Last week a committee in the Michigan
House of Representatives unanimously approved a two-bill package
that will reform the state’s sex offender laws. The state
currently lists anyone convicted of a sex offense in a statewide
registry available to the public on the Internet. The proposed
bills will exclude any offenders not considered to be violent or
predatory from being listed in the future and allow those already
listed to appeal for the purpose of removing their names from the
list. These are reasonable proposals, and the Legislature should
adopt them into the Sex Offender Registration Act.

The Legislature originally passed the act as a measure to
protect the public from dangerous or deviant criminals. Its staunch
supporters say anyone ever guilty of behavior classifying them as a
sex offender should be exposed before the public for punishment.
They overextend this though, as many people who are no real danger
to society face excessive punishment for their indiscretions.

The state posts the names, dates of birth, physical descriptions
and addresses of all the convicted sex offenders in Michigan for
public review. The site lists offenders for a minimum of 10 years,
though often for more than 25 years or even the rest of their
lives. The law requires that misdemeanor offenders verify their
addresses with local law enforcement agencies every year, and
felony offenders must verify quarterly. Also, all offenders must
change their official addresses within 10 days of moving; failure
to do so is a felony.

People have the right to protect themselves and their children.
But protecting the public does not require exposing the past
mistakes of non-violent and non-predatory criminals. A neighborhood
cannot benefit from knowing that one of its residents was arrested
for indecent exposure decades ago. Children are no safer if their
parents know that Mr. Thompson was convicted of statutory rape
because he had consensual sex with his wife when they were
teenagers. There are some people whose lives and reputations are
being diminished by this unfair, sweeping standard.

If a person is thrice convicted of indecent exposure, he or she
will be required to register. That means an unfortunate junior who
participated in the Naked Mile three times could be placed on the
registry for more than 25 years. The criminal label would make it
difficult for that student to gain employment or fit in any
community for years to come.

Perhaps some of the legislators in the House finally came to
their senses. Perhaps they realized that if Romeo had grown up in
Verona, Mich. instead of Verona, Italy, he would have been labeled
a rapist for the rest of his life because Juliet was a few years
younger than him. That is why it is about time the Michigan
legislature revised the Sex Offender Registration Act. When the
proposed bills are open for the consideration of both chambers of
the Legislature common sense should prevail.