Boo! Who?

By Kyle . . . Halloween is soon upon us, and that means the scare tactics of the deranged sex offender gestapo will be on full display.  News organizations publish maps with red pins in the homes of persons forced to register; some go to these homes and ring doorbells with lights and cameras rolling; sheriffs order registrants to put warning signs in their yards; and, the worst, a sheriff in Georgia orders (unconstitutionally) registrants to report to the sheriff’s office for the duration of the evening.  Can we say, “illegally detained?” All in the name of protecting our kids. From what exactly?  Can anyone point to an increase in sexual offenses against children on Halloween?  Or even one reported incident?  No?  How interesting. What we can point to is a 3x increase in auto-child pedestrian accidents on Halloween.  And many of these involve impaired (read drunk and/or high) drivers.

While abolishing the registries is our goal, and one that we hope will occur sooner rather than later, perhaps we should float the idea, all in the name of protecting children, of requiring anyone ever convicted of driving impaired to be on a public registry. They should have to put warning signs in their yards on all major holidays (when drinking is prevalent) and be prohibited from driving on these major holidays. After all, it’s to protect the children. And if just one child is saved (an unprovable premise), then it’s worth their inconvenience.  Right?  Fair is fair.

The rub is that this net would catch far too many politicians, law enforcement officers, attorneys, DA’S/prosecutors, and, yes, even a few judges to ever be passed into law.  Sure, they want to protect the children, just not at their inconvenience.  But persons required to register are a different story.  They don’t really count as people in American society.  Yes, they may have paid their debts according to the judicial system, but the gestapo really just doesn’t believe that’s enough.  The offender may have successfully completed “treatment” and be deemed very low risk, but they don’t really believe in the “treatment” that the statutes require offenders to endure, complete, and pay for.  Wink, wink.  Enough is never enough.  After all, these offenses are, well, icky.  You’re never really rehabilitated and reintegrated from icky.  The gestapo will make glowing public statements about everyone being deserving of a second chance and being accepted back into society, but privately, it’s wink-wink again; they don’t really mean it.

So, until we get these arcane registries booted for good, grab a big bag of candy, put on a good movie, and don’t answer the door.  You never know what sort of goblins might lurking.

Kyle is a person forced to register on the sex offender registry in Colorado.

Written by a guest writer

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