From what I can gather from the article, the bills are all ones that fly in the face of reason and actual community safety, bills that will make it more and more difficult for offenders who have served their sentences and are trying to re-integrate back into the community, bills that will make criminals of youth and even children rather than allow them to be handled through the juvenile system. I sincerely hope that the committee will attend carefully to the experts on juvenile issues and justice and to the reports on the failures of the existing system and why adding more laws and restrictions will assure continued failure. At least they are willing to listen; that is a much-needed beginning.

Any laws that are proposed should be based on research and not based on the exception of rare, violent sex offenses, rather than the rule; otherwise, the laws will protect no one while the unintended consequences will ruin thousands of lives. Statistics show that over 90% of all sexual molestations are committed by trusted friends and family members. US Justice Department research states that sex offender recidivism is lower than for any other crime classification except for murder. Yet politicians hype the rare, violent sex crimes sensationalized by the media (for ratings) so that they can pretend to solve the problem (for votes). The public ends up spending millions of taxpayer dollars on lists and restrictions that have been shown to be ineffective and even counterproductive.

The laws they are making or trying to make, will do nothing to curb crime.

Legislators feel that they must vote for any law that gets tough on a sex offender.

When will the public wake up and realize that the legislature has gone way too far in making laws and then vote them out of office?

I applaud those in the article that oppose the new laws that will not curb crime in any way. Laws that will just overfill the prisons with young folks and
make it very hard to return to any kind of freedom after they get out.

Teenagers and 20-somethings who will spend time in prison and then be severely restricted and stigmatized on registries that have not been shown to prevent a single crime will have no hope for ever living productive lives. What motivation will they have to stay away from drugs or crime if their lives are basically over? The state will end up wasting even more taxpayer dollars supporting them on welfare. The laws are counterproductive when it comes to young people who agree to or engage in consensual sex with 15-year-old girls, who we are told cannot make decisions regarding sex. Their behavior is certainly inappropriate, but a felony conviction, time in prison with murderers and rapists, and then continued years of punishment through the registry -- what a waste of human lives.

I applaud the readers posted comments I am seeing on this column. I hope the legislators proposing these laws take notice. Isn't it always the way when something that is at it's core a good idea just seems to promote so much over reaction. Always goes too far. Young people who end up in the system and are convicted for having sex with a boy friend or girl friend are not the type of offender the SOR was intended for. While I do not condone this behavior, it is obvious that these acts are generally the result or immaturity, not predatory behavior. Not only are lives ruined, careers snubbed but the cost to society will be staggering. We will end up paying for their support through well fare. How much less will be taken into pay roll taxes? How much less will be paid into the Social Security System? How many will turn to a life of of crime when they are, in effect, labeled unemployable?

Two years ago, my son was convicted of a 3rd degree sex offense for having consensual sex with an underage girl. At that time, my son was 19 years old and clueless about the consequences he was facing. When I told him what he could be charged with, he did not believe me. He looked it up on the internet and when he discovered how much trouble he was in, he cried and cried. He served 2 months in the county detention center and is now on the public sex registry for life.

My son’s core group of friends at that time varied in age from 13 to 21. I have become familiar with some of these kids through commentary from others. I am told of 13 and 14 year old girls who will not have relationships with anyone under 18. “The older, the better” is the common mentality. None of these kids believe they are doing anything wrong. Are they? According to the law, they most definitely are! What seems unjust is that MY son is now paying the price.

While I am well aware that my son is considered an adult and responsible for his own poor choices, what about the parental responsibilities of this under-aged girl? How can someone say we need to “protect children” because they are unable to consent due to their age, but still be the first to loudly say, “charge them as adults, they knew what they were doing” when a teen is accused of murder?

For two years now, my son's life has been pure hell. He cannot find employment...he was an employee of Pizza Hut when he became incarcerated and went back to work there after his sentence. He was fired because the mother of another employee complained about my son being a sex offender. He was even turned down to volunteer at the local animal shelter. My house and my vehicles have been egged numerous times, and we get drive bys from people yelling profanity.

One of the bills being proposed is the residency restriction. If this bill would pass, we would have to move. We live close to a park and an elementary school and near daycares. The small town I live in was founded by my ancestors in the 1800’s and I have lived here my whole life. Where is he supposed to go? He cannot find employment because of the registry and now he will not have a place to live!!!!

If my son ever marries and has children, he will never be able to attend school functions, take or pick up his children from daycare or school, or be allowed to attend ball games, etc…. So SAD for a young man to be punished for the rest of his life all because of one stupid non-violent choice.

I have spent my life savings, drained my 401K, and almost lost my home to foreclosure because of legal fees. My son is NOT a rapist, pedophile, or predator. He did not even deserve to go to prison! That is why I support him, and I will continue to do so until these laws are changed. This REGISTRY is destroying my son’s life and limiting his ability to grow into a successful adult. I worry about his future.

Bumpers son's situation clearly illustrates the residual affect the law can have on a young person who makes a mistake.

I am a little older and come from a different era but when I went to High School it was considered a status symbol for freshman and sophomore girls to date upper class-man. I'm sure it's much the same today .Somewhere along the line the guy would pass the age of 18, legally an adult while the girl was still a minor.
Now I may have been born on a Sunday but it wasn't last Sunday. Many steadily dating teens were having some level of consenting sex together back then as I'm sure has been the case for the history of mankind.
But if a sexually active situation between two consenting teens, even if one was 18 or 19, was discovered by a parent or teacher it was handled very differently. Both the families would typically try to work it out and get the situation resolved. The boy was not arrested like some kind of a child molester or rapist.

I do support the SOR as tool for Public safety but I do hope the Legislators think it through....Let’s get it right. Let common sense prevail.

Many people say sex offenders cannot be rehabilitated. However, the Texas State Auditor in 2007 released a report showing that sex offenders who completed the Texas Sex Offender Treatment Program (SOTP) were 61% LESS LIKELY to commit a new crime. (See “An Audit Report on Selected Rehabilitation Programs at the Department of Criminal Justice.” Texas State Auditor. March 2007. Report No. 07-026. Retrieved Oct 20, 2009. http://www.sao.state.tx.us/reports/main/07-026.html.)

In 2002, US Dept. of Justice reported only 5% of sex offenders released in 1994 returned to prison for a new sex crime. (See "US Dept of Justice Report on Sex Offender Recidivism" http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/pub/pdf/rsorp94.pdf)