Convicted sex offenders in North Carolina and Georgia are challenging their respective states’ sex-offender laws, arguing that the criminalization of their religious activities is intrusive of their core rights to free exercise of religion.
“[O]ver 16,000 [sex offenders] are subject to prosecution if they volunteer at churches, even though none of the activities in which they participate involves unsupervised contact with minors,” argues Sarah Geraghty, an attorney at the Southern Center for Human Rights (SCHR), which has asked a U.S. District Court to strike down Georgia’s sex offender law as unconstitutional.
“The prohibition against volunteering at a church is substantially overbroad, vague and intrusive of core rights to free exercise of religion. Summary judgment and a permanent injunction should be granted to Plaintiffs,” she adds in one of five briefs filed two weeks ago.
Currently, under Georgia state law, sex offenders are prohibited from living within 1,000 feet of churches, school bus stops, and swimming pools and prohibited from working within 1,000 feet of churches, schools, and child care centers.
Though the law, like those in 35 other states, establishes zones where sex offenders cannot live or visit to protect the public from child molesters, sex offender advocates contend that barring all offenders from houses of worship denies them support needed to become productive citizens.
Read the rest here:
Sex Offenders Fight for Right to Attend Church | Christianpost.com.
What do you think?
October 13th, 2009 9:26 am
At Hillsong in Brisbane, a man who makes the coffee after the services is a convicted murderer. He had a revelation in prison and turned to Jesus. I can accept that he is a changed man.
Sex offenders, specifically pedophiles, are entirely different. I have heard many psychiatrists and psychologists say that they can never change. Would they all be welcome at the City of Refuge Worship Center that has convicted pedophile Mark Hourigan as a pastor?
October 13th, 2009 11:01 am
They might find repentance, and they might change, but I am simply not willing to trust a person like this yet.
October 13th, 2009 2:10 pm
Has anyone stopped to consider the factual basis for these laws or their effects?
(1) According to US Department of Justice statistics, only 5% of sex offenders released in 1994 were returned to prison for a new sex crime.
(2) Additional research has indicated that most sex crimes are committed by persons known to the victim, NOT BY STRANGERS.
(3) Research also indicates that most sex offenses are committed by FIRST TIME OFFENDERS and not by repeat offenders…a fact reinforced by the 5% recidivism rate.
(4) States already have registries, and now the federal government is imposing its legislation on a state matter, threatening to remove 10% of federal funds from non-compliant states. This is more about money than public safety.
(5) Do you consider your federal government MORE efficient and responsive to the public interest than the states?
(6) Do you support a national ID card system? There are more than 650,000 people registered as sex offenders today with an annual growth rate of 7%.
(7) Most are not aware of the increasing number of persons considered to be “sex offenders” or the crimes they have committed, including persons who have simply urinated on the side of the road without knowing a minor was present.
(8) The largest group of registered sex offenders are 14-year-olds who will more than likely never commit a new crime.
These laws are a bad idea.
October 13th, 2009 2:15 pm
Sam, what does the legal system have to do with sexual offenders and the return to public institutions?
October 13th, 2009 2:36 pm
Polycarp,
There is no factual basis for the fear which created the registration process in the beginning. If only 5% of sex offenders commit new sex offenses (as shown by US DOJ statistics), compared to 30% or higher for other criminal categories, then one must ask why all of the fear is justified.
Secondly, where we are now seeing that most sex offenses are being committed by juveniles and FIRST TIME offenders, the sex offender label becomes even less rational.
We, as a people, are giving over our civil liberties based on an unfounded fear. When considering this in light of christianity, I cannot help but wonder how weak one’s faith must be to assume a class of persons cannot change and deserve banishment. If I recall correctly, in Him all things can be healed and corrected.
The cornerstone of humanity is choice. Assuming a person cannot choose to change is to deny that person’s humanity. While one may irrationally choose to say another is not human, objective evaluation of fact will prove the person is in fact human–though he/she may choose not to change. That said, we all have the ability to CHOOSE whether or not we will change our ways, including our decision to repent of our sins and move closer to God.
Perhaps you would reject David. Was he not a sex offender? Did he not CHOOSE to repent and change his ways? Would he be accepted by God but not by you?
October 13th, 2009 2:46 pm
Sam, David is misused all the time.
But, beyond the statistics, you are right about this:
And to be honest, I am trying to examine this issue closely. A murder can be forgiven, a thief, an abuser, but a sex offender? It’s difficult, but I must admit, I am not sure that I can. This is not just a fault for me to shrug my shoulders at, but something serious for me to examine.
October 13th, 2009 3:21 pm
LOL…I must applaud your openness to consider the issue.
(1) I survived 15 years of abuse growing up. Needless to say I was a very angry person as a teenager. Back then my concept of justice was a summary execution at the front of the police car, filmed as a warning for the public. My anger was rooted in pain.
(2) In 1994, at the ages of 17 and 18 years old I committed two sex offenses for which I recieved two concurrent ten-year sentences. I served my sentence day-for-day with no parole. I completed the sex offender treatment program, a college degree and returned to society, where I met a wonderful woman and live a pretty nice life. I have testified in front of the Texas legislature and agreed to interviews with the media.
(3) One crucial in my life came in a prison cell years ago as I realized that my anger toward others and my refusal to forgive made me the same thing I hated so badly. I am not the first person to encounter this. Many have. I hated someone so bad that I became the same caliber of person I hated. I was so angry that I wanted revenge, not just against one or two people. I wanted revenge against society as a whole. I wanted others to feel my pain. How wrong is this? This is the definition of evil. Evil, after all, is the pursuit of destruction. It is the ‘anti-life.’
(4) Since 1994 I have been forgiven by many of the people I have harmed. We are not only talking about the sex offenses. We are also talking about the harm I caused to my mother who had to watch me go to prison and my father, whom I had never forgiven for his drinking, etc. Yes, that is one of the wrongs I committed. I had refused to see that my father had moved on, stopped drinking and had started living a good life. I had also stolen money from my landlord in 1994 when I did not pay rent.. I was forgiven for that as well, though they said their accounting system would not allow for a rent payment twelve years after the fact. I have been forgiven by those whom I have personally wronged…but not by a distant society who does not know me.
(5) Many of the people who know me, first know me as a person. Later I tell them about my past some times. The response I get is shockingly unexpected. Most people make an exception for me because they KNOW me. What you fear is not a dangerous person. What you fear is a dangerous label, an unknown quantity.
(6) The other day I attended a church here in the Austin area. I attend no regular church, and infrequently find random churches where I feel I might learn something. This particular church was a pleasant place with all of the expected accessories and attitudes of a nice Texas Baptist church. After the service, I had started a conversation with one of the church members and she and I started talking about prison ministries. The subject comes from the fact that I had remembered their church as a sponsor of the Kiaros Prison Ministry program some years back. The church member enjoyed listening to me tell of my life since release from prison and suggested I should return to that church regularly. However, I attend no regular church and will continue to not do so for the forseeable future because those churches which have members who will accept me also have those who will object to my presence and cause problems not only for me but for the church itself. I choose not to be that stumbling block, especially for any group which supports programs such as Kiaros.
(7) It is sad that it took me becoming a sex offender to understand forgiveness. Nonetheless, I quietly live my life as an IT consultant with the quiet support of my neighbors and community. I have been free for years, though I am a “high-risk” offender, and I have not committed any new crimes, other than a couple of speeding tickets. I do not minimize my crimes or their severity. I acted inappropriately. I pled guilty and accepted my sentence. No matter what I do for the rest of my life I will never be able to take back what I did.
(8) As for misuse of David….I am not so sure. David and Solomon both were remarkable characters. In fact, I found that Ecclesiastes was one of the greatest books of the Bible. That book helped me understand the missing element in my life: balance. I am not perfect now, nor will I ever be. But I try to be a better person day by day.
October 13th, 2009 3:38 pm
Sam, what an excellent testimony, but you understand, I believe, that it doesn’t always turn out that way.
As for the misuse of David, he committed adultery, between adults.
Again, it something I have to work on.
October 13th, 2009 4:49 pm
The issue is not just with former child molesters.
For me, the problem is, how do we reach out to people who have hurt others while keeping others safe. One can not tell just by looking at folks, or even listening to testimony, that someone will not hurt others again.
Even for those who are truly reformed, it is possible to fall into old habits. A simple case is myself, who was delivered from smoking. But one day, instead of turning to God during difficult times, I turned to old habits.
Somehow, we need to find ways to evangelize and disciple those who have hurt others, all the while keeping others safe. And I dont really think ’separate but equal’ is what God meant in loving others.
October 13th, 2009 4:59 pm
I think there is an even more basic concern. How do you identify when ANYONE is falling, not just to protect the innocent but to intercept a first-time offender before he falls?
Sadly, we are not omniscient and will never get things right 100% of the time. But there are warning signs that any child-protection professional can cite by memory.
My wife and I are friends with a great couple who have children. I visit their home from time to time and everyone knows about my past. Their children know who I am. They also know that ANYONE (sex offender or not) should have proper boundaries.
Boundaries. That is the short answer. Would you allow any other adult to spend time with your children unsupervised without some justification? Would you be curious about the reason why any adult would want to spend a lot of time with kids?
Seriously. We think “sex offender” and freak out. But the fact is that most sex offenses are committed by someone close to the offender. Most of these people are FIRST TIME offenders who for whatever reason engaged one or more thinking errors that lead them down a very dangerous slope.
Once we get past the “sex offender” label, we can move on to fix problems. Right now we are just wasting resources creating a political ponzi scheme hoping magically the problem will disappear.
If only 5% of sex offenders commit new sex crimes one must ask why a former drug dealer (with the highest probability of recidivism) is less suspect.
The first step is to separate fact from emotion and review the situation.