Banning the Bad Guys

Nobody wants a pedophile living next door. But will new residency restrictions for sex offenders really make kids safer?

With the gut-wrenching details of heinous sex crimes making national headlines in the past few years, it's easy to see why cities and states would rush to get tougher on offenders even after they get out of prison. The rape and murder of Jessica Lunsford, 9, in March caused Florida to pass a law in May that mandates lifetime monitoring with ankle bracelets for anyone convicted of a sex crime against a minor. The 2003 abduction of North Dakota college student Dru Sjodin helped spur the creation of a national online registry of sex offenders that began rolling out in July.

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