Sweden has an official government department that devotes its resources to fighting discrimination against homosexuals. Can you guess what the name of the department is?
I’d love to see people’s reactions when Hans Ytterberg hands out his business card.
Today I came across a story about how lawmakers in Ohio are planning yet another way to punish people for crimes they’ve already been punished for. Not content with forcing sex offenders to register with the sheriff in the county in which they live or barring them from living near a school, now a new law has been proposed that will force sex offenders to get special colored license plates that would allow the public to identify them. [digg=http://www.digg.com/political_opinion/Sex_offender_hysteria]
Does anyone else think our politicians have gone way overboard on this issue? I personally think that they went overboard the moment they required sex offenders to register, even after serving prison time. Here is just a sampling of some of the feel-good-but-useless-and-life-ruining laws that have been passed around the country:
- In Florida, sex offenders are barred from hurricane shelters and must report to the nearest prison if they have nowhere else to go.
- In Iowa, sex offenders are banned from living within 2,000 feet of schools and day care centers, which essentially bans sex offenders from living in most cities and towns.
- Georgia law prevents sex offenders from living, working, or loitering within 1,000 feet of a school, church, playground, or school bus stop. In some cases, entire counties are off limits.
- California has put out a piece of legislation which would enforce lifetime monitoring of convicted sexual predators and the creation of “predator free zones”.
We’ve all heard the insane cases where seemingly normal activity can ends up getting some poor schmuck on a sex offender registry. Like the 18 year old boy who gets convicted of having sex with his 17 year old girlfriend, or the man who grabbed the a girl’s arm and scolded her for running in front of his car.
It appears that the only real thing these draconian laws accomplish are ruined lives for non-violent and non-repeating sex offenders, and a false sense of security for the community. If these people are such a danger to the community in which they reside, why are they being released from prison? If they disregarded laws against the molesting of children, why would they follow laws preventing them from loitering near schools and playground?
Much of the hysteria surrounding sex offenders can be blamed on the media. From sensationalizing local stories nationwide for weeks, to shows like “To Catch a Predator”, the media has kept American interest in sex offenders on the front burner. After doing a little research, many of society’s preconceived notions about sex offenders (not surprisingly) are wrong:
The vast majority of minors (94%) are victimized among family or friends. 84% of assaults on children under 12 occur within a residence. These statistics make distance laws (e.g. 1000 feet from a school) uncalled for. Another misconception people have is that sex offenders have a high recidivism rate. Actually, the opposite is true. Recidivism rates for sex offenses are relatively low, typically running in the 3-13% range, and among the lowest of all types of crimes.
I’m not trying to suggest that there aren’t real, dangerous criminals out there. But, the 18 year old guy who gets caught getting oral sex from his 17 year old girlfriend isn’t one of them.
CLINTON, S.C. (AP) — Authorities say a 23-year-old female middle school teacher was arrested Thursday, accused of having sex with five boys in locations including the school, at a motel, in a park and behind a restaurant.
Clinton Public Safety Director John Thomas says some of the 14- and 15-year-old victims were students at Bell Middle School in Laurens School District 56, where Allenna Williams Ward taught. Others went to a different school.
Investigators say there could be more victims.
Somehow I doubt the boys consider themselves “victims.”
Click here for the whole article.
Now I’m no coneisseur of dildos or vibrators, but I’m happy to report that the government of Alabama is using its taxpayers’ dollars well. Instead of focusing on petty issues, such as murder and rape, the public servants of Alabama have vigorously defended its decision to ban the commerical sale sex toys in the state…and won their case in front of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals:
MONTGOMERY — A federal appeals court issued a Valentine’s Day ruling upholding an Alabama law banning the sale of sex toys. But the devices won’t disappear from store shelves, including at one Decatur store, immediately.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Alabama’s sex toy ban is constitutional because “the state’s interest in preserving and promoting public morality provides a rational basis for the challenged statue.”
Hmm. I wonder how the court reasons that the state, an intangible and inanimate entity, can have interests? The truth is that the state does not have “interests”. Only individuals have interests. In reality, claiming that something is in the “state interest” or “national interest” is simply a government employee imposing his or her interests on you.
The lead plaintiff, Sherri Williams, said she was disappointed the 11th Circuit dated its ruling “on the very day this nation celebrates romance.”
Of course, this ruling could not have fallen on a more appropriate date, February 14th — reminding us that we should all look to the state to be the final judge of what kind of sex we can have behind closed doors.
I saved the best (scariest) part for last:
In previous appeals to the 11th Circuit, Williams and her attorneys had argued that the law was an unconstitutional intrusion into bedrooms, but the 11th Circuit held there was no fundamental right to use sexual devices.
That is a pretty bold assertion. If one completely ignores the Ninth Amendment as the 11th Circuit has, such an opinion by the court has far reaching ramifications. If it is the court’s opinion that there is no fundamental right to use sexual devices, then what devices do the people have a right to use? Using this pattern of logic, there is no fundamental right to use anything. The state is in complete control of your life and the legality of anything is at its whim.
Welcome to America. Land of the free.
