COLUMBUS - An Ohio legislative panel yesterday rubber-stamped an unprecedented process that would allow sex offenders to be publicly identified and tracked even if they've never been charged with a crime.
No one in attendance voiced opposition to rules submitted by Attorney General Jim Petro's office to the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review, consisting of members of the Ohio House and Senate.
The committee's decision not to interfere with the rules puts Ohio in a position to become the first state to test a "civil registry."
The concept was offered by Roman Catholic bishops as an alternative to opening a one-time window for the filing of civil lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse that occurred as long as 35 years ago.
A recently enacted law allows county prosecutors, the state attorney general, or, as a last resort, alleged victims to ask judges to civilly declare someone to be a sex offender even when there has been no criminal verdict or successful lawsuit.
The rules spell out how the untried process would work. It would largely treat a person placed on the civil registry the same way a convicted sex offender is treated under Ohio's so-called Megan's Law.
The person's name, address, and photograph would be placed on a new Internet database and the person would be subjected to the same registration and community notification requirements and restrictions on where he could live.
A civilly declared offender, however, could petition the court to have the person's name removed from the new list after six years if there have been no new problems and the judge believes the person is unlikely to abuse again.
The attorney general's office said it continues to hold discussions with a group representing day care operators about one of the rules pertaining to what such facilities would do with information they might receive pertaining to someone on the registry if that person is living nearby.
So, how exactly can you be a sex offender if you haven't even been charged with a crime?
Bill Would Allow Arrests For No Reason In Public Place
Citizens Would Also Have To Show ID
UPDATED: 7:22 pm EST December 19, 2005
CLEVELAND -- A bill on Gov. Bob Taft's desk right now is drawing a lot of criticism, NewsChannel5 reported.
One state representative said it resembles Gestapo-style tactics of government, and there could be changes coming on the streets of Ohio's small towns and big cities.
The Ohio Patriot Act has made it to the Taft's desk, and with the stroke of a pen, it would most likely become the toughest terrorism bill in the country. The lengthy piece of legislation would let police arrest people in public places who will not give their names, address and birth dates, even if they are not doing anything wrong.
WEWS reported it would also pave the way for everyone entering critical transportation sites such as, train stations, airports and bus stations to show ID.
"It brings us frighteningly close to a show me your papers society," said Carrie Davis of the ACLU, which opposes the Ohio Patriot Act.
There are many others who oppose the bill as well.
"The variety of people who opposed to this is not just a group of the usual suspects. We have people far right to the left opposing the bill who think it is a bad idea," said Al McGinty, NewsChannel5’s terrorism expert.
McGinty said he isn't sure the law would do what it's intended to do.
"I think anything we do to enhance security and give power to protect the public to police officers is a good idea," he said. "It is a good law in the wrong direction."
Gov. Bob Taft will make the ultimate decision on whether to sign the bill.
WEWS was told that Taft is expected to sign the bill into law, but legal experts expect that it will be challenged in courts.
Captain Tycho! The worst fucker ever!
The Best reciever ever!
Proposed by Roman Catholics? I assume all priests accused of child molestation will be placed in the registry then, yes?
Mayabird is my girlfriend
Justice League:BotM:MM:SDnet City Watch:Cybertron's Finest "Well then, science is bullshit. "
-revprez, with yet another brilliant rebuttal.
Wow, I'll have to talk to my brother. His father in law is a very active member of the ACLU in Toledo and Ohio, he was on the Maplethorpe defense team. I'll see what insights he might have on this, I'm sure he'll be on the team the goes to block this. (Hopefully there will be an ACLU objection to this)
Fucking unbelievable. No due process, no trial. You simply ask the authorities to put someone on a list, and if the star chamber agrees, he goes on the list and gets penalized accordingly.
Who needs courts?
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
And for further amusement, just wait until the stuff goes to the supreme court, gets struck down for blatently violating the constitution and these idiots start screaming about "activist judges" again.
"everytime a person is born the Earth weighs just a little more."--DMJ on StarTrek.com
"You see now you are using your thinking and that is not a good thing!" DMJay on StarTrek.com
"Watching Sarli argue with Vympel, Stas, Schatten and the others is as bizarre as the idea of the 40-year-old Virgin telling Hugh Hefner that Hef knows nothing about pussy, and that he is the expert."--Elfdart
A recently enacted law allows county prosecutors, the state attorney general, or, as a last resort, alleged victims to ask judges to civilly declare someone to be a sex offender even when there has been no criminal verdict or successful lawsuit.
How the hell does that work?
btw--second article is from December 2005--what's the status of that bill now?
Ohio: desperately trying to outdo Alabama for the title of fascist theocrat champion! They did the theocrat thing with creationism in the textbooks already, so the fascist thing was obviously not far behind.
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
I'm pretty sure it was Senators from Ohio who led the charge more than once in Congress to try and stamp out Oregon's assisted suicide law.
...Why is Ohio so goddamn important in the Presidential elections anyway?
"There is no "taboo" on using nuclear weapons." -Julhelm
What is Project Zohar? "On a serious note (well not really) I did sometimes jump in and rate nBSG episodes a '5' before the episode even aired or I saw it."- RogueIce explaining that episode ratings on SDN tv show threads are bunk
A recently enacted law allows county prosecutors, the state attorney general, or, as a last resort, alleged victims to ask judges to civilly declare someone to be a sex offender even when there has been no criminal verdict or successful lawsuit.
How the hell does that work?
btw--second article is from December 2005--what's the status of that bill now?
January 11, 2006 wrote: Ohio Republican Gov. Bob Taft on Wednesday signed a bill into law passed by the state legislature with barely a word of dissent. Supporters of the state's security measure, which takes effect in 90 days, say it's a tool the state can use in fighting terrorism.
"Like everyone else, after Sept. 11, I became a lot more concerned about our safety and security," said state Sen. Jeff Jacobson, sponsor of the bill, which also instructs local law enforcement to lend assistance when able to federal authorities carrying out provisions of the Patriot Act.
"We felt very strongly that we needed to have laws in Ohio to out our state on the frontline of fighting terrorism," Jacobson said.
But dissent is building over authority given to police officers, who can now ask, "What's your name?" as a tool to fight terrorism. Failure to identify oneself could land an individual in jail.
Critics call the measure the Ohio Patriot Act. The law also requires those applying for state driver's licenses to sign a form that they haven't supported terrorist organizations.
The American Civil Liberties Union opposed the measure because of the new powers it gives to police.
"[It] takes us back to the days of Sen. McCarthy and the House Committee on Un-American Activities with demands that people confess their sins," said Jeffrey Gamso, a spokesman for the ACLU.
But supporters such as police agencies say the new law will be useful without abusing civil rights.
"I think there's enough checks and balances and enough guidelines have been set up by the courts that we will follow," said Michael Weinman, legal liaison for the Columbus, Ohio, police department.
The final version of the bill passed the state Senate with only two 'no' votes.
"People are very afraid to vote against any bill of this nature," said Daniel Tokaji, a law professor at Ohio State University. "They have to stand for re-election and no one wants to be perceived as soft on terrorism."
Others agree that the measure will come up in the upcoming election.
"This doesn't have a little to do with the upcoming election. It has everything to do with the upcoming election," said Chris Redfern, chairman of the Ohio Democratic Party.
Robert Gilruth to Max Faget on the Apollo program: “Max, we’re going to go back there one day, and when we do, they’re going to find out how tough it is.”
RThurmont wrote:Oh fuck-and I thought this kind of totalitarian crap was confined to the UK.
They have had less of that than the US for a long while now.
Edi
Warwolf Urban Combat Specialist
Why is it so goddamned hard to get little assholes like you to admit it when you fuck up? Is it pride? What gives you the right to have any pride?
–Darth Wong to vivftp
GOP message? Why don't they just come out of the closet: FASCISTS R' US –Patrick Degan
The GOP has a problem with anyone coming out of the closet. –18-till-I-die
I don't know why RThurmont has the idea that the UK is more restrictive of personal conduct than the US. They have a history of some strange regulations like the license fees on TV sets, but in America the government thinks that your sex life is its business. There are numerous states where you can be imprisoned for possessing or selling a vibrator.
Basically, the US seems to place great value on freedom where it involves making money, but not so much on freedom of sexual conduct.
"It's not evil for God to do it. Or for someone to do it at God's command."- Jonathan Boyd on baby-killing
"you guys are fascinated with the use of those "rules of logic" to the extent that you don't really want to discussus anything."- GC
"I do not believe Russian Roulette is a stupid act" - Embracer of Darkness
"Viagra commercials appear to save lives" - tharkûn on US health care.
Darth Wong wrote:I don't know why RThurmont has the idea that the UK is more restrictive of personal conduct than the US
He probably couldn't find a way to bring up unions...
I always thought Tommy Chong being locked up for selling glass cylinders on the internet to be amusing. Then I realized it really happened... tax money was actually spent on confining him for 9 months and I suddenly felt ashamed.
Dildos are illegal in some states? Eh, I am not surprised.
Darth Wong wrote:Basically, the US seems to place great value on freedom where it involves making money, but not so much on freedom of sexual conduct.
I hope no one is surprised by this revelation.
"everytime a person is born the Earth weighs just a little more."--DMJ on StarTrek.com
"You see now you are using your thinking and that is not a good thing!" DMJay on StarTrek.com
"Watching Sarli argue with Vympel, Stas, Schatten and the others is as bizarre as the idea of the 40-year-old Virgin telling Hugh Hefner that Hef knows nothing about pussy, and that he is the expert."--Elfdart
RThurmont wrote:Oh fuck-and I thought this kind of totalitarian crap was confined to the UK.
They have had less of that than the US for a long while now.
Edi
The UK has had these "anti-social" orders and things on that line for the last good few years. And the bill sounds similar to the UK in that it doesn't require any judges to actually find you guilty of something.
The UK is very nanny statish in a number of respects. While the US is uptight about sex (Darth's example of the vibrator sales is a good one), the UK regulates many things, including your kids diet. The Economist had a good article on "soft" regulation a while back.
At some point, you either need to accept that people are human and have to take responsibility for their own actions or have the state run your life.
Jalinth wrote:
The UK is very nanny statish in a number of respects. While the US is uptight about sex (Darth's example of the vibrator sales is a good one), the UK regulates many things, including your kids diet. The Economist had a good article on "soft" regulation a while back.
The UK has laws regulating your kids diet? Although given how many kids wind up malnurished or jaundished (sp?) perhaps thats not a bad idea. I assume there in place so that if you fuck up your childs health they can charge you?
M1891/30: A bad day on the range is better then a good day at work.
Jalinth wrote:
The UK is very nanny statish in a number of respects. While the US is uptight about sex (Darth's example of the vibrator sales is a good one), the UK regulates many things, including your kids diet. The Economist had a good article on "soft" regulation a while back.
The UK has laws regulating your kids diet? Although given how many kids wind up malnurished or jaundished (sp?) perhaps thats not a bad idea. I assume there in place so that if you fuck up your childs health they can charge you?
There regulating what schools serve at dinner, and spout suggestions about what should be served at home. But it's not exactly regulating their diet
"May God stand between you and harm in all the empty places where you must walk." - Ancient Egyptian Blessing
Ivanova is always right.
I will listen to Ivanova.
I will not ignore Ivanova's recommendations. Ivanova is God.
AND, if this ever happens again, Ivanova will personally rip your lungs out! - Babylon 5 Mantra
Lost Soal wrote:
There regulating what schools serve at dinner, and spout suggestions about what should be served at home. But it's not exactly regulating their diet
Oh, Canada has laws regulating what can be served at school lunch rooms as well and school breakfast programs. Personally I think thats wise, theres no reason why they should be given junk food at school. They even have no pop in school drink machines in Ontario. As for the suggestions at home I don't have a problem with that either, there is an obesity epidemic apperently and the government should help out to combat that where it can.
M1891/30: A bad day on the range is better then a good day at work.
DW wrote:There are numerous states where you can be imprisoned for possessing or selling a vibrator.
What the... is this real? Can anyone tell me which states these are?
Lì ci sono chiese, macerie, moschee e questure, lì frontiere, prezzi inaccessibile e freddure
Lì paludi, minacce, cecchini coi fucili, documenti, file notturne e clandestini
Qui incontri, lotte, passi sincronizzati, colori, capannelli non autorizzati,
Uccelli migratori, reti, informazioni, piazze di Tutti i like pazze di passioni...
...La tranquillità è importante ma la libertà è tutto!
The Original Nex wrote:*Hopes Ohioans vote these Religious Fascists out of office in November*
But knows they probably won't
You can bet your ass I'll be at the polls.
A civilly declared offender, however, could petition the court to have the person's name removed from the new list after six years if there have been no new problems and the judge believes the person is unlikely to abuse again.
Isn't the absurdity obvious here? A civilly declared offender might not have had problems or ever abused anyone to fucking begin with!!
I'm having serious second thoughts about going anywhere en femme now. "Fucking cross-dressing pervert! Your Honor, that one needs to be on the list!!"
