Finished English Research Paper

Josh Marsico

6/1/15

Block 4 English Research Paper

     You’re looking for a new house being sold, and you have a newborn baby on board! You find a lovely area with almost zero flaws. So what’s holding you back from starting a new life in your dream home?  It may just be that there is a sex offender living right down the street. Personally, with a baby on board, and being as protective as I am, I wouldn’t want to live in any area where my baby and wife are in danger. So what now? Do I just give up what potentially could be a bright future? What did he/she even do? He/She could’ve been involved in a rape case. Maybe he/she had sexual involvement with a minor. I’ve even heard things as minor as people being charged for peeing in public! There have been minors charged for having pornography on their mobile devices. So what’s the severity? Peeing in public differs greatly from something potentially much more sinister. Sex offender laws in some aspects should be more lenient because it can carry with you the rest of your life, it can potentially diminish all of your accomplishments, and it repels people away from you.

     For instance, let’s say you just ran a 5k, and in preparation for it you hydrated very well that day. On the way home, you are stuck in traffic and can’t bare the feeling of holding all the urine in your bladder anymore. There is absolutely no choice but to quickly manage yourself as best and quickly as possible on the side of the road. But you are in a state where it is illegal to urinate publicly, and a cop has now placed you under arrest. You may now be charged as a sex offender! The people in whatever area you live in, or would like to move, must now be informed that you have been charged as a sex offender. This will carry with you the rest of your life, every single place you go (Andrew Lu). Basically, I believe it is unjust for a charge like this to carry with you out of desperation to urinate. Let’s also consider age. Today, there are children being charged as adults for incidents; charges that stick with them until they’re adults, then forever more. “The report begins with Jacob C., who was 11 years old when convicted of one count of sexual misconduct in Michigan for touching, not penetrating, his sister’s genitals. He was not allowed to live in a home with other children, was eventually put into foster care and was placed on a sex registry that was made public when he turned 18.  He struggled to graduate from high school, and was shunned because of his registration status. And when he enrolled in college, he said, campus police followed him everywhere. “He dropped out” (Susan Ferriss). A girl in Western Pennsylvania was charged with manufacturing and disseminating child pornography in 2004, for putting nudes of herself on the internet. She was charged as an adult, and in 2012 she was registered fully as a sex offender (Susan Ferriss).

     Now, let’s use one of those unfortunate examples of a minor for my next point. You’re young, daring, and for who knows what reason, you decide to take a naked picture of yourself and send it out. But, the person you send it to claims to be completely trustworthy. The person has no intentions on diminishing your reputation over this picture. Unfortunately, in many cases, there may be a good bit of dishonesty. Once one person gets ahold of it, the picture rapidly sends to different people. People who may display no relationship with you now have your nude. Eventually, talk of the picture gets a little out of hand, and an adult is informed about the picture. Now, not only do parents get called, but the police are informed as well. You soon learn that you are a sex offender. When you become an adult, you will need to register as a sex offender, and inform everyone around you about it. You were young and naive; the “trustworthy person” basically threw you under the bus. Now, you are paying for it for the rest of your life. You’re reputation and accomplishments go down the drain. A woman named Alison Green wrote a short summary about her conditions in her work place. An older man who works with Alison, who has been nothing but friendly and polite, is a registered sex offender. The finding disturbs Alison greatly, and she’s considering bringing this to attention with management. She doesn’t know all the facts, but she’s looking for advice on how she should take action (Alison Green). All the positive thoughts about this man’s attributes went immediately down the drain. The man even lost his previous job. His accomplishments and reputation were completely diminished. In another case, a group of people that are referred to as “The Vista staff” interviewed a sex offender. They’re goal was to see what this anonymous man saw through his own eyes. Some of his comments were absolutely disheartening. “Q: Give me another hardship that comes with this life.