"We can think of what happened in Nazi Germany, where Jews had to appear in public wearing yellow stars."

Look, I think the sex offender panic has gotten out of hand, but you need to calm the fark down.

Daddy, these little blue ones don't taste very good, but look what they did to my thingy!

"To us, it's similar to branding," she said. "We can think of what happened in Nazi Germany, where Jews had to appear in public wearing yellow stars."

And you just lost your case right there...

There is nothing wrong with being Jewish, there is something wrong with being a sex offender. To suggest you're the same as an innocent bystander who was systematically slaughtered is, well, kind of offensive.

This thread will hit about 230 posts I think.

85% of it will be the following:

1) There are a lot of people on those lists who have done nothing dangerous or "criminal" they are victims of over-zealous "for the children" prosecution. This will be followed by anecdotal stories of person peeing on a dumpster at 2am downtown in a bar parking lot, etc.

2) Child molesters are on that list for a reason and they should be punished and it is a good thing that they are.

So, how about I save everyone a lot of time and typing and just say the following:

The system is broken. Yes, children need to be protected, but we have gone well above and far beyond the useful range of that protection and created a "sub class" of people who are treated the same whether they are dangerous predators or someone with a moments drunken indiscretion. This will probably lead to more criminal acts as those people are actually being forced to live a life of crime to survive, as we seem to have taken their abilities to function in society away from them, regardless of the severity of the offense.

Tear it down, start over, and let people who are predators stay on the list, and let those who did something stupid serve their punishment and let it be done.

argh.

Nurglitch: sodomizer: Sex offenders are people too, you know.

Yes, people who have been found guilty of committing a sex crime. Me, I'm just going to avoid their house on hallowe'en. I'm just bigoted against sex offenders. And the Dutch.

and carnival workers.

sodomizer: Vegan Meat Popsicle: You don't want Johnny Rapesalot to live within 100 yards of a school or playground or hand out Halloween candy because you think he's a threat to kids?

Then leave him in prison, dumbasses.

I think this point is legitimate but the real problem is that we seem to have a lot of pedophiles in this country. Putting them all in prison for life might involve billions more in prison costs. Then again, it might give the violent rectal rapists something to do.


Well, we should have known you'd have an opinion.

so, it's still okay to park 'Free Candy' van outside house on street, right? right?

The Muthaship: HotWingConspiracy: Remember before we had registries, when all those kids were getting raped getting Halloween candy?

No? Neither does anyone else.

I'm okay with not allowing registered sex offenders contact with kids (especially unsupervised ones like you get on Halloween). I don't want them striking up a relationship that might lead to abuse.

Well, kids are everywhere... so, I guess we better euthanize all the registered sex offenders huh?

A total of 119 registered sex offenders live in Simi Valley. Although some have been convicted of misdemeanors and do not have their names displayed, 67 have been guilty of more serious crimes and are publicly listed on the website. None has been involved in crimes involving children on Halloween, according to police, who say they have no records of any such crime occurring in Simi Valley during Halloween trick-or-treating.

What about crimes involving children not on Halloween? Yeah theres a big difference between a kiddy diddler and an 18 year old who got on the list because his 17 year old girlfriends parents didnt like him, and i think a lot of sex offender restrictions are pretty crazy depending on the nature of the crime, but statutory rapists and alley pissers aside, i dont think this is a terrible law. I mean yeah you want to keep your kids away from the kiddy diddlers, but do you really want them going up to a convicted run of the mill rapists house either?

/especially considering how sexy slutty halloween costumes have gotten
//wait, what? seat? over there?

Bhruic: Cyno01: What about crimes involving children not on Halloween? Yeah theres a big difference between a kiddy diddler and an 18 year old who got on the list because his 17 year old girlfriends parents didnt like him, and i think a lot of sex offender restrictions are pretty crazy depending on the nature of the crime, but statutory rapists and alley pissers aside, i dont think this is a terrible law.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the sex offenders list for anyone who's been convicted of a sex crime? As in, it's not limited to people who have been convicted of a sex crime with a minor? So why the automatic assumption that they are interested in having sex with kids (not necessarily aimed at you, but you provided a good opportunity to raise the question)?

Because we're in the era of ZOMG STRANGER DANGER thanks to sensationalistic news reports that scare people into thinking there's a nasty stranger waiting around every corner to scoop up their little precious, when in reality, they have a greater chance of a relative or friend molesting the kid.

RumsfeldsReplacement: meanmutton: RumsfeldsReplacement: Jon iz teh kewl: RumsfeldsReplacement: I would have no problem with this if the definition of sex offender weren't so broad.

Convicted kiddy-diddler? No Halloween for you.

Caught peeing in an alley next to the bar at 2:30 AM? Who the fark cares

i do
and u shold too.

OK, I'll bite. Why?

I don't like my town smelling like piss.

Fair enough. Public urination is, and should be, a crime. But why is it something that would land you on a sex offender list?

Because it involves a penis being displayed in public. And Penises can never be used for anything less than rape, so by virtue of the fact that a man had his penis out, that makes him a sex offender because someone was getting raped before it was put away. It's like a Ninja's sword. It can't be put back in its sheath without tasting blood.

Bhruic: Cyno01: What about crimes involving children not on Halloween? Yeah theres a big difference between a kiddy diddler and an 18 year old who got on the list because his 17 year old girlfriends parents didnt like him, and i think a lot of sex offender restrictions are pretty crazy depending on the nature of the crime, but statutory rapists and alley pissers aside, i dont think this is a terrible law.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the sex offenders list for anyone who's been convicted of a sex crime? As in, it's not limited to people who have been convicted of a sex crime with a minor? So why the automatic assumption that they are interested in having sex with kids (not necessarily aimed at you, but you provided a good opportunity to raise the question)?

I didnt mean all of them, i meant any of them, "none have been convicted of molesting children on halloween" is a oddly specific way to phrase it, have any been convicted of hurting kids the other 364 days of the year? I mean if nobody there is on the list for crimes against children, i can sort of see their point. But again, i would prefer not to associate with regular rapists either.

JosephFinn: RTFA, folks, and mock Subby for not noticing the article is not about having contact with or giving candy to children. It's about the right to decorate your house for Halloween.

Howbout we RTFA and mock you for not noticing "For offenders listed on the Megan's Law website, the city also requires a sign on the front door in letters at least an inch tall: "No candy or treats at this residence.", and that the Lawyer in the case said Her clients were particularly upset by the sign requirement.?