Academic

No More Mister Softee: Sex Offenders Banned From Ice Cream Trucks

By Dan Filler

Nobody ever lost an election by adopting new punishment regulations for sex offenders.  Yesterday, San Bernadino County (California) passed new legislation prohibiting those convicted of sex offenses from obtaining "roaming solicitor's licenses" - that is, they're banned from operating ice cream trucks.  I don't know the scope of this law, but I'm guessing that the group of people called "sex offenders" probably includes many people with no history of sexual offenses against young children.  As a result, the ban is almost certainly wildly overinclusive.  If the law is limited to individuals who present a genuine risk to young children, however, this one  isn't entirely crazy.  For that rare person, this job is probably too provocative and could offer access to children that might lead to further unsupervised contact.  If the law is not limited in this fashion, though, it's just bad policy.

Full post as published by The Faculty Lounge on May 14, 2008 (boomark / email).