This would happen anyway in society were it not for the law enforcement authorities. There are plenty of people who would murder a rival if they could get away with it. People regularly take matters into their own hands or and are only stopped from doing so because of the fear of eventual arrrest, detection and imprisonment.

If someone is determined to take vigilante action against someone else they would do so on suspicion if they have the correct info or not (after all even the cops do this!) Its the same mentality as the lads who decided to shoot their rival in gunchester but shot an innocent lad instead.

OTOH I don’t think all parents even if they feel strongly would physically attack a known offender who wasn’t posing a threat to their kids.. Even if they knew where they were because they could either end up in jail (where they would lose acces to their kids), or the offenders family (even scum have family and friends) can fight back and attack them or their family.

If it didn’t really kick off in America (and I thought there would be proper gunfights etc) its less likely to do so in Britain… society still works on the law of the jungle but there are still some values here otherwise we’d all be in civil war by now.

bear in mind though we are all ravers with liberal views to drugs! Speak to someone who has never taken them or even someone who has but has lost a person close to them to drugs and you will often hear much the same opinion. Also many “normal” people feel that male drug dealers or users in their 20s to 30s are also prepared to groom younger teenage girls for sex by giving them free drugs. The only real reasons many drug dealers don’t get too much vigilante action is that they are prepared to fight back.

The middle ground never actually gets anywhere these days…. if sensible people were listened to there would be no need for any form of activism; not even road protests or unlicensed raves. there may not even be the need for war or the threat of terrorism….. but this is an ideal society that we will never have.

The threat to kids hasn’t increased since I was a boy (1970s) but it hasn’t decreased either. Some parents go over the top protecting their kids but its also coupled with worries about separate issues such as road safety, bullying from other kids and even attacks from dogs!

At a school I attended there was a teacher who got busted for taking nude pictures of some of the kids . It was years before he was caught but he barely got a few months inside.

I dont think he should be lynched but I don’t think these people are made to suffer enough for what they do…

I cant say what i will or will not do Pisces

I dont know anybody (to my knowledge) there have been molested as kids..I do know that in that small village where i used to live there were a child abuser..He was in jail when i found out..
I have a son with ADHD,he is the sweetest little kid in the world…But he is to trustworthy,to gullable,think all people are good people..We havent been able to change his wiev in that direction…He would be such an easy target and that scares the hell out of me..

I’ve been visiting this thread from the start and have the same views as Global and Pisces. I hadn’t mentioned anything before because people seemed to be so up for signing it that I was worried “speaking out” could make me look like I think Paedophillia is ok. I most certainly DO NOT.

I’m only really covering points that Glo and Pisces have raised here but I think it’s dangerous to drum up this sort of hysteria and brand peados as evil monsters. Don’t get me wrong, they are messed up in the head FOR SURE, but it is a mental problem as far as I can see. They need to be locked up in a ward for their own safety as well as others.

In an ideal world I do actually think it would be a good thing to let parents know locations because I can understand the need to protect your children as best you can. The problem is that we don’t live in an ideal world and, as Pisces has already mentioned, I don’t think society is capable of dealing with that information.

The problem doesn’t lie with people not knowing addresses and names, it lies with the system not dealing with these sick people properly and allowing them back in to society knowing full well that there is a high chance they will re-offend.

I’m really torn between the two sides here and I have a young niece and nephew so I understand to an extent the desire of parents to do what it takes to protect their children. I just think the system is failing elsewhere and should be adjusted rather than throwing these people to the dogs.

Maybe attacks, murders, abuse and DIY justice wouldn’t be dished out (as GL suggests) but I can’t help but think that’s what would happen.

Sorry. :hopeless:

signed and passed on.and no matter what the arguments for and against are i think those sort of people deserve whatever they get(which at the moment doesnt seem to be a lot) and worse.
just read all the arguement(opinions) properly and you all have very valid points but i’m going to have to be narrow minded on this,im not following hesteria(?) im not going to go and get my own revenge but i can honestly say that i really wouldn’t care if other people felt the need to go and do it even for the wrong reasons.The government will never keep them locked up and everyones softly softly approach,give them some counciling,put them on a tag,monitor them its complete rubbish if anyone really thinks thats going to stop them(not that i think this law would either) their on a differant planet.Stuff their human rights they gave them up the day they started touching up kids.

exactly. 20-30 years ago, just like the teacher in one of my old schools too many people people got away with it – particularly if they were in positions of power or authority – without any adequate punishment.

I also think the younger offenders like the scally types who are in their 20s and knowingly have 13 year old girlfriends should also be flushed out by this law, until people realise that this sort of behaviour is not acceptable..

TBH I only signed the petition knowing exactly what could happen and as a form of social engineering.

I agree the most dangerous offenders will try to circumvent it (if you look at the California state website there are plenty on breach) – those who are detemined to break a law will do so.

I also am aware that most offenders are related to the children in some way or another.

I also know it is fear and hatred driving the law; and the idea of it is to take that fear and hatred back to the abusers. TBH I think many laws other than common law are formed out of fear and hatred anyway.

I also know people will try to take the law into their own hands.

This may not be a very “PC” way of thinking about it; but I signed the petition expecting problems and the law to fail if it was brought in – but as a way of highlighting the issue that not enough is done to monitor all sex offfenders. My actions are also similar to the UKIP deliberately standing for election (and getting elected) in order to highlight the problems witin the EU. (I’m not a UKIP supporter by the way 😉 )

if a few low value council estate’s kick off because such a law is introduced I don’t really care; after an initial burst of flame the cops will soon enough deal with any riots like they did at Brixton and similar places. Many areas of British society are on a knife-edge anyway waiting to kick off – in every part of Britain there are riot squad on standby every weekend – paid for from the “tackling anti social behaviour” budget.

When the hot heads return from the cells they will have to sit in the remains of their shattered communities. Many of the people there will have fought those from their own immediate or families (actually accusations of sex abuse are a common “justification” for murders within the family anyway) and the communities there will be irretrivably divided.

And the offences will still happen.

Soon afterwards the law will be repealed due to the problems and hopefully replaced a more sensible solution whilst the hotheads will have learnt a hard lesson. Or if we are lucky it need never happen as monitoring and control of offenders by professionals rather than the public would have been brought in in the first place.

Something that may be confusing the issue (and might actually remove support from it from some the element who blindly follow the tabloids) is that in many implementations in US states Megans law actually lists all sex offenders, not just those who prey on kids. If the govt did decide to introduce any such law, This is the version I would support as it would have more deterrent effect IMO; even if child abusers are mentally ill many other sex offenders are just criminal scum.

The scrote who gropes a girl (without consent) in the street, gets caught because of CCTV, gets an often minor penalty and thinks “its a bit of fun and she was only a slapper” may also appear on the list!

if you are not interested in other peoples reasons for signing/not signing the petition there is no need to accuse them hypocrisy just because they dont agree with your way of resolving the issue – everyone is entitled to their opinion

This is a very difficult thing to talk about..
Think its awake a lot of emotions in my brain and heart,and because of that I dont think I would be able to react sencible..
I can understand the people who say no..I really can.
But i cant say no,and I dont hope people think i’m a bad person for thinking more with my heart than my brain..
Dont know if that makes sense..
Emotions are very hard for me to explain in English..

I did not sign this petition as a knee jerk reaction; I did so after researching the effect of the law in the USA.

I expected a bloodbath to result (in a country where people use guns and bombs every day to settle their differences!) curiously it didn’t happen (maybe the feds were watching for the vigilante types, or the offenders themselves are beefing up their own personal security?). The worst that seems to have happened is the estate agents whinging about house prices dropping in areas where offenders are housed!

If people don’t want to sign the petition fair enough but I did it out of exasperation at the way offenders seem to be able to just get a few months/years in the can and then go back into some area and often re-offend; and I think it should be the full US version where all convicted sex offenders have to be declared, not just those who attack kids.

I don’t think its a perfect law nor will it make communities that safer but it a last resort because the “politically correct” approach has failed in many occasions.

Its more a cry to the Establishment to ensure these offenders get real jail sentences (in many cases whole life tarrifs) rather than a slap on the wrist.

Also although I agree that some offenders are mentally ill and cannot be cured; there are also plenty of sexual predators (more the ones who are either teenagers themselves or prey on that age group) who do it as a form of bullying and controlling behaviour and should be dealt with as the criminal scum they are. All of these people should not be accepted back into normal society.

In my experience of working with people who have been abused the huge majority was by family members (including siblings / extended family) , step parents / parents partners, and ‘trusted’ authority figures (care workers / teachers / doctors)

I have experience of working with the devestating affects abuse can have on individuals as a whole,
however I do not feel happy to sign this petition.
I’m not exactly sure why I dont feel happy to sign it – and can accept others decisions for signing it, and agreeing with it

I do feel the media pounces and uses the emotive aspect of this ‘subject’,in order to ellicit mass responces, rarely do we hear of the mother and father/ sister or brother who has subjected their child / sibling to humiliating sexual practices, because that is how they show ‘love’ in their family.
However we do get to hear about the repeat offender who has been failed by the system that is meant to protect others and the offender from them reoffending and the high (repeat) offenders. I feel we get to ‘read’ what sell papers.

I am not a ‘fluffy’ and I do believe that societys vulnerable (children and some adults) need to have rules/ restrictions in place to protect them and offenders need to have rules / restrictions in order to protect society from them.
I dont know how to say what I am trying to say…………
I hope some of what I mean has come across

April, no offense meant but I’m suprised you’d not considered posting this would cause an exchange of opionions –

as you obviously feel strongly about the subject for you to have posted it?

There’s nothing wrong in sharing your opinion and seeing what others have to say on the subject as it is a ‘deep’ issue and its not personal,
hy dont you read it all seeing as its your thread? No ones asking you to change your mind just expressing theirs.