The Passing Parade...: A rare politican yells "whoa"

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October 20, 2005

A rare politican yells "whoa"

It's a rare politician who'll throw up his hands and yell "whoa" when the stampede's at full speed, when every official from city hall to the statehouse is frantically trying to be tougher on something than the next guy.

Ed Fallon's saying "whoa!" The state rep from Des Moines said last week the escalating restrictions on where sex offenders can live isn't helping anything. "It's not ... about tough or soft on crime; it's (about) intelligent policy and this doesn't work," he said.

So far:

The Legislature in 2002 passed a law forbidding people who've committed sex offenses against minors from living within 2,000 feet of a school or day care center. A county judge and a federal district judge both ruled against the law, noting among other things that the targeted offenders could still go anywhere they wanted, which renders the housing restriction pretty much worthless as a preventative measure.

But the Iowa Supreme Court and a federal appeals court said the Legislature was within its powers, wisely used or not. Law enforcement officials around the state are scrambling to devise ways to enforce the restrictions.

Small towns, fearing an influx of undesireables from bigger places, added parks and school bus stops to the list of 2,000-foot offender-free zones and thus effectively barred them from living anywhere in town.

Des Moines wasted no time adding enough public places to the list that the city, Iowa's largest, is off limits.

Ald. Ray Ambrose wants to do the same in Davenport.

Several border cities in Nebraska are talking about matching the Iowa restrictions.

In the Illinois Q-C, police anticipate the displaced Iowans will soon be looking for homes in their communities. A bill expanding the Illinois "offender-free" zone around schools from 500 feet to 2,000 -- or 2,500 -- feet can't be far behind.

The inexorable result, if the logic at work is followed to its end, will be little reservations in some desert, where we'll herd these new lepers. And, of course, if we're to get the maximum benefit, they'll have to be forbidden ever to step foot off.

A good many people will say "fine." But such a policy sells short both the civic concept of debt repayment, and the religious concept of redemption. Perhaps Mr. Fallon, who's seeking the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, can persuasively explain how both those concepts are invaluable to us.

Posted by jcb at October 20, 2005 02:56 PM

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