Urban Renewal or Protecting Kids?

As many of you know, I have another poll going concerning the Registered Sex Offender revision that many Ohio Senators (Republicans specifically) are looking at. Now, as this topic is debated on this forum and by those of us in Ohio locally a question was raised that is quite interesting.

Within the revision being considered is a requirement that any Registered Sex Offender may not reside within 5,250 ft (1 mile) of any school or daycare and possibly even playground. Now, with that in mind, I'd like to challenge anyone to grab a map of any Ohio city, town or village and begin to draw circles to encompass these safety zones or Registered Sex Offender Free Zones that Ohio is looking at incorporating into it's law.

There are few if any spots within any incorporated city, town or village that will be available for registered sex offenders to reside. This in turn will have the effect of forcing registered sex offenders to relocated to an area that they can find legal housing. Where will that be?

Many are viewing this as a State Mandated Urban Renewal Project. By rewriting the law in Ohio to force RSO's out of the cities, towns & villages they will be default end up in 1 of 2 locations:

1. The suburbs.
2. Rural addresses.

Since the vast majority of them will need a reasonable commute to work, this will force them into the suburbs where properties tend to have large lots and thus it enables them to find a legal residence within a reasonable commute to work.

Then it appears to create an additional problem. The majority of families in the suburbs will not want to be residing next door to a registered sex offender & will more than likely relocate to an RSO Free Zone.

So, is this a ploy by the Ohio Senate to force suburanites to move back into the cities or is it truly a law designed to protect our kids?


***Note: As some of you may have already figured out, I am all for this new law in Ohio and hope it passes, but this is an interesting debate nonetheless and I'd love to see more people participating in it.

It could be a message to sex offenders to get the f*ck out of Ohio.

The entire "sex offender can't come within __ distance of ___ " nonsense is completely unacceptable. There is no evidence it actually protects anyone and does present a huge obstacle to actually being a functioning member of society.

Does anyone consider God, ever. God is weird and he makes all types of people Some of them are people who have urges to have sex with children. You are not going to do anything to change them which means they must be removed from society for the rest of their lives. Unless you think they are not able to ruin some child's life because she lives over a mile away. Let's not concentrate n punishing them, as though that'll teach em. Let's concentrate on keeping them away from our children. It's for their own good and our good.

TDZ said:

So, is this a ploy by the Ohio Senate to force suburanites to move back into the cities or is it truly a law designed to protect our kids?

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It's a ploy for votes, nothing else. Forcing men off the state registry won't protect anyone. Forcing men to live in rural areas, away from their families and support networks, and into under funded and under staffed hick counties that can't spare the resources to monitor the worst offenders will again, enhance risk, not reduce it.

It has nothing to do with suburbanites.

It has nothing to do with kids.

It has everything to do with raising a sideshow topic victimizing a law abiding minority group to provide discussion to overshadow the state legislature's budget failures.


Yep. Law abiding. RSO's are men who've served their time and are currently complying with state law. And, many many of them were convicted of misdemeanors, not felonies.

Helvidius said:

It could be a message to sex offenders to get the f*ck out of Ohio.

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that is correct. and then we should pass it's equivalent in all 50 states, and encourage these individuals to live in Alaska, where we should also be drilling. Drilling, of course, requries a workforce....

cpwill said:

that is correct. and then we should pass it's equivalent in all 50 states, and encourage these individuals to live in Alaska, where we should also be drilling. Drilling, of course, requries a workforce....

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Dude, you are onto something there.

sazerac said:

Dude, you are onto something there.

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original idea was taken from bill o'reilly, who wants to abolish the death penalty and move the criminals who would rate it up there. you also save on security costs, because if an inmate from southern california wants to try to escape into the alaskan wilderness...... let him. just put up a wanted poster in both towns within 100 miles, and let ole mother nature do the dirty work for you.

cpwill said:

original idea was taken from bill o'reilly, who wants to abolish the death penalty and move the criminals who would rate it up there. you also save on security costs, because if an inmate from southern california wants to try to escape into the alaskan wilderness...... let him. just put up a wanted poster in both towns within 100 miles, and let ole mother nature do the dirty work for you.

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Well it was clever of you to agree. I almost always agree with Bill and he doesn't make me all nervous listenning to him.

Nothing but good come happen from yall's idea.

cpwill said:

that is correct. and then we should pass it's equivalent in all 50 states, and encourage these individuals to live in Alaska, where we should also be drilling. Drilling, of course, requries a workforce....

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Actually, we'd have to massively increase the mileage to get them all into Alaska. They'd probably end up in Montana, Nebraska and the Dakotas. Of course, we do have Death Valley, but there's probably not any oil to drill in DV is there?

TDZ said:

Actually, we'd have to massively increase the mileage to get them all into Alaska. They'd probably end up in Montana, Nebraska and the Dakotas. Of course, we do have Death Valley, but there's probably not any oil to drill in DV is there?

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I'm good with them working on off-shore drilling as well. few folks have the stamina to swim 40 miles to shore and 40 miles back for a weekend off.