Pedophiles on(off)line

Maybe it would more honest if we just kept all pedophiles in jail. Because clearly few people still believe in the rehabilitative qualities of our justice system.

New Jersey, for example, isn't going to suffer any Jack McClellans. If you recall, he's the self-professed pedophile who caused a big fuss last summer with his Web site that noted the best place for kid-watching. He was living in SoCal at the time after moving here from Portland, Ore.

EWING, N.J. (AP) — New Jersey enacted legislation on Thursday banning some convicted sex offenders from using the Internet.

In signing the restrictions into law, Acting Gov. Richard J. Codey, who is filling in while Gov. Jon S. Corzine is vacationing, noted that sexual predators were as likely to lurk at a computer keyboard as in a park or playground.

No federal law restricts sex offenders’ use of the Internet, and Florida and Nevada are the only other states to impose such restrictions.

The bill applies to anyone who used a computer to help commit the original sex crime. It also may be applied to paroled sex offenders under lifetime supervision, but it exempts work done as part of a job or search for employment.

In this day and age, not only would it be extremely hard to enforce, it's almost like cutting people off from society. Besides, it seems inherently unconstitutional to restrict Internet access and something that only a repressive government in say, Burma or China would do.