Around the Web

The Salt Lake Tribune is reporting that a confidential informant has told authorities that adult men in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints were having sex with underage brides inside the massive temple at the polygamous sect's Texas ranch.  Grits for Breakfast has an interesting discussion about the likely invalidity of the search warrant.  At least 401 children have been removed from the gated compound, as well as 133 mothers.

The U.S. Marshals Service has announced a multi-agency operation targeting registered sex offenders has resulted in 57 state and 11 federal arrests.  The operation (code named Guardian West) was "designed to investigate offenders’ compliance with registration requirements and for those found to be non compliant, to secure criminal complaints, state or federal, seeking their prosecution." 

Comments

[George]

Sex offenders are the worst of the worst, and those who fail to register are the worst of the worst of the worst. They are so much more dangerous when the radar is not on them and the public cannot protect themselves through the registry. So why aren't there more reports of new sex crime arrests when the absconders are arrested? There are enough of them to study now and my prediction is that still a small percentage of even the worst of the worst of the worst are committing terrible, if any, new sex crimes and failure to register is most often the only new offense.

[disillusion1998]

Actually George, only an ignorant fool believes that our Registries are doing a damn thing that is productive. Take a look at the facts. Honestly, I can't believe that even the most rabid, close-minded Registry supporters have not yet figured out that the Registries aren't REALLY about public safety and "protecting children". It's good the Registries aren't about that though because they certainly aren't doing it.

The Registries and especially all of their increasingly worthless tag-along laws (such as the Banishment laws) have caused more sexual crimes (and others) to be committed than would have been committed had the Registries never existed. They are truly idiotic. The less people we have Registered, the safer we all are.

Here are the benefits of the Registries:

1. Protects no one, children or otherwise.

2. Dramatically promotes recidivism constantly - every single day.

3. Costs a fortune.

4. Creates a false sense of security.

5. Reduces the likelihood that people will do what is truly effective to reduce sexual offending.

6. Diverts precious, very limited resources and attention away from actually attempting to reduce sexual offending (and other pursuits that are more worthwhile than just harassing people).

7. Creates a very large class of people who don't care at all about being good citizens. Those people are gravely harming, unintentionally and intentionally, their local communities, their states, and the entire country.

8. Puts all of us in more danger.

9. Enables the idea that people on the Registries are a class of people who regularly (and forever) can and should have their civil rights reduced and trampled upon. In the United States, that is immoral. It also establishes the precedence to do the same to more classes of people.

There are more benefits but that's enough of the big ones.

[jjoe]

@disillusion

"Enables the idea that people on the Registries are a class of people who regularly (and forever) can and should have their civil rights reduced and trampled upon."

More mindnumbing dissllusion. Yesterday a blogger posted a diary at "progressive" DailyKos, criticizing the liberal community for ignoring these civil rights violations.

Sadly, the comments indicate the fear-mongering, lies and myth making have successfully tainted progressive minds:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/4/9/154946/8665/1020/491226