Since the publication of my blog post “Do Sex Offender Registries Reduce Recidivism?,” a question I have been asked is “Paul, isn’t it a good thing that I as a parent knows who is a sex offender living in my neighborhood so I can tell my child to stay away from that person?” My responses are that such knowledge is only a tip of the iceberg, or telling your child about that individual sex offender is like protecting your child with a BB gun; you might get lucky by using this tool, but it is not a strong tool. Sex offender registries are not very useful tools to protect your child. Let me explain and then offer what you should do. Full Opinion Piece
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Do Sex Offender Registries Reduce Recidivism?
The author makes good points. Hopefully, they’ll make some consider the true value (i.e. worthlessness) of broad, indiscriminate registries.
Once again, an intelligent point of view from this guy, yet he stops short of saying the registries should be eliminated. If something is so ineffective, then why throw away hundreds of millions of dollars per year on it???
To his defense, he comes from a state (and is an elected official of that state) which already has a tiered registry. It’s not like CA’s registry at all. So, maybe from his perspective it’s worth keeping. Still, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. But, if it is broke, then FIX IT!!!
Heaven forbid if the time comes when a registered citizen has to stand back and watch a child in need of help, and unable to go near the child because it means going back to prison because of the politicians brain washing of the society for electrical votes to keep children safe!
They are not keeping our children safe because they are designed for the safety of elected officials and others that can use that information to their own career and financial advantage.