Yum & Yuk

A friend sent me this article, with the accompanying text. It's undeniably a difficult issue, but I appreciate her comments and agree with her conclusions:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/11/18/sex_offender_ban_sought_for_homeless_shelters/

"Today, the MA Senate is considering a bill to ban high level sex offenders from homeless shelters all across the state. This has been done in very few states, one of which is Florida. You may have read the news about the problems that have persisted there as a result, including a sizable group of sex offenders living under one specific bridge, with no other place to go
(http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23028345/).

I am strongly opposed to this legislation, which is an amendment tucked into a larger crime bill. From my work with homeless and incarcerated sex offenders, I have seen from experience as well as research that the likelihood of recidivism grows substantially if one is untethered and essentially banished from lawfully staying anywhere.

Equally important to me is that a person who has served his or her time in prison should be allowed to try to change and move forward. As many sex offenders already face numerous restrictions on where they can live, and are generally unable to find work that would enable them to pay rent, this ban would make that already hard-to-reach goal virtually unattainable. And the end result does not benefit anyone.

If you share in my opposition to this amendment, please consider calling both your state senator and representative (which you can find at wheredoivotema.com)."