
Teenager’s jailing brings a call to fix sex offender registries - the_duck
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/05/us/teenagers-jailing-brings-a-call-to-fix-sex-offender-registries.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=second-column-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0
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falcolas
Yes, he can be a welder, or a truck driver. I can not think of better
occupations for someone who was previously studying computer science.

/s

The sex offender registry is, well, offending. It negates the concept of
serving a sentence - it's a life sentence whose impacts are ridiculously out
of scale with the original offense. "Sorry, you peed on a statue. Enjoy being
on the list for the rest of your life!"

It's sad that the advice most often given to those looking to move on with
their lives is to move out of country.

~~~
ghshephard
_" It's sad that the advice most often given to those looking to move on with
their lives is to move out of country."_

I wonder if that's the entire purpose of the registry?

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WaltPurvis
Aside from the multiple levels of stupidity involved with these registries,
it's (sadly not really) amazing to me that the judge and prosecutor in this
case essentially admit that they feel good about ruining this young man's
entire life simply because they personally believe it's icky and immoral for
people to have casual sex.

(And they're using _apps_! On them smartphones! On the _sin_ ternet!)

Ridiculous.

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pavel_lishin
> _His probation will also require him to stay off the Internet, though he
> needs it to study computer science._

Imagine a probation condition that forbade you from using a telephone. Or from
reading newspapers, or watching television, or using a debit/credit card.

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GeorgeOrr
More people have to become aware of the fact that being on the "sex offender"
registry most likely means you urinated in public or some such other small
offense. How are we safer from actual predators by doing that?

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GeorgeOrr
I wounder if anyone has given thought to how this will affect the poor girl.
She knows she's been the cause of this poor guys life being messed up. Well,
the idiots in the prosecutors office and the judge are the actual cause, but
she must feel some guilt.

What a shame, her first sexual experience at a young age gets mixed up with
feelings of guilt and shame.

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jbuzbee
You hate to say it, and it's not a solution to the general problem, but
perhaps the best outcome for this particular case is for the girl and her
mother to accept that the system is broken and realize the kid has been
punished enough. Then lie. "No, I was lying before. All we did was sit down
and talk in the park while having milk and cookies".

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benihana
Cruel and unusual punishment plain and simple. It disgusts me that we're this
vindictive a society; that's all this is - vindictiveness because who's going
to stand up for sex offenders when our -children- are at stake.

