ACLU Approved Church Van
The Associated Press has a story today about an effort by convicted child molesters to sue the state of North Carolina to allow them to go to church.
At least, that’s the way the article is framed. What a shame, a person is being denied his right to freely worship! Call the ACLU! (Don’t worry, they’re already involved. Isn’t it a shame that the only time you hear about the ACLU’s willingness to stand up for religious expression is only when it involves a child molester?)
What the issue here is whether a law passed during the 2008 session of the legislature in the bill known as Jessica’s Law has the authority to prevent sex offenders from being on the premises of a building that has child care facilities. In this case, law enforcement officers determined that a church that has a nursery would be the type of area considered to be covered by the law and arrested a convicted child molester that had frequented a church.
So who is standing up for convicted perverts that want to continue to be around children?
Well, of course the ACLU is on the scene and involved. So is Human Rights Watch and an anti death penalty legal group from Atlanta named the Southern Center for Human Rights.
So, where were all of these bleeding hearts when these child molesters stole some kid’s innocence? How are they keeping other children safe from these predators that have a documented pattern of behavior to molest children? By filing lawsuits against the state?
Sexually based offenders are unlike the average law breakers. The rate of recidivism among convicted sex offenders is high. Department of Justice statistics show that 5% of convicted sex offenders will re-offend in the first 3 years after they get out of prison. The very nature of the crime, coupled with the odds of committing another sex crime require lawmakers to treat sex offenders differently from your run of the mill criminal.
Best line of the article comes from Senator David Hoyle (D-Gaston):
“I’m not denying him the right to go to church. He denied himself that,” said state Sen. David Hoyle, the Democrat who sponsored the North Carolina bill. “If they are a convicted pedophile, they have given up a lot of their rights.”
Meanwhile, you may rest easy at night knowing that the ACLU, HRW and the SCHR are on duty, standing up for perverts everywhere.
With all due respect, you sir are a bigot. The ACLU has defended the rights of every citizen on every level, based on those rights they are guaranteed by the constitution that allows you to live your life the way you do in this country every day. What they do is the most nobel work a person can do – they stand up for the rights of ALL OF US – from the slimiest most disgusting slugs (and yes, I believe rapists of every variety fall under this category, not just child molesters) to the most upstanding citizens. Being a US citizen means you have to follow the law of the land just like everyone else – and that law is the constitution. These men have been convicted by a jury of their peers for a heinous crime, for which they are serving and/or have served their time, and it is not up to you to punish them further. Even prisoners have certain inalienable rights, and thank god for the ACLU, because while I don’t have the stomach to fight for these individuals’ rights, someone must, and I applaud the ACLU for having the courage to stand up for everyone on the equal level they were guaranteed by the founding mothers and fathers of this nation.
Lets dispense with the ad hominem “respect” you started out with. You have no respect for me and I am fine with that. If I am a bigot, and, by no means will I let you determine if I am, then I am more than happy to be a bigot against pedophiles. Throw me in that brier patch everyday.
Your faith in the Anti Christian Lawyers Union is cute. Yeah, they really do stand up for the Constitution at every turn…except for the 1st,2nd,9th and 10th Amendments, national sovereignty…
Felons do not enjoy total restoration of citizenship once their sentence is complete. If they did, then they’d be able to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights.
You go ahead and defend pedophiles all you want. America is a far different place today as a “free” society where children no longer play in outside unsupervised because your beloved ACLU has made sure the criminals in this country enjoy far more “rights” than their victims.
You may dispense with whatever you want, I on the other hand think it correct to respect on some level ALL HUMAN BEINGS – however different from you they may be.
Firstly, the ‘anti Christian Lawyers Union’ title you’ve so sweetly adorned them with is completely lacking in fact – the ACLU led the fight for the KKK to have its constitutional right to march and gather in a public setting; the KKK is a group in which to be a member, you must be white, male, and CHRISTIAN. As an individual of color, and a Jew, I detest everything the group stands for, but they have a constitutionally guaranteed right to march, just like anyone else. And so I am proud of the lawyers of the ACLU for fighting a battle that I am sure not a single one of them wanted to take on, and which brought them under hellfire for ensuring that even the lowest of the low be given the true essence of the American Creed – Due Process of Law, and the Right to protect their Civil Rights.
Secondly, I am far from defending pedophiles. The ACLU has never condoned nor in anyway fought for a pedophile’s freedom, nor defended a rapist in a court of law regarding the guilt of the accused. They simply serve the most nobel duty there is – protecting the civil rights that everyone is entitled to after these vicious criminals have served their time. They protect EVERY amendment, contrary to the near propaganda that you spew, and work to create a nation in which everyone is given equal rights.
I do not oppose the requirement that rapists be given a life sentence in prison – I personally cannot think of a punishment harsh enough to be given to any of these offenders. But the ACLU steps in AFTER the offenders have served their time. Not before, and not during unless there has been a true documented bias crime committed against the offender.
Try getting your facts right before you put forth such unfounded accusations against one of the most noble organizations around today.