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Sex Offender E-Mail Registry Signed Into Law

Posted by timothy on from the island-of-liars-and-truth-tellers dept.

As noted in Wired yesterday, tragedy in chaos writes, "Senator and Presidential-hopeful John McCain has managed to get a new bill signed into law, in the hope of ridding online social networks of the sexual predation of children. The 'Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual Predators Act of 2008,' as it is called, calls for a database to be made in which all registered sexual offenders must also register their e-mail addresses so that MySpace, Facebook, etc. can run current and hopeful users through it, and eliminate access to the offenders. Though a noble goal, this is not very well thought out in methodology. They are asking known criminals to be honest, and are expecting them not to utilize any of the free and readily available e-mail services that exist so as to circumvent the system. There is also a potential for the crafty sex offender to possibly cause false positives by just registering an address that does not belong to them, thereby drawing in innocent bystanders."

48 of 459 comments (clear)

  1. Yes this makes perfect sense by pwnies · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As the honest ones who never meant any harm will stay honest, and will be flagged as outcasts. The ones who do mean harm though, will just ignore the request to be honest and register a gmail account.

    1. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by GrumblyStuff · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I see it as a way to tack on more charges in the future. He didn't register?! That makes him a CRIMINAL!

      And it's computer related so there goes all your electronics.

      Anyway, god forbid they keep dangerous people in jail. I mean, that's what it's for, right? If they're still a danger to society at large, why the hell are they not behind bars?

    2. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Anyway, god forbid they keep dangerous people in jail. I mean, that's what it's for, right? If they're still a danger to society at large, why the hell are they not behind bars?

      So you are saying there's no recourse? Why don't you just kill them then, because that would save a lot of resources and time instead of keeping "dangerous" people indefinitely.

    3. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by zappepcs · · Score: 3, Insightful

      A very salient point: If they're still a danger to society at large, why the hell are they not behind bars?

      Answer: Because without a group of people to vilify there is no easy way to sway the mindset of the public at large. If it were not for sex offenders, it might well be that we'd be protecting the children from godless atheists or some other group. Democrats perhaps? The USA system of democracy has been tortured into a shape that requires a evil-doers in order to function. We HAVE to be at war against something or nobody will vote.

      Sad but true.... According to Palin, we're engaged in an economic war right now also. Not sure when that was declared or even if the McCain campaign has spoken with her about this new war, but she has announced it. Beheading of Wall street types who don't own at least 3 cars is to begin next week.

      --
      Support NYCountryLawyer RIAA vs People
    4. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by spud603 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Anyway, god forbid they keep dangerous people in jail. I mean, that's what it's for, right?

      You make it sound like a foregone conclusion that prison is nothing more than a way to cordon off undesirables. It may well be, but that's by no means the generally accepted fact.
      For the idealists out there, prison is supposed to rehabilitative. For the Machiavellians it's a political tool of disenfranchisement.

    5. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by GrumblyStuff · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I don't know. I thought justice was more than punishment and retribution and revenge and vengeance. ...but of course, we'd have a lot more resources without the war on drugs.

      The point I'm trying to make is that jail is the stated place for dangerous people, right? Where they can be kept, supervised, and (in theory) made into a productive member of society? They were held, judged unfit to be free with the rest of us, and um... released before they were deemed safe to the population?

      I'm just a stickler for definitions and people holding true to doing what they say. If jail is for dangerous people, then keep dangerous people in jail. If jail is for rehabilitation, then people to be released from jail should meet whatever criteria is set and be considered free thereafter.

    6. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by street+struttin' · · Score: 3, Funny

      What if you don't know how many cars you own?

    7. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by mishehu · · Score: 4, Informative

      I've heard that in some regions of the USA you can be labeled a sex offender for doing any of the following:
      1. Peeing in a public alleyway.
      2. Have sex in the backseat of your car with your significant other.
      3. Be in possession of pictures of your girlfriend's boobs, when both of you are say, 16 years old.
      It seems that Americans have a terrible hangup about sex. You would get the impression that we don't have sex unless it's through a sheet with a hole in it, and not without scrubbing down as if we're surgeons going in to operate... And teenagers are not allowed to have any sex whatsoever. They can't even play doctor. (Not to mention that for most of the history of humanity, people started having sex as soon as the parts were fully functional...)

      That being said, EXACTLY how is this legislation supposed to improve the Internet and not just ruin the lives of people undeserving such punishment and waste a crapload of taxpayer dollars?

    8. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by nine-times · · Score: 4, Informative

      A very salient point: If they're still a danger to society at large, why the hell are they not behind bars?

      Er... because they have rights?

      I mean, yes, perhaps we could re-evaluate particular statutes, but criminals can't be held in jail for longer than their prison sentence. Often, it's hard to just lock someone up and throw away the key because of protections against "cruel and unusual punishment".

      Of course, it depends (at least somewhat) on what you consider to be a "sex offender". I was reading a story earlier today about a teenage girl who might be forced to register as a sex offender for distributing nude pictures of herself.

    9. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by Kleen13 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The problem with sex offenders is that no matter what kind of rehab/psych treatments the offender gets, they do not change their sexual preferences. As a father, I'm torn. I'd like nothing better for the skinners of the world to be locked up forever or put in general population and let the other convicts take care of the problem to protect children like mine. On the flip side, they have their rights as well. (Flame-bait disclaimer: to have a sexual preference, not break the law and abuse children) From what I understand, most of these predators are born with their preferences and develop them throughout adolescence. You might as well ask me to stop being heterosexual, or a homosexual to just stop being gay. I don't think a registry is going to work. There is simply no reasonable way to insulate these people from those they prey on. It's all just political posturing anyway. I wonder what else ended up on that bill.

      --
      That sinking feeling deep in your gut when you KNOW you screwed up bad summed up with: {head desk} {head desk}
    10. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by icebrain · · Score: 5, Informative

      Well, there's also the problem that stupid little things (like pissing against a building, or taking naked photos of [i]yourself[/i] under 18) can earn you the "sex offender" label for life. I agree, the dangerous ones should be in prison, but the label is carried too far to the extreme in many cases.

      --
      The meek may inherit the earth, but the strong shall take the stars.
    11. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by Sabby · · Score: 4, Informative

      Add to that list:

      4. Have sex at an age of 18 when your partner is under the age of consent, but not signifigantly younger than you. (You're newly 18, partner is one month from 16 here in the state of Michigan. Friend's nephew learned that one the hard way.)

      5. Skinny dipping in a secluded area when someone happens by.

      6. Homosexual sex with a consenting partner in some states.

      This is just a case of politicians trying their best to look good and gather votes by engaging in a crusade against Bad People(tm). So, we end up with zero-tolerance laws.

      No one wants to vote against them because their opponents will then say "Politician Blahblah is soft on sex offenders."

      This is not a US phenomenon, it's a democratic phenomenon. We just happen to have sex as our particular hangup... other countries have harmless weapons as their hangup.

      "We must ban crossbows. I once heard a crossbow was used in a crime in a little known area, one time. So, there's no reason you should need one. I propose a ban."

      (Never mind that I can use a pencil to do harm to another person, and thus use the threat of that harm to commit the same crime. Or even just my fists.)

    12. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by PitaBred · · Score: 5, Informative

      I hate jacking a high-up post, but it needs to be said that both McCain AND OBAMA were co-sponsors of this bill. "tragedy in chaos" is a hypocritical jackass, and this article's blurb needs amended.

      --
      My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
    13. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by PopeRatzo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I have already been protecting my children from Democrats.

      It doesn't matter, they'll still grow up to hate you. And maybe they'll grow up like another child of a good, strong Republican, Ronald Reagan, and be a homosexual ballet dancer.

      That's what's known as "justice".

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    14. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by dgatwood · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Agreed. More to the point, I suspect if you really went down the rolls, you'd find that a large percentage of the sex offenders out there are guys who did something with a high school girl when they were in their 20s and got caught. You can't tell me that most of them are "dangerous" or deserve to be treated as second class citizens for the rest of their lives. (Until they mature, perhaps, but....)

      Sex offender registry laws should be reserved for the extreme cases---cases of rape in which neither party was intoxicated or under the influence of drugs (or in which the injured party was unknowingly/unwillingly subjected to drugs with intent to rape), cases in which someone over... let's say 21 intentionally and knowingly engages in or attempts to engage in sexual contact with someone under... let's say 12, etc. That gives a wide enough safety margin that it weeds out everyone but the people who truly are a danger to society.

      Without such limits, you're just ruining the lives a bunch of otherwise normal people who did stupid things when they were in high school or college. That doesn't make much sense to me (or, frankly, to anyone with half a brain). If anything, this is why laws that don't give judges any leeway in sentencing are universally bad. They create an environment in which a judge is forced to give a punishment even if the circumstances clearly do not warranty that punishment. Unfortunately, without those laws, we get problems on the other side---idiot judges who keep letting out repeat offenders who progressively work their way up to heinous crimes. I don't know what the solution is except perhaps to pass laws that would require all criminal sentencing to occur by a vote of... say seven judges who are all required to read the complete decision of the presiding judge prior to enacting sentencing (with harsh criminal penalties for any judge who regularly fails to read the decisions before voting).

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    15. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by bugs2squash · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I consider myself an idealist. I want a prison system that...

      1) Renders capital punishment un-necessary. We're not a small island nation, we truly can afford to lock up the heinous forever and we can achieve it.

      2) Treats rehabilitation as second only in priority to containment for prisoners who are physically dangerous. They should not be released at all unless we can be reasonably certain that they are no longer a threat.

      3) Does not double as a housing project for lots of non-physically-dangerous offenders. Let them go, employ them in something productive, do whatever, but don't feed them three squares a day while they're sat on their ass doing nothing but learning how to be better criminals from the other cons.

      decades of "get tough" cheap politics have done little to make people safer, have run up huge bills, and fucked-up a lot of people.

      --
      Nullius in verba
    16. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by westlake · · Score: 3, Interesting
      A very salient point: If they're still a danger to society at large, why the hell are they not behind bars?
      Answer: Because without a group of people to vilify there is no easy way to sway the mindset of the public at large
      .

      Have you ever taken a look at your county's registry of sex offenders?

      It tends to strip away any illusions you might have about how these men came to make the list.

      It wasn't for pissing in the park:

      From upstate New York:

      Victims: Females Ages 1, 4, 7, and 10
      Attempted sexual intercourse
      MoreThanOnce Deviate Sexual Intercourse
      MoreThanOnce Sexual Contact
      MoreThanOnce Promoting/Possessing Sexual Performance by a Child
      Force used: Threat
      Computer used: Yes
      Pornography involved: Yes

    17. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by Dhalka226 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Well, you're correct that if somebody is attracted to children they will likely always be attracted to children.

      At the same time, recidivism rates for sex offenders is relatively low compared to many other types of crime, particularly violent crime. They may always be attracted to children, but that doesn't mean they can't be helped to control their urges or find alternate, more accepted mediums to dispense with them. There is quite a bit of porn out there, for example, claiming that the girls are children (usually 16). They very often look it, but I suspect that's not true most of the time. Obviously I have no idea if that helps, in the long run. I know doing nothing doesn't help either though.

      My main problem with all this sex offender stuff is like somebody said earlier: If they're so dangerous and can't be rehabilitated, just execute them or lock them up forever and be done with it. The idea that somebody can do their time and even not have any period of probation yet be subject for the rest of their lives to tracking (registries, etc) and humiliation/ostrasization/threats/physical harm/etc (being required to tell their neighbors if they move in, "no sex offender" housing zones) is not only repugnant to me, it seems to all but guarantee we turn them into criminals again in one way or another. These laws also seem to be all about that. Nobody who knows anything expects that this bill will ACTUALLY protect children from all but the stupidest of predators, but it's another thing for cops to be able to put a big-bad-predator back in jail. Regardless of whether or not he really did anything.

      Let's just find some internal consistency. If being a sex offender is something that makes your life forfeit, then do that. If not, let's stop passing these idiotic laws so DAs can become politicians and politicians can claim to be tough on crime and protecting your children.

    18. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by CheeseTroll · · Score: 3, Funny

      The ones in pieces around your front yard don't count.

      --
      A post a day keeps productivity at bay.
    19. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by LihTox · · Score: 3, Insightful

      1. The plural of anecdote isn't data. I'll believe that there are some nasty guys on sex offender lists, but I suspect there are also kids who had sex with their childhood sweetheart when they were underage, urinated in the park, etc.

      2. If we want to keep track of nasty people after they've been in jail, why is this list restricted to SEX offenders? Is a murderer who's released after 20 years less of a danger to his community than a rapist?

      3. No bones about it, these restrictions we place on sex offenders after they've served ARE punishment: they restrict their freedom, their ability to live where they want, work where they want, maybe even work at all. Is it fair to add to the sentence of criminals after the fact? Or would you sacrifice freedom for security at all costs?

    20. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by jtn · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Why would anyone engage in sexual activity before marriage is completely beyond me. Non of these issues would happen if people just behave.

      Uhh... you're aware that this idea is a relatively recent phenomenon, correct? In all of human history, the concepts of "sex" and "marriage" had only a casual relationship to each other.

      Are you seriously linking pre-marital sex to things such as sexual abuse? I would love to see your research on the subject.

    21. Re:Yes this makes perfect sense by TheLink · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yep sex offenders could be high school kids _consensually_ having sex with each other.

      See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_v._State_of_Georgia

      "and later being offered and receiving oral sex from a 15-year-old girl" = "aggravated child molestation" = mandatory 10 year jail sentence.

      Imagine if your friend got jailed for 10 years because you voluntarily initiated sex with him. Talk about mentally scarred for life, and so who was doing the scarring - your friend? No. The State.

      Then there are cases of high school kids sending naked pictures of themselves to others... Kids do that sort of stuff. They're silly, but they never expect that the State might jail them in order to "protect them".

      Who needs protection like that? The State ends up being one more threat to your children's safety - if not a bigger threat.

      --
  2. They should make a new domain by BlowHole666 · · Score: 3, Funny

    They should make a new domain for sex offender e-mail addresses. Make every sex offender get an e-mail address at this domain and restrict their access to other free e-mail services. The domain can be called. hotmail.com

    --
    I smoked pot once. But I DID NOT inhale. Will you hire me?
    1. Re:They should make a new domain by moderatorrater · · Score: 3, Funny

      They should make a new domain for sex offender e-mail addresses...The domain can be called. hotmail.com

      That sounds more like a domain for their targets.

  3. Newest craze by Rinisari · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Your new account could not be created because your email address is on the US Federal Sex Offender List."

    YOU GOT SEXROLL'D!

    --
    Colin Dean Go a year without DRM
    1. Re:Newest craze by DaFallus · · Score: 4, Funny

      $1 to whoever gets McCain's email added. $100 to whoever adds all of Congress!

      --
      No one cares what your captcha was

      Houston TX, USA
  4. KID SPA 2008? by kinthalas · · Score: 5, Funny

    Seriously? Anyone else think that's a bad name?

  5. this legislation isn't really bad... by MrCawfee · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... it's just stupid.

    Myspace: Sorry, you can't create an account, you are a pervert.
    Pervert: hmmmm, Eureka! I've Got It!
    Hotmail: here, have an email account.
    Myspace: I see you aren't a pervert now, welcome!

  6. Poor arguments against it by nsayer · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They are asking known criminals to be honest, and are expecting them not to utilize any of the free and readily available e-mail services that exist so as to circumvent the system.

    Gun laws do not prevent felons from using guns to commit crimes. They do, however, mean that felons who use guns to commit further crimes get to stay in prison for much longer because of having violated those gun laws in addition to whatever crime they committed with the gun. That's what this law is about. It won't keep some perv from using mailnator to set up a myspace page, but if they get caught trolling myspace with it, the fact that they didn't register their e-mail address means that they get a longer prison sentence. That's the whole point.

    There is also a potential for the crafty sex offender to possibly cause false positives by just registering an address that does not belong to them, thereby drawing in innocent bystanders.

    1. Cui bono? Why would they bother to do this, except just to be a dick?

    2. I rather suspect that the penalty for supplying false information will be comparably stiff to not supplying it at all, which would seem to be sufficient deterrent.

    1. Re:Poor arguments against it by ScrewMaster · · Score: 4, Insightful

      2. I rather suspect that the penalty for supplying false information will be comparably stiff to not supplying it at all, which would seem to be sufficient deterrent.

      You have much in common with our elected officials. They make assumptions about the laws they sign, and don't bother to read them either. As for me, I rather suspect that you will change your tune in a hurry if your name appears in the list (I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt by assuming that you aren't already a sex offender.)

      --
      The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
    2. Re:Poor arguments against it by Drakin020 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Gun laws do not prevent felons from using guns to commit crimes. They do, however, mean that felons who use guns to commit further crimes get to stay in prison for much longer because of having violated those gun laws in addition to whatever crime they committed with the gun. That's what this law is about. It won't keep some perv from using mailnator to set up a myspace page, but if they get caught trolling myspace with it, the fact that they didn't register their e-mail address means that they get a longer prison sentence. That's the whole point.

      Then why not just make the sentence more harsh for second time offenders rather than create another law to increase the time in jail?

      --
      The greatest revenge in life is massive success.
  7. God help anyone wrongly convicted by davinc · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Can't imagine spending my life with that albatross around my neck when I wasn't the one to shoot it.

  8. Tagging by VE3OGG · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Someone please tag this 'youhavegottobekiddingme'!

    Do these politicians even run this drivel past their kids. Surely a 10 year old could point out the flaws in these bills...

  9. not really expecting criminals to be honest by roc97007 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    IANAL, but the idea with these kind of laws is usually to create a lesser charge that can be used as leverage to prevent a greater crime for occurring. In this case, a sex offender can be taken offline for having their email address on a kid's forum, without having to wait for them to start a relationship with a minor. It's important to be very cautious about these kinds of laws, but in this case, I have to cautiously agree.

    --
    Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
  10. Seriously? by jlarocco · · Score: 3, Funny

    This can't be real, can it? Did he threaten to clog their tubes if they didn't comply?

    Sigh.

    --
    Maybe not
  11. Re:A good first step by interstellar_donkey · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Yes, and the best way to do this is to place a blanket law over all sex offenders that makes it impossible to do normal things on the Internet, like starting a myspace page.

    Despite what you think, not all registered sex offenders are evil people. A 19 year old kid can go out and get drunk with his buddies and moon people out of a moving car window, get caught and convicted of indecent exposure (a little girl said she saw the guys butt!) and has to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, despite being no threat whatsoever to children.

    I'm not trying to defend child molesters here; that is probably one of the worst crimes imaginable. I'm just saying that just because you're a registered sex offender, it does not always mean you're a kiddy porn hungry pervert.

    Perhaps a better law would be one that provides funding to help teach kids on the Internet about sexual predators and give them the information they need to avoid them.

    --
    The Internet is generally stupid
  12. Re:flaws maybe by X0563511 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    One would also hope that there was a way to reliably be removed from said list, by proving who you are with said address.

    --
    For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
  13. Re:The only use for this law is to stack charges by fastest+fascist · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The only thing it will ever be used for is to tack another charge onto the sentences of repeat offenders if they are found to have not registered. (Which is a good thing, but is a side-effect...)

    A good thing? Really? I'd prefer a legal system that doesn't play shenanigans to add years to convicts' sentences, whatever the crime. If you want harder sentences for an offence, make the sentences harder, don't corrupt the legal process with this kind of crap.

  14. Hey editors: This isn't McCain's bill! by Ortega-Starfire · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s110-431

    Sponsor: Sen. Charles Schumer [D-NY]

    Co-Sponsors:
    Cosponsors [as of 2008-10-15]
    Sen. Ted Stevens [R-AK]
    Sen. John McCain [R-AZ]
    Sen. John Kerry [D-MA]
    Sen. Dianne Feinstein [D-CA]
    Sen. Hillary Clinton [D-NY]
    Sen. Barack Obama [D-IL]
    Sen. Jon Kyl [R-AZ]
    Sen. Joseph Lieberman [I-CT]
    Sen. Olympia Snowe [R-ME]
    Sen. Michael Crapo [R-ID]
    Sen. Arlen Specter [R-PA]
    Sen. Tim Johnson [D-SD]
    Sen. Mary Landrieu [D-LA]
    Sen. Amy Klobuchar [D-MN]
    Sen. Charles Grassley [R-IA]
    Sen. Kay Hutchison [R-TX]
    Sen. John Cornyn [R-TX]
    Sen. Patrick Leahy [D-VT]
    Sen. David Vitter [R-LA]
    Sen. Benjamin Cardin [D-MD]

    Any reason you feel like mentioning McCain but not Hillary, or the fact that they were merely co-sponsors? Or the fact that the vote was in fact, unanimous?

    --
    ---- Liquid was a patriot ----
    1. Re:Hey editors: This isn't McCain's bill! by JeanPaulBob · · Score: 5, Informative

      Any reason you feel like mentioning McCain but not Hillary, or the fact that they were merely co-sponsors? Or the fact that the vote was in fact, unanimous?

      Well... Wired says that McCain wrote the bill. That's why the editors mentioned McCain.

      But your link throws that into question. There's no indication at the govtrack site that McCain had anything to do with writing it--Schumer is the main sponsor, and McCain shows up in a list of co-sponsors along with Obama.

      Also, Schumer said in his speech that he authored the bill, and doesn't mention McCain.

      So... I call Shenanigans on Wired.

  15. Re:A good first step by nine-times · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Perhaps a better law would be one that provides funding to help teach kids on the Internet about sexual predators and give them the information they need to avoid them.

    Of course, if you suggest that law, your political opponents might make ads accusing you of wanting to teach kindergardeners about sex.

  16. The point is... by C10H14N2 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    To create an ever expanding list of things that are not criminal unless you've already committed a crime.

    So, you're out from something that got you on the sex offender list. You've served five years and have no inclination toward recidivism. You accidentally send an email to your mom from a friend's account extolling the virtues of Rhubarb and suddenly you're hit with twenty-years' backup time, plus a new charge adding an additional ten years for using an unregistered email address.

    A friend of mine didn't get the notice a court fee didn't post and his license was suspended. So, driving four miles per hour under the limit, he got stopped and they informed him of the suspension. Welcome to fifteen years backup plus another one... for a paperwork mistake.

    These laws aren't meant to keep people who truly are dangerous off the streets. They're designed to hold a de facto life sentence over anyone convicted of any crime and ensure that Corrections Corp. of America experiences perpetual "market expansion."

    1. Re:The point is... by atraintocry · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Cynicism is cool and all, but there's nothing impossible about doing something illegal, getting caught, and deciding upon being released from jail that you won't do it again. I know more than one person who's followed that pattern.

      Put another way: I don't see any hard evidence for the idea that people are intrinsically "good people" or "evil people". I do see evidence for the idea that people screw up, and not everyone is rich enough to shield themselves from the consequences of that.

  17. The REALITY on the ground by ihtarlik · · Score: 3, Informative

    Speaking as someone who has years of experience dealing with "the sex offender issue," I can tell you that this law (like many others proposed at the state level) will be counterproductive. Some states and the Federal Government currently have the ability to keep dangerous individuals locked up indefinitely. It's called civil commitment.

    Recently, in Missouri, several state senators have begun speaking up about more intelligent legislation regarding sex offenders. The unintended consequence of having harsher laws is that they further remove an individual from society. It is that removal and isolation that prompts them to delve deeper into deviancy.

    We need laws that allow for tracking, but that do not create further punishment where no more criminal acts are involved. Also, about 4-5% of "sex offenders" are the really heinous ones we hear about on the news. The other 95% are unlikely to commit another sex crime.

    For more accurate information, see the article "Misunderstood Crimes" by Hal Arkowitz and Scott O. Lilienfeld, featured in Scientific American Mind, April/May 2008, page 78-9.

  18. Historical Machiavelli a bit different by zooblethorpe · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The real irony in many ways is that Niccolò Macchiavelli was actually very much a republican (as in, one who favors the republic as a form of governance :), but one who understood that the republic can falter. The New Yorker posted an interesting (and long) look at his life last month, which is worth the read for anyone interested. Machiavelli's possibly most well-known work, Il Principe , can indeed come across as archetypically "machiavellian" (as we use the term today), but reading it more closely brings to light advice to would-be rulers that they cannot be callous, ruthless bastards and expect to hold onto their jobs for very long. Some choice quotes, courtesy the linked article:

    A prince must have the people on his side, otherwise he will not have support in adverse times.

    A prince need not worry unduly about conspiracies when the people are well disposed toward him. But if they are his enemies and hate him, he must fear everything and everybody.

    The best fortress for the prince is to be loved by his people.

    Ultimately, the current strategy in the US of criminalizing broad swaths of otherwise harmless behaviour and locking up everyone who disagrees with the movers and shakers is pretty far from Machiavelli's advice to would-be rulers, given the mounting discontent this generates. Machiavelli actually comes across a bit as an old-school Taoist (in terms of Lao-zi, not Zhuang-zi) -- keep the people fat, happy, and dumb, and they will be easy to rule. Pissing them off and depriving them of common liberties left and right just isn't a smart move.

    Cheers,

    --
    "What in the name of Fats Waller is that?"
    "A four-foot prune."
  19. Re:A good first step by nine-times · · Score: 4, Informative

    Ah. Haven't we reached a sad state of affairs? Neither of our jokes were funny.

  20. that's true of a lot of things, though by Trepidity · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The sort of person who has demonstrated at least once that they're willing to assault someone with a deadly weapon not in self defense is a violent sort of person who could well do it again. Yet, assault with a deadly weapon isn't an automatic life sentence without parole, and so some potentially dangerous people are released, and yes, some of these people subsequently assault another person. We make tradeoffs between protecting society and locking everyone up all the time.

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  21. My, how puritanical and irrational that entry is. by plasmacutter · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Let's examine the last part of this shall we?

    Force used: Threat
    Computer used: Yes
    Pornography involved: Yes

    What is so special about computers and pornography?

    How about we also include other entries to vilify baselessly through connection with child abuse.

    Public roads used: yes

    Oh you use the interstate? *whisper*it's probably one of those perverts, you know the ones, get steph up to her room*whisper*

    Late Model Automobile used: yes
    Briefcase used: Yes
    Designer Suit used: yes
    Perscription eyeglasses used: yes

    Now instead of vilifying computer geeks, suddenly every corporate executive, doctor, and lawyer will be eyed as a potential threat to the innocence of your child.

    For another, quite realistic example:
    Cross used: Yes
    Collar used: Yes
    Communion wafers used: Yes

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