Nebraska’s prison overcrowding issue is generating a lot of noise. Someone should take a hard look at how Nebraska’s harsh new law on former sex-offenders is making things worse.
UNO research shows that most former sex offenders are not going to reoffend. But the new law, LB 285, creates a web of technical violations that are prosecuted as felonies. Example: A 22-year-old Lincoln mother spends a weekend a few blocks away from her registry address, gets handcuffed by big lawmen in front her toddler child and hauled off to jail. If convicted, she goes to prison. Wouldn’t it make more sense for her spot in prison to be taken by someone who actually is dangerous?
Wouldn’t it?