State's Now Sprouting Drug Offender Registry
As pointed out in our "register this" article, former drug offenders will now be required to register with authorities, have their picture and other info placed on an internet website as well as suffer a lifetime of stigma, discrimination, and rejection. Much like what registered sex offenders have been dealing with for more than a decade. Such treatment and ostracization makes all attempts at living a normal life all but impossible. These factors are known to play a huge role in relapse and re-offense. To the public they will always be branded as dangerous.
Internet listings have popular appeal, but do they really protect the public?
Internet registries of rapists or pedophiles are available in every state, but a new breed of criminal now is experiencing the notoriety of being outed online — people convicted of making or selling methamphetamine.
"It lets the community know that there’s someone like this in their community, because the likelihood of them going back and doing it again is high," said Georgia state Rep. Mike Coan, who is spearheading meth registry legislation. "It’s no different, really, from the sex offender (registry). If there’s one living near me, I want to know it."
The idea of posting the names of meth offenders online is gaining momentum. Four states have put in place laws to create Internet meth offender registries, two are putting final touches on similar laws, and several other proposed bills are in limbo until the state legislatures start the new session.
But critics say the registries raise legal questions, do little to protect the public and may have unintended consequences.
"The problem with these registries is that we’re creating a class of untouchables within our society who cannot rent apartments or secure employment," said Jonathan Turley, a criminal defense attorney and law professor at George Washington University. “When you diminish the likelihood that ex-felons can live and work in society, you increase the chances that they will return to criminal behavior.”
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“When you diminish the likelihood that ex-felons can live and work in society, you increase the chances that they will return to criminal behavior.”
"The registry (with their addresses) would present a clear and present danger to them," he said.
That's not a frivolous concern.
In April this year, Ralph Marshall, a 20-year-old Canadian, found two sex offenders through Internet registries and gunned them down in their homes in Maine before killing himself.
-Jonathan Turley, criminal defense attorney and law professor at George Washington University.
