As we drive about on our daily errands, my wife and I have spotted more and more of Ohio’s special yellow plates with red lettering.  My wife refers to them as ‘party plates’.  She’s far better at spotting them than I am.

 

These special plates are mandatory for those in Ohio who have been convicted of DUI, but have not had their driving privileges revoked.  They must be displayed on any vehicle in the offender’s family, and remain in place until the driver’s normal driving privilege is restored.  Advocates of the plates say they serve two purposes– They warn others of the driver’s offense, and they hopefully modify the driver’s behavior, perhaps out of embarrassment or awareness that they are being watched more carefully by law enforcement and other drivers.

 

My wife pointed out two party plates to me in close succession the other day when we were driving to our local grocery store.  It sparked a brief, casual conversation about them.  The consensus between us was basically that the plates were a good thing.

 

Later the same day, I was listening to the radio.  Ohio’s registered sex offender laws were being discussed.  They were discussing different aspects of the law, such as the limitations on how close a registered sex offender could live to a school, and how a neighborhood is informed when one of these people move in.  I even looked at the web-based database of these people.  My first impulse?  My knee-jerk thoughts?

 

‘Wow.  This is a great thing.’

 

I can salvage a little bit of pride in saying that my personal revelation did not come too long after that.  After all these years of being taken in, hook, line and sinker by these feel-good laws (and many like them), it finally occurred to me what they actually represented.

 

these criminals are the same ones that legislate sex offender registration and party plates.

 

Think about it.  Why put a special plate on a DUI driver’s car?  Why force a sex offender to register, then make his or her location a matter of public record?

 

The answer is simple.  It is because you know they are likely to commit the same crime again.

 

Rather than concentrating on creating a system of punishments, deterrents, and even institutionalization that will actually reduce the likelihood that a criminal will repeat the same heinous acts, we just tell the public at large that they’re roaming about free.  Heads up!  Look out!

 

This is the fruit of our liberal past.  You can thank the bleeding hearts that protect and coddle criminals with such diligence and compassion, while victims are left to languish or even partially blamed for the crimes.  It is the result of a flawed and dangerous mentality that manifests in a mindset that excuses the barbaric beatings of bystanders and the destruction of property when we are unhappy with the Rodney King verdict.  It is the frame of mind that excuses the burning of embassies because of a few crude cartoons published in a newspaper.

 

Thank you, liberalism.