“Fear always springs from ignorance” Emerson

The following is an excerpt from part two:

Sex offender laws in the US require scrutiny. Some organizations such as ReformSexOffenderLaws.org are making headway in the interest of true justice. Our efforts would be well spent in support of such organizations so that the authentically dangerous predators could be identified and monitored accordingly. Rather, we spin our wheels, becoming distraught and losing sleep over a “problem” which is mostly hype.

Residency restrictions are “almost totally driven by emotion,” according to Richard Tewksbury, a University of Louisville professor of justice administration who studies sex offender laws. Regulations are founded entirely on fear, not fact. Without exception, all research shows there is no impact. The effect it does have is to make it harder for sex offenders to access treatment, find jobs and have a support system, all keys to crime free life. “If they can find a place at all,” says Tewksbury, “it is in the poorest, most disorganized, least desirable areas of the city, where is it more common for children to be unsupervised.”

What is most desperately needed, in the interest of reform, is education. Sadly, those who are most misinformed are likely to remain so. They are the ones who comment, “Lock them all up and throw away the key.” It startles the imagination for a “sophisticated society” to be carrying on in such a fashion. Unfounded fear instigates the ineffectual process of this punitive response. Ignorance insures its longevity.