It may run counter to conventional wisdom, but it is exceedingly rare for a person registered as a sex offender to be charged with a new sexual offense in Cumberland County.
Of the 75 charged sex crime cases in Cumberland County in 2016, only two were committed by a person listed on the sex offender registry, according to an analysis of court records conducted by The Sentinel. Full Article
“Would they be more likely to do so if we didn’t have a registry?” Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed said. “I can’t answer that. … Is it effective? That’s the question for all these punishments.”
Ummm… What Punishments? The Jacob Wetterling Act, Megan’s Law, AWA, Jessica’s Law, IML, et al? I was under the impression these were merely regulatory measures, now I feel like I’m being punished. This sucks!
Oh wow. All these recent articles investigating the effectiveness on registries is taking me aback.
* Low recidivism rates (in this article 96% of the offenses are from new individuals)
* ML hasn’t done anything to change the anything
* Ill strikes down a park ban b/c it’s unconstitutional to criminalize normal behavior w/o due process.
* Iowa reveals 3 registrants died in jail after serving their time b/c they had nowhere to go (in the article, it revealed that one high level registrant has dementia – maybe psychological help should be administered)
But then there’s this:
* A teen can be a violent SP by looking at a teen in underwear? Isn’t that akin to going to the beach or watching a commercial with kids in their swimming trunks? Not only that, but in the plea bargain, the DA actually wrote that the teen cannot appeal. WTF??? Is that even legal? Can the judge of that case strike that out b/c it seems outrageous. I hope this case gets some notoriety for the absurdity of looking at bikini pictures. What’s next? Looking at someone with gym apparel such as yoga pants or boy shorts?
I, for one, hope this trend continues to multiply exponentially, because the more they call it punishment, the more material we have to prove it as such, and the more likely SCOTUS will be left with no choice but to finally acknowledge it as the punishment we all know it is. While a tiered registry is a step forward for many of us, should it get passed here in California, the ultimate goal MUST continue to be bringing the registry and all its included punishments to an end.