For CFers with families

[Diomedes]

The whole thing smacks of The Scarlet Letter a bit too much for me.

[MDS]

The whole thing smacks of The Scarlet Letter a bit too much for me.

wouldnt you like to know if some pedofile moved in next to you? hey can you watch my kids for an hour might be question you avoid askin, ya think?

[Diomedes]

I didn't say child molesters should be allowed to set themselves up as day care providers.  I'm just not comfortable with the public listing of names in this fashion.  Others have already mentioned how easily one can end up on these lists, and I'm sure you can imagine how devastating it must be to be erroneously listed.  I have reservations about this kind of law.

[MDS]

If hbionic ever enlists, male/male sex is illegal. He'll be in high hell!

[rjs246]

The whole premise of our legal system is to offer the opportunity to rehabilitate. Lists like this are a big middle finger to that concept. So on the one hand I agree with Dio. On the other hand, habitual offenders or those at risk to become habitual make me want to stomp some skulls. I'm torn.

Eight year olds, Dude.

[Susquehanna Birder]

The whole thing smacks of The Scarlet Letter a bit too much for me.

Same here. I'm all for the safety of kids, but the positives of this system are almost outweighed by the negatives.

[Rome]

It occurs to me that if you've paid your debt to society, there's no reason for further punishment and that's exactly what those lists afford.

On the other hand, if someone ever hurt my child, they'd be deader than dead.  Like the man in the movie said, I'd give them a blood transfusion just to make the torture last longer.

[Geowhizzer]

I've with Romey on this one.  If someone harms my son, they won't have to worry about being on some government list.  They'll have to worry about me finding them first. 

[Sgt PSN]

I didn't say child molesters should be allowed to set themselves up as day care providers. I'm just not comfortable with the public listing of names in this fashion. Others have already mentioned how easily one can end up on these lists, and I'm sure you can imagine how devastating it must be to be erroneously listed. I have reservations about this kind of law.

I get what you're saying but gotta disagree.  You don't have kids so you're not looking at it from a parents point of view.  If there's a sex offender living in my neighborhood I damn sure want to know about it.  Is it fair if someone's name is on the list because he/she get's caught doing it a parked car or something?  No, of course not.  And perhaps the law could be modified to distinguish the difference between the two. 

But if you're a convicted sex offender (rapist, child molester, child porn maker/dealer, etc) then you have given up your right to privacy imo.  I don't care about the amount of time they did in prison and if their so called "debt to society" has been paid because it hasn't.  If they're on the streets then there is always a chance they could be repeat offenders and parents have a right to know if a potential threat is looming on the streets they let their children play in.  Women have the right to know if there are rapists living in their apartment buildings.