A helpful reader pointed out that I didn't have a label for Arizona even though I have covered Arizona issues before. So, I wanted to cover a couple of happenings in the state regarding sex offenders. First, the Bandy case aftermath continues on. Rachel Alexander, on a blog titled Intellectual Conservative defends the county's handling of the Bandy matter. However, the last comment to the post says that Alexander is currently employed by the county attorney office that prosecuted the case. I have no idea if that is true and there is no reply to that comment on the blog.
Second, at a blog titled HotAzItGets, there is a post taking to task a few Arizona republicans for being too soft on sex offenders:
At a time when the country is becoming increasingly concerned about sexual crimes committed against children, it is odd that three Republican senators are trying to sneak through legislation that would make it harder to prosecute accused pedophiles, child
molesters and child pornographers.
I'm not sure I agree with the legal or policy assessments of the blog post, but it concludes by noting that the proposed legislation is apparently dead.
Third, here is an editorial questioning the efficacy of buffer zone policies in the state:
Despite this extensive experience elsewhere, Pombier and Mesa Vice Mayor Claudia Walters admitted to us they can’t point to any scientific evidence that distance buffers have reduced the number of sex offenders who repeat their crimes after a conviction.
And logic dictates that won’t happen. Increasing the distance from schools and day cares merely pushes offenders closer to parks, public libraries, movie theaters or other places where groups of children can be found. The opportunities for new victims don’t disappear; criminals unable to control their twisted desires will travel almost any distance to find them.
There’s even an argument to be made that such a bill could increase the risk to children. Schools and day cares provide the best possible adult supervision outside of our homes, which is why attacks by strangers almost never take place there. Children are in greater danger when playing outside a couple of blocks away or when hanging out at shopping malls and coffee shops where adult oversight is far more lax.
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