Welcome to Gaia! ::

Well, since the argument is apparently over, Lets get back to the pourpose of this thread. Discussing Topics. Recently, there has been a lot in the news about young girls being kidnapped, raped and killed by previous sexual offenders. The government seems to think better survelliance and tighter control of sex offenders will solve the problem (surprise surprise.)Of course, as a Libertarian, I think that these people have already repaid thier debt to society, and that they, along with every other person convicted of ANY crime, should have all of their rights restored as soon as they have served their sentence. Right now, this idea is extremly unpopular, and most people are advocating exactly what the government is planning. They may have a point.
Sexual offenders have proven to be likely to be repeat offenders, and keeping better track of them would probably make our neighberhoods safer. On the other hand, if we allow the government to pass this, how long will it be before it tries to pass something like it on ordinary americans? What do you people think?

I favor rehabilitation; it costs about the same, and there's evidence to suggest that it reduces repeat offenses.

Frankly, this whole publicizing sex offender names is a horrible idea - Nobody wants to live near one, and as long as this system is in place these people - who have served their sentance and been released back into the wild - will be targeted for abuse, harrassment, and the occasional murder. It's a clear violation of their privacy.

Not only that, but how many sex offenses are commited by repeat offenders? More to the point, how many sex offenders will commit another sex offense?

One particular case of intrest is a man who had sex with a girl who was *barely* outside the legal range, relative to his age. The parents prosecuted against her wishes, he was convicted of statuatory rape, and then went on to marry the girl. He's listed as one of the more dangerous sex offenders. How is justice is being served when he, who violated the letter but not the spirit of the law has the proverbial government-sponsored burning cross in his front yard?

Because they want to keep those damn seniors and juniors from fornicating after the prom. They want to get as many of them damn kids as possible. xp Conspiracy theories aside, I think the law needs some changing, and better definitions of concensual sex.

And anybody else notice that the new pope looks an awful lot like Hannibal Lector?

On an unrelated note, I wonder what those people fighting to protect the "Sanctity of Marriage" would think about THAT one! xd

You know, now that you mention it, how many of them actually DO serve their time? Most crimminals get a 3 year sentence, and wind up serving 2 MONTHS of it, and getting five years parole. So ironically, we talk of them having repaid their debt to society even though they haven't. THAT needs to change, or they will just disguise it as "Parole Conditions" and keep extending the parole time indefinently.

Don't remind me of her...
There's nothing like being forced to go to a 'pep' assemble to see some girl strut around like a whore to her music.

I very rarely go to the lp.org website for the same reason you just mentioned. The vast majority of the time if I want to learn about what is going on I go to boortz.com which is Neal Boortz's website. I don't really listen to his show as I kind of think he has a tendency to be a bit of a p***k. But he does have quite a bit of new information on his site. My husband reads it more than I do. As for the ACLU, I go back and forth on those guys. Sometimes I think they are spot on but just as often I think that they are just plain rediculous. I'll go to the ACLU's site and find out what you are talking about as far as the 527's before I issue an oppinion on that.

At least they made it easy for us. All we have to do is hear the word "Senator" to know not to vote for them. One bright spot xd Oh and by the way, have any of you heard about the new Florida driver licesces? I read about them in the Tampa Tribune. It said that "Some new features are being kept secret for security reasons." Well, once I renew my license, I think I'll just leave it at home and drive completly correct. That way, I can find out if one of those "Secret features" is an RDIF tag, or maby a GPS chip. My theory is that if I'm driving COMPLETLY correct, (Speed limit, staying in lanes, seatbelt on, radio tuned down, ect..) the only thing they could possibly pull me over for is not having a license ON me. Kinda hard to explain how they knew that, unless my D.L. is serving double duty as a tracking device. If that happens, I'll use my one phone call to call ACLU, and inform them of this outrage. Oh, and I'll just tell them I forgot it at home or something. xd Sound like a plan?