Is
their a criminal
in
your neighborhood?
By Allan Saxe,
WBAP Political Analyst
Weighing the value
of privacy...over public safety.
It is very popular throughout Texas and other states to publicize the names of convicted sexual offenders. Official databases list their names. In some
states, printed signs are posted in front yards of those convicted of such heinous crimes. Notice: "A Convicted Sexual Offender Lives Here."
We want to know where they live so neighborhoods can be alerted, especially as it concerns children. Privacy issues have been raised, but seem to be
overtaken by public safety.
However, wouldn't it be nice to know if a convicted burglar lives in your neighborhood as well? Why is a sexual offender more dangerous than somebody
convicted of burglary with a dangerous weapon? What about a convicted person who burglarized and vandalized a private or commercial residence? Wouldn't
it be important for neighborhoods to know if such persons inhabit their neighborhood?
It would be interesting and informative if we knew that the people we do business with have arrest and conviction records. Would we do business with
someone convicted of embezzlement or other so-called white- collar crimes? What a strange sight to see a man or woman dressed conservatively in
business attire with a sign hanging from their neck: "Notice: I Was Convicted of Embezzlement."
Outside of neighborhoods it would be good for public safety to know if the car zooming past you has a driver convicted of DWI. Why not post a large
sign on top of the automobile or truck alerting other drivers? Notice: "The driver of this car has been convicted of DWI."
Of course the issue of privacy arises in all of these cases. It does provide a perfect classroom illustration of how the public good must be balanced
with individual rights and protections. Further, is it constitutional to single out sexual offenders as a special category to publicize while
ignoring other convicted offenders?
Presently, there are over 2,000,000 persons in our jails and prisons. Many more who have served their sentences are in the public marketplace. Can we
print enough signs to hang on all of them? And if we decide to, it might frighten us to find out just who does live next door.
If we can publicize convicted sexual offenders in our midst why not all the other offenders?
Allan Saxe serves as
political analyst for WBAP News/Talk 820 and writes an opinion column for the Star-Telegram.
You can express your opinions to this column by CLICKING HERE.
Be sure to include your name and city of residence. This information may be included with any published opinions.
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Comments:
The column beautifully illustrates how we are asked to enter a, hitherto unheard of, practice of destroying individual identity/rights/protections. The liberal minded are so afraid of the individual that they are incrementally leading us to the "open group" and away from the "protected individual". This will have, is having, the effect of creating two distinct classes, the acceptable and the unacceptable. They have been successful in vilifying substances and things, legal and illegal, to the point of labeling people that use these products/services/substances as unacceptable people. i.e.
Smokers, drinkers, gun owners, morally straight people, people using pornography at any level and others too numerous to mention.
Once the good group {singular} and the bad groups {plural} are fairly well formed we will, if history repeats, be all ready for the utopian idealism promised by socialism. Putting signs in someone's front yard goes a long way to assure that the individual in question will have a fine chance at being held at the level of outcast for a long time. We already have laws to deal with repeat offenders. We are entering a world of persecuting those who have paid their debt by assigning them future behaviors that we "think" they "may" commit If these people are that despicable {and I agree many of them are} then we need to change the law to take them out of society on a more permanent basis. I pray we stop going down this road of re-awakening the practice of using the Scarlet Letter. It will turn out the same way this time as it did the last time. Witch hunts and political use of the Scarlet Letter to extort behavior before the fact.
Thanks for asking for my comments
T. Jay Newcombe
Dallas
Different crimes have different punishments. We don't execute embezzlers.
We execute murderers because they are a clear and present danger to the community. So are sexual offenders. They prey on the weakest element of society, the young. Their punishment should be more severe. If that entails notifying the community where they are, so be it.
But that's punishing them after they've done their time, I hear you say. Many crimes have punishments that last long after incarceration is over. Felons cannot own guns or vote. This is no different.
Of course, a simpler solution, given the terrible reform rates of sexual criminals, would be to lengthen the sentences. You don't need yard signs if they stay in jail.
Kenneth E Schaefer
Garland, Texas
Burglary, DWI, Embezzlement? The same as "Sexual Offense to a Child"? The writer of this article is either daft or in another world. Looks like to me he's just trying to write and his ability to write almost matches his ability to think. He is ridiculous and doesn't deserve a response to this, but I felt after reading this that a sign should be around his neck saying be nice to me I'm in need of something but don't know what? DUH!!!!!! PRINT THIS!!!
Charlie Kinnard
Arlington, Texas
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