Straining at a Gnat
The Oklahoma Senate has passed a bill to prevent sex offenders from operating ice cream trucks. The sponsor said he was motivated by reports of sex offenders operating ice cream trucks who were convicted of molesting children.
Well, what about accusations against other professions, such as (to pick just a few recent news articles at random) pediatricians, a private music teacher, a preacher, and a karate coach? When will we see bills targeting these professions?
We could spend our lifetimes, and our children's, trying to ferret out all the places that predators spend their time, without ever exhausting the list. Even if we could target all of the jobs, what criminal penalty will frighten a business more than the prospect of a substantial jury verdict for failure to screen its employees? We would be better advised to spend our efforts on educating employers and organizations that deal with young people.
The best I can say about this bill is that it doesn't hurt anything, and might keep legislators distracted from more dangerous activities, such as raising taxes.
