Why is treatment not offered while in prison?

Sex offender treatment has proven to have a positive impact on offenders and reduces the risk of recidivism. So why isn't this offered while incarcerated? Almost every state doesn't offer this treatment to offenders in prison. I think they should offer it in prison instead of waiting until they get out of prison. There is no benefit to wait until afterwards. My understanding is that treatment takes years to have a lasting effect because it is a habitual change to the offenders thinking and habits. So if it takes years to change a person, why wait until the last minute to treat them? Instead of all this lazy punitive reactionary laws that waste American tax-payer dollars, why not strike at the heart of the problem with treatment while incarcerated to help ensure that offenders have the tools to reintegrate into society? I really need some input on this one because I don't understand why this has become about "getting" these people instead of helping them not create more victims? Anyone has any input on this?

Green License Plates For Sex Offenders?

Alabama, Wisconsin, and Ohio have legislation on the table to make sex offenders have green license plates. This is just another example of a "Feel Good" bad idea law. It's easy to get around and will probably hurt far more people than it helps. Folks, this is ridiculous. Allowing any government body to place a special tag on ANY group of people is against the law. If this is allowed to pass then everyone should just kiss their rights goodbye. People are going to die over this piece of garbage legislation. Their will be innocent people killed because some moron saw the plate and decided to "run the sick pervert off the road so he doesn't hurt anyone ever again." Only it will be the offender's wife and children in the car. Or even worse, it may even be the victim themselves. This is the type of legislation that Hitler imposed. Are we all really that stupid? If you are in one of these states, please vote against it. Write to your politicians and ask for proof of how this is going to help and ask for the statistics and the study to back it up. If they can't give you those, they obviously are just blowing smoke to get votes and give you the impression that they are working on the problem. Say no to garbage legislation. The next step will probably be concentration camps, then when all the "so called" sex offenders are dead or unidentified they will start on all the so called "normal people". You will be next, it's just a matter of time. You need to stand up now and say "NO MORE!" I would rather be free with a sex offender living next door, than to live in a concentration camp for "my protection" wouldn't you?

Are We Discriminating Against Sex Offenders?

Are we discriminating against sex offenders? Discrimination defined as ......
Discrimination occurs when the civil rights of an individual are denied or interfered with because of their membership in a particular group or class.
In other words we are singling these people out. I know this is a touchy subject with a lot of people but I think a very important one. If we allow our laws to discriminate against any group then the abuse of power in this country will allow them to abuse this priviledge even further. And it will allow them to justify discrimination against racial groups because they are more prone to this behavior. This needs to be discussed calmly and effectively. Do you think that we are discriminating against these individuals?

Denied a voting voice, forever?

I came across an article while browsing around, as we all do :)
and started asking myself some question. I was wondering why any ex-offenders,
would be denied the right to vote, some permanently. Here's the address to the article
http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0226-05.htm

Why would this country allow the removal of such a basic right?
This is the trend in our society, and it is to keep those already in power, in power longer.
This is sad, and definitely is giving a shameful face to our democratic society. These people are forced to pay taxes but not allowed a voice in government and definitely is taxation without representation and is against the constitution. Sad, that this goes on. Our society is so tainted with hate and greed that it's judgement is clouded and no one cares because it doesn't affect them directly. Very Sad. Please give me some comments on this one.

Profiting from Sex Offenders ?

It seems to me that there are a lot of people profiting from sex offenders these days. Law enforcement, politicians, background checking agencies, and internet searches on sex offenders. Why are these people allowed to profit from this? If sex offenders are being scapegoated so badly and their lives ruined from all these unjust laws, then why are other people allowed to profit from it? Isn't that going to make this problem worse? By giving people a financial reward to make these offenders well known and hated, and allowing people to make money from it, especially those who make the laws, is only going to encite more people to be scrutinized so they can make more money? The next set of people that will be on a list of some sort (probably drunk drivers) will have a whole bunch more people making even more money. This is just wrong. Why should the states be given a financial incentive to put people on the registry? If this is truly about "protecting the children" then there SHOULD NOT be a financial reward for doing so. It should be done because it is the right thing to do. A lot of people are finally waking up to the fact that these laws are ineffective. I think there should be an investigation into these laws and into the people who are profiting from them. Profiting from someone else misfortune should be a felony. And yes, incarceration is a misfortune in anyone's life, even if it is well deserved. Thoughts?

where does it all end?

I am just sick and tired of all the BS. People are just screaming and waving pitchforks these days. I know that sex offenses are terrible crimes but punishing these people beyond their sentences? You have to ask yourself, "is this the right thing to do?" I have heard people quoting all kinds of recidivism rates for these offenders ranging from 98% to 5%. I guess I am just fed up with all the BS that I see going with it. I am sorry that some of these children (Megan Kanka, Jessica Lundsford etc.) were so horribly victimized but these are few and far between. I don't think that people realize what they are doing when it comes to sex offenders and they are just going about it the wrong way. The law is using these cases to further strip people of rights just for votes folks. If you can't see that then you are blind.
Don't get me wrong either, I am certainly not in favor of these criminals either. Banishing these individuals and screaming from rooftops that they are sex offenders does ABSOLUTELY nothing to solve the problem. When you have problem you find the source and fix it. Beating on it afterwards does no good to anyone. Oh, sure it might make you feel all warm and fuzzy for awhile but it doesn't solve the issue. So as far as I'm concerned these laws are absolutely intended to punish and should be removed. Labeling of ANY group of people is discrimination no matter how you look at it. Politicians are justifying these laws by saying that it is for the protection of the children. This is far from the truth. They are justifying these laws to stay elected and keep sucking money out of the govt and the public to uphold these laws. Did you know that the govt gives money to the states to maintain the registries on a per registrant basis? That means the more people on it, the more money they get. This is wrong. Common sense needs to prevail here and there seems to be less and less of this these days. Does forcing people away and telling them where they can live uphold our constitutional rights? I think not. Does something need to be done, yes. I think a big problem with the sex offender laws is that they don't take into consideration the collateral consequences of these laws. Let me give you an example. If a person has only one offense and is trying to put their life back together and have a meaningful contribution to society and has a family of their own. These laws punish the whole family, not the offender. So let's think about this for a moment. Let's say that 85% of offenders have families, probably not an unreasonable number, and each family has two kids. Ok, now we are passing laws in most states that will affect 3 times as many innocent people than the number of offenders, and some of those innocent people are victims. Now the laws are essentially hurting innocent victims in the name of justice and protecting the children, is this the way to do it? I don't think so. I'm not saying these people should be off the hook either, they were sentenced and did their time. I think we are going to see a lot of repercussions from these bad laws. Also, keep in mind that these laws were based only on, the few and far between, worst of the worst crimes. And one last thing on this, those high profile cases were touted as sex offenses, but they were really murders. I would like to hear from people on this because I believe that most people don't have the facts and the facts that they do get are seriously flawed.
Does any of this make sense to you?