Senator Joe McCarthy, Sex Offenders, and the 109th Congress
Edward R. Murrow is back in the nick of time, just when we need
him the most.
"Good Night and Good Luck" is a feature film account of Murrow's
1953 and 1954 "See It Now" broadcasts assailing Sen. Joseph
McCarthy during the nation's anti-Communist hysteria.
>From the moment in a 1950 speech when McCarthy waved his
infamous (and never-identified) "list of 205 Communists working
in the State Department," the senator exploited the country's
Cold War paranoia, relentlessly pursuing those he deemed
Communist sympathizers. (San Francisco Chronicle, 10/8/05).
We are once again at this point, blacklisting the American known
as the sexual offender. The collective "we" have allowed
politicians to exploit our most vulnerable fear, the safety of
our children, for personal political advantage. We are all
responsible for allowing hysteria driven legislation, at the
city, state, and federal level, to remain unchecked due to the
manipulation of our emotional bonds to our children by
politicians.
Journalists have not asked the hard-nosed questions and have not
informed or educated the public about the relative ease of how
one becomes an offender. This perpetuates the myth that all
offenders are child molesters. The majority of offenders
registered have been "convicted" of poor behavior choice
offenses which involve no victim-teenage consensual sex, public
urination, online "chat" with undercover police officers. Most
charged persons lack adequate funding for a legal defense to
fight such charges and deplete their personal funds at the
median figure of $15,000. The resulting plea bargain is followed
by automatic sexual offender registration as decreed by Florida
Statute 943.0436 . Our politicians have even legislated judicial
discretion, the power of a judge to impose a fair and just
sentence. Registration is for life or 20 years, whatever comes
first and permeates every aspect of the registrant's life. I
challenge journalists to stop editorializing about offenders and
investigate the truth.
Politicians run unchecked with this issue, due to guaranteed
press coverage and easy votes. Off the record, many politicians
will admit their discomfort with these laws....but to do so
publicly will result in political suicide. State Representative
David Simmons of Longwood reflects this attitude quite blatantly
with his recent comment regarding yet further proposed residency
restriction proposals at the state level, "Who's (going) to
complain?" (Florida Today, 10/9/05). Although a group of
Americans and their families are being blacklisted, banished,
and segregated, our politicians will not come forward to their
constitutuents with the truth.
The Palm Bay City Council was presented 10/6/05 with the most
current data provided by the United States Department of
Justice, which definitively determined in a 10,000 person study,
the treated sex offender recidivism rate to be 5.3%." Instead of
tabling the issue for further research, the Council instead
opted to schedule the proposed ordinances for second reading and
public hearing 10/20/05. These ordinances will impact an
offender's ability to make a living and provide for family,
which sets a dangerous unconstitutional precedent.
Voters have not demanded the truth from their elected
representatives and have allowed politicians to legislate the
safety of our children. Parents, that is your responsibility,
not the federal government. Should your family endorse the
registry, demand your politicians restructure the registry to
reflect a tier level system of risk instead of "lumping" all
offenders into one pot. Give them "permission" to revamp a law
originally passed with only good intentions.
Should an offender live in your neighborhood, I challenge
residents to educate yourself regarding the offense of your
neighbor by obtaining a police report. The FDLE registry does
not reflect the true nature of the conviction and is often,
simply incorrect. Once educated with the real facts, only then
are you and your family truly "notified" as the law originally
intended.
As Edward R. Murrow indicated in his famous October 15, 1958
"Wires and Lights" speech regarding the duty of broadcast
journalism to inform and educate the public, "There is a great
and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance,
intolerance and indifference....We must not confuse dissent with
disloyalty." It is our duty to question authority because
without scrutiny, authority remains unchecked and corrupt