Sexually crimminal


Overreacting to sex crimes
I admit it, I watch for news about sex crimes. Not out of some morbid fascination, but out of nervous self-preservation.

I'm an unmarried male with polyamorous tendencies. I'm currently in more than one relationship. I'm a naturist. And I am a Pagan.

As I have said before, I think Americans have some serious hang-ups with sex and nudity. Once someone is labeled a "sex offender," even if it is for something minor, in society's eyes we equate them with a serial rapist.

This whole sex crime thing has gotten way out of hand.

And it seems that The Economist agrees with me. Sex laws: Unjust and ineffective. Emphasis added.

Every American state keeps a register of sex offenders. California has had one since 1947, but most states started theirs in the 1990s. Many people assume that anyone listed on a sex-offender registry must be a rapist or a child molester. But most states spread the net much more widely. A report by Sarah Tofte of Human Rights Watch, a pressure group, found that at least five states required men to register if they were caught visiting prostitutes. At least 13 required it for urinating in public (in two of which, only if a child was present). No fewer than 29 states required registration for teenagers who had consensual sex with another teenager. And 32 states registered flashers and streakers.

Because so many offences require registration, the number of registered sex offenders in America has exploded. As of December last year, there were 674,000 of them, according to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children. If they were all crammed into a single state, it would be more populous than Wyoming, Vermont or North Dakota. As a share of its population, America registers more than four times as many people as Britain, which is unusually harsh on sex offenders. America’s registers keep swelling, not least because in 17 states, registration is for life.

No matter what your opinion on sex and sex crimes, remember that it is easiest to oppress those who are legally barred from fighting back. There is no state registry for murder, but a few minutes between a couple of horny teenagers can ruin lives.

Where's the perspective?

Why do we allow government into our sex lives?

Now I am not saying that we overlook rape or sexual predators. I am saying that most sex crimes don't rate hard punishment and lifetime registration.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Mon - August 10, 2009 at 11:32 AM  Tag


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