In reference to the American Journal’s Aug. 16 editorial concerning Westbrook’s proposed restrictions on sex offenders, I think we need to ask some basic questions.
Is it the American way to chase released convicts of any type from community to community? In the process of driving them underground, don’t we set up the exact circumstances that we are trying to avoid? Didn’t we try this approach with alcoholics in the 1920s? Was prohibition successful?
Once a citizen is convicted of a crime and goes to jail, he supposedly pays his debt to society. He is set free to start his life over again, whether he is an alcoholic, drug pusher, murderer or sex offender. Is it within framework of the American jurisprudence to make a released convict pay for the rest of his life? Or would the proposed ordinances just provide another way for those who chose to remain perennial “victims” to vent anger and hate and drum up fear and anxiety in the community? Are there groups that stand to profit from drumming up fear and anxiety in the community?
Maybe “Westbrook World” is the way of the future in America. Released bank robbers would not be allowed to live, loiter or work within 2,500 feet of a liquor store. Those convicted of carrying a concealed weapon would not be allowed to live loiter or work within 2,500 feet of a gun store. Shoplifters would not be able to live, loiter or work within 2,500 feet of a retail store. At that point, who would want to live in “Westbrook World?”
Robert J. McManus
Scarborough
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