Reader comments
Keep offenders on registry, say most Utahns

The registry only organizes and collects public record information available anyway. Citizens can draw what conclusions they will from the data. If you don't want to show up on the registry don't do the crime. The truth will set you free.

They should be on registry forever.
I want to know who lives by me.

Ridiculous. 85-90% of sex crimes are committed by family or friends, NOT strangers!

"Keep offenders on the registry with no ability to have a court review their status", sounds great until,...

One considers that in Utah a 12 year old boy was convicted with having sex with a minor 13 year old girl and now is a registerd sex offender,

Sounds great until one remembers the fact that teenagers in Davis county are now convicted of sex offenses because they shared pictures of themselves taken with cell phones.

So long as there are prosecutors and judges and laws that are not based in common sense, it only makes sense to allow appeals by people treated unjustly.

If Utah'ns want the protection of a registry, given our history of rediculus outcomes, we need to allow those unjustly treated to have their case looked at again.

Good to see the LDS people trying to be Christ like. Especially to the gospel principles of repentance and forgiveness.

If one is not a pedophile, or rapist then let them off the hook. It's interesting to note that those who want people on the list forever wouldn't want others to mention their mistakes everytime they met. If you were ever on a list for past misdeeeds, then you would know what I mean. Do you think that minor offenses shold be listed forever? For anyone to say "do the crime do the time," 10-20 years without a repeat, should be sufficient, in the end God will judge with the mercy that was rendered by the unmerciful in like manner. Count on it. Not all offenders are a threat to society.

You know, I'm pretty familiar with the constitution, and I just can't remember seeing "a parent's right to know about convicted sex offenders living in their community." Must be in the same amendment as the "right to go anywhere I want and make people stop smoking around me."

Seriously, a desire is not the same as a right. Rights give power to people as against the government, not excuses to the government to further control the people.

Your statement is no longer correct, the new law now requires username and passwords for all forms of electronic communication and now more frequent updates. My concern is that �citizens� include HR directors in most companies and they begin to establish company policies based solely on weather you are on the list and not the specifics of your case, apartment managers jump to the same conclusions. If you are on the list, there is a good chance that housing options become very, very, VERY limited and job opportunities are even fewer; it creates a perpetual cycle of failure. That truth my friend does not set you free.

If fear of being on the list protects any children from being harmed it is worth it. The state needs to keep the list.

How about the other convicted criminals out there? Why aren't the theives & murderers on the list? Wouldn't it be helpful to know if there was someone caught multiple time breaking into houses? If there is no risk to re-offend, if prisons are there to rehabilitate instead of punish then once the debt is paid they shouldn't continue to be punished for something done 15 years ago.

I understand your desire to know who lives by you, however, if the individual is still a concern or a risk to the community, shouldn't they still be on probation and under court ordered therapy, counseling, and kept under the scrutiny of Adult Probation and Parole as well as published on the list? If they have modified their behavior and the state no longer deems it necessary for them to be on parole, then they should not need to register, give them an opportunity to start over. If there is a list for this crime, why not have one for drunk drivers, because everybody believes they can never change and we all want to know if a loose cannon lives in our neighborhood, never mind if he�s been sober for the last 5 years, another 5 would be just punishment.

As terrible crime as sex abuse is, I don't think it should be an excuse to suspend the due process rights of the constitution. If we start with one group, who's to stay another group won't become such a problem that we take their constitutional rights away as well. The public may have strong feelings about it but are the results of the polls caused from the questions asked, the way they are asked, or because other questions were not asked. Someone like Shutliff should know that his duty is to uphold the constitution and the rights of all citizens. It appears he's pandoring to popular opinion.

@cry me a river: If it's already publicly available information, then why do we need a separate registry for sex offenders?

Also, sex offender registration now involves the offender having to list nicknames, his email addresses, current address, make/model/color of car owned, and possibly place of employment (can't recall on that one, but i know they were pushing it)...etc. This is, for the most part, not publicly available info, and what of that is public requires a fair bit of digging.

This is innately different from what any other criminal is required to do after they've completed their sentence, and why it is at risk to be deemed unconstitutional.

Even a murderer who's paroled doesn't have to do this. Nor a domestic abuser. Nor a drunk driver. And those last two are statistically more likely to reoffend than are sexual abusers.

I'm always interested to see the response some articles receive. For whatever reason, some groups unite and respond in higher numbers, such as is happening here. I would be interested to know how many of you who are against the sex offenders registry are actual sex offenders. I'm guessing the majority. What's the matter? Have they touched a nerve?

Any educated person understands that it is not the person(s) on the list in which we need to be concerned about, it is the strange uncle, cousin or friend. The registry prays on societies fears and corrections is (believe it or not) a big business. Give those who deserve a second chance, otherwise they will be pushed into a corner. That is were they will become dangerous.

"Sex offender" is so general that it's almost meaningless. A person who makes a mistake like sharing nude photos shouldn't be labeled for life with the same label as a serial rapist.
I know that many parents disagree and want all of them labeled the same so that they can somehow feel safer, but it puzzles me.

Let the criminals do their time and be done with it.

The guy who murdered my brother years ago probably has an easy life compared to some of these "sex offenders" whose crimes would have gone unpunished 100 years ago.

Other than the requirement to list a present address and such, this is really a feel good effort, in my opinion.

All our criminal records are ALREADY public records. I submit that ALL these public records should be listed in a readily available public database, and we need to stop discriminating against these offenders any more than any other criminal with a conviction. ALL penalities for criminal actions should require keeping the DB up-to-date with the criminal's present address and if they are unwilling to keep the DB up-to-date, then they shouldn't get released till they do agree to this condition.

The public has the right to know and to have easy access to this already public information, and if that makes life difficult for the convicted, then my suggestion is for them to consider not doing the crime in the first place.

After all, one of the reasons we jail people is to protect the public.

Being on the sex offender list means you can't go anywhere near kids including parks, schools, public swimming pools, Lagoon, etc. You also can't leave the state without approval. If the city builds a greenbelt or park near your home you are forced to move. You can never pick your own kids up at school or go to their soccer games.

That is fine if you are a child predator but most sex offenders did something stupid while they were young like email pictures to each other or date a 16 year old Junior when you are an 18 year old senior.

45 years later you are not allowed to go to your grandchildrens school plays. How fair is that?

there are too many unanswered and incorrect records and a true sex offender needs to stay but too many are not real sex offenders and to label them for life is criminal in itself. My daugher was a victim of a sex offender and he is paying his dues but should it be for life and yes too many of them are relatives not strangers. Need to clean up the list and identify properly a real sex offender not a teenager finding out about life. Take the poligs and put them on the list

The recidivism rate for child sex predators is astronomically higher than for other violent crimes, such as murder. While I agree that some offenses (like the nude photo sharing, and minor-to-minor consensual sex) should be categorized and listed differently, and perhaps removed from the registry after a time, there is simply no room for leeway when we are talking about grown adults preying on small children.