Criminal checks

Pity the poor sex offender. They have to register their address, can’t live near schools and playgrounds, and their names are available for all to see at the national sex offender registry. And now, things are about to get worse. Ohio is considering a bill that would require sex offenders to put flourescent pink license plates on their cars. Apparently, this is not as original as I first thought. Drunk drivers in many states are required to have special colors on their license plates as well. But Ohio would be the first to have them for this particular type of criminal. On the theory that “your car is your office” for many sex offenders, they hope to make it harder for them to operate.

Ohio tried to pass a similar bill a few years ago but failed, partly because that version failed to distinguish between violent sex offenders and those who wound up on the list for consensual underage romance (16-year-old boy plus 15-year-old girl can get the boy on the database). They also aimed for pink that round, predictably upsetting everyone who sponsors breast cancer research.

It is hard to feel […]