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Illinois Bans Social Network Use By Sex Offenders

Posted by timothy on from the good-feel-measure-vs.-bad-feel-felons dept.

RobotsDinner writes "Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has signed into law a bill that bans all registered sex offenders from using social networks. '"Obviously, the Internet has been more and more a mechanism for predators to reach out," said Sen. Bill Brady (R-Bloomington), a sponsor of the measure and a governor candidate. "The idea was, if the predator is supposed to be a registered sex offender, they should keep their Internet distance as well as their physical distance."'"

3 of 587 comments (clear)

  1. Punishment doesn't fit the Crime by Cyner · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I took a leak outside the bar one night when I was drunk and now I'm banned from Facebook for life.

    What's wrong with this picture?

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    FreeBSD.org - The power to serve
  2. Re:This is stupid by betterunixthanunix · · Score: 3, Interesting

    "You could argue that sex offenders should have longer sentences"

    Bingo. If sex offenders are so likely to recommit their crimes, then give them life sentences. I did not mean to say that they should be held longer than their sentence; they should have their rights restored after their sentence is served, and not live in fear of being arrested again just because they use a computer. If we are not willing to give sex offenders life sentences, then we should not start complaining about them logging on to Facebook when they get out of prison.

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    Palm trees and 8
  3. Re:Incoming 1st Amendment Challenge by bky1701 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Why is such a person not in jail, where a law is not needed to prevent them from using social networking sites?

    If you are out of jail, you have served your dues to society and (in theory) seen the error of your ways. Tacking on little extras that you can never rid of, even if you were to become the next Mother Teresa, is bordering on cruel. As it stands, there is no way for a sex offender to ever be redeemed in the eyes of the legal system, which in turn forces them to become social pariahs. They are lost to the world, and the world to them, because of one action which may have taken place 40 years ago. Sexual offenses have become modern-day witch trials. Banning them from social networking sites is laughable considering how things already are.

    If that's your idea of justice, I think you're a very sad person. I would not even advocate that for crimes such as murder.

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    Great Intellect...