Who are the Molesters in your Neighborhood?
The FBI has a list of state sex offender databases that are online. You can search your state and see if any sex offenders live in your zip.

A fascinating, yet frightening, way to spend an afternoon. For instance, my zip code, 60608, which covers my neighborhood in Chicago (Pilsen) and several others, has 176 registered sex offenders living in it (which, by my perusal of other neighborhoods, is a lot, and, no, you won't find me in there :p).

The obvious question that is raised here is: how does this meet the criteria of not being cruel or unusual punishment? In my state, I can simply look someone up and, if they're a sex offender, I can get their address, picture, etc. I can stalk the stalker (which is kind of ironic, but that's beside the point). I'm no constitutionalist here, a document that I believe has many flaws (18 & 21 anyone?), but isn't this like branding a giant red "A" onto their foreheads? It is my understanding that the most common repeat offenders commit crimes that are sexual in nature, but is branding them as a threat to all of their neighbors a solution, or is it an ineffective and gross violation of the Constitution? Are we trying to make society safer or simply more scared?
- posted by frank crist @ 2:48 PM