Big Brother is Picking His Battles

I don’t like being the one to defend the low rung of society, but a new proposal in Wisconsin that would have convicted sex offenders tracked via GPS for life really irks me.

This is the classic case of where democracy goes bad. You may have heard of the term ‘tyranny of the majority’; that is, two wolves and a sheep voting on what’s for dinner. The rules of the game give no protection to the minority sheep – the majority has ruled they will be eaten.

Fortunately, we live in a democratic republic. Democracy is not the law of the land, as (in theory) states have very prominent self-governing responsibilities, and the minorities are guaranteed various protections against the will of the masses.

To this matter at hand:

1.) The question should not be ‘ought we track sex offenders for life?’ The question ought to be ‘why is a threat to children on the streets at all?’ The answer, of course, is twofold:
a.) Our correctional institutions aren’t correctional; they’re merely glorified timeouts. If prisons served their needed purpose, we’d have no fear of the inmates they release.
b.) If our correctional institutions are uncorrectable, we know in our collective consciences that, while sex offenses are gruesome, a life sentence is not just.

2.) This is really Orwellian. That so many people are on board with it floors me.

3.) There’s no chance this is Constitutional.

4.) This creates a dangerous precedent for other, less violent crimes.

If you’re a Wisconsin resident, contact your state representatives with this regard. There’s a snowball’s chance in hell they’re not voting for the bill out of a fear of the screaming majority. Still, informing them of these concerns is really important.