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Slashback: Summer, Sail, Sex Offenders
A new definition for optimism. Rei writes "According to a weblog entry from the Planetary Society, it appears that Cosmos 1 - the world's first controlled solar-sail spacecraft - has been found. The data is still tentative, but they have detected evidence of the spacecraft's signal in multiple tracking stations. There is a chance that it is in the wrong orbit, but it appears to be up there. This is after it was reported that the Volna rocket that launched it lost an engine after 83 seconds, and many had assumed that the craft was lost."
The power of the tag can only grow with time. An Anonymous reader writes "Saw your coverage of YubNub - I've been playing with a similar tool for a while that might interest your readers. It's called Ambedo and works in a way that you can tag search engines or bookmarks with a bookmarklet (you can also enter them manually if you want to). These are then added to you own tag directory. You then access these tags by typing them in a search box -- but all the matching is done client-side in javascript. It also has nice features like matching IP addresses, domain names, FedEx packages, calculator in the search box and so on."
If you like it so much, why don'tcha marry it? Mad Merlin writes "Groklaw has an interview with Chris DiBona of Google with regards to their Summer of Code program (as previously covered here). When asked why Google is doing the SoC program, Chris responds, 'It is simple: We love open source. A great number of Googlers have and are donating their 20% time to the open source efforts that we're doing.'"
Just kidding! scotty777 writes "Japan plans to give up its bid to have the world's first nuclear fusion reactor built in Aomori Prefecture. Japan Today reports the government decision, which means that the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER) site decision can be made. Japan Times reports that the government announced the decision by saying 'it plans to back down [from the Aomori site proposal] if the European Union stands firm on bringing the project to Cadarache, in southern France.'"
Surely this won't cause any controversy. davenaffis writes "Here's a little site I developed that uses Google Maps to map sex offenders. Only Washington, D.C. data is available right now, but I'll be adding more states soon."
The Solar Sail was lost due to no wind in space?
I heard it was transmitting this:
4 8 15 16 23 42
Solar sail - if we launched it, and it's transmitting a signal, and it's in orbit, and we still can't find it, what are the chances that we'd discover an asteroid headed our way? Put more funding into astronoomy please.
Ambedo - the first thing I did was view source. It's not a good sign when its own website makes basic HTML and Javascript errors.
Sex offenders - this list contains people who have done nothing more than urinate in public. This kind of map only encourages vigilantes and hysteria.
It was just on a three-hour tour...
(There's gotta be a better Gilligan joke in all of this, I just can't think of it now.)
Was deemed Carnival Cruise Line's least effective tag line of last year's ad campaign.
For a while now, I've been crawling the Michigan Sex Offender Registry, and plotting the locations on my own little mapping site.
For an example, look here.
The biggest suprise I've had is the ammount of incorrect data in the database. Only about 25% of the entries geocode on the first pass. I've had to do "best matching" to correct misspelled street names, I've seen birth years with obviously transposed digits, and some quite amusing obvious test entries.
In addition to the sex offender data, I also map the locations of domains with dns-loc location records, sites registered with geourl.org, or my own Geographic Crawler experiment, sites on or considered for the Superfund NPL list, and any other data I can force into a format I can plot.
Being able to plot the home locations of sex offenders on a map, as if they were tire-fitting chains or restaurants, is one step too far for me. I can see the logical extension from the things the Chicago Crime maps were achieving, but its really data that shouldn't be made accessible in such a contextless and simple manner. There could be people on the list for any number of reasons (not just the most serious offences..) who suffer greatly due to a 'Find your local sex offender' site.
I wouldn't be surprised if google maps chose to pull their data from being used by this site in such a way, it certainly wouldn't look good if anything unsavoury occurred. I'm all for cool and nifty uses of google maps, but this just doesn't seem tasteful.
Business Voyeur
Haven't the sex offenders already "served their time"? Or is their set of rights smaller than your or mine...
The culture wars may turn literal.
Imagine this:
People from conservative websites search liberal websites for anyone admitting that they have smoked pot. They compile a database of who said they smoked pot, linking the person's name, the person's address, and the comment(s) where the person admitted to smoking pot.
Now liberals respond. To take revenge, they categorize the different types of beliefs held by conservatives, and begin compiling a database of people, evidence, addresses.
Hostilities rise. If you live in a tower, a grid of condos, anywhere where there are a lot of people- stories start to spread, and people take sides.
The "sex offender" b.s. is a very, very bad thing.
I remember reading last year sometime about a guy in Aurora, CO (It was in westword) was having sex with a woman that told her she was over 18. A while later, he was busted because the woman was 16 or so. The guy got nailed by the courts and his life is now ruined.
The general "Sex Offender" term is just wrong. I can see why it's a bad thing to have your normal raper out on the loose, but to have your life ruined because of some stupid chick? Come' on people.
Where are all the female sex offenders???
Without a proper flamewar, Anonymous was undecided on what shell to run.
In Soviet America, Sex Offenders map YOU!
The idiot mapper.
So far only 1 idiot is listed there, but it is the biggest idiot on this planet.
Great job on the sex offender map. Now somebody get started on the slut map, please. Start with the Chicago area?
This is a nifty hack, but I wonder what your thoughts are on the ethics of it. If the database is inaccurate to the point where you have to make guesses about what the correct data really is, it's also likely that it points to a fair number of entirely innocent people. By making it easy for folks to find entries near them, you're aiding a process with the potential to do a lot of harm, for better or worse.
...
This is the kind of project I can easily imagine myself starting -- but around the time I was making guesses about misspelled street names, I think I'd can it and move on to something with less potential to ruin lives. With no negative judgment implied, why didn't you?
On a separate note, at a first glance I see a surprising number of pairs of dots very near to each other. Is this some kind of bug in the data or the mapping process? Am I just inventing patterns where there aren't any? Or perhaps there's some strange tendency for sex offenders to settle in pairs
Thanks for the interesting link.
What happens when a teenage boy gets convicted of Statutory rape because his girlfriends's dad walked in on them making hanky panky? Is he just another blip on the map- presumably a target for vigilantes or a scapegoat for community demagogues?
What happens when two consenting homosexual adults get railroaded by some backwater anti-sodomy laws? Now the ignorant have a map to the house for vandalism and hate crime intimidation?
Without context these maps have huge potential to inflict harm upon innocent people. These are just two of the examples that come off the top of my head.
i was looking around on the sex offender map and i found something interesting...
I had no idea...
The Sex Offender Registration page for the people I've looked at say that there are 638 registered offenders in DC. I didn't do a full count of the people on your list - but it's of the order of 100. I looked at about 1/3 to 1/2 and only found 3 Caucasians. None of the people listed were women. Is there a good reason that you chose these 100 or so? Or is it just because DC has a African American majority? Or was it just random? Or, and I really hope not, are you trying to make some sort of racist point? Why did you choose that particular area? Is it your local neighbourhood?
For anyone thinking of posting some sort of racist crap as a response to this question: keep it to yourselves. We aren't interested.
Aside from the two hypothetical cases I talked about elsewhere in this thread, I've heard horror stories of people being put on sex offender lists for mild offenses like public urination or public nudity.
Considering that the definition of "sex offender" can be so broad, compiling a map from every state and local database (each with its own criteria for listing people) seems like a really really bad idea.
Sex offenders are those who have committed sexually based offenses (think Law and Order SVU), such as rape, child molestation, statutory rape, etc. Unfortunately, some people in the registries are there for things like sodomy between consenting adults, or urinating in public. So the registry is probably too broad. On the other hand, this is only those convicted of a crime, not all sex offenders.
That's gotta fit into your schema somewhere
so it's okay to ruin lives, as long as its only REAL sex offenders' lives?
Hey, once upon a time we had this system where you do the crime, get caught, do the time. Then they let you out and back into society.
If we don't want these pedophiles walking around on our streets, the correct answer is to change sentencing so they stay away for a lot longer (or for good).
Don't let them out and then track them like livestock. Unless you want the same system to eventually be used on your schoolkids, local delinquents doing public service, all released cons or just everybody.
- Are humpbacks a leaner alternative to minkes?
- Soy sauce or wasabe?
- Do the whales even mind when they've been harpooned?
- High-protein, low-carb - can whale flesh play a role in the Atkins diet?
- And why are they just so damn tasty anyway?
Naturally, this rigorous program requires repeated application of the same test methodology: firing grenade-tipped harpoons into inquisitive whales and electrocuting them. Well done, Japan, on deciding to focus on core business.I glanced through the mapped offenders in D.C. -- what surprised me was the seeming smallness of some of the crimes.
Some of them definitely fit in with what I'd think of dangerously disturbed... rape of child under 12, etc. etc... but there are also crimes like "enticing a child under 16 years of age". I'm not even sure what that means -- does it really put this guy in the same category? We don't even know that he knew the girl he was "enticing" was underage... and perhaps he would have found out for sure before committing statutory rape.
Personally, I think listing someone in a database like this is a pretty severe punishment (because it will likely continue to cost them jobs, make it impossible to make friends with neighbors, etc. etc.). If they're going to list such a broad range of crimes, they'd at least make damn sure that someone checking the list will know -- WITHOUT clicking on the name and reading through the details -- what kind of crime it was.
But what even if all the guesses are correct there's still some ethical issues. Granted most of the issues involve even publishing the list of names to begin with. I mean wouldn't it be easy for someone to get the list and go around all vigilante style on the people on the list? Certainly it might be satisfying to attack a creep (even a reformed creep) but that's not justice. That's vengence.
Which brings me back around to the real point. Sex offenders are apparantly still dangerous to society following their release from prison. Shouldn't the solution to continue to segregate them from society rather than to just let 'em go and tell people, "Sorry, there's a dangerous new person in your neighborhood, watch your kids/wife/backside." We could put them in a concrete building with bars over the windows and locks on the doors.. a lot like.. more prison! If it's been shown that these people are a danger to society following their terms and that they are incapable of reform*, then it is obvious, at least to me, that the terms are not long enough to protect society from them and them from society.
*statistical incapability** is indistinguishable from real incapability if you cannot say for certain if they've been reformed until they die having not regressed.
**within a socially acceptable error margin. (is 3 standard deviations enough (~99.7% confidence)? 30 (100-(.98e-195) percent confidence)? I don't claim to have the answer)
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
http://www.freep.com/news/metro/dicker20_20031020. htm
g ister.html
This mentions people on the michigan sex offender list, without names.. but states a woman is there for public urination, and some guys are there for consensual sex with underage girlfriends.
Both are examples given by the grandparent.
Have a look here to:
http://www.geocities.com/eadvocate/issues/harm-re
He tried to kill me with a forklift!
By some Bizarre twist of fate I have actually worked with two people who have run afoul with this sex offender list thing. One was convicted of Internet child porn swapping (In the worst miscarriage justice I have ever witnessed). With the other it involved his ex-wife and his kid. From my perspective the first guy I listed became pawn in various people's games to stay in elected office and consolidate power while the second one really had something fishy going on (he signed up to be youth councilor at a local church). So how does this sort of thing distinguish between some poor sod who wants just live his life and someone truly out to continue the activities that got him on the list to begin with.
Also don't you think you're on the borderline of encouraging vigilante behavior? This is where I really question the rationality behind the creation of these lists. If you've done something against society and you go to jail for it, doesn't your debt to society end when you are released? Why then the list? If you say it's because of the high incidence of repeat offenders, then you also must admit that just sending these people to jail doesn't really work (with the exception of protecting society while they are in jail). So shouldn't then the emphasis be placed on understanding the causes of the repeat offense and real solutions to socialize these people rather than just some high-tech branding?
I really agree with Richard Feynman with this and say that the justice system has everything to do with retribution and nearly nothing to do rehabilitation and as such has no emphasis on efficacy. And honestly I'd rather live in a society which really changed the behavior of these anti-social types rather than perpetuating some weird catch-release cycle.
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Things that can get you on a registered sexual offender list:
public urination, exhibitionism, nudism, streaking, flashing, mooning, outdoor consensual sex, lewd behaviour.
Dont believe me?
utah law book says:
(d) "Sex offender" means any person convicted by this state or who enters a plea in abeyance for violating Section 76-7-102, 76-9-702.5, 76-5a-3, 76-10-1306, or 76-5-301.1
and all of those are for lewd behaviour that specifically includes public urination, streaking, and mooning.
LAW LINK
"The study found that people charged with crimes such as public urination, flashing, consensual sex between teenagers, possession of child pornography and adult prostitution are all classified as sex offenders in some states."
Link to source
"Plaistow Deputy Chief Kathleen Jones also said that not every person on the sex offender list has necessarily committed an egregious crime such as rape or molestation because a conviction of indecent exposure, even in cases such as public urination, can land someone on the list."
Link
"According to Michigan State Police Sgt. Troy Fellows, urinating in public is classified as indecent exposure, and requires sex offender registration after three convictions...[And] Judges [can] to order registration after any number of convictions..."
Link
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
"Sex offender" means any person:
(i) convicted by this state of:
(A) a felony or class A misdemeanor violation of Section 76-4-401, enticing a minor over the Internet;
(B) Section 76-5-301.1, kidnapping of a child;
(C) a felony violation of Section 76-5-401, unlawful sexual activity with a minor;
(D) Section 76-5-401.1, sexual abuse of a minor;
(E) Section 76-5-401.2, unlawful sexual conduct with a 16 or 17 year old;
(F) Section 76-5-402, rape;
(G) Section 76-5-402.1, rape of a child;
(H) Section 76-5-402.2, object rape;
(I) Section 76-5-402.3, object rape of a child;
(J) a felony violation of Section 76-5-403, forcible sodomy;
(K) Section 76-5-403.1, sodomy on a child;
(L) Section 76-5-404, forcible sexual abuse;
(M) Section 76-5-404.1, sexual abuse of a child or aggravated sexual abuse of a child;
(N) Section 76-5-405, aggravated sexual assault;
(O) Section 76-5a-3, sexual exploitation of a minor;
(P) Section 76-7-102, incest;
(Q) Section 76-9-702.5, lewdness involving a child;
(R) Section 76-10-1306, aggravated exploitation of prostitution; or
(S) attempting, soliciting, or conspiring to commit any felony offense listed in Subsection (1)(e)(i)...
(E) applies only if the convicted is ten years older than the minor at the time of the offense 76-5-401.2. Unlawful sexual conduct with a 16 or 17 year old:
a) has sexual intercourse with the minor;
(b) engages in any sexual act with the minor involving the genitals of one person and the mouth or anus of another person, regardless of the sex of either participant; or
(c) causes the penetration, however slight, of the genital or anal opening of the minor by any foreign object, substance, instrument, or device, including a part of the human body, with the intent to cause substantial emotional or bodily pain to any person or with the intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person, regardless of the sex of any participant.
(3) A violation of Subsection (2) is a third degree felony.
Sorry but the percentages speak loud and clear - unlike other criminal activity a sex offender is FAR more likley to repeat the offense. That's exactly why there is a registry
Can you backup your statements with valid studies? The majority of the studies I've seen point the other way, especially if the offenders in question received any type of treatment. Here is a link from the US Justice Department with data showing about a 16% average reoffense rate for sex crimes (13% recidivism rate for molestors and 19% for rapists for new sex offenses) (Look in FAQ). Considering the average rate for non-sex offender recidivism is above 30%, welll....
The real reason for the registry is to make people feel good and think that congress is doing something, nothing more.
BWP
What you post is the 2005 law. What was posted above was the 2003 law. Clearly they amended the law. Still the point is well taken, people convicted of sex offences on utah prior to 2005 might well be public urinators and have to registered sex offenders in any state they live in.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Here is a link to a Google map plotting out the sex offenders in Minnesota, enjoy! http://www.sexoffendersminnesota.com/