SAN ANTONIO — More than 80 parks across San Antonio will turn into restricted zones for registered sex offenders. The new ordinance takes effect Saturday, March 1. City council unanimously approved it in December as the best interest of public safety.
Texas Voices, a group which advocates for non-violent offenders, says analysis of similar ordinances in other states suggest restrictions do not create safer environments. The group said some registrants are on the list if they were charged for having a consensual relationship with a minor at 18-years-old. “The hardest part is that the public believes that everyone on the registry is a dangerous predator. That’s not true,” said Mary Molnar, Texas Voices executive director.
The ordinance means registered offenders can no longer enter a park or live within a thousand feet of park. Full Article
Media and public officials continue to keep vital information in murky water. Especially now that the state has reached into decades old cases and will now treat those who have served their sentence and raised law abiding children, with the same punishing hand as people freshly released from years of confinement. It is simply easier for them to gloss over the statistics by choosing a fear based and rhetorical approach to actually solving the underlying problem.
All in the interest of public safety or rather correctly, catering to the fear mongering and sensationalism that surround these brainstorms and initiatives to produce another “Feel Good” law.
Tell that to the children of registrants who are trying very hard to have a childhood free from the hatred and that these laws spawn. I keep looking for rare sanity among lawmakers but it plays a far second to hyperbole and obfuscation of ex post facto punishments and infringements that they are really about.
What about the sex offenders not on the registry. Are they allowed to enter the parks????? it seems to be getting worse, than any closer to “My Lord 95% of the RSO DO NOT REPEAT THE OFFENSE” How about that!!!! And Surely we need to believe Mary Molnar, she knows everything. This is all political and all politicians run from this topic…does the Supreme Court or any other judge even believe in the constitution? It would be really great if the ACLU swung the bat for us or some other civil rights groups are they out there? I still agree with the man who posted his accusers on the internet especially the ones who speak the loudest see how they like have their dirty laundry out in sky cast…
I suppose if you really want to keep the public safe, 2 things have to happen. First, go ahead and put the children and supporters of sex offenders on the registry cause they’re just gonna commit those same offenses someday. Right? Let’s just call it the “PreCog Program”, since those kids are already paying the price at school by their peers, and can’t explain why their folks can’t get a job.
Second, if the politicians and powers that be are really interested in saving all these innocent potential victims, how about we block all of the lobbyists like the Private Prison Industry and the GPS manufacturers from “contributing” to the campaigns that keep those lawmakers in their pockets. The bar is only raised on the citizens of this land. Those who make the laws are not subject to live by them.
In California, the Private Prisons are guaranteed that 97% of their beds will remain filled. I see this Interest is definitely Conflicted. Just sayin’
I have been thinking the same thing. It is time to speak out against the injustice bestowed on the individuals placed on the registry. It is time for all registrants, friends and their families to work together and speak out. It is time to no longer feel shamed, marked and labeled. It is time to hold our heads high and let our voices be heard.
What they have just done in San Antonio is unacceptable.
The refrain “Remember The Alamo’ will be updated to reflect defilement being done to the constitution amidst this mindless frenzy brought on by hate mongers disguised as public officials. They are blissfully unaware of the real metrics of the problem but intoxicated with mob rule and career enhancing possibilities.
California RSOL has reached out to Texas and will continue to do so to help them challenge presence restrictions in federal court. The judges in Texas must be as bright as the judges in California, right? We shall see.
sounds strongly of Nazism to me. I am a RSO but have been out of prison for nearly 20 years. I held a good paying job untiL I retired out of the VA hospital in 2006,
I consider myself a law abiding tax paying citizen of this country and state. I own my own home, pay city taxes but I can’t enjoy the things the city has to offer others.
something very wrong with this picture. This law (ordnance) has no place here and the city council members who voted for it should have their asses kicked. Pun definately intended.