GA- Our Opinion on SB 157: Fix registry

3-13-2009 Georgia:

Once legislators realized how passionately voters revile “sex offenders,” they began to search for those offenders everywhere — even where they don’t exist — to make sure they are punished and stay punished.

As a result, an increasing number of criminals on the state’s sex-offender registry never committed a sex crime. State law makes anyone convicted of kidnapping or false imprisonment of a minor a sex offender. So if someone robs a Dairy Queen and detains a 16-year-old employee, that criminal is forever a sex offender.

Inclusion on the sex-offender registry is a life sentence; those on it cannot live near schools, churches, swimming pools, school bus stops, day care centers, parks, rec centers or skating rinks; or work near schools, churches or day care centers.

Recognizing their mistake, legislators are trying to amend the law to remove non-sex crimes from those requiring registration.

While helpful, that doesn’t go far enough. Under current law, a 17-year-old who had sex with a willing 15-year-old classmate could be put on the registry for life as a child abuser. The General Assembly should limit the registry to truly dangerous offenders, such as rapists and child molesters.

Across the state, police officers waste time and money confirming the whereabouts of “offenders” who pose little threat to anybody. If the registry listed only serious offenders, it would become a more useful tool to law enforcement.

Senate Bill 157, sponsored by Sen. Seth Harp, does make many sensible changes. It recognizes that ailing offenders in nursing homes and hospices can be removed from the registry since they pose no threat. It also creates a system hereby homeless offenders can register and stay within the law. That’s important, because by denying offenders the right to live in so many places, the law itself creates homelessness.

In the past few years, Georgia’s sex-offender registry has faced a series of major court challenges. The state has lost every challenge, which isn’t surprising considering the law grew out of political opportunism, not thoughtful research. It’s time to fix this law once and for all. Harp’s bill is a fine beginning, but it needs to go further. ..News Source.. — Maureen Downey, for the editorial board