Sex-offender registries: Should kids be listed?

[Douglas Carpenter]

NEW YORK (AP) — Government authorities should end the practice of placing juveniles' names on publicly accessible sex-offender registries, Human Rights Watch says in a report warning of lasting and unwarranted harm to some youths.

In two cases cited in the report, youths were convicted of sex offenses at 12 and committed suicide at 17 due to what their mothers said was despair related to the registries. One of the boys, from Flint, Mich., killed himself even after being removed from the list.

"Everyone in the community knew he was on the sex offender registry; it didn't matter to them that he was removed," his mother, identified only as Elizabeth M., was quoted as saying. "The damage was already done. The registry laws generally include restrictions that prohibit offenders from living within a designated distance of places where children gather, such as schools and playgrounds.
"They often struggle to continue their education," Human Rights Watch said. "Many have a hard time finding — and keeping — a job, or a home."

Among those interviewed was a former offender from Louisiana, identified only as Austin, who was placed on a registry at age 14. According to Pittman, Austin was found to have had sex with a 12-year-old, which was under the age of consent.

"Our mistake is forever available to the world to see," Austin is quoted as saying. "You are never done serving your time. There is never a chance for a fresh start. You are finished. I wish I was executed, because my life is basically over."

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/05/01/sex-offender-registries/2125699/

[pipoman]

1. The idea of "sex offender registries"

was OK..a place to register people who have sexually victimized others for public safety...it has turned into punishment akin to a scarlet letter. As happens so often with 'law and order' types, they are given an inch and they take a mile..all common sense is gone, and no objectivity is used in the use of the tool. People who are convicted of things like urinating in public and indecent exposure are placed on these lists for long stretches. People's lives are forever ruined for minor infractions and momentary lapses of judgement which had no real victims.

I once worked for the defense of a 16 yo kid who had sex with his 16 yo prom date. The prom date later claimed rape. I was hired to interview witnesses and friends of both kids for the defense. After interviewing several kids I found that the victim had first bragged about the incident to her friends...until her fundie dad found out, then she claimed rape. The kid was acquitted because of our work. If he had not had the funds to afford a good defense he likely would have been convicted, placed on the registry, and not been employable beyond menial jobs for many years...it would have ruined his life.

Another case was of a 16 yo girl who had sex with a 14 yo male neighbor. The 14 yo mother reported the incident to police against the wishes of her son. The girl was convicted of statutory rape and placed on the registry...8 years later the 16 yo who had been a good student in high school had been unable to get into college because of the registry listing and had become a junkie prostitute.

Another case I worked was to get a name removed from the registry. This was the case of a 17 yo boy and a 15 yo girl dating in a small rural town. They dated for most of a year before they became sexually active. The girl became pregnant and this was discovered one month after her 16th birthday, and 3 months after the boy's 18th birthday. The doctor determined the girl was around 60 days pregnant. Word got to the chief of the small town police department who filed statutory rape charges against the boy against the wishes of the girl and her parents. The boy was convicted and put on the registry. Fast forward 6 years. The boy completed a bachelors in business through correspondence because no schools would allow him on campus. The girl had another child a year after marrying the boy. The boy was working in the kitchen of a fast food restaurant, not even eligible for the management training program with the restaurant because of the registry listing..keep in mind the boy and girl are now 24 and 22, married with 2 children together. After nearly a year of petitioning the courts for removal, the court found there was no way to remove him until the 10 year registry was up..very sad..

As I said, the registry was a good idea....it went bad when zero tolerance was applied and any and all even remotely sexual offenses was added to the list of people included in the regisry. Now registries are loaded with people who are no danger to anyone, who made a mistake and have their lives ruined not for public safety, but for humiliation and unjust punishment. The registries are so diluted it is hard to determine who on the registries are actually a danger to others..

As a civil libertarian, I find it repulsive. As a law abiding citizen, I find it useless. Reform of the system is long over due..

[geek tragedy]

2. For crimes of sexual predation--rape, sexual assault--keep 'em on.

For cases that should never have been prosecuted in the first place, obviously they shouldn't be on the list in the first place.

[In_The_Wind]

3. +1