Were you aware that by simply using a popluar search engine to look up 'sexual offenders' followed by your state name, you can pull up websites containing open records to show you exactly where offenders in your area live? Should sexual offenders be allowed to live among us? The ever continuing issue of freedom comes into play when considering questions around this subject.
Is it an act against the former offenders to have their addresses listed to warn neighbors? Is it a defamation of their name and reputation? Many whose information appears as an open record would say yes.
Is it an attack against our personal freedom to have these potential threats living so close - possibly next door? Many of the offenders' neighbors would nod their heads 'yes'.
Let us discuss the two sides of this argument. You are a former offender. You have served your sentence. You have paid your dues. Perhaps you have 'found God' and know now of the horrible acts you committed; perhaps you absolutely intend and never will again hurt another human being so long as you live. We've all done something we regret at one time in our lives. But are we subjected to having our deeds posted for everyone to see on something as wide reaching as the internet? Is it a possibility that someone could drive by your house at this very moment, point and say 'She did this... She cannot be trusted. Stay away...' More often than not your answer will be no. Privacy is a privledge that we, as American people, have the freedom to obtain. But at what point should our freedoms be relinquished?
Should all previous offenders - people who at one time molested children, ruined the lives of helpless woman, raped, touched and otherwise humiliated the people of our communities - should they be allowed to have their once targeted victims dangled in front of their eyes on a daily basis? One could compare the situation to that of a recovered alchoholic or drug abuser. Quite obviously, a recovering alchoholic would abstain from surrounding himself with alcohol. But how can one who has targeted people abstain himself from such? It could be found that all offenders be shipped to a place where they must live together - away from the temptation to ever hurt again. But, would that be unconstitutional?
My mother used to say: 'Once an offender, always an offender'; Suggesting that while a person may not ACTIVELY continue to commit his or her sexual crimes, they will always have it in their heads...always remember, and always play out possibilities of reoccurances.
Rights. Personal freedoms. Should it be our right to live with knowledge of the man next door...To decide that they should not live among us...Or should it be their right to remain anonymous after serving their time?
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Why are they worse than murderers?
Murderers are allowed to stay anonymous after their release. There is not a registry for murderers.