A Georgia Republican who is in his first week of office has proposed a bill that would give sex offenders access to anywhere children gather, including schools and playgrounds.
According to the Cherokee Tribune:
Brand new state Rep. Sam Moore (R-Macedonia) is pushing a sweeping law that would allow registered sex offenders to go anywhere they want — even to schools.
Moore, in his first week in office, has turned in a bill that would overturn the crime of loitering and make it so registered sex offenders who aren’t otherwise barred from going to schools or places children gather could go to those places freely.
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“I am OK with that,” Moore said Thursday, adding that he meant only those who were off parole and not barred from those places. “The reason I’m OK with that is the assumption is they have done their time. If they’re still a danger to society, they should not be free. … Am I saying it’s not creepy? It’s definitely creepy.”
What kind of person decides that their first legislative act in their new office is going to be a bill that gives sex offenders access to children? It isn’t as if this was an unintended consequence. Rep. Moore admits that he is fine with sex offenders having access to children.
There is a difference between limited government, and dangerously stupid.
Giving predators access to children based on what you think the Fifth Amendment says is an act of placing ideology ahead of the welfare of children. The offenders that Moore is talking about aren’t people who made a mistake like many drug offenders are. These individuals are predators, and there is no known cure for child predators.
I am all for giving people who do their time a second chance, but the restrictions as they relate to sexual predators exist for a reason.
Moore’s bill is the result of blind ideology trumping common sense. There is no way it will ever pass, and by offering such an outlandish bill, Rep. Moore has made it certain that he will not win a second term.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
