Green does not mean go for sex offenders

Legislators in Cincinnati are pushing to pass a law that would require convicted sex offenders to put flourescent green license plates on their cars. The bi-partisan effort wouldn't target all sex offenders, though. The revised bill would focus on convicted sex offenders who used violence or preyed on minors and would exclude other offenses like public exposure or consensual sex between an adult and a teenager. The call to more clearly identify sex offenders comes at a time when the failure to rehabilitate them is becoming all too clear. Most recently, a three-part series in the NYTimes outlined the serious failings of privately-run Florida and Pennsylvania sex offender centers. A former employee, Josh Stiles . . . described the facility as “basically a free-for-all prison.” Two men took their shirts off, rubbed each other’s backs and held hands, while others disappeared together into dormitory rooms. Some of the sex offenders appeared to be drunk from homemade “buck” liquor secretly brewed and sold here. So what does it mean to "rehabilitate" sex offenders when we don't adequately staff or fund their rehabilitation centers? Is it then fair that after serving their time, they become community pariahs? I understand the idea behind flourescent green license plates: put the power in those at risk, not in those who've committed the crime. But how will this ever lead to a sex offender's full rehabilitation? If they're always identified by a past they're trying to escape, how can we ever expect them to change?