In early England, prisoners, landholders without title, those persecuted for their faith... left and came to America to escape that prejudice and bigotry. Why? Because its wrong and doesn't create, instead it destroys.
Then the Puritans decided to be holier than others and used the Scarlet letter... to label Adulterers. We now realize, many of the accused were innocent victims, objects of scorn by wealthier or more influential people, or worse yet... wore the letter because they were "women" and a mans word carried more weight. So sad, and a long overdue... "sorry ladies."
Let's examine the most glaring examples... Suffrage, or the Emancipation of the Blacks.
We still struggle, even with a black President of the United States.
We labeled, shunned and discriminated against the "Disabled", "Gays", we even recently began the bigotry towards those with HIV.
Luckily, we seemed to wake up a little and empathetically legislate and protect those who need understanding, equality and love.
Why can't we recognize our prejudice and bigotry when someone makes a mistake that has sex or a sexual aspect in the event? It makes no sense considering our preoccupation with sex! Our society glorifies sex, pushed the limits in every aspect, especially in the media and its idols.
Yet, whether its puppy love, sexting, urinating in public, viewing porn, dating miscommunication, solicitation, outdated moral objections to oral sex, or rape and all the many degrees and definitions of all of the crimes lumped into ... "a Sex Offense"! We cringe and immediately label and view the person as either a Ted Bundy or a clinical child molesting pedophile.
The facts are out there.... the Ted Bundy's of the world are the exception, not the rule. Only an extremely small percentage of "sex offenders" are clinically a true "pedophile!" Yet, we have lumped them all into a single registry and pass panacea laws based on fiction and the worst of the worst, not the majority of regular people with a single offense.
Sex offenders are not the heinous monsters the media, the ultra conservative, politicians, legislation and uneducated ignorant people believe they are. Yet, we have let politicians looking for reelection pass bogus laws.
The media looking to cash in on a headline that goes viral, are chasing sensationalism rather than "Factual reporting"(be still Walter Cronkite)
Yet a few albeit "tragic" emotional events are the impetus to pass outrageous legislation that is destructive, inflammatory, non-factual and damn down right expensive annually, with no statistic or proof that demonstrates its effectiveness.
One limb on this multi branched tree of Registration, Penalties, Sentences, Treatments, Restrictions on Housing, working, is FTR (Failure to Report). The article link here explains it better than I can. It is written in lay person terms, by Experts in the field of Sex Offenders, treatment, and social behaviors.
I hope you will read it and take the time to reflect and ask yourself....
http://sajrt.blogspot.com/2013/06/failure-to-register-are-violations.html
Then ask yourself, has the emotional roller-coast run long enough?
Is it time to reflect and look at the big picture, examining this reasonably?
Then as a nation of individuals who....
... have always believed "people make mistakes" but history has shown us many...
have moved past the error and gone on to be "better" people, some very exceptional people.
Please believe as I do...
We don't throw away people or nor do we enable them,
but we do support their efforts towards towards, doing what is right and being responsible and productive members of American.
OKC
Advocate-RSOL-Utah
