NEWS
Mississippi to put rapists on billboards, BBC, 20 February 2006
The US state of Mississippi plans to put the names and faces of convicted sex offenders on roadside billboards.
About 100 posters showing offenders, particularly
those who prey on minors, will be put up, a state official said.
Don Taylor, head of the state's Department of Human Services, told a
local newspaper the aim was to make the public aware of their crimes.
But human rights campaigners say the measure is unnecessary as the
public is already aware once convicts are jailed. Mr Taylor is
especially keen to name and shame those who make minors pregnant.
He says he wants the state's health department to check the ages parents
list on new-borns' birth certificates and report to him any cases of
statutory rape. The age of consent in Mississippi is 16, but mothers in
the state sometimes are listed as being as young as 10, Mr Taylor told
the local Clarion-Ledger newspaper. Mississippi has one of the highest
rates of teenage pregnancy in the US.
He said the statistics had helped him determine that 111 men were guilty
of statutory rape in the year 2002 alone. "So, if you want to get your
name and face in high places, get convicted," he told the newspaper.
The American Civil Liberties Union in Mississippi said the billboards
would be a waste of money. "Why is it necessary to put them on
billboards if they're already serving?" its head, Nsombi Lambright,
asked. "If they have criminal charges before them, the information is
public, the victims are notified. The people already know in these
communities who these folks are once they're arrested."
It is not the first time Mr Taylor's department has used controversial
means to highlight problems. Among others, it has "Mississippi's Ten
Most Wanted" posters of parents who have failed to pay child support. A
few US states require sex offenders to be identified as such on their
driver's licences.
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/americas/4733522.stm
Published: 2006/02/20 17:09:09 GMT © BBC MMVI
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