OFF TOPIC - Why we celebrate New Years?

Forgiven, but accepted?

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WI - Wisconsin Supremes Okay Non-Sex Offenders for Sex Offender List

Original Article

Like I've said before, eventually everyone will be on a registry of some sort.

12/29/2010

By Tom Hymes

MADISON - In a case that proves the actual slipperiness of some potential slippery slopes, the Wisconsin Supreme Court has said that it is permissible to add people to the state’s sex offender registry who have committed no sexual crime. The case in question is not new, but the reminder that some high courts have lost their way cannot be mentioned frequently enough, especially where due process is concerned.

Wisconsin v. Smith (PDF) involves a 17-year-old who forced another 17-year-old to go with him to pick up a drug debt.

According to the High Court’s opinion, “Smith and others forced a minor to ride around with them in a vehicle in order to collect a drug debt from the minor's friend. Even though the complaint alleges that Smith and at least one other person physically threatened the minor in order to force him to assist in the search, there is no allegation that the false imprisonment entailed anything sexual.”

Despite the fact that Smith also was a minor and no sexual activity took place, the court reasoned that requiring Smith to register under the state’s sex offender statute—§ 301.45—is “rationally related to a legitimate governmental interest,” even though it admits that the wording of the statute is “ambiguous.”

In fact, the statute is not that ambiguous, considering it clearly states that covered parties must register as sex offenders if they commit certain offenses that are “comparable to a sex offense.” In other words, in Wisconsin, a sex offense can also be a non-sex offense if it is considered like a sex offense.
- So why not call the registry the "Child Abuse Registry," and put sex offenders on another, or the "All Criminals Registry?"

“We conclude that Wis. Stat. § 301.45 is constitutional as applied to Smith because requiring Smith to register under § 301.45 is rationally related to a legitimate governmental interest. Smith has failed to prove that the registration requirements of § 301.45 as applied to him are unconstitutional beyond a reasonable doubt,” the majority held. Two justices dissented.

Say cheese.

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Every President of the United States takes an oath to preserve, protect and defend the nation they serve. When bold leaders risk all to do what they see as right, their choices can change history. These are the DECISIONS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD. In this acclaimed 3-part series, go inside The Oval Office as three Presidents struggle with the decisions that would alter our world forever: Lyndon Johnson's daring choice to champion Civil Rights legislation; Ronald Reagan's defiant commitment to the "Star Wars" missile defense system; and Franklin D. Roosevelt's courageous plan Go to arm Britain prior to U.S. involvement in World War II. Through rare film footage, interviews and insights by historian Michael Beschloss, Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, journalists Walter Cronkite and Andy Rooney, political insiders Vernon Jordan, George Schultz and many more, discover the contexts, conflicts and legacies behind the most crucial turning points of the 20th Century.

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WARNING: This film contains extremely graphic scenes of human suffering, please exercise caution when viewing.

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Produced and presented as evidence at the Nuremberg war crimes trial of Hermann Göring and twenty other Nazi leaders.