September 14, 2005

We track library books better than we do sexual predators

The House did something decent today. Not that they never do any good of course, but with all the recent stuff about relief/pork funds for victims of the hurricane, it was nice to read that other things are still important.

Child sex offenders would be subject to stringent monitoring requirements and face new mandatory penalties under a House-passed bill that was expanded to include protections for gays and lesbians under federal hate crime law. The House voted 371-52 Wednesday in favor of the Children's Safety Act (search), which, among its many provisions, creates a national Web site for child sex offenders and stipulates that sex felons face up to 20 years in prison for failing to comply with registration requirements. --SNIP-- The sex offender bill, which also requires felony offenders to register for life and authorizes the death penalty for sex crimes resulting in the killing of a child, responds to what House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., said was a "national crisis" in child sex offenses. He said that of some 550,000 convicted sex offenders in the nation, the whereabouts of 100,000 are unknown. Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., said, "We track library books better than we do sexual predators." Sensenbrenner said the legislation would get favorable treatment in the Senate and he expected it to be signed into law by the end of the year. The White House, in a statement, expressed support, saying that even though sex crimes against children have declined significantly in recent years, more needs to be done. It noted that the legislation codified the online National Sex Offender Public Registry that the Justice Department launched earlier this year. The legislation brings together parts of numerous proposals to protect children from sex offenders. Sections of the bill are named after victims in cases that gained national prominence, including North Dakota college student Dru Sjodin and 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford of Florida.

The cases we hear about in the news are bad-but they represent what happens all the time. Even though the rate of crimes has declined, the actual depth of each crime has gotten worse, and often includes mudering the child. Something has to be done. I don't give two cents concern for those guilty of these crimes either, even those who have served "their time". I support the death penalty in all cases involving children. Plain and simple.

Show Comments »