Shouldn’t they be making special plates, instead?

Lawmakers in Ohio want to force sex offenders to use a special license plate on their cars.

I have three problems with this.

First of all, the concept of the sex offender registry bothers me because of stories like that of this guy, who has to be registered for life because he had sex with an underage girlfriend when he’d just turned 18. Yes, she was a few years younger than him, but there’s no real reason to believe that he was some sort of predator, yet he’s labeled that way now… for the rest of his life. Plus, when these registries are open to the public, you run the risk of the registered felons (who, presumably, have done their time) being targeted every time a crime involving a child appears on the community’s radar — even if there is no other reason to suspect them.

Secondly, assume that the “marked” individuals are likely to commit another crime of this sort. What is to stop them from stealing another license plate to replace the obvious one, or stealing/borrowing another car?

Finally, why do we need this? If an individual has been convicted of a crime, and after their time in prison or an institution or whatever is still considered to be an above-average threat to their fellow citizens, they shouldn’t be registered, or marked with a special license plate. They should be kept away from their fellow citizens!

If your government proposes this sort of law, they are not doing it to keep you or your children safe. They’re doing it to put forth the appearance of trying to keep you and your children safe, so that you’ll vote for them again, without actually being forced to pass a politically risky law that would keep sexual predators away from potential victims. You’re being conned, and you should keep that in mind the next time you enter the voting booth.