated worse than murderers, there is a huge difference but the punishment for both is essentually life. What about the retard with a 12 year old mind who showed a girl his penis years ago and ended up killing himself last month because the do-gooder tyrants went around posting signs that said "child rapist". Societies fear of sex creates more victims both minors and adults than it saves. If its rape than treat is what it is but there is no distinction in the term "sex offender".

Answer 6

I think "others" released from jail, no matter what the "other" reason was, should also have to register as offenders.

Do you want a thief living next door? Do you want a person who has been convicted of murder living in your neighborhood? Do you want a person who has been convicted of vehicular manslaughter driving through the streets while you, your husband, children, parents are going home from work, school, church, or to the Senior Citizen Center to get a hot meal?

Personally, I would have everyone who has served any time for anything, branded with a big P on the top of their hand.

We have school bus drivers who have multiple arrests for traffic violations driving our children to school!

Answer 7

Deep in the heart of everyone is a sex offender. The majority of us do not offend due to social indoctrination, knowing the offense might psychologically damage the offended, and the potential legal consequences. So we behave. But there are those whose urges are overwhelming, probably due to mania, compulsion or other psychopathology. They need treatment, not ostracism. One can wonder how much productive talent is lost to society when these people cannot develop and utilize their abilities.

Answer 8

they should have some leniency.

as a majority of sex offenders were teens when they committed the crime. I had a friend who turned 18 and his girlfriend was 17, her parent's didn't like him so called the police on his birthday. They caught him knocking up the minor (younger by a month and a half) and her parents pressed charges.

Now he is a sex offender

Answer 9

Keep those creeps far away from kids, and all people, if possible. And whoever keeps mixing up public urination and sexual predator laws should keep house with the creeps.

There is no way I would allow a sexual predator to live anywhere near me or my family. These people are not treatable, on their own admission, and live only to attack again.

I don't personally care if they have complaints after they are let out of prison; is anyone listening to the complaints of their victims? What about them? Why is it always about the criminals? They lose their rights when they commit crimes.

Answer 10

I think that we should review the sexual offenses and keep the laws involving offenders as they are. The liklihood that they will ever rehabilitate is very slim and more often than not the offenders are the bad kind.

I know a man who committed statutory rape with his girlfriend (she had a fake ID but that doesn't matter to me or the court system), he has a hard time finding housing but he lives in town (it is a pretty sketch area) and is looking to move to a state with less strict laws than Florida.

Big fan of reviewing sexual offenses but I have little pity for people who can't find it in themselves to respect other people enough not to urinate in public or hold off on sleeping with a girl until she is of age.