We Hate Sex Offenders, But Trying to Make Them Disappear Off the Face Of The Earth Without Killing Them Doesn't Work

Count me among those who hate, hate, sex offenders. Seems like an obvious opinion that most people hold.

Anyone who victimized others like that deserves punishment, and our disgust, as I again act like Captain Obvious here.

Is making sex offenders homeless making us more safe or less safe?  

Once they've served their prison time, sex offenders have to live somewhere.

True, we don't want them living near us, especially if said people were child molesters and we have kids. But the fact remains you can't cross your arms and blink like I Dream of Jeannie and make them go POOF! off the face of the earth.

Many communities are trying anyway. Many states have laws preventing sex offenders from living X number of feet from schools or playgrounds or parks.

According to the New York Times, some towns are getting sex offenders out of towns by building little parks on small lots, so that any offender living within that X number of feet of the new park has to move. 

OK, they move. But if everybody makes them move away, where do they go? Many become homeless, because there are simply no buildings where they can legally live. All the buildings are too close to schools, parks and such.

Yes, there are lasting consequences for people who commit such horrible offenses as sex crimes. But the question the New York Times article raises, is, does moving sex offenders away from all neighborhoods everywhere make us safer?

The answer, according to the Times is least, is probably not. Homeless people are more likely than people who have places to live to feel like they have nothing to lose, so they're more likely to re-offend.

It seems the people who push the opening of these little parks say that the offenders need somewhere to live. They just don't offer any suggestions on exactly where that is, or how it will happen.

I don't either. I wouldn't want a sex offender living near me, and I'm a fairly burly guy and so is my husband, so we'd be more likely to be able to defend ourselves, and less likely to be the target of such a crime. But I wouldn't want a homeless sex offender wandering around either.

So what's the solution? It seems like there are no good answers.