Desperate People Do Horrific Things

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 makes failure to register by a sex offender a felony punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or up to 10 years in prison; however, most state laws are much tougher. For example, in Kansas a sex offender who has already paid his debt to society yet fails to mail in a form every 90 days will receive a mandatory 10 years imprisonment for every 30 days they remain non-compliant. Many states have implemented similar penalty provisions for failure to register.

These penalty provisions have created a powder-keg in our country that will explode – it’s not a question of “if” it is a question of “when.”

Desperate people do horrific things – it is a fact that has been proven time and time again throughout our history, and implementing a penalty provision that is greater in severity for failing to mail a piece of paper than that for murder will, without question, create desperate people. In fact, it is my contention that this situation in and of itself – the mere possibility of someone facing such harsh penalties for such a minor infraction – has the potential to spark chaos and destruction. My fear is that many from within the group of over 630,000 registered sex offenders, or those in their families, will lash out at a society who has demanded that their constitutional rights be stripped and that they be forced to live under unreasonable conditions.

It is the forces of desperation that give birth to the intolerance that can lead to fundamentalism and terrorist acts. My fear is that we will begin to see suicide bombings from those who have reached the depths of despair from which there is no hope of ever climbing.

The unacceptable thing about this situation is that it exists in the name of child safety. Why must we wait until a catastrophic event happens before we wake up and demand a change?