The law of unintended consequences

[nettiger]

... or the unintended consequence of law.

A young man, only 24, is put on one of the sex offender registries for "sexually abusing a minor, which apparently stemmed from having sex with his teenage girlfriend". No mention of how old the conviction is, because these registries are for life. His name gets published, and ...some guy with a mad on

Comments

[flippantmoniker]

Okay, first off let me preface this response by saying that I'm not trying to be snide or snippy or condescending or anything. text really doesn't let me emote properly, so please take my disclaimer.

I agree that in a society with a working corrections system, we'd have no need for such a list, because dangerous predators would be either removed from the public or rehabilitated. However, that's just not our system.

There's a lot that I could say to support the merits of such an offender list, but I know I'll never convert you to my way of thinking, and I respect diversity- thus is one of the good points of our system.

I will say this, though, being added to the list is part of the sentencing.. Therefore, "time served" does not apply, because it's ultimately a life sentence.

As for kids in Highschool, I do believe that such marks are purged from a minor's file at age 21. Not sure how it works in all states, but it's to my understanding that minors' records are sealed. Should a 7th grader be hounded and marked as a predator for a pinch prank? No, I think that's excessive, and I'd hope that it would be ruled against by a judge / jury. However, we as a community, society and nation have set the system up that tolerates such harsh legal ramifications for juvenile behavior. if we want that to change, then we must begin the arduous task of rising up, educating ourselves about potential officials and social policy, getting involved in the system and making a change from the inside.