And he's right.
A state senator in Florida has filed a bill "that would make it a crime for registered sex offenders to use a remote control drone to spy on kids or take their pictures." A drone.
This is a prime example of what my buddy Lenore Skenazy likes to call "worst-first thinking." That is the tendency, in any situation, to think of the absolutely worst thing that could possibly happen and then proceed as though it would. This, however, goes right beyond worst-first thinking and off into the realms of "what were you smoking when you dreamed that up?"
The good senator admits she has "never heard of a case where a sex offender used a drone to stalk a child, but she contends it's bound to happen eventually."
This is the same reasoning that has put Halloween restrictions for registrants in place in three-fourths of our states in spite of the fact that no case can be found of a child being abducted by a registrant on Halloween in America and in spite of the fact that, year after year, both the states that have such restrictions and those that do not report zero such instances.
But getting back to drones--what's next? How about a law against registrants tunneling underground from outside their 1000-feet restriction areas and popping up, like a gopher, in a playground, camera in hand? Or dropping from parachutes into a park? Or, a-la-Trojan Horse, wrapping oneself inside a huge box, bow on top, and being delivered to a child's birthday party?I suppose it would be too much to hope that some legislator might go for facts and evidence and propose legislation shown to actually be effective in increasing public safety and doing something toward actual prevention of child sexual abuse.
I guess that would REALLY be in the realm of the ridiculous.
Never forget that lawmaker is suffering from Drone-itis, one of those public safety diseases. A cure is coming, we hope, maybe delivered by a Drone.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing more dangerous then a man that has nothing to lose. If we keep taking away their rights and casting them out of our society one of these guys is going to snap and then who will you have to blame? We all know what happens when you bully kids what about adults. You can wrap this garbage law in any kind of lie wrapper you want but at the end of the day it is still unfair unconstitutional garbage and we are bound to pay a price for it sooner or latter.
ReplyDeleteThey will, of course, blame the guy who snaps. It's like the golem effect. You label someone, treat him worse than everyone else, and when he snaps it reinforces the labeling.
Delete"How about a law against registrants tunneling underground from outside their 1000-feet restriction areas and popping up, like a gopher, in a playground, camera in hand?"..Let's not give the Flori-DUH senators any ideas now, the "Hick-a-billies" down here just may go for an idea like that.
ReplyDeleteSloan44
Drones ? Sex offenders ? The government can't even keep the drones out of major airports . Way the odds of common sense for that one . But I do recall stories of pilots mile high club .
ReplyDeleteJust wait florida senator your state is filling up fast with an undocumented population of cubans . Where is laura Ahern and her international megans law . They may very well be trying to leave their past behind them if you know what I mean . They are takeing our social security benefits as I write this senator . DRONES ? SEX OFFENDERS ?
I hope that legislation and the senate are not useing children as shields for grants and funding .