Sex offenders: Shaming them publicly is arbitrary, cruel

“Sex offender registrations in Pierce County,” (TNT, 11/24).

Again I wonder why these offenders have to register when no others do.

I ask myself whether living next-door to a sex offender is worse, in some mysterious way, than living next to a murderer who’s been released from prison. Why doesn’t a murderer have to register and have his or her name in the Sunday paper? What about chronic cat burglars or vandals?

Who’d be the worst neighbor among all these people? Yet no matter what level sex offense a person has committed, or what rehabilitation and transformation of character he or she has undergone, the person is obliged to register and have his or her name posted for a seemingly endless period of time.

Justice is a fickle thing. It shouldn’t be. Singling out one class of criminal for an extra dose of scorn is arbitrary and cruel.

This story was originally published November 26, 2019 at 2:34 PM with the headline "Sex offenders: Shaming them publicly is arbitrary, cruel."