Sex Offender IDs to be Marked

(Montgomery, Alabama) In July 2005, the Alabama Legislature approved the Sex Offender Notification Act requiring all convicted sex offenders' driver's licenses or non-driver identification to be specially marked.

From Montgomery Advertiser:

The mark will be visible to anyone who checks a person's identification -- from police officers to grocery store cashiers to clerks at video stores.

Capt. Huey Thornton, a Montgomery Police Department spokesman, said the new identification system would be an asset to all law enforcement agencies.

Understandably, not all citizens are happy with the legislation.

Defense attorneys, though, see it as a way of painting all sex offenders as deviants, no matter the nature of the crime. The law affects those convicted of almost every type of sex crime in Alabama code, from sexual contact with minors to indecent exposure.

"The basic problem is that our statute makes no distinction between someone who's raped a dozen people and someone who's got an indecent exposure conviction," said Joel Sogol, a Tuscaloosa defense attorney who also has worked with the American Civil Liberties Union.

It wouldn't surprise me if the ACLU decides to file suit against the state claiming the new law denies sex offenders their civil rights. Based upon history, the ACLU can usually be counted on to support felons convicted of sex crimes. On the other hand, I can't think of any time the ACLU has gone to bat for the victims of sex crimes. I'd like to think it has happened at some time in the past.

Regarding the specially marked IDs, I'd suggest that sex offenders will think about leaving Alabama or obtaining counterfeit identification. Sex offenders are most free to pursue their perverted proclivities when they can remain hidden. Flagging their IDs cramps their style.