At least one Independent Senator is not in support of the names of sexual offenders going public.
Sophia Chote, SC, said that this has the potential of opening the floodgates for vigilante justice in T&T.
Chote made the comment in the Senate on Tuesday during her contribution on the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Bill to create a sexual offenders registry.
She said making the names of sexual offenders public will also stigmatise the name of the convicted person.
“So if the T&T Police Service has a list of sexual offenders, then, certainly that is going to help them identify who may have perpetrated a particular crime and bring that person to justice. To me, that is more in the public’s interest than putting something up on the web in a police station.”
She cited a 2007 US article entitled a “comparison of sexual offenders and the non-offending public” which showed that half of the sex offenders who were interviewed claimed they received “threats, had their property damaged and had been physically assaulted and ran out of town basically as a result of public disclosure.”
Chote said it meant that if vigilantes know someone had committed a sexual offence which goes public, they would not have any guilt of administering their own justice.
“She said making the names of sexual offenders public will also stigmatize the name of the convicted person.”
Why doesn’t any lawmaker in America present this factual argument? We already know they answer – they’re all two-faced cowards that continue to lie, distort and mislead to prop up Megan’s Law as “valuable” public safety tool.
This is what I sent to the editor of the paper – letters@guardian.co.tt (could not comment under the article 🙁 without registering which is a fee or fb might be without a fee, but not going there. ) I also sent it to the parliament (webmaster@ttparliament.org) as I could not find a direct email to Ms. Chote. Whenever possible I will send emails to articles such as this. We must try when our busy lives allow us a few extra minutes. Those who are willing to speak out and up, like this site, this Senator, should be acknowledged. Even if all you say is Thank you.
Ms. Chote, Thank you for being the voice of reason. All “sex offenses” are not the same. Not all “offenders” are the same. The stigma that comes from the public branding of person is not a society moving forward, but backwards. Let law enforcement do their jobs without the impediment of spending time going after vigilante justice which can end not only potential loss of life or property to the person/family so stigmatized but then to the vigilante who ends up in jail ruining his life and his families. Have any of the crimes, from sexual contact with a child, to exposing oneself or getting caught up in child pornography because you have PSTD or a 20 year old having consensual sex with a 16 year old been prevented by a public registry? Spend the money on out reach programs, let people know there is help….before they commit the crime. No one wants a child hurt, no one is saying there are not consequences for your actions. I don’t want to live in a world where there isn’t. But there has to be a balanced approach. Purposefully setting out to publicly hate on a group of people, to almost assure they become homeless, that their families and children are harassed and shamed says more about those who promote this than it does about the registrant. Many of who have been victims of assault themselves. So now instead of outreach to break the cycle after they have most likely served prison time, the government tells you, you are forever a worthless person, not redeemable….and the whole world gets permission to do the same.
To the paper I started with this –
I would like to say…. (I would happily post this on your site but I will not post via facebook) Perhaps your paper will consider reaching out to organizations who have facts and statistics and more proven, reasonable approaches on this subject matter.
Here is the study from 2007 referenced by Senator Chote that highlighted the consequences of the registry (PDF link): https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/51292843.pdf