Special plates for sex offenders is a mistake

Reuters reported on 2/28/07 that two Ohio lawmakers want to force convicted sex offenders to use fluorescent-green license plates because, said one of them: "The fluorescent-green license plate will make the most egregious sex offenders easily identifiable."

To which I add: And their families.

There's nothing wrong - and everything right - about identifying these dangerously abnormal individuals clearly and widely.

But, as with putting the onus on autos licensed to convicted drunken drivers, it's not fair to other folks who have to drive the marked car.

Anyway, legislators need to quit screwing around with license plates for all their feel-good needs. There is so much garbage and bumper sticker material and far-out graphics - sometimes covered by a plate frame that obscures the name of the state - that Ohio license plates seem to have lost their purpose, which originally was to identify the auto.

As for sex offenders, maybe they could be made to wear a distinctive hat while driving - say, one shaped like a big green penis.

Whatever happens with that idea, every parent ought to be checking for predators on the sheriff's web site. Go to http://www.lcounty.com/sheriff/sex_offenders/ and type in your address. If you haven't done this before you'll be amazed at how many there are; you'll also get to see photos of those convicted. You owe it to your child to run this check every few weeks.

If our state legislature wants to pass yet another feel-good measure that would likely cost a bundle of tax dollars to implement, let it be more screwing around with license plates. If it wants to do some good, let them provide more education about identifying and dealing with sex predators.