Neon Green with Anger

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Society and Sex Offenders

Wisconsin and Ohio are considering bills that would require serious sex
offenders, particularly those who prey on children, to affix neon green license
plates to their vehicles. Sponsors say that the goal behind this legislation is not
only crime prevention, but also to raise public awareness.

That leaves an obvious question: raise public awareness so that we can do
what? Unleash a wave of vigilante-style violence against former sex-
offenders? Terrify people in parking lots? Or perhaps our goal is to assure
that these offenders will never re-integrate into society again.

Wisconsin and Ohio are not the first states to go this route. Last year,
Mississippi plastered the faces of imprisoned sex offenders on one hundred
billboards across the state. Yet this well-intentioned effort to protect children
may actually end up traumatizing them: The billboards send the signal that
danger is lurking around every corner. And I know of no evidence that this, in
any way, deters further crimes.

Let me be clear: Sexually based offenses, as the announcer on Law and
Order: Special Victims Unit puts it, are "especially heinous"-none more so
than those committed against children. We must protect children and hold
offenders accountable for their crimes.

But at the same time, we have also got to give them the opportunity for
change: Prison Fellowship volunteers do this every day, bringing the
transforming power of the Gospel into our nation's prisons.

But what do we do about sex offenders once they have served their time?
How do we protect the public and potential future victims? It's a really tough
issue, because the repeat offense rate is so serious. But I know this: Neon
green license plates are not the answer.

They are not the answer because laws inspired by fear or the need to "do
something"-whatever "something" might be-are seldom good laws. Look
at the three-strikes-and-you're-out legislation in California. The state felt it
had to do something about repeat offenders. So, three felonies, and you go to
prison for life.

That sounds good, except when you consider what purpose is served by
sending a shoplifter to prison for twenty-five years to life. Oh, and then there
is the problem, too, that the state cannot manage its exploding prison
population.

But there's another dynamic at work here. Now, I am not Freudian, but if I
were, I would wonder if there is not a bit of compensation going on. Could it
be that our society punishes sex offenders harshly out of displaced anger over
the sex-soaked society we have created?

Seeking newer and harsher penalties for sex offenders coincides with the
hyper-sexualization of our children. Coincidence? I don't think so.

A recent Washington Post article describes 10-year-old girls sliding low-
riding jeans over "eye-candy" panties, while 12-year-olds blurt out lines from
sexually suggestive pop songs. Meanwhile, preteen boys pose provocatively
for Calvin Klein ads.

And pornography-one of the leading causes of sex offenses against
children-is held to be a right that trumps the protection of children.

Let's get smart! These are things we can do something about, instead of just
sitting around debating the color of license plates.

By Chuck Colson
3/29/2007

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For Further Reading and Information

"State Wants Special Car Plates for Sex Offenders," Reuters, 1 March 2007.

"Mississippi Billboards to Feature Sex Offenders," On Deadline blog, USA
Today, 20 February 2006.

Faith Schwartz (Brobst), "The Scarlet 'S': Sex Offenders, Step Up and Be
Branded," The Point, 1 March 2007.

Gina Dalfonzo, "Re: The Scarlet 'S'," The Point, 1 March 2007.

Zoe Sandvig, "Re: The Scarlet 'S'," The Point, 5 March 2007.

Faith Schwartz, "Thumbs Up for Florida," The Point, 23 March 2007.

Zoe Sandvig, "The Scarlet Sex Offender," The Point, 11 January 2007.

Catherina Hurlburt, "Things We Would Rather Not Know," The Point, 1
November 2006.

Gary Warth, "Pilgrim Church Weighs Whether to Allow Sex Offender to
Attend Services," North County Times, 9 March 2007.

Lacey Phillips, "The High Cost of Tracking Sex Offenders," Capital News
Online, 5 March 2004.

Stacy Weiner, "Goodbye to Girlhood," Washington Post, 20 February 2007,
HE01.

Gina Dalfonzo, "And They Say There Are No Role Models Anymore," The
Point, 27 March 2007.

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