The immediate access of the sex offender registries by anyone with internet access has kept those required to register out of work. Potential employers are simply unwilling to take a chance.
Meet William from Michigan, convicted of a misdemeanor offense. He paid his debt to society, returned to school and earned a bachelor degree in computer science.
He can't get hired.
(...)
"...the married, 39-year-old Army veteran cannot have his name stricken from the police and public sex offender registries. He must remain listed until 2027.
With many employers unwilling to hire a person on the registry, the lengthy term could relegate him to a life with no job or being underemployed.
Being on the registry also limits where he can live and shuts him out of his son's school activities. Although his crime had nothing to do with children, he's subjected to the same restrictions as a convicted pedophile.
"It's miserable," William said. "I've had people leave church because I'm there."
He was on the management track and had been named employee of the month at his last job. A co-worker discovered that he was a listed sex offender, threatened to blow the whistle, and they were both fired, he said.
That was five years ago.
At a recent job interview with a large company, William was confident he'd landed the position. Told that a routine background check was required, he admitted to being listed on the registry.
William is waiting to hear from the company but doesn't hold out hope.
"I can't get hired," he said. "If somebody would give me a chance."
(...)
Tracy Velazquez, The Policy Institute:
State registries were originally set up to help law enforcement keep track of potentially dangerous and violent sex offenders. They were later expanded to provide information to the public, now by Web sites.
"It's the widespread use over the Internet that has negative effects, Velazquez said. "For law enforcement keeping tabs, it makes sense. But for people trying to live successfully in society, it makes sense for them to have jobs and decent living conditions."
Read the commentary over at the Herald Palladium (An Unfair Stigma, 1/2/2010) here.
