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Editorial: Should We Enact a Sex Offender Law? |
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by Dan Veaner
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Friday, 24 February 2006 |
When I talked to Town Councilman Bud Shattuck about his idea to enact a sex offender law he asked me what I thought about the idea. I'm all for it. I have kids, and we did have a sex offender on our street some years ago, so it hits close to home. In fact I can't think of anyone who would be against it, except, perhaps, the offenders themselves.
As I wrote the story I thought, "How would I feel if I were a sex offender? If I'd done my time, wouldn't my debt to society be paid? Why register, why be subjected to public scrutiny after serving my sentence?" Then I thought "There are some times when it shouldn't matter what the other person feels. Political correctness shouldn't count when our children's safety is concerned."
And that's how I feel about it. If you don't want to have to register as a sex offender leave kids alone. Doing a crime like that has to mean giving up some rights.
Frankly I'm surprised that New York only lists those who have a "high risk" of repeating the offense. While I can see not listing the "low risk" offenders (sort of), why not list those who are a "moderate risk?" What is a moderate risk anyway? 50-50? 40-60? Classifying sex offenders has to be an inexact science at best. Are odds like that worth risking our children?
I thought that I would feel relieved when I saw that only two registered Level 3 sex offenders live in Lansing's 14882 ZIP code and only one Level 2. But I didn't. They make mug shots look scary for a reason, and as I searched the registry I was very uneasy. This wasn't on the evening news. This is in my town.
While I have been holding back from endorsing (or decrying) political candidates and initiatives, I am making an exception in this case to say that I think Councilman Shattuck has a great idea. In a kid-centric town like Lansing we should be doing everything we can to keep it a great place for kids to grow up in, safely and free of fear.
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