A Pennsylvania Politician Changes his Mind

SL&P has the story of how a Pennsylvania politician has changed his mind about the value of sex offender restrictions:

A former tough-on-crime Pennsylvania lawmaker has adopted a new and unpopular cause, taking into his home three sex offenders who couldn't find a place to live — a stand that has angered neighbors, drawn pickets and touched off a zoning dispute.

As cities across the nation pass ever-tighter laws to keep out people convicted of sex crimes, Tom Armstrong said he is drawing on his religious belief in forgiveness and sheltering the three men until he can open a halfway house for sex offenders.

"I think that our system is trying to treat everybody under a particular brand and it doesn't work," he said. "And because of that we're creating housing problems, we're creating employment problems, we're creating community problems, and it's needless and it's not warranted."

Nearly 100 Pennsylvania municipalities have ordinances restricting where sex offenders may live. The ordinances generally bar them from moving in next to schools, playgrounds or other places where children might gather.

In early June, Armstrong quietly allowed a rapist and two other sex offenders who had served prison time to move into his 15-room century-old home 75 miles west of Philadelphia after another town blocked his plans for the halfway house. Soon, word got out after Armstrong's address appeared on the state Web site that lists the whereabouts of convicted sex offenders.

Residents of this former mill town of 2,700 on the Susquehanna River packed community meetings, circulated fliers with the men's mugshots and pressed officials for action.

"I understand how everybody deserves a second chance and all, but I'm not willing to risk my children and my neighbors to find out if they're rehabilitated or not," said Elizabeth Fulton, a mother of four who lives two blocks from Armstrong.

I think it is an impressive and surprising reversal of policy. I'm sure if he were still in office, Armstrong would be accused of "flip-flopping." Berman had these additional thoughts on the story:

It is common for politicians to become compassionate about these issues only after their own families or friends have been impacted by the severity of the modern criminal justice system.  Too bad that so many people in power need to have personal bad experiences before becoming compassionate (and sensible) about the need and importance of having society playing a productive role helping former offenders get their lives back in order once released from custody.

With the increasing reach of sex offender laws, it may only be a matter of time before more politicians have friends and family connections to those regulated by sex offender laws. It certainly won't be enough to turn the tide against such restrictions. However, the story of Tom Armstrong might not be so unique.

Comments

[Daniel]

I agree that it won't be enough to turn the tide of history but these laws will be the "scarlet letter" of our age. They are fundamentally built on a pack of lies. I don't blame the woman for being worried about her children. But the truth of the matter is that most people on the sex offender list are not child molesters. Indeed, in some states one doesn't even need to be convicted of a sex crime to be on the list. Furthermore, the chance of a child being molested and harmed by a stranger is almost nil. The overwhelming majority of sex crimes are committed by people known to the victim. The tragedy is that like most things we fear, the fear is not based upon facts, but upon wild imagination.

[SexOffenderIssues]

This man is a god send to those people, and if they are living there legally, then the police need to tell the public to LEAVE THEM ALONE!

See this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi9YeSLwlh8

[jjoe]

The sad part is the predictability of what will eventually happen if the public does not get what it demands.

I hope Tom and his boarders have prepared for that.

As long as people like Mark Foley and David McDade are not held accountable, nothing will change with politicians. I'm surprised his brother could not use the family connection to stay off the registry.

[Marvin]

These people have served their time and I believe extra punishments attached is double punishment. No one says bank robbers shouldn't live near banks or any other criminal convicted of crimes. We are suppose to be a united people and we should do all we can to help one another and not continue to punish every chance we get for any reason we want.