Jessica’s Law: excessive and expensive

Nikki Jagerman

Jessica’s Law is supposed to be protecting innocent citizens from sexual predators but isn’t that affective in its execution.

Not only is the law financially absurd, it won’t protect most of the people that will be assaulted.

Under Jessica’s Law, sex offenders would be electronically monitored for life by GPS tracking devices. If law enforcement knows the exact location of offenders on the globe, they evidently can repress their sexual desires and impulses.

Not only is tracking sex offenders expensive, it is depriving other programs, such as education and healthcare, from getting that funding.

Schools and parks have a 2,000-foot “predator-free” zone to protect children. This bubble requires convicts to find housing outside of it and uproots many from their homes.

This plan is flawed because child molestation is more likely to happen with someone that the child trusts, and therefore is more likely to happen in the home of a trusted adult or within their own home.

Having their photo and charges posted on the Internet does more harm than good. Citizens become vigilantes and offenders face harassment, embarrassment, and destruction of their personal property.

The website itself is not without flaws. Predators have reported that typos on the website led to incorrect information being posted.

For example, a non-violent offender may be mistaken for a violent offender if a single number, letter, or capitalization has been mixed up.

As a female college student, I am more likely to be date raped than attacked by stranger. Several studies have shown that approximately one out of four female college students are raped.

If right now you’re thinking “no way,” clearly you haven’t been on a university campus on a Friday or Saturday night and seen the girls looking primed to party.

Alcohol plays a huge role in college date rape, most of which goes unreported.

Jessica’s Law has the best intentions but oversteps personal boundaries of those who cannot control their sexual impulses. There are more effective ways of stopping offenders from repeating their crimes, and lifetime GPS systems isn’t one of them.

Sexual predators and the general public would benefit more from offenders getting mental treatment than having them chastised by their communities.

Drug and alcohol addicts are sent to rehab when they can’t control their impulses, why not do the same for those who cannot control their sexual impulses?

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