A bill to require ankle monitors for newly released sex offenders passed the Wisconsin legislature with overwhelming bi-partisan support, despite the high cost of monitoring these devices. The pretext for the bill was that homeless sex offenders were otherwise difficult to locate and monitor. A survey of Wisconsin’s homeless population revealed that 16% were sex offenders. This is of course caused by the onerous residency restrictions imposed on released sex offenders and the unwillingness of landlords to rent to anyone on the public registry. If legislators were really concerned about knowing where sex offenders are located, they should consider making it easier for them to find stable housing and employment by doing away with residency restrictions and the public registry, both of which have been shown to be ineffective in protecting the public, but highly effective in causing them to go back to prison at taxpayer expense.
Tracking Homeless Sex Offenders
