Won't You Be My Neighbor

While I may not hold the record for seeing the most episodes of the children's television show with the host Mr. Rogers, I have to believe that I am in the running for the top five. When my daughter was younger, missing Mr. Rogers was not an option. And while I will admit that there were days when I had some fairly ugly thoughts about where he could put his sneakers and sweater, for the most part it was good wholesome entertainment for kids. The show, hosted by the late Fred Rogers, focused on teaching positive thoughts; kindness and respect for others, and it probably would not hurt for more adults to watch it as well. The staple of the show was when Mr. Rogers would sing the song, "Won't you be my neighbor?"

I thought about Mr. Rogers and the song when I was thinking about the on going argument about where sexual offenders can and cannot live. Frankly, I thought that we had settled this issue last year, but apparently not. The current law has some very strict language about where convicted sexual offenders may live. When the law was written, everyone thought that this law was a good idea. It would keep offenders away from the areas where children commonly gather. The law prohibits convicted offenders from working, living, or loitering within 1000 feet of child care facilities, schools, churches, bus stops or other areas where minors might congregate.

So what's the problem? Well, U.S. District Court Judge Clarence Cooper has already blocked the enforcement of the school bus stop portion of the law, based on a lawsuit filed by our old friends at the ACLU. Don't you just love them? They are always standing by waiting to protect the rights of the downtrodden. In this case, apparently the downtrodden are sex offenders. I guess that we should be glad that the ACLU is around for this purpose because most of us just do not have the time to worry about sexual offenders. We are a little predisposed trying to worry about our children and trying to protect them from sexual offenders. I suppose balance is important. While the enforcement of the bus stop provision has been blocked while the constitutionality of the law is being debated, some offenders who live near churches have been forced to relocate. I am a firm believer that the church is exactly where most of these people should be. But, I cannot feel sorry for those who have been relocated so that children can attend church without fear. If we truly reap what we sew, we should also know what to expect when the crop is harvested. We cannot act surprised or blame the system because of poor life choices we make. And we most certainly cannot expect the rights of the convicted to overshadow the rights of the innocent, even when it comes to church.

I really had to test my gag factor when I read a statement by the other party named in the lawsuit, attempting to have the sex offender law overturned. According to a report in the Atlanta Journal Constitution, Lisa Kung, who is the Director of the Southern Center for Human Rights, said that the law should be overturned based on three main flaws. According to the report, Kung stated that the law clumps everyone together, it is harmful to the public because it creates instability and that is destroys families. Wow, Ms. Kung, is there a chance that the law might do a few other things as well?

How about these? It protects innocent children from some fairly disgusting individuals. It clumps everyone together. If these clumps, as you call them, are a clump of sexual predators, at least we will know which clump to keep our kids' away from. And using your last argument, how about the chance that it creates stability and it protects families. You want to talk about destroying families, take a peek at the wide swath of family destruction that occurs after a sexual predator comes through the house. But as always, according to some, the concerns of the victims and their families should always come just below the concerns of the offender and their families.

If there are flaws in the law, based on practical enforcement issues, or hardships on law enforcement agencies that may be caused by the current language, then we should fix it. But, changing laws that are in place to protect innocent people from sexual offenders because the law causes the convicted offenders hardship is appalling. Mr. Rogers welcomed everyone to his neighborhood and hoped that everyone might be his neighbor. But, I have to think that even Mr. Rogers would have second thoughts about his invitation to new neighbors if he knew they were hurting the very thing that he loved more than life itself; the children. Maybe he would, but most of us are not nearly as forgiving.

Fix the law... Don't overturn it! Because if we do, we will all be singing a new song that has a lot more to do with locked doors and vacant playgrounds than our brand new neighbor.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/4/91293