Special License Plates for Sex Offenders

[Silverzone]

Is it a good idea?

http://today.reuters.com/news/artic...RTRUKOC_0_US-USA-CRIME-SEX-PLATES.xml&src=rss

I believe so. I think the plate in question will help children be more aware of dangers present around them.

Discuss.

CINCINNATI (Reuters) - Lawmakers in Ohio said on Wednesday they want to force convicted sex offenders to use a fluorescent-green license plate on their cars so they can be easily identified.

A Republican and a Democrat in the state legislature in Columbus have joined forces to propose the law, which echoes measures in several U.S. states that require convicted drunken drivers to use a yellow, pink or red plate on their cars.

"The fluorescent-green license plate will make the most egregious sex offenders easily identifiable," state Democratic Rep. Michael DeBose said in a statement.

Police said the green plates would allow them to track sex offenders, who are already required to register with the local sheriff's office and are prohibited from living within 1,000 feet of a school.




"It will give Ohio families a great peace of mind knowing that their children will be able to recognize where this danger exists," Summit County Sheriff Drew Alexander said.

Alexander joined the politicians at a news conference in Columbus, the state capital, to praise the proposed law.

Opponents of the proposed law argue the use of a special plate would stigmatize everyone who shared the offender's car -- including their spouse or children.

The proposed law will be debated in committee before a decision is made whether to put the proposal to a vote.


© Reuters 2007. All Rights Reserved.

 

[Evolution.]

Looks like no more "Man in the white van" jokes.

Good idea IMO.

 

[Sureboss]

I can't see that link (maybe because I'm from the other side of the pond).

Could someone quote the article for us?

 

[Silverzone]

I can't see that link (maybe because I'm from the other side of the pond).

Could someone quote the article for us?

Done.

 

[Tornado]

I truthfully don't see it as necessary (I was under the assumption that parents were supposed to teach kids to stay away from strangers), but whatever.

 

[Danoff]

Horrible idea which will put a huge target around their heads and put anyone even remotely near them at risk. People will vanadalize their cars, attack them in parking lots, throw things at their vehicles while driving at highway speeds, shoot them, shoot AT them and miss - hitting someone else, shoot and kill them while they're driving at high speed causing their vehicle to run into yours... who knows.

Better to keep them in jail then to send them back effectively wearing a scarlet "A" around their necks.

Try to keep in mind that an 18 year old who has sex with a 17 year old is a sex offender, and that anyone who has sex with a drunk girl can get labeled a rapist very quickly. Also, and I know this is a tough one to believe, but.... girls do lie about their age.

 

[Tornado]

I was going to post something along those lines, but was afraid of being labled as condoning the crime or something to that effect.

 

[ledhed]

One of the dumber things I've read. Like who says they drive ? And why must they drive a car registered to them ? And ....lol....who looks around a plates ? Aside from COPS and people really bored on the highway...lets see how many sex offenders we can sopt " ? LOL ......


Insanity ...lol

 

[Jedi2016]

I know of a guy who had the phrase "child molester" keyed into the side of his car. It made his life rather unpleasant for a while, but then again, that was the idea. A few well-placed phone calls also made his time in prison (for the offense) quite unpleasant as well. And yet I still find I feel absolutely no pity for him whatsoever. He knows better than to cross my path, as well, and I'm not even sure he knows my name.

What these people do is very real, and far more harmful than most people realize. They should be punished. Severely. If it were up to me, there would be no "convicted sex offenders" on the loose. They'd just be piled up in a big hole somewhere, each problem dealt with for the cost of a single bullet.

 

[SS69]

It depends. If you're a serious sex offender then yes, definately. If you're someone who happen to be 19 and slept with a 16 year old, then no. I once knew a guy, not personally, who streaked a high school football game and was arrested. He now has to register as a sex offender because there were minors in the audience. Now this doesnt mean he'll be featured on Dateline anytime soon, it just means he was a stupid kid that did something stupid.

 

[wfooshee]

What about his wife (if she's still around) driving the car? Is it fair for her to have to assume the label? Or his kids? Or his buddy who needed to borrow a car to go get a can of gas?

A public label like that is a crummy idea, it invites vigilantism. Also, there are great differences in degrees of sexual offense. One guy might have molested his neighbor's daughter, another might have (as previously posted) gone streaking. Should they both carry the same public label?

 

[3-Wheel Drive]

Maybe if most sex offenders weren't people who pissed in public while drunk, got caught streaking, or messed around with their girlfriend (when both parties are underage), etc, this could have the possibility of being a remotely good idea.

But seeing as most "sex offenders" are not the "threat to society and children" type, this is a horrible idea. The sex offender registry already screws people's lives over enough as is, what with the loss of voting and 2nd Amendment rights, restrictions on residency, and the humiliation of letting their town know who they are, that the ability to be singled out wherever they drive is just too much, and will which will only lead to targeting of violence. That's fair enough, if you actually did something to a child. But to do that to someone who poses no harm to anyone is flat-out barbaric.

[SARCASM]Hell, let's not stop at license plates. Lets make sex offenders wear a nice gold star on their arms whenever they are out in public, that must be visible at all times. That seemed to work quite effectively in the past.[/SARCASM]

How about this revolutionary idea:
Instead of adding more to the shame, how about we focus more on the jail-time aspect, and rework it to where only the heinous crimes count? Most predators show no signs of rehabilitation or the possibility thereof anyway. Why do we let them back into society to begin with?

 

[Danoff]

I don't think it makes sense for them to be jumping through hoops regardless. If someone streaks a football game or pisses in public, they shouldn't need a special license plate or to have to warn the neighbors that they're "sex offenders". If someone molested a 10 year old, they shouldn't have neighbors to warn because they should be in jail. Seriously, that's what jail is for. Letting them out but telling them they need to wear a "sex offender" sandwich board at all times is just dumb. They're either safe enough to be in society or they're not.

 

[a6m5]

They're either safe enough to be in society or they're not.

That's how it should be, but it's not. And on the topic, and this coming from a guy that thinks that serious offenders should have their arms removed, so they aren't able to reoffend(I'm serious). I don't think the special license plate is a good idea. As many have stated already, there will be grownups who will try to do things to "punish" them. And while I have no trouble with these types of criminals getting crap from people, it can be very, very dangerous.

 

[Sage]

Better to keep them in jail then to send them back effectively wearing a scarlet "A" around their necks.

It honestly scares me how similar this is to The Scarlet Letter – the very idea of using public humiliation in this way just creeps me out.

 

[Sureboss]

Anything that can promote/advance the use of vigilanteism is a big no-no imo. I'm not defending Paedophiles but I am defending the safety of the people around him. People get angry (and rightly so) at people like Paedophiles but a number plater is wrong.

I put my faith in making sure the authorities wouldn't allow him near a school, etc.

Thankfully, I don't think something like that would ever happen in the UK. Sex offenders registrars should also never be made public.

 

[Touring Mars]

Totally agree with Dan and Walter here... I think it's a very bad idea indeed.

And do they seriously think people won't break the law in trying to avoid having such a number plate...? Last time I checked, serious sex offenders such as paedophiles and rapists were never the most law-abiding of citizens in the first place. Would they really be that bothered about not registering for this scheme??

 

[Famine]

It depends. If you're a serious sex offender then...

...why are you not in prison?

It'd be a better way of protecting the public from a serious sex offender than having bright green nonceplates on their cars.

 

[Touring Mars]

Me and a colleague were talking about this subject over lunch... he suggested that sex offenders would abandon their cars altogther and use public transport instead... now I come to think of it, maybe that's why the license plates are going to be green?? Damn these infernal environmentalists! Is there no limit to how low they will stoop to force people on to the buses and trains??!

 

[Duke]

So, apparently a child molester is smart enough to entice a kid into his car and abduct it, but not smart enough to spend 3 minutes with a screwdriver in the side parking lot of Wal-Mart stealing a set of normal plates?

 

[Touring Mars]

Gah! Can you imagine the shame?!

 

[TheCracker]

So, apparently a child molester is smart enough to entice a kid into his car and abduct it, but not smart enough to spend 3 minutes with a screwdriver in the side parking lot of Wal-Mart stealing a set of normal plates?

Any convicted child molester worth their salt would use their head and knock up a spare set of 'regular' plates for their own car in advance whilst still in prison.

 

[kennythebomb]

Horrible idea which will put a huge target around their heads and put anyone even remotely near them at risk. People will vanadalize their cars, attack them in parking lots, throw things at their vehicles while driving at highway speeds, shoot them, shoot AT them and miss - hitting someone else, shoot and kill them while they're driving at high speed causing their vehicle to run into yours... who knows.

Better to keep them in jail then to send them back effectively wearing a scarlet "A" around their necks.

Try to keep in mind that an 18 year old who has sex with a 17 year old is a sex offender, and that anyone who has sex with a drunk girl can get labeled a rapist very quickly. Also, and I know this is a tough one to believe, but.... girls do lie about their age.

I completely agree... a girl lied to me about her age not too long ago... if I had done anything with her I would have become a rapist.

 

[Danoff]

I completely agree... a girl lied to me about her age not too long ago... if I had done anything with her I would have become a rapist.

Scary huh? It's my understanding that even if you ask to see some ID, and she shows you a fake one that says she's 21, if you believe the fake ID and have sex with her you're still on the hook as a child molester/rapist/evil predator etc. etc.

The problem is that the term sex-offender is too broad. It covers acts like streaking. Even the term child-molester can be misused to refer to an 18 year old having sex with his 17 year old girlfriend (or maybe 17 and 16 depending on what the laws are). What we really need is a way to distinguish violent rapists from people accused of rape because the girl was drunk and is now ashamed. We need to distinguish people that are trying to abuse 12 year olds from high school sweethearts with a few months age difference.

...and then once we, in ortherwords the judge, has made that distinction, the serious ones stay in jail while the rest of them get a slap on the wrist.

No license plates necessary.

 

[FoolKiller]

Horrible idea which will put a huge target around their heads and put anyone even remotely near them at risk. People will vanadalize their cars, attack them in parking lots, throw things at their vehicles while driving at highway speeds, shoot them, shoot AT them and miss - hitting someone else, shoot and kill them while they're driving at high speed causing their vehicle to run into yours... who knows.

Heck, the registration site already leads to this. My wife and I found out our neighbor's mentally challenged adult son was on the list. Knowing him I realized he probably had no clue he did something wrong. The court agreement was that he remain under their care and not be allowed out without their supervision. For a long time they had their house just surrounded by a privacy fence, but eventually they had to move. It wasn't uncommon to see tons of trash just dumped in their yard.

When my wife's parents found out about it they wanted us to change our doors to ones without windows and possibly even move.

Making them have their license plate specialized will only lead to more problems when stricter punishments to begin with would be better. If you don't feel they have served their punishment then don't let them out.
Better to keep them in jail then to send them back effectively wearing a scarlet "A" around their necks.

Try to keep in mind that an 18 year old who has sex with a 17 year old is a sex offender,

Maybe in your state.

girls do lie about their age.

WHAT!

 

[a6m5]

Looks like we pretty much agree that the trick is to keep the repeat offenders locked up. Easier said than done though.....

WHAT!

Usually, the other way around though, no?

 

[Wenders]

"It will give Ohio families a great peace of mind knowing that their children will be able to recognize where this danger exists," Summit County Sheriff Drew Alexander said.

Kids have a funny way of understanding what they are told. Having sex offenders marked in anyway can then make a child feel someone who doesn't show the mark must automatically be safe.

 

[EXelero]

Would they have to wear the number plates round their necks when not in their cars to cover that also? how crazy?

i personally dont think that child sex offenses are something that can be rehabilitated. if theres something that excites you like that, it always will. and those n*bs should be locked away from civilisation.
but i agree with others who point out that the title sex offender is used to freely. a friend of mine was caught peeing in the street and put on the list!
crimes against the people should be taken more seriously and we have a right to be safe in our lives. our children even more so!

 

[Danoff]

we have a right to be safe in our lives. our children even more so!

I agree with your post, but what gives chidren more of a right to be safe?

 

[Swift]

I've got a better idea. Let's put them in jail for a minimum of 25 years(with appeals if new evidence comes up). And THEN worry about it. It's really sad that we let these kind of people back into public. Yes I'm a Christian, yes I believe people can change. However, is it fair to put your child at risk of rape or sexual assault just because? Nah, and I don't even have children yet.