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| Better policies needed to handle sex offenders |
| By newsok.com |
| Published: 07/10/2009 |
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THE list is pretty long of what the state Corrections Department can’t afford. That’s been evident through the years when the agency has come to the Legislature asking for more money just to make ends meet. So it’s no great surprise the prison system can’t afford sex-offender treatment for all the inmates who need it. As The Oklahoman’s Jay F. Marks reported this week, the agency has 55 inmates in its sex-offender treatment program. That’s a tiny fraction of the more than 3,000 inmates imprisoned for sex-related offenses. Dealing with sex offenders is a difficult issue, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that Oklahoma needs better policies regarding sex offenders to make sure scarce resources are spent where they’ll have the most impact. Treatment must be part of that discussion. But better policy must start with a more sensible system that is more careful and judicious about slapping someone with a sex offender label. Marks reported earlier this year that Oklahoma has more than 6,000 convicted sex offenders and most are saddled with a lifetime registration requirement. Development of a tiered classification system was supposed to better evaluate sex offenders, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. The system is based on the criminal charges but doesn’t consider the circumstances or the likelihood of recidivism, officials said. Even the lowest-level offenders must register for 15 years. Registered sex offenders must check in regularly with local police and can’t live too close to schools, playgrounds, parks and child-care centers. Read More. |
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