Ga.’s sex-offender laws an injustice themselves
You know, it takes a lot to generate sympathy for a sex offender. But Georgia’s draconian laws about where sex offenders can live are doing the trick. It’s downright ridiculous.
“A group of homeless sex offenders who had been living in tents in the woods behind an office park near Marietta were told they had to leave the land by Tuesday.
“We don’t want to allow anyone to live on our property for liability issues,” said Mark McKinnon, a spokesman for the Georgia Department of Transportation, which owns the wooded land where the sex offenders had taken residence.
Several men said their probation officers had told them about the encampment as a kind of last resort for homeless sex offenders trying to meet the strict residency requirements of their probation.
Georgia’s law prohibits the state’s 16,000 sex offenders from living, working or loitering within 1,000 feet of schools, churches, child care facilities and other areas where children gather. It limits the locations where they can live….
William Hawkins, 34, a registered sex offender living in the camp, gathered his belongings Tuesday.
He’s not sure where he’s going to go.
When Hawkins was 15 years old, he had sex with a 12-year-old in Florida and received two years of house arrest and 10 years’ probation. “I have a 19-year-old case. Technically, I don’t think I have to be on it,” Hawkins said of the sex offender registry.”
The law hounding those people has no real purpose but to, well, hound them. As experts have testified to the Georgia Legislature, it serves little or no protective function. A sexual predator intent on finding victims will do so, regardless of where he (or occasionally she) is forced to live. Furthermore, unlike many states, Georgia law makes no distinction between somebody like Hawkins and somebody who has a history of true predation.
An even better example is Wendy Whitaker, who as a 17-year-old was caught performing oral sex on a 15-year-old classmate. That incident back in 1996 put her on the same sex offender list as a multiple rapist, As The Economist recently pointed out in an article featuring Whitaker as an example:
“The Georgia Sex Offender Registration Review Board, an official body, assessed a sample of offenders on the registry last year and concluded that 65% of them posed little threat. Another 30% were potentially threatening, and 5% were clearly dangerous.”
Given that reality, throwing them all into the same bag and forcing them to live together in surreptitious little communities helps no one. If serious threats must be freed, restrict their movements and track them closely. But don’t pretend that they’re all the same. Law enforcement officials have already told legislators that the law is overly strict, forcing officers to spend precious time tracking low-risk offenders that could better be spent elsewhere. But politicians passed the law as an act of grandstanding, and so far they haven’t summoned the courage to correct it.
Of course, much of the rest of the world is more intrigued by the case of Roman Polanksi, who hasn’t exactly been living in a tent city in the 32 years since he drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl. Ann Woolner, a columnist for Bloomberg, explores that case and reaches what I think is the right conclusion:
“The shame is that it has taken this long to sort everything out. The blame for that lies with Polanski for refusing to answer for evading the law.
Celebrate the man’s talent, honor his contributions to filmmaking. However gifted he is, Polanski’s art can’t serve as a reason to ignore his terrible crime or his refusal to answer for it.”
The injustice done to the Wendy Whitakers of the world, and maybe to the William Hawkins, far outweigh any alleged unfairness to Polanski.
UPDATE: I should note that my colleague Cynthia Tucker has also weighed in on the Polanski case, reaching a verdict similar to Woolner’s.
“It’s important for Polanski to face the bar of justice, even thirty years late. His appearance would serve as an example to others among the wealthy and glamorous that they are not above the law. Neither money, fame, connections nor artistic achievement should excuse you from facing up to your crimes. Forcing Polanski into court, in a case which will receive lots of media attention, might also stiffen the resolve of other victims of sexual violence who are trying to find the courage to face their abusers.”
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364 comments Add your comment
USinUK
September 30th, 2009
8:40 am
this is the problem with the race to be the “toughest on crime” – all the cases that aren’t quite so black and white get chucked in with the real horror stories.
GEORGE AMERICAN
September 30th, 2009
8:45 am
I LOVED THE CHANCE TO CAMP OUT EVERYDAY, BUT I HAVE TO WORK TO PAY MY TAXES!!! WE HAVE TO STAY TOUGH ON THESE CRIMINALS TO KEEP THEM FROM CRIMES!!!
BUILD MORE PRISONS IF THERE IS NO PLACE FOR THESE CRIMINALS. JUST LIKE “ILLEGALS” WHAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT “CONVICTED FELLIN”???
GEORGIA NEEDS MORE PRISONS AND 3-STRIKES (AND I’M NOT TALKING ABOUT THE BRAVES (HA HA HA!!!)
Joey
September 30th, 2009
8:48 am
Something that Jay and I can agree on.
3rd Party Guy
September 30th, 2009
8:50 am
This law is worse than ridiulous, it’s sickening. It is just another example of how politicians can pretend to be doing something to solve a problem. It then gives someone a mandate to be a do-gooder without requiring the common sense to take logical action. Go government!
jt
September 30th, 2009
8:50 am
“But don’t pretend that they’re all the same.”
The only time a lefty will proclaim the sanctity of individualism concerns sex crimes.
Go figure.
Mrs. Godzilla
September 30th, 2009
8:51 am
sex offenders living in tents, Roman Polanski fighting extradition
and the SOB who introduced me to adult sexuality at age 4 walks about free and unencumbered.
yep, we have problems with sex offender laws.
Mrs. Godzilla
September 30th, 2009
8:52 am
“The only time a lefty will proclaim the sanctity of individualism concerns sex crimes”….there’s your sign!
Bosch
September 30th, 2009
8:54 am
I was wondering if you were gonna jump into this story. I’m almost certain that by the time I post this, Andy will have accused you of supporting child rape, but the part of this story I find really crazy is the fact that their probation officers directed them to this camp. That tells me that there is absolutely no place for these people to go. So, I guess their only alternative is to wonder the streets and most likely repeat their offenses.
Nothing is Free
September 30th, 2009
8:54 am
Jay
You make decent money. How about you taking them in? That would be really great. Finally you would be actually doing something instead of just complaining about other people.
Let us know where you want to keep them so we can all bring by some good porn for them to watch.
America. What a country.
Jackie
September 30th, 2009
8:56 am
It appears these laws are extra-Constitutional.
It is the scarlet-letter concept, if the individual has served their sentence, they are further punished by not allowing them to start their new life as a convicted felon.
Politicians do what they think will help them get re-elected, not what is in the best interest of societal norms.
Taxpayer
September 30th, 2009
8:59 am
I think they should be allowed to camp out on Congressional grounds. After all, we may as well get some use out of the space and we know that it meets all the restrictions that are imposed to date on sex offenders, don’t we?
Nothing is Free
September 30th, 2009
8:59 am
Jackie
Actually child molesters are not ever cured. they are punished, but every piece I have seen done on child molesters say that they cannot be reformed.
So you may want to consider that children who live around these people are always a potential victim. And from that perspective, can you see why parents would not want them living next door?
Richard Cash
September 30th, 2009
9:01 am
Jay, Invite them to stay with you. Then you can invite all the other lawbreakers to live with you too. I’m sure if that did happen, you would expect the tax payers to pay for that also. You are a trip man…….
Where The Sheep Have No Name
September 30th, 2009
9:01 am
Let the libs open up their backyards and basements for these offenders to live in. Have their wives make iced tea and cook for them, too. Let them upstairs (after the kids have gone to school, of course) to take a shower and brush their teeth. Teach them how to sing “Kum-ba-ya” with the family. Let them borrow the family car (with the “Kerry For President”, “O”, “Co-Exist”, and “End This War” bumper stickers) so that they can look for jobs. Feel good about yourselves that you are helping your fellow man. Forgive them when they rape your daughter.
Normal
September 30th, 2009
9:02 am
NIF, you seem unusually angry this morning…somebody steal your tent?
Nothing is Free
September 30th, 2009
9:02 am
Brad Steel
I would just as soon they stay in jail. And I don’t have a porn collection. Do you?
So I’m a tool for who?
godless heathen
September 30th, 2009
9:02 am
These sex offender laws are about the stupidest laws ever passed by our legislators and that’s saying something. What difference does it make if you force a perve to live 1000 feet from anywhere kids are? Sex crimes are usually not perpetrated on strangers, but rather in a “family” or acquaintance situation.
I’m sure the morons in the legislature went home bragging about how they were tough on sex offenders to “protect the children”. All show and no sense. Similar to many of our drug and gun zero tolerance laws.
Taxpayer
September 30th, 2009
9:03 am
Now, if they can just figure out how to punish people that have abortions, the USofA will be almost Perfect. It’ll just need a zip code so people will know where to flock.
Gale
September 30th, 2009
9:03 am
Liz and Joey, single payor ressponse downstairs. Crimess committed as minors should not condemn a person to a sex offender list for life. Adolescents will experiment with sex. It happens. It does not make them predators. Now, if the act was actually rape, not statutory rape, and did include a violent act, punish the violence and do not assume the person is a sexual predator.
Nothing is Free
September 30th, 2009
9:04 am
Normal
Actually I am having a great day. Another day of watching the dims failing miserably. What could be better?
How about you?
USinUK
September 30th, 2009
9:04 am
NiF –
“Actually child molesters are not ever cured. they are punished, but every piece I have seen done on child molesters say that they cannot be reformed.”
I agree with you – that’s what the studies seem to show.
however, as the article states, above, not everyone who is on the sex offender list would fall into that category (like the woman mentioned in Jay’s article).
godless heathen
September 30th, 2009
9:04 am
Gitmo
Finn McCool
September 30th, 2009
9:05 am
from below:
A Democrat Prez, Democrat controlled House, Democrat controlled Senate, and they can’t even get this bill out of committee.
That’s because the Democrats aren’t asleep at the wheel as the Republicans were from 1994-2006. It’s a lot easier to get things done when your Republican Senators all follow the shepard call of the party leaders. Sheeple Republicans. No wonder our country was practically ruined under their leadership.
Taxpayer
September 30th, 2009
9:06 am
Let the Republicans pay taxes to keep offenders off the street. They seem to like to mandate as long as it does not impose any restrictions on them, including paying for their mandates.
Bosch
September 30th, 2009
9:06 am
NIF,
There is a difference between child molestor and sex offender. I guess you chose not to read Jay’s article.
Gandalf, the Wise
September 30th, 2009
9:07 am
Barretta said it best “don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time”
just sayin’ 
Damn Skippy! 
Why don’t we just ship them to Mexico? They ship thier crimminals here…
Nothing is Free
September 30th, 2009
9:08 am
godess heathern
**Sex crimes are usually not perpetrated on strangers, but rather in a “family” or acquaintance situation.**
An acquaintance like a neighbor? The little girl that lives down the street and walks past their house every day in order to catch the bus?
Apparently, not many liberals on here have ever had kids of their own. They just want the parents among us to deal with their kindness to the worst in our culture.
Normal
September 30th, 2009
9:08 am
NIF, I’m having a great day too…watching all the whiners whine and never offering alternate solutions…now that’s entertainment!
Finn McCool
September 30th, 2009
9:08 am
They can’t all live at Larry Craig’s house?
I Report/ Vast White Wing Conspirator (-: You Whine )-:
September 30th, 2009
9:08 am
Out of all the people in the world that need voices speaking out for them, the enslaved women and children of Islam and the oppressed dehumanized people of North Korea quickly come to mind, why do liberals always pound their chests on behalf of perverts (your beloved justice system saw fit to punish them, same as they saw fit to legalize the murder of unborn children, so there must be something to it, no?) and the like?
Just sayin…..
Nothing is Free
September 30th, 2009
9:09 am
Bosch
i read Jay’s article, but Bosch, I don’t discuss anything with a liar, like you.
Gandalf, the Wise
September 30th, 2009
9:09 am
Can’t they go camp out in the Okeefeefanokee swamp? Sounds like a better place to camp to me!
Bosch
September 30th, 2009
9:10 am
NIF,
How ’bout if I come fluff the pillows on your swooning couch?
Lynders
September 30th, 2009
9:12 am
I look at it this way. If Georgia has tough laws I agree with them. I was physically and sexually abused as a child by my own stepfather and know how it feels. But I also see kids that shouldn’t be dressed as they do,or allowed to be out on the streets after dark either. Where’s the prosecution of the parents?
BUT, what if offenders live and work in the state of Georgia, and have some type of registration in Georgia then? Georgia ought to be providing a place for them to work and stay to be a functional member of society until such a time that they can re-enter society and live on their own. How about a Farm with a woodshop, metal shop or something like that?
Thats not to say Georgia should support them, but if they weren’t retrained and placed somewhere outside of prison, just where do they expect them to live with the meager cash they get when they get out? Either that, or transport them in agreement with another state. The one guy highlighted in the article was only 15 yrs old when he committed the crime and the girl was 12….why did they not prosecute HIS parents?
Nothing is Free
September 30th, 2009
9:13 am
Normal
Only far lefties seem to think that another solution is needed.
Taxpayer
September 30th, 2009
9:14 am
Whiner,
please feel free to give to charities that support the oppressed people of Islam and North Korea. There are no laws restricting you from doing that.
Bosch
September 30th, 2009
9:14 am
NIF,
Such hate filled vomit.
CWILLI
September 30th, 2009
9:15 am
Not all are truly sex offenders, some were entrapped not saying they would not have committed the crime, but how can you put someone in jail put them on a list for life and they never committed the actual crime. The old saying idle mind is the devils play ground, yes I know of someone who did a stupid thing, he was working being a good father to his children, because work was slow one day told to go home. Went home got on the internet and went into a chat room and there pops this girl talking this person never really stated age if so I really didn’t pay attention in the chat room when signing up it states you must be 18 so this person lied, so we decide to meet soon as this person goes tothe desinated meeting place police arrested him. Now tell me where is the crime truly. Now this person can’t get a job, went to church was ran out of the church life just destroyed now he is unable to take care of his children and he has to register for life. This is ridiculous them good old boy legislators need to get a grip. But we all need to stand together find out who they are and let them know votes do count. And don’t get me wrong someone who has actually committed the act of ray or having sex with a child I totally agree with the law. But what about the young prostitues out on the street who say they are 18 or older only 13 & 14 and actually someone these young girls want this, some of these young girls who are out there having sex want to do it. It hasn’t been that long ago where young girs were encouraged toget married at 13 & 14 to keep from being old maids and that was in the United States of America.
Turd Ferguson
September 30th, 2009
9:15 am
Jay, perhaps you might share your humble abode with a few of them?
Nothing is Free
September 30th, 2009
9:16 am
Lynders
I understand what you saying about the parents, but you just can’t lock your kids up because liberals don’t want to lock up the bad guys.
NRB
September 30th, 2009
9:16 am
Only the AJC could stoop low enough to defend child molestors.
Slow news day, kookman? Don’t you have kids yourself? Not only should you be ashamed, you should be fired.
Jackie
September 30th, 2009
9:16 am
@NIF
In that sex offenders are never cured, I agree. However, do you think rapists, bank robbers and other repeat offenders are cured?
Given this question, what should we do with those that continue to repeat crimes?
If one would look at things objectively, if a person is killed and the perpetrator is charged with manslaughter or murder, is the victim still dead?
I believe we should structure punishment that is reflective of the crimes committed.
Finn McCool
September 30th, 2009
9:16 am
What would Jesus say to his lost children in the forests?
Would he not weep that people, little different from the tarnished ones, have chosen to throw them into the wild?
I think he would have a wag of the finger to the ninnies who choose to banish people who have paid their dues already.
Bosch
September 30th, 2009
9:16 am
Lynders,
The problem is that all sex offenders are not child molesters and should not be all grouped together.
Turd Ferguson
September 30th, 2009
9:18 am
Finnius. Along with the thousands of homeless/bums you have helped perhaps you might help a few of these sex offenders.
Taxpayer
September 30th, 2009
9:18 am
The problem is that the sex offenders must continue to move in order to meet the Republican mandates and, in the case of the camp on public property, people with children that have lost their jobs in this Republican-created recession have probably started moving there. So, the offenders must go, again. Even the ones that pose no threat to anyone.
stands for decibels
September 30th, 2009
9:19 am
I had to google Megan’s Law to verify what I’d suspected–it’s been nearly twenty years, now, since I started wondering about where the efforts to isolate men who’d already “paid their debt to society” would end up. I guess if you’d asked me back then to say it’d be some embarrassing tent city, I might’ve laughed and said “surely it won’t come to that.”
Well it’s come to that.
Like you say, Jay, obviously there should be the ability to monitor the activities of these offenders once they’ve served their time. But the insane laws restricting where they are permitted to live should’ve been deemed unconstitutional a long time ago.
Turd Ferguson
September 30th, 2009
9:19 am
Finnius, how would you know what Jesus would say? Stop parroting the stupid comments, you hear each Sunday, that are babbled by your even more stupid minister.
Finn McCool
September 30th, 2009
9:21 am
NIF,
Bosch ruined your night, didn’t he? He got under your skin bad!
Go Bosch!!
Nothing is Free
September 30th, 2009
9:22 am
Jackie
**However, do you think rapists, bank robbers and other repeat offenders are cured?**
it’s very simple. Robbing a bank does not screw up a child for the rest of their life. Can you see the difference?
And Bank robbing is not a mental illness. So yes, they can be taught that robbing banks is bad.