Sex offenders lose more rights under new Ohio law

1-25-2008 Ohio:

The answer to the first ques tion that will come to your mind is this: No. No, I wouldn't want a registered sex offender living near my family or me.

Would you?

Of course not.

No one does.

But they have to live somewhere unless we change the sentences for rape, sexual imposition, sexual battery and the like to life without parole. So far, we as a society have decided not to do that.

Instead, we have decided to label these men for life and limit where they can live.

Then we went a step further.

Ohio has a new law that should never have been passed. It was designed by politicians and sold based on the price tag: The state wouldn't lose any federal grant money for criminal justice programs if it complied with the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.

No one factored in the cost to apply the new law, enforce it and defend it in court challenges.

County sheriffs fear it will double their workloads. Sex offenders will have to check in every three months instead of once a year.

Already, hundreds of sex offenders are challenging their reclassification by filing civil suits. The state public defender will help with legal costs for those who can't pay for attorneys. Guess who will foot the bill?

The law adds a punishment after the fact. Certain offenders are getting reclassified into more-restrictive categories.

It applies retroactively to people who already have been labeled and who served their time. It will give them harsher penalties without any court hearing.

Do lawmakers even read the U.S. Constitution?

The new law also requires hundreds of juvenile sex offenders to register for life and possibly have their photos on Internet registries.

Judges across the state are refusing to enforce the law. Good for them.

Convicted sex offenders have served their time.

Those men - yes, they are mostly males - are considered the scum of the earth, unless that scum is your son. One dad told me he nearly passed out in the courtroom when the judge labeled his son for life.

"It can't ever be taken off," the father said, choking on the words.

His son sexually abused a teenage stepdaughter. His son deserved prison time and served it. Then his dad took him in.

"He doesn't have any place to go. I can see why these guys end up homeless. It's a system designed to fail."

It's a system that doesn't label murderers for life and limit where they can live and work. But across the country, we've legislated that sex offenders can't live near schools, parks, libraries, day cares or bus stops. Some cops fear we're driving them underground where no one can keep tabs on them.

What we have created is an illusion of safety, as if keeping bank robbers from living near banks will prevent them from robbing.

Offenders who want to offend will find prey through their families, friends or the Internet.

Sex offenders no longer have the right to live anywhere, but don't they have the right to live somewhere?

Yes. ..more.. by Regina Brett