Source: delawareonline.com 5/27/22
House Bill 306 is before the Delaware State Legislature. For the 4,500-plus Delawareans who appear on the state Sex Offender Registry the proposed legislation changes the “Restrictions” designation on the front of their driver’s licenses from the current “Y” to “SO.” The bill retains the words “Sex Offender” that already appear on the back of licenses.
HB306 proposes nothing to make the public safer. Delaware drivers licenses use federally compliant standards, and law enforcement technology provides immediate knowledge of a person’s registry status without relying on any specific license designation. HB306 is purely punitive.
We show drivers licenses at many places, pharmacies, doctor’s offices, and banks. Employees of such places have no need to know if someone appears on the registry. HB306 will discourage individuals from accessing important services like medical care, prescriptions, and banking. HB306 simply encourages public shaming for individuals and discourage them from successful reintegration into society, a key component of preventing further offenses.
Great article. Would love to see more of these out there in the media as opposed to hysteria pieces about Registrants.
I strongly encourage everyone to make a comment on the original article in order to encourage and perhaps protect the person who wrote this article which is full of truth about the proposed law.
Done. Here’s my comment…
How many sex criminals flash their driver license before committing their crimes? How many children will be spared victimization because now they’ll be able card the coach/priest/uncle/teacher/scout leader before being groped?
If someone murders a child, they serve their time, parole and enjoy a life of anonymity. If someone looks at a picture of a naked child, however, they go to prison and parole to a life sentence as a social pariah. Gainful employment and housing are almost impossible to find.
That child murderer, however, he might just be your next Uber driver or plumber.
This Scarlet Letter serves only to further punish & humiliate people who should be allowed to get on w/ their lives after paying their debt to society. Unless, of course, the goal is to cause them to live in the shadows, socially isolated w/ no income, no friends, no hope & nothing to lose.
Is that what we want?
The biggest common denominator among these mass shooters is that they are socially disconnected. Their families have no idea they’ve harbored so much anger and hostility, not to mention GUNS. Why? Because they never talk and their emotional issues or, worse, mental illness fester to the breaking point.
Branding registrants for life, causing them “social death” is bad enough, but to publicly humiliate them every time they show their ID to pick up a prescription, register a vehicle, cash a check, go to the bank, is pure lunacy.
Why does America breed so many mass killers? This is why.
Oh, I get it. ‘SO’ is put on the driver’s license so the pharmacy worker can get on the loudspeaker and say to the people:
“Warning! A sex offender is filling a prescription!”
“Call out the national guard!”
“Contact the FBI!”
“Scramble the jets!
“Go to DEFCON 1”
“EMERGENCY!!!!!!!”
This is what our legislators are unfortunately getting paid to do, simply because they have nothing much else to do because they have already written and amended all the other laws (at least those that don’t make anyone angry at them that might vote for them ) so sex offenders are always a ‘go to’ group to make a law that will make them look good and fool the public into thinking they are doing a great job at what they were elected for.
Well, I had written a nice comment for this article here. But once again after spending 15 minutes typing it all out for some reason the site wiped it all out on me. This has happened a few times to me. This gets frustrating. I don’t have this problem anywhere else.
I no longer have a driving license. That’s one less way for surveillance saints.
What about gang members, murderers, etc?
I read the article cites two state that have lost with the branding on a driver’s license. Couldn’t these be evidence of unconstitutionality being pushed due to the registry? It shows how the title “administrative” implies being unchecked penalties until brought to court. Then ACSOL could bring ahead that there shouldn’t be a delineation between administrative and punitive as they’re all punitive punishments.
The article cites Delaware has under 4% recidivism rate. CA has under 1% recidivism rate. The judicial system already knows what to do with recidivist, which is to put them back into jail. Over 95% of current registrants don’t recidivate, but are continually ostracized with an ever ballooning registry. Compare the 2003 Alaska registry, which was mail-in, to what it is now.
Sounds like a bill written by an obscure or less-than-ethical assemblyman who needs something to campaign on.
Why go from least restrictive to more restrictive as we’ve discussed here on DL monikers?
ACSOL is a website my wife always tells me to stay off of. Sometimes theres good information, but a lot of whats presented on the website makes my blood boil. Do they have a M for murderers, T for thief, or D for drug users? The length these states will go to harass and discriminate against those on the registry is pure evil and shows the mindset of Jim Crow and other obviously discriminatory laws is still alive and only looking for someone to apply them to. This nation is totally corrupt and evil.