Branding sex offenders reminiscent of “Scarlet Letter”

A Corpus Christi, Texas, judge recently modernized “The Scarlet Letter” heroine Hester… A Corpus Christi, Texas, judge recently modernized “The Scarlet Letter” heroine Hester Prynne’s famed dilemma. On May 18, Judge J. Manuel Banales added 21 people to Hester’s ranks, ordering them to brandish virtual scarlet letters, signs reading “Danger: Registered Sex Offender Lives Here,” on their homes and similarly worded stickers on their cars.

“Wherever they go, whatever time of day or night, we want people to be aware of where these offenders are,” Banales said.

In short, Banales ordered that these sex offenders, who have served all the time that the law requires, to wear their sins constantly.

Banales seems to be forgetting the underpinnings of the American criminal justice system.

You are innocent until proven guilty in a trial by a jury of your peers. Once sentenced, you pay your debt to society in the form of jail time, fines or community service. Once you have fulfilled the obligations of this sentence, you go on your way, attempting to reintegrate into “normal” society.

How can society expect someone to reintegrate with this kind of scarlet letter hanging on his home and car?

The judge’s ruling has yielded immediate results, including suicide attempts, evictions, vandalism and threats of violence to sex offenders in Texas.

Having these signs constantly around them is simply too extreme. Everyone, even convicted sex offenders, has rights to personal space. Any sanctuary these former criminals might have from their pasts is violated by this public demoralization.

Banales, as well as others in his position and our society at large, needs to reconsider other options for protecting potential victims of sex crimes.

Texas