Posted on 11/02/2017 11:16:43 AM PDT by Enlightened1
WASHINGTON (AP) — America’s registered child sex offenders will now have to use passports identifying them for their past crimes when traveling overseas.
The State Department said Wednesday it would begin revoking passports of registered child sex offenders and will require them to apply for a new one that carries a “unique identifier” of their status. Those applying for a passport for the first time will not be issued one without the identifier, which will be a notice printed inside the back cover of the passport book that reads: “The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor, and is a covered sex offender pursuant to (U.S. law).”
The department said in a statement posted to its travel.state.gov website that registered child sex offenders will no longer be issued smaller travel documents known as passport cards because they do not have enough room to fit the notice.
The changes come in response to last year’s “International Megan’s Law,” which aims to curb child exploitation and child sex tourism, but also has been criticized by civil libertarians for being overly broad and targeting only one category of convicted felon.
The law is named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old girl murdered by a convicted child sex offender in New Jersey in 1994. The case drew widespread attention and led to the creation of several state sex offender registries. Government agencies notified Congress on Wednesday the passport requirement of the law had taken effect.
The State Department, which issues U.S. passports, said it will start notifying those affected as soon as it receives their names from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security. That agency is charged with identifying child sex offenders and is the sole agency that can add or remove someone from the list.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
Let’s see the Left defend the current policy instead of this one . . . :)
No foreign country is going to admit these dirt bags. Guaranteed.
I can see maybe not giving passports to certain offenders but to put a scarlet letter on a passport? Hell no.
Democrats, catholic priests and Kevin Spacey are all deeply saddened.
We need a Law that any Public Servant found to have made any deliberate false statements to the Public have LIAR, DO NOT TRUST Stamped on Every Page of their Passport.
Leave their passport alone. Just convert it to one-way.
WHOAAA! Wow!
Can we get reciprocation from other countries?
I prefer tattooed on their forehead.
It is protectionism. Everyone knows that we import terrorists from the middle east and export pedophiles to Thailand and the Philippines.
I have no problem with this. The question is, where could this lead? Would they start labeling everybody? I can see this getting very ugly.
Stupidity enshrined as public policy.
This is a Scarlet Letter folks and it’s a very very bad idea. Convicted sex offenders should be in jail for the length of their sentence but once that sentence is complete then their debt to society has been paid and they should be allowed to return to a normal life. Sex offender lists and such all fall under the category of a Scarlet Letter and thus run counter to our idea of moral and ethical system of justice.
So, can you tell me what the rate of recidivism is for Pedophiles?
Umm... no. If you don’t want certain individuals traveling outside the US, fine. Don’t issue a passport. But no, the government doesn’t have a right to put what would amount to an engraved invitation to harm someone on their passport.
It says “CHILD” sex offenders! IMO, any person that molest and or rapes children ....they should never be free to roam about again. But if they are released then the general public has every right to know who the perverts are, period.
IMO, I do not believe child sex offenders can be rehabilitated. Thus.... they are a danger to society.
If someone has a dog that viciously attacks a child the dog is usually put down.... not rehabilitated. Because common sense tells ya the dog can’t be trusted.
It is probably not constitutional amounting to a de facto Bill of Attainder. Also, what happens to people who were, say, 19 and had sex with a 16 or 17 year old and were then caught? I’m also concerned that this will be a “camel’s nose” for identifying people as tax evaders, hate crimes, and every other crime.
Don’t name JUST Hang.
No and it’s irrelevant.
You’re reacting not thinking. See captain_dave’s response.
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