Strollerderby

Sadly, we live in a rural area with about 5 registered offenders wtihin a mile or 3 of our house.  It's my job as a parent to know who these people are, what they were convicted of, and where they live.  They're registered, so that makes it super easy.  It's also my job as a parent to watch my kids, plan a trick-or-treat route that doesn't include registered offenders houses, and watch my kids.  Did I mention watch my kids?  

These people have to live somewhere, and I'm not about to go harassing them if they're not actively doing anything wrong.  I am sure there are many people in the world who have not been caught/charged/convicted who are just as dangerous, but harder to avoid because they're not on the database.

I think singling these people out more than they already are IS an infringement on their rights, specifically since their information is already easily accessable to anyone who is able to use the internet (even in a library, for free).  I think it's a good idea to ask them not to participate in trick-or-treat since it's probably already a violation of their parole to interact with children.  But to put up signs and prevent them from participating in adult activities (like carnivale in Louisanna) is going a bit too far, and making these people more of a target than they already likely are.

Sorry - I respectfully disagree. If you molest a child, you don't deserve rights as far as I'm concerned. You're lucky that you still get to live. These people can't be rehabilitated. Here in Maryland, a repeat sex offender who was in the database raped and murdered a little boy a few years ago. I'm sorry, but no, I don't care if these peoples' rights are infringed on.

I disagree with Walker. Former Offenders CAN be rehabilitated, and treatment is proven to be effective. Sadly, we have rejected treatment and rehabilitation in favor of ostracism and revenge. There has never been a case where a kid was molested by a convicted sex offender while trick-or-treating, yet, we pass a law to restrict the lives of former offenders out of fear and loathing. For a really good article on Halloweenitis, go here:

www.oncefallen.com/HalloweenLaws.html

And Walker, where do you get your stats? Family Watchdog? John Walsh? The stats from legitimate government and university studies have consistently shown sex offenders have very low re-offense rates. So this one is just for you:

www.oncefallen.com/Recidivism101.html

And you are also forgetting one thing. Not every sex offender on the registry committed a rape or child molestation. There are people on the registry for having consensual sex with teens while they were teens themselves. More than a few teens are being charged with sending naughty pics of themselves to their dates (that is CP after all), and other "crimes" we would call stupid rather than criminal. One final note, if you've ever seen the crime rates from the US Dept. of Justice, you'll notice sex crime rates since 2000 remain a constant (no decrease) while the number of laws aimed at sex offenders have increased exponentially. That should tell you these laws are not about deterrence, but about retribution

You will all be very happy and relieved to know, that there has NEVER been a Halloweener in the history of the United States that has ever been molested by a registered sex offender.

Both Halloween and Election Day are coming. So, we’re not at all surprised that politicians across the nation are once again posing as Heroes in the fight against the Great Sex Offender Trick-or-Treat Bogeyman. Under the banner of protecting children, they’re restricting the actions of all sex offenders on Halloween, and sending out hordes of probation officers to make sure they stay in their homes (and, in some states, target themselves by posting “No Candy Here” signs), while expecting sheriff and police officials to monitor sex offender compliance on an already especially busy night.

blogs.law.harvard.edu/ethicalesq...

It amazes me that it can be proved with government statics that there has NEVER been a case where a REGISTERED sex offender EVER molested a trick or treater at their door. Or harmed them in any way. So what is the problem here.

Well, politicians are the real scary ones out there. They and the news media for ratings and votes will do and say anything. That’s the bottom line.

When I grew up, I heard some of my elders tell me not to drink in that fountain because a black man or woman would drink from it. I always asked why could I not drink there? Would I get germs??? Would it make me sick??

In today’s society, the politician’s have lied to the public about the recidivism rates of sex offenders. Politician’s have lied to the public about “stranger danger” as most offenses occur between a family member or someone the victim knows. These are facts not just spouting’s.

Parents do need to keep an eye on their children as they always have, but there is no reason to believe that someone is lurking around the corner or behind every bush that is going to take an hurt your child.

Happy Halloween. Beware of politicians. They are the scariest of them all.

Only one who is inherently interested in fear mongering would use Halloween to petrify the public into thinking that Halloween is unsafe because of the presence of RSO’s. To calculate risk in epidemiology, you divide the number of cases divided by the population of interest. In this case it would be 1/650,000. The risk is so incredibly low that my calculator gives the division an error!!!!!! ” That is only for 1 year, now times that by say, 50 years. OH MY! Fear mongering is what the entertainment news media and politicians are MORE concerned about than protecting children.

MSLGWCEO at www.cfcoklahoma.org

""Walker said:I'm sorry, but no, I don't care if these peoples' rights are infringed on.""

Well Mr Walker if we as a society are going to slap on the swastigas then so be it but as long as some semblence of the constitution remains everyone has rights. Your point reflects the average uninformed person's opinion.

The vast majority of people on the RSO lists now numbering over 600,000 are not child molesters and present absolutely no danger to anyone.

If they did you would have Jessica Lunsford stories every few days.

You surrender your rights to the government in the name of this false security yet you cannot seem to grasp that same governments own statistics as far as sex offender recividism that are available at the Department of Justice website.

The truth of the matter is we as a culture need "boogymen" and witches to burn at the stake and point the finger at. Thats all well and good right up to the point that this effects someone you love.

McCain-Palin - COUNTRY FIRST!

I am always frightened by someone saying that they don't care about the rights of any group. It is more disturbing when it is a politician, but is concerning even when it is a member of the general public. It shows that we have not learned the lessons of history, and he who refuses to learn those lessons are doomed to repeat them.

The unfortunate part of that is that they take the rest of us with them.

Let's face it, if we remove any group from the protections of the Constitution, we endanger everyone, allowing any other group to be denied rights as well. By the time they get to your group, who will be left to protest?

The Constitution of the United States MUST apply to all or they apply to no one.

I clearly am pretty ignorant on this issue, in the greater scheme of things, and will fully admit that my opinion is rooted in emotion and fear. As someone who has been victimized, I can't promise to change overnight, but I can say that I will do more research. And just for the record, I'm not a Nazi. You may not agree with my point of view, but seeing as how I haven't killed millions of innocent people, I don't think that's warranted. We have sex offenders in our neighborhood and it's not like my partner and I are herding them together and executing them.

For those who want to do some research go to my web site at www.cfcoklahoma.org.

I have a lot of articles and there is a "Related Site Listings" button on the top bar that will lead you to 39 different sites. Everything is there.  

i seriosly believe that any sex offender that has been convicted of the crime should just stay behind bars. They do not deserve rights when they take away others. They shouldnt be aloud to even be at home on halloween. they should spend the night in jail just to give them a little reminder that life and happiness is over.