Sunday, September 25, 2005
CrimProfBlog Oped: Margy Love on DOJ Sex Offender Registry
CrimProfBlog is pleased to announce a first: An Op-ed by a reader, exclusive to CrimProf. Margy Love, the former U.S. Pardon Attorney who retired after 20 years at DOJ, offers some insightful analysis of the new national sex offender registry. ***
DOJ National Sex Offender Registry, by Margaret Colgate Love
I have recently seen an article by Regina Schofield, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs, announcing the Justice Department's new National Sex Offender Public Registry (NSOPR). The article explains that Attorney General Gonzales believes that "real time access to public sex offender information is one critical resource for Americans to help identify sex offenders beyond their own streets or states." It points out that "the NSOPR currently gives millions of parents, grandparents, and other concerned citizens easy-to-use and free access to information on two out of every five registered sex offenders in the United States." It concludes hopefully that "Thanks to the National Sex Offender Public Registry, they can now take a proactive and meaningful step in protecting a child's life."
This article made me really mad, mostly at those in my old agency who are trying to pass off this half-baked mean-spirited incitement to vigilante justice as a responsible public safety measure.
. . .
Full Text here
https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/crimprof_blog/2005/09/crimprofblog_op.html