You might be a sex offender if...

The problem isn't so much a central list of sex offenders. Really, if I had kids and lived next to a convicted pedophile, I would want to know that at least so I can look into the case myself and decide what danger such a man (or woman) posed. However the sex offender registry has become a tool for intimidation and hyping up statistics so as to further the political agendas of feminists and D.A.s who want more money for this or that.

Originally the sex offender registry was meant to record the names of people convicted of forcible sex crimes and sex crimes against minors. By 'sex crime' it was quite clear what was meant. Now since judges can order people to register as sex offenders and do so as a means of punishing them rather than informing the community at large about their presence in some neighborhood, its misuse has become rife. Sex offender registries were meant to be tools to inform the public that verifiably dangerous offenders who had done time in jail and may or may not be "reformed" were living in their area. This is not a bad thing. It becomes useless as a tool however when the list becomes long enough to include almost anyone (any male) who has been in trouble with the law in any context involving a female.

...........you watch television for about 10 minutes. It seems every movie, news program, and TV show depicts men as sexual predators.

Registries (of any variety) as a tool for public safety are utterly and completely useless and run contrary to the principles of justice our society is based upon.

You say, as your reason for supporting the fundamental ideas on which registries such as the sex offender registry are based the following:

Really, if I had kids and lived next to a convicted pedophile, I would want to know that at least so I can look into the case myself and decide what danger such a man (or woman) posed.

How does a registry help you to do that? If you had children, or even if you don't, is it not a good idea to meet, get to know, and personally assess the character of the people in your neighborhood? A registry promotes laziness in this regard. Instead of you inviting the neighbors over for a few drinks to get to know them you expect some bureaucratic entity to inform you of any potential dangers. That's a risky and ignorant approach to ensuring your families safety. Assuming all potentially risky people living in your community have had a past conviction and are thus ON the registry is ignorant. Reliance upon this tool also promotes over confidence in people who choose to be ignorant and assume that people not on this list are not a threat to them or their families. That's a hell of a risk to take especially with crimes of child sexual abuse where over 90% of all occurrences of which are perpetrated not by strangers down the street but by individuals who are well known or related to the child being abused. It's not the boogyman down the street, it's lovable aunt Lucie, or drinking buddy Joe, or big sister Kate who's molesting your child. The sex offender registry has absolutely zero usefulness in avoiding this type of risk which is many orders of magnitude more real then stranger abduction which is extremely rare. In fact, the sex offender registry is pointing you away from all the places you should be looking for signs of abuse.

Plus, if we had reasonable sentencing for the rare cases of which you are afraid, then the need for a registry would be non-existent anyway because the truly dangerous individuals who have committed the horrific acts that are the source of every parents nightmares would not be released back into society.

The rest of the people who have committed lessor acts should be granted the same rights to re-join society without prejudice that every other class of offender is granted. Especially given the fact that sex offenders as a class have the absolute lowest rates of recidivism of any class of criminals and employ the least violence in committing their crimes as any class of violent criminals. In fact, a big part of the reason there exists a sex offender registry and no other type of registry is the fact that sex offenders are the only class of criminal that such a thing would be enforceable upon. You really think a gangbanger registry would result in anything more then a bunch of dead cops who were tasked with checking up on the people on it? You really think a drug offender registry would be anything more then a yellow pages for your you local drug dealer? Hell you'd have every drug dealer in the county turning themselves in so that when they get out the cops will give them free advertising on the internet and in fliers handed out to school kids. Sex offenders were targeted for a registry because they are the one group of offender that will put up with it and has that society has the intolerance towards to offer them nowhere to turn if they do not like it.

Plus, registries are not something out of the movie minority report, they cannot prevent crimes. They serve zero purpose as a preventative measure against crime. A person who is determined to commit an act will do so regardless of any condition placed upon them. A registry cannot stop some one who is on it from abducting, raping, torturing, or killing if that person wants to. You knowing that person's past does not stop them either. All people have free will and will use their will to achieve whatever goals they desire for better or worse.

Plus, why is it your business to know if some one has committed a sexual assault in the past any more then it is your right to know if some one has ever stolen an item? It is inaccurate that you need any special knowledge provided by a government or police entity of a persons criminal history to protect your children. Due diligence as a parent in knowing who your children are with and what they are doing and informing them of the risks they face is the only tool that will keep your kids safe. You don't get that from a registry, you either have it or you don't. It sexist and chivalrous for you to think that you need a special knowledge to protect weak and helpless women by knowing the names of rapists. For what purpose? To extract the justice you feel is befitting their crime? I can't imagine another way such knowledge could be used in any way to further the cause of justice or public saftey.

A registry will never make the world a safer place. Get to know the people around you and you will be just as safe as any other human being has ever been in the history of the world. No registry needed.

If you have a heartbeat...

Yes, it's gotten totally out of control. When a couple kids carousing about moon a passing car and end up on the registry, or when a guy piddles behind a dumpster and ends up on the registry... it defeats the purpose of the registry to track the sociopathic predators (who if they're a risk should not be loose in society in the first place).

Gunner Retired

Either lock up the truly dangerous people indefinitely, or if you must release them, LIFETIME parole. Keep an eye on them in the same manner criminals in society have been monitored for decades. The registry is a tool to spread fear it serves no other purpose.

Better, more focused tool existed prior to the registry (lifelong parole) and the inclusion of harmless individuals on the registry makes for a political tool to spread fear and hatred of males, so is not something any MRA should support.