First of all, my apologies for violating my own policy against obscenities. I use it here for emphasis, as today I received a copy of a cosponsorship memo for what might be the stupidest bill ever. In fact, this sex offender bill is so stupid and so practically worthless that it makes Joel Kleefisch look like Steven Hawking for pitching that green license plate idea.
Sayeth Gary Tauchen:
Okay, let's be serious here. How the hell is this going to keep anyone safe? Great, so now the clerk at Family Video will know that Joe Pedophile is a sex offender when he stops in on Friday night to pick up a copy of the fourth season of 24. The guy at the convenience store will know when Joe tries to buy a pack of cigarettes. The person at the bank will know when Joe tries to cash a check.
Republicans are currently so bankrupt on ideas that they have resorted to their lowest common denominator - picking on groups that are politically unpopular. And as it goes, you're not going to find anyone less popular than sex offenders.
That's all this is. It does virtually nothing other than expose criminals who have been released and who have served their sentence according to the law to even more threats of vigilante justice. As I've said a million times, if you really hate sex offenders this much, will someone just offer the bill to incarcerate them for life without parole? Of course, if Republicans did that, they wouldn't have them to kick around politically.
Just to get it out of the way, here are some other bad ideas you freshmen Republicans might want to latch onto, since you missed the boat on this one:
1. In order to get sex offenders out of retail stores faster, all retail establishments with more than one cash register shall establish a special sex offender register. When a sex offender uses the register, two of the following three things shall happen:
2. Anytime a sex offender shall leave his house, the Department of Corrections shall supply a town crier, who shall walk no more than 10 feet in front of the sex offender at all times, and at intervals of no less than 30 seconds, shall proclaim "Here walks a sex offender!" at a volume of over 80 decibels, as measured by a decibel meter positioned at a distance of no less than 20 feet from the crier.
3. Anytime a sex offender engages an individual in a conversation of longer than two minutes, the sex offender shall, within 60 seconds, casually utter the phrase "by the way, did you know that I'm a sex offender?"
Really, take them. No, I don't even need credit for them. Take them as though they were your own.
I can't believe the drafters at LRB keep putting up with this. It'd be much easier just to take all the sex offenders and send them to Bonduel. That way, Gary can keep an eye on them personally. Hey drafters, I know you're reading. Can you slip this into a technical amendment at the end of session?
Other than the occassional Dateline episode in which potential sex offenders are lured into houses and confronted by Chris Hansen about their IM conversations in which they expressed a desire to teach 13-year-old girls the meaning of "dawgy style", the public isn't stupid. For the most part, they are not distracted from the issues that matter to them: the war in Iraq, spiraling health care costs, gas prices, fiscal mismanagement, terrorism, immigration.
Republicans need to start addressing the problems that people actually have instead of trying to set up straw men to distract them from their concerns. In case you didn't notice last November, it's not working.
Sayeth Gary Tauchen:
I am introducing legislation to expand public notification of paroled sex offenders. Under the bill, certain paroled sex offenders would be required to have the words “Sex Offender” placed in a blocked-off yellow area in the lower right hand corner on their DOT-issued driver’s license or ID card. Additionally, a court could impose this same requirement on any paroled sex offender if the Court determines it is in “the interest of public protection.” Paroled sex offenders who fail to comply with this requirement is guilty of Class G felony.
Keeping track of paroled sex offenders is an ongoing challenge for communities and law enforcement officers. By allowing sex offenders to be quickly identified through visual inspection of their driver’s license or ID card will give law enforcement another tool in their ongoing effort to protect families and children from these potentially dangerous criminals.
Okay, let's be serious here. How the hell is this going to keep anyone safe? Great, so now the clerk at Family Video will know that Joe Pedophile is a sex offender when he stops in on Friday night to pick up a copy of the fourth season of 24. The guy at the convenience store will know when Joe tries to buy a pack of cigarettes. The person at the bank will know when Joe tries to cash a check.
Republicans are currently so bankrupt on ideas that they have resorted to their lowest common denominator - picking on groups that are politically unpopular. And as it goes, you're not going to find anyone less popular than sex offenders.
That's all this is. It does virtually nothing other than expose criminals who have been released and who have served their sentence according to the law to even more threats of vigilante justice. As I've said a million times, if you really hate sex offenders this much, will someone just offer the bill to incarcerate them for life without parole? Of course, if Republicans did that, they wouldn't have them to kick around politically.
Just to get it out of the way, here are some other bad ideas you freshmen Republicans might want to latch onto, since you missed the boat on this one:
1. In order to get sex offenders out of retail stores faster, all retail establishments with more than one cash register shall establish a special sex offender register. When a sex offender uses the register, two of the following three things shall happen:
- Red lights shall flash above the register
- Sirens shall blare from speakers above the register at a volume of no less than 100 decibels, as measured from the point of emission
- "Stray Cat Blues" by the Rolling Stones shall play over the store's intercom
2. Anytime a sex offender shall leave his house, the Department of Corrections shall supply a town crier, who shall walk no more than 10 feet in front of the sex offender at all times, and at intervals of no less than 30 seconds, shall proclaim "Here walks a sex offender!" at a volume of over 80 decibels, as measured by a decibel meter positioned at a distance of no less than 20 feet from the crier.
3. Anytime a sex offender engages an individual in a conversation of longer than two minutes, the sex offender shall, within 60 seconds, casually utter the phrase "by the way, did you know that I'm a sex offender?"
Really, take them. No, I don't even need credit for them. Take them as though they were your own.
I can't believe the drafters at LRB keep putting up with this. It'd be much easier just to take all the sex offenders and send them to Bonduel. That way, Gary can keep an eye on them personally. Hey drafters, I know you're reading. Can you slip this into a technical amendment at the end of session?
Other than the occassional Dateline episode in which potential sex offenders are lured into houses and confronted by Chris Hansen about their IM conversations in which they expressed a desire to teach 13-year-old girls the meaning of "dawgy style", the public isn't stupid. For the most part, they are not distracted from the issues that matter to them: the war in Iraq, spiraling health care costs, gas prices, fiscal mismanagement, terrorism, immigration.
Republicans need to start addressing the problems that people actually have instead of trying to set up straw men to distract them from their concerns. In case you didn't notice last November, it's not working.
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