Source: missourinet.com 1/23/23
State Rep. Lane Roberts, R-Joplin, has reintroduced a piece of legislation for the creation of a violent offender registry. Under the bill, those convicted of first- and second-degree murder would be placed on a list similar to the sex offender registry.
“The theory here grows out of a contact I had with a constituent actually before I was even elected,” according to Rep. Roberts. “I made a promise to this person at the time that I would file this every year until we either pass it or I termed out. Her sister was murdered in the Joplin area. She was murdered by somebody who came to Missouri via the interstate compact for parole and probation. He actually committed a murder in Tennessee. Like a lot of people who commit murders, the underlying conduct was clearly first degree, but he pled to second degree, which made him eligible for parole at some point. He did parole, came to Joplin and ultimately murdered this woman who hired him having no idea what his background was.”
What I’m not reading in this story is how such a registry would have prevented the murder of the constituent’s sister. Or any indication that the sister who hired her eventual murderer would have bothered checking such a registry had it existed if she wasn’t inclined to do a criminal record check before hiring him.
Also, the proposed bill doesn’t create a “violent offender” registry. It only adds “violent offenders” to the sex offender registry. I suspect the real intent of this bill is to increase the federal federal registry grants.
Imagine that!
Ok, society is making true progress. We will have registries for both groups that are least likely to recidivate. Now, on to the third!
I don’t see anyone else bringing it up, but in most states, 1st degree murder is either a life sentence without parole, or the death penalty. Why would people convicted of that need to be placed on that registry if they’re either never getting out of prison or are awaiting execution? How the hell is that supposed to protect anyone?
The government never ceases to amaze me with their stupidity.
They can try it, but I can tell you it won’t work. There’s nothing Ike the stigma of a sex offense against a child, and the government creation of a sex offender registry was the perfect way to capitalize on mass hysteria. In today’s climate, a suburbanite would rather have a killer as a neighbor than someone who viewed child pornography online. There will always be an excuse for a killer….his wife drove him crazy, he had workplace stress, he was only protecting his honor. His crime must not have been that bad since he’s not in prison. A person would forgive and justify a killer before they’ll do if for a “sex offender.” Once you have that label, that’s it. People don’t want to know the details of how you got it.
Minnesota has included these violent offenders on the same registry as sex offenders for many years. They don’t refer to the registry as a ‘Sex Offender Registry’ but rather the ‘Predatory Offender Registry’. That name in an of itself is a different issue – in that a one-time sexual offender hardly falls under the English definition of predator even though they are placed on that registry – but that is a topic for a different day.
Good, then we need a drug dealers registry, Burglars registry, traffic violations registry, not paying rent/mortgage registry, not returning library books registry, etc. Maybe by that time they will see just how much these registries are useless.
Imagine if they would enact registries for drug dealers, people who used weapons during a crime, burglars, DUI drivers, etc, etc. Imagine opening the “map” to see all the dots in your neighborhood. Before, you only saw the dots of the registrants, and you felt safe…”phew” there is only one or two nearby. Now, you see them everywhere, and heck, your upstairs and caddy corner neighbor are now on the map. Who would have thought? Now the Karens and Kens really should start worrying. Before the new dots, they felt the false sense of security, not knowing what most of their neighbors have been up to, except, of course for the PFRs. So, here is what I would suggest. Get away with any registry but list those who never ever committed a crime on a map to show where the truly innocent and angel like people live. Would be a much smaller map and easier to monitor.
would not have stopped the murder , if he had not ever been charged before , pre-crime law is all speculation BS , not for it for PFR’s or anyone else ,