# Proposed Sex Offender License Plates in Ohio **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 7, 2007, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924 "2007-03-07T07:00:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/1 "2007-03-07T07:00:00Z")
[So it seems](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/07/us/07license.html?ref=us) that there’s a bill in Ohio’s legislature currently that would require convicted sex offenders to put special green license plates on their cars so that the general public would be more aware of who they are. Fortunately, these plates are mandatory only for “convicted sex offenders who used violence or preyed on minors”, so a nineteen-year-old who sleeps with a seventeen-year-old won’t be labelled this way. Personally, if I had to put those sorts of plates on my car and face that kind of animostity, I’d quit driving- I’d be a little scared for my life. I’m in favor of protecting the children, but at some level I think we have to consider the rights of the sex offenders; they’ve presumably paid their debt to society by the point that they’re released. Any thoughts? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 7:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/2 "2007-03-07T07:09:09Z")
Stick a similar label on your own plate with a different colour. Tell people it’s because your hands are registered with the government as deadly weapons. ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/3 "2007-03-07T08:22:46Z")
[QUOTE=appleciders] Fortunately, these plates are mandatory only for “convicted sex offenders who used violence or **preyed on minors** ”, so a nineteen-year-old who sleeps with a seventeen-year-old won’t be labelled this way. \*\ \* Any thoughts? [/QUOTE] Preyed on minors. I’m not sure how a “nineteen-year-old who sleeps with a seventeen-year-old won’t be labelled this way.” ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/4 "2007-03-07T09:07:37Z")
[QUOTE=Cyberhwk] Preyed on minors. I’m not sure how a “nineteen-year-old who sleeps with a seventeen-year-old won’t be labelled this way.” ☹ [/QUOTE] You know, a 19 year old and a 17 year old having sex isn’t even a crime in most parts of the world… ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/5 "2007-03-07T09:18:01Z")
[QUOTE=Martini Enfield] You know, a 19 year old and a 17 year old having sex isn’t even a crime in most parts of the world… [/QUOTE] Heck, around these parts, a 19 year-old and a 14 year-old is okey-dokey. Even a 12 year-old can legally have sex under certain conditions. Some people just need to relax. This stuff happens and has been happening for ~2 billion years, so get over it, already. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/6 "2007-03-07T10:35:05Z")
I can just see me riding a bike with a plate that read P43DOE. I wouldn’t get five miles from my front door. :rolleyes: The point is academic, in case it needs to be said. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 11:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/7 "2007-03-07T11:00:36Z")
I am troubled by the desire of some to continue to punish sex offenders after they have served their sentence. If proponents of this bill feel sex offenders are so dangerous, they should change the law and keep them in jail. Making their lives more miserable as continuing retribution only forces them into some kind of crime just to live outside prison. If I were a convicted sex offender, I would buy a big house in a conservative neighborhood, then place a big sign on the lawn announcing my presence: “Convicted Sex Offender Lives Here – Property for Sale, One Million Dollars, Firm”. Once I was paid to leave that neighborhood, I would repeat in another one. ---
**Author:** ![Szlater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90ced4/32.png) [@Szlater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Szlater)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/8 "2007-03-07T11:07:32Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] I can just see me riding a bike with a plate that read P43DOE. I wouldn’t get five miles from my front door. :rolleyes: The point is academic, in case it needs to be said. [/QUOTE] [Hmm…](http://www.dvla-som.co.uk/home/en/CarGallery/?plate=P4+EDO&m=2&v=56) a better class of pervert? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/9 "2007-03-07T11:25:21Z")
[QUOTE=Fear Itself] If I were a convicted sex offender, I would buy a big house in a conservative neighborhood, then place a big sign on the lawn announcing my presence: “Convicted Sex Offender Lives Here – Property for Sale, One Million Dollars, Firm”. Once I was paid to leave that neighborhood, I would repeat in another one. [/QUOTE] Tricky. You’d have to have a lot of capital up front, the neighborhoods can try to use various means to keep you out and someone might just torch your house one nght. Not a bad idea otherwise, though. ---
**Author:** ![Themenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ee59a6/32.png) [@Themenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Themenin)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/10 "2007-03-07T11:39:27Z")
I guess my question is, why stop at sex offenders ? How about murderers ? Do people feel safer around convicted murderers than convicted sex offenders ? Maybe we could come up with a system of tastefully designed skull and crossbones patches, which could also be affixed on clothing at all times. I’m not saying that I’m happy that there are dangerous predators in our midst, just that the way of singling them out seems at best misguided. I believe it’s also safe to assume that the more dangerous element wouldn’t comply with this ruling. A fleet car or a rental seems like an easy way around it. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/11 "2007-03-07T11:42:33Z")
[QUOTE=Themenin] I guess my question is, why stop at sex offenders ? How about murderers ? Do people feel safer around convicted murderers than convicted sex offenders ? Maybe we could come up with a system of tastefully designed skull and crossbones patches, which could also be affixed on clothing at all times. [/QUOTE] Well, until the kids tumble onto the idea that this is cool and start wearing knockoff designs. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/12 "2007-03-07T12:31:01Z")
[QUOTE=appleciders] [So it seems](http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/07/us/07license.html?ref=us) that there’s a bill in Ohio’s legislature currently that would require convicted sex offenders to put special green license plates on their cars so that the general public would be more aware of who they are. Fortunately, these plates are mandatory only for “convicted sex offenders who used violence or preyed on minors”, so a nineteen-year-old who sleeps with a seventeen-year-old won’t be labelled this way. [/QUOTE] “Convicted sex offenders who used violence or preyed on minors” does _not_ preclude the use of this law against 19-year-olds who sleep with 17-year-olds. It might if they had used “and” instead of “or”. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/13 "2007-03-07T12:45:38Z")
[QUOTE=Szlater] [Hmm…](http://www.dvla-som.co.uk/home/en/CarGallery/?plate=P4+EDO&m=2&v=56) a better class of pervert? [/QUOTE] Bwuh? _mops up tea_ Okay, so I’ve now got the mental image of someone saying “Bet you’ve never been for a ride in an Aston Martin, little girl…”. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/14 "2007-03-07T13:13:52Z")
[QUOTE=Bryan Ekers] Tricky. You’d have to have a lot of capital up front, the neighborhoods can try to use various means to keep you out and someone might just torch your house one nght.. [/QUOTE] True, but with proper homeowner’s insurance, you could even turn arson to your advantage. And with sex offender websites that allow your neighbors to download maps of sex offenders near them, it might happen anyway. I’ve always been taught to turn lemons into lemonade. I’m not sure how neighbors could prevent you from buying, unless there is something in the homeowner’s covenants about criminal records. I’m not even sure that would be legal. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/15 "2007-03-07T13:21:02Z")
[QUOTE=Malacandra] I can just see me riding a bike with a plate that read P43DOE. I wouldn’t get five miles from my front door. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Color me dense- what does P43DOE mean? ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/16 "2007-03-07T13:39:16Z")
[QUOTE=Szlater] [Hmm…](http://www.dvla-som.co.uk/home/en/CarGallery/?plate=P4+EDO&m=2&v=56) a better class of pervert? [/QUOTE] Bond had really pissed off Q this time. Seriously, I’m not really cool with the scarlet letter for released sex offenders. If they’re actually dangerous enough that the general public has to be on guard for them, they shouldn’t be on the outside. If not, let their PO worry about them. ---
**Author:** ![Stringer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Stringer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stringer)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/17 "2007-03-07T14:26:46Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] Color me dense- what does P43DOE mean? [/QUOTE] Short for paedophile. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/18 "2007-03-07T14:43:17Z")
[QUOTE=micahjn] Short for paedophile. [/QUOTE] Yes. Over here we get a lot of personalised number plates where numbers stand for letters - sort of like leet-speak. 😛 I once saw P195SUC (Pigs Suc{k}) and B15UBS (Bi{sexual}Subs{submissives}). 😃 Until recently the pattern was letter/one to three digits/three letters, the first letter keying the year (1983 = A). Now it’s two letters/two digits/three letters, the two digits keying the year (01 - 2001 first half, 51 - 2001 second half, and so on up to 49 - 2049 first half, 99 - 2049 second half). What they do from 2050 onwards is anyone’s guess and I’ll probably be dirt-napping by then. > [@Menocchio](#): > > Bond had really pissed off Q this time. 😃😃😃😃😃 ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/19 "2007-03-07T14:57:39Z")
[QUOTE=micahjn] Short for paedophile. [/QUOTE] But in the US the A isn’t there, so what does the 4 signify? And how are you supposed to know the last E really means phile? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2007, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924/20 "2007-03-07T15:07:04Z")
[QUOTE=BobLibDem] But in the US the A isn’t there, so what does the 4 signify? And how are you supposed to know the last E really means phile? [/QUOTE] But the poster who wrote that doesn’t live in the United States, so what’s your point? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/proposed-sex-offender-license-plates-in-ohio/394924.md?page=2)