A recent SF commenter mentioned the constitutionality of the picking up of arms. What does such an action mean to this blogger?
A class action suit could be a modern day form of "the picking up of arms". What I've always felt here at Smashed Frog is that the politicians who have developed and passed the sex offender laws never ever will back off. To do so would prove political suicide, especially should a heinous crime--such as the Jessica Lunsford murder--ever again occur. (Which has happened, with these very laws in place....no comment from the politicos who believed words in a law book could rubber-stamp prevent children from future harm).
A successful class action would take politicians off the hook and I believe court action is what these types are hoping for, but that aside, working in the background on our behalf is the current financial budgetary situation forcing many individual state legislatures to a "come to Jesus" meeting with themselves regarding the collateral dollar impact made on the state coffers by the very laws they passed.
Just think of the tax dollars these dumbbells have lost, preventing persons from application and receipt of FHA mortgages or designating people with a identifier that serves as a huge inhibitor in finding work. (That being said, public notification and the registry ends professions as well, as in ending careers for those who hold any sort of licensure or certification at the time of conviction and registration).
Not to mention the costs to the taxpayer to enforce the registration and public notification laws....
We must hold these politicians accountable. It's my feeling that many who visit here are of all different sorts of political beliefs; however, what holds us together is a common fate.
Make certain to do what may appear the very minimum. Vote local. If the right to vote is no longer yours (yet one more sneaky way to keep the status quo) ask your family and friends to vote and knock some of these long-termers out of the running, particularly at the primary, where incumbents are the most vulnerable to ousting as predictably, only the most fervent voters fight the August heat to pull the lever).
Here in Florida, I think a political shuffle will occur, basically because most citizens have had enough. It's not just about money, it's about what this state has become....a zero-tolerance prison-builder and family divider in collusion with wealthy Floridians, who have passed the taxes on to the rest of us.
