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A county sheriff in Georgia has placed community safety message signs at the homes of registered sex offenders, warning the public to not trick-or-treat at that home on Halloween.
Sheriff Gary Long said he placed the signs in the front yards because there is nothing more important to him than the safety of the children.
QUESTION: Do you think local law enforcement agencies should follow in the footsteps of Sheriff Gary Long and place community safety message signs in the front yards of sex offenders on Halloween?
Talk about it….
36 comments
A part of me says No – something doesn’t feel right about doing that. On the other hand what the hell, why not?! It is public record that they are sex offenders so you’re not infringing on their privacy. So I say go for it in other cities too. Except California of course who will sue over it and it will likely be tied up in the court system for years.
Sounds like a great idea. Also serves as public notification that a sexual predator lives in your neighborhood…
So does the Megan’s Law website.
Well, there certainly no perfect place to go trick or treating there sex offenders every where.
Parents are sensitive about where to take their kids to go trick or treating they will find nicer neighborhood to go trick or treating still I do not think that gonna be much of a help.
Brilliant ideal but I do not think it will click though
Personally, I like the idea. But the main goal of public shaming is to rehabilitate or deter the criminal, and this posting doesn’t do either. I think if a police agency is considering any kind of public shaming they should consult with a constitutional lawyer, as it could be against the Eight Amendment which prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. Lawsuits cost the tax payer way too much money.
If parents are concerned about their children trick or treating at a sex offender’s home, they can check the Megan’s Law website where they can actually read what crime they were convicted of. It was through Megan’s Law that I found out about a neighbor that was convicted of rape by force. I informed his next door neighbor who was a young single woman, and within a month she moved out. The sex offender neighbor has since died.
Wow! I am quite taken back by the response on this thread! You people are more worried about “offending” and public shaming a person who has HAD to register as a sex offender than of our childrens safety? Shouldn’t that be our priority here? Is it appropriate for someone who has done harm/abused a minor to have children come up onto their door and accept candy in the dark? The priority should be on our children and less on protecting these preditors.
Not all sex offenders are child predators. Every parent should check Megan’s Law website and keep an eye on their children. That being said, I’m more worried about the pervs who haven’t been caught and made to register because I don’t know who they are.
@GETREAL–What I said has nothing to do with being “worried” about offending and public shaming. It has to do with the reality of the Eighth Amendment and whether or not a persons rights has been violated. (Yes, even a convicted criminal has rights.)
This is the United States of America and we have a Constitution, even if we don’t always agree with it we must abide by it, and as a true American we should defend it.
It would take some major legal gymnastics to get a judge or jury to make the leap to cruel and unusual. Even if they could prove the sheriff’s intent was public shaming rather than providing a warning to the public, they would then need to convince that public shaming equates to cruel and unusual punishment. Of course here in Kalifornia, it’s cruel and unusual to deprive inmates of television, so it would be a cakewalk. Georgia, who knows?
First off maintaining a sexual registry is required in the Federal Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act of 1994 so a reasonable and prudent person would conclude that after almost 25 years of being Federal law and that it is still in place, the law passes constitutional muster.
The act allows the States to determine if their registries are available to the public. Georgia, exactly California allows their registries to be searchable by anyone in person or via the internet. If the information is readily available to anyone, how is the Sheriff of Butts County creating a crule and unusual punishment by posting public information, even if it is in front of the offender’s homes? So long as it’s public property.
I know for a fact that California allows the police to notify neighbors of high-risk sexual offenders living in their neighborhoods because I personally knocked on an entire apartment complex and left flyers for those, not at home to make that notification.
If the police tell you in person how is signage different?
Salty here…
That’s GREAT. should be done NATIONWIDE!!!!
SALTY OUT!!!!
Brilliant.
I don’t think it’s public shaming, since there isn’t shame in those people that do such acts. Children need safety, if people are offended by this, it only means, to me , they aren’t truly connected with their children
I agree!
I’d donate to the cause.
I LOVE this idea. They have already shown that they don’t have alot of self control in this area so why send a constant stream of kids to the door?!!!
It’s also a good reminder to parents to tell your kids to never go into someone’s home unless the parents know them and have given them specific permission to do so – even on Halloween when everyone is so friendly. Most people are just being polite and friendly if they offer that but kids are easily fooled and once you are inside, it is alot harder to get out if something goes wrong. Give the kids the excuse to just always say, “I can’t go inside people’s houses without asking my parents first”.
There are a few problems with this plan. For one thing, registered sex offenders often can’t find housing and end up living with friends or relatives. The signs would certainly stigmatize the innocent along with the guilty. Imagine the reaction of some people to seeing one of those signs in their own neighborhood. There could be some very serious unintended consequences. A better solution would simply be to notify the offenders that they are not to participate, and then do a few drive-bys to make sure.
Great ideal. Shame on.
I have mixed emotions about this. It is sort of brutal. I don’t think it would be good for neighborhood relations. Maybe a better idea would be to mail a notice with addresses and tell parents with little kids to go with then on Halloween. I had a neighbor who slept with a seventeen year old girl when he was in his early twenties and he got branded. Don’t think that it is fair for him to get branded with child molesters and rapists.
I just hope they don’t make a mistake and have updated their address database. Wonder what would happen if they put a sign on the wrong house.
This is from Georgia. In other counties they order the offenders to show up at the city call or a similar designated place by 6pm. The offenders need to be there from 6pm to 9pm. I assume the sheriff provides a basic meal and perhaps entertainment. That seems like a more practical solution than putting signs up.
a common practice in police work. I’d chip in to pay for a sign or 12….
I can see the lawsuits now.
Good idea or bad, the courts will soon be deluged with cases.
As s parent I can sympathize, but then again I always checked the Megan’s Law website, as well as watched my kids trick or treating.
Reminds me of; “She’s a Witch, Burn Her!”
Salty here..
Mike.. Megan’s law is a valuable tool. The “Burn witch burn” comments seem a little to “the left”. These predators should have no illusions of rights if they have harmed kids.
But.. this is California and the liberals probably will think putting those kinds of signs would be OFFENSIVE to the child molesters..
SALTY OUT!!!
Another form of Scarlet Letter. Sorta 19th Century, but I’d expect that from some places in the South.
I think local law enforcement should go around to sex offenders houses, drag them out and beat them to death in the street! No signs needed!
Well…. OK, but they’d better double check those addresses first.
If I were someone who has that sign in my yard and anything happened to either my family, house or any personal property I would sue the F…K out of that county, state, and the federal level. I am not a lib, but give me a break.
Some of these offenders have been rehabilitated and have moved on to families and lives that are acceptable to society. Why keep punishing them and in addition the family that they may have. And don’t tell me rehab doesn’t happen with an offender, because it does.
Great Idea! Protect kids…and this just might protect the offender from getting too near children and from false accusations. I do believe that this warning should be restricted to people who have been convicted of serious crimes and not a minor incident from 20-30 years ago. And yes…make sure you place the sign at the correct house!
I really doubt this is going to keep anybody safer. It’s virtue signalling by the sheriff, nothing more.
Is there a recorded instance of a sex offender violating a trick or treater?
Well….. I never did anything naughty…. never ever!
But that one year when I accidentally gave out Liqueur filled candies got my house caution taped every Halloween afterwards.
It’s all fine and good until they start posting signs aBout your political affiliations, or that you’re an “Internet troll”.
But this is where it begins.
Sadly, you could be urinating on the side of the road behind a tree and another person only needs to see the stream of urine and you’ll be on Megans list.
Thank you. I do know a person that happened to. It was a kid that said look mommy hes peeing behind the tree. That is all it took.
Lifetime registration of sexual predators has been in place for many years. If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime. They know if they get caught that this will be the result. No worries here. Their choice.
However, keep in mind that it is the predator that hasn’t been caught by law enforcement that you need to worry about. At least the ones on the Megan’s Law DB are monitored. Kids should be taught how the recognize improper behavior in anyone, not just those you find on a database.
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