Daily Iowan

Issue date: 2/21/07 Section: Opinions

The punishing of sex offenders has reached such heightened fervor that there is an expectation of agreement on whatever law or restriction is being proposed - regardless of how ludicrous or ineffective it may be. Imagine the poor politician who has to run with the record of being "soft on sex offenders." It doesn't matter how heinous or deplorable the criminal act may be, we are all still responsible for behaving as rational adults in how we handle it.

Herein lies the problem with Iowa's residency restrictions, which prohibit convicted sex offenders whose victims were under the age of 18 from living within 2,000 feet of a childcare facility or school. A repeal of the law, which was enacted in 2002, has been gaining support in Johnson County because of the difficulties it has created for offenders trying to find a place to live. It's good to see the county taking a stance against the residency restrictions, but the state Legislature needs to shift its focus to the implementation of more practical measures for handling sex offenders.

Schools and daycares abound in Iowa City and other areas of the state, resulting in few options for sex offenders looking for a place to reside. This causes problems for law enforcement and affects the community's level of safety because the restrictions result in the clustering of sex offenders, or sex offenders fails to register because they fear not being able to have a place to live. The behaviors of sex offenders are of obvious concern because of the high rate of recidivism, but that should mean that keeping track of them is more important than deciding where they can live. The law doesn't prevent them from re-offending; instead, it only works to give a false sense of security.

We are not advocating a lax attitude on sex crimes but rather a common-sense approach to the issue. Offenders who have been released have already served their sentences and either been through a state-mandated rehabilitation program or been found not likely to re-offend. Others are also on probation and continually tracked after their release. Active methods such as these are more effective in preventing sexual abuse and can efficiently protect communities. Arbitrary residency limits are not the answer.

From a practical standpoint, the current restrictions are not reasonable. Sex crimes are a problem, but they aren't the only problem. Frequently, rhetoric is used to appeal to people's emotions without equal consideration for all the important things in life. We can't run our state as if sex offenders were the gravest problem, and we apparently aren't willing to fund it as such. The state needs to repeal this section of the law and focus on more measures that have been shown to be effective in reducing recidivism rather than trying to sweep the problem under the rug.

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