Ohio decides to go with wiki-based Sex Offender’s Registry
Posted: September 1st, 2006 | Author: michael | Filed under: current events, politics | Tags: current events, politics | 16 Comments »
Does this seem like a bad idea to anyone else? Ohio is floating a plan that will allow you to be added to the state’s official Sex Offender Registry without having been convicted of a sex crime. Anyone can initiate the process of adding you to the registry.
Now, I’m as big a fan of the open-source movement as anyone, but this is a civil-rights disaster. I can’t think of anything as diasterous to a person’s reputation, community standing, or economic well-being as being erroniously accused of a sex crime. Now, you can essentially reap the negative consequences of that accusation without the benefit of trial or defense. You only recourse is to petition a judge to be removed from the list.
Public accusation without due process makes baby Jesus cry.
It’s no big deal, really. I’ve been on that registry for years, and it hasn’t affected my sex life one bit.
Oh, man – this sounds like a bad deal. And nobody said boo? Geez.
Cerise
Yeah…it’s probably the worst idea I’ve heard of in a long time. Although, it still makes me think of the scene in The Big Lebowski where “Jesus” (Played by John Turturro) has to go around the neighborhood and introduce himself as a “pederast”.
Wow. Those Buckeyes are really not taking my already low estimation seriously. This is a remarkably Bad Idea. It’s right up there with The National Cheaters Database, except you know…sponsored by the government. And also, cheating can’t get you 10 to life.
OMG Aly! You’re totally listed on that cheaters database!
http://www.unfaithfulpeople.com/details.php?recordID=1644
Dude. I’m 31 in 2 weeks. Get it right, will ya?
It’s ideas like this that make me wonder what my other options are in terms of living in another country. Is there a lower Bad Idea : People ratio elsewhere on Earth?
I know that this is really supposed to be the place for people to make smarmy comments, but in reality, this kind of idea makes me fear for the future. When we’re able to set our own issues aside long enough to set up a powerful and dynamic searchable database to log each others’ sins, I’m thinking we as a society are pretty much screwed. It’s heartbreaking. Aly, I’m not sure where you are on the depression map, but I’ll be joining you shortly.
Oh, Corey. You are without a doubt one of the most sensitive doods I’ve ever ‘met’. I mean that in the best possible sense.
Cerise
Corey – Yeah, I tried to make light of it, but this is pretty much as serious an affront to civil liberties as you can get without barcoding everybody. The illusive quest for “safety” makes people do the dumbest things…ultimately, to themselves.
And I want to believe there are places on Earth where people aren’t so damned terrified, but my optimism on this subject is decidedly lacking. Fear is the currency of the day. I think the best we can hope for is to vigorously protest infringements of our rights, and teach our kids that the world is not to be feared. Maybe they’ll get it right.
Here are my thoughts: the fact that this kind of idea can be brough to the light of day, and roundly mocked, by a group of kids 3,000 miles away, before it’s even been voted on in the Ohio legistlature, gives me hope.
It’s never been easier to invade someone’s civil liberties. It’s also never been easier to pull together like-minded people to protest that kind of invasion.
The fact that that’s happening gives me hope.
I did a little checking on the back story. It appears that there is planned to be some kind of “civil action” involved, a court hearing, etc., before a person could be listed. I suspect this policy will be challenged in court, and more facts will come out.
We already have civil liability claims that can be adjudicated with a lower standard of evidence than required for criminal charges. (“preponderance” vs. “beyond reasonable doubt”). These claims are routinely made for wrongful death (essentially civil murder trials where no criminal charges flew), sexual abuse of all kinds, etc.
What is not clear is whether the standard of evidence required for being “put on the list” by a judge is less than that required for civil liability claims.
The person so charged has a “day in court”, but if the standard of evidence is very low, that may not matter much. I suspect there will be LOTS of litigation on this one.
For a view of this issue from the perspective of the abuse victims, I think you’ll be surprised by this link:
http://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_press_releases/2006_press_releases/032906_ohio_legislation.htm
As with so many things in the press, I think things are not what they seem.
Jim Petro, the Ohio Attorney General in question, who seems to be backing this compromise with the Catholic Church (pro-life political ties? You don’t know how much it pains me to mention this.), is a Republican… so you know I want to think well of him. However, I’m EXTREMELY happy that he did not win the party’s nomination for Governor, which went to Ken Blackwell, a really great candidate.
Another word of caution: The Toledo Blade, the paper that carried the report, is notoriously left…. on the order of the LA Times in Ohio.
It looks to me like this isn’t a plan to put everybody who everybody who ever had stray thought on the predator’s list. It seems to be a plan to sound really tough on abuse, while sweeping it under the rug.
Is that Ollie North?
[...] Protection of civil liberties are central to the rule of law. But perhaps the only deliberative fate worse than being an accused sex offender is being accused of defending accused sex offenders. The Blade reported: No one in attendance voiced opposition to rules [concerning civil denunciations of a person as a sex offender] submitted by Attorney General Jim Petro’s office to the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review, consisting of members of the Ohio House and Senate. [...]
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