Original Article06/18/2012
By Fred Childers
SHREVEPORT - Registered sex offenders in Louisiana now have to share their sex offender status on social website like Facebook.
The author of the bill is Representative Jeff Thompson from Bossier City.
He says it's designed to create more accountability for the people who come into your home through your computer.
This law is the latest attempt by legislators to crack down on child sex predators online. But prosecutors say it's purpose is not to prevent those sex crimes, but to prosecute those who commit them and fail to register.
"This is one of those deals that requires a person to say their a sex offender on Facebook, so what can we do if they don't? Same thing we do if they don't have their sex offender id car, we arrest them and prosecute them for it," said Caddo Assistant DA, Hugo Holland.
Holland says Thompson consulted with the DA's Office while crafting the bill, and the DA's Office through offered support.
A law that prohibited sex offenders from using social websites completely was recently struck down by the courts and deemed unconstitutional. Thompson believes his legislation can easily stand up to constitutional scrutiny because it's only requiring those who already register, to share that information on social websites.Related Article:
Our Comments:
So, Bobby Jindal has been trying to kick ex-sex offenders off social networks, which many sites now use, and thus silencing them, for years, and it's been knocked down as unconstitutional due to the fact that it's a right to be on those sites, and now this?
Nothing is different here! By forcing someone to BRAND themselves with a Scarlet letter on social networks, and since Facebook, and maybe others, have in their terms of service that sex offenders are not allowed to join, you are basically, again, kicking all ex-sex offenders off social networks.
Surely the ACLU is going to see this and file yet another law suit to get the law knocked down?
Not all ex-sex offenders use social networks to look for children to molest, like everyone seems to believe due to the media spin and hysteria that has been created.
And by forcing ex-sex offenders to ANNOUNCE that they are a registered sex offender on these sites, you are also opening them and their families up to vigilantism, which does exist and is growing each and every day.
http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/2007/09/human-rights-issues.html
Heard of this man?
http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/search/label/GaryBlanton
He was murdered by a sick individual who hunted him down, as well as another, and he admitted he was going to kill more sex offenders.
Does this lady and her children deserve to be without a loving husband?
I think not! This is just ONE example of MANY on why the registry needs to be taken offline and used by police only! Clearly the public cannot handle the information without resulting to harassment and/or murder of those on the list, and their families!
This law is clearly unconstitutional!
"This law is the latest attempt by legislators to crack down on child sex
ReplyDeletepredators online. But prosecutors say it's purpose is not to prevent
those sex crimes, but to prosecute those who commit them and fail to
register."
This is a blatantly unconstitutional statement. The politico literally admits that the law is not about actively protecting children, but on punishing those who are not breaking any laws that other people are not subject to. If anything, this law is easier to bring down the the first law!