To The Editor,
One of the landmark pieces of social-re-engineering legislation introduced by a non-PNM government was the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act, 2000(SO(A)A).
One of the landmark pieces of social-re-engineering legislation introduced by a non-PNM government was the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act, 2000(SO(A)A).
Passed by the Parliament on June 9th 2000 and assented to by then President, Arthur N.R. Robinson on September 25th 2000, for the past 148 months its provisions have been law, thus enforceable by the police, the Director of Public Prosecutions and all Ishmael Samads in our midst.
Among other novelties, the SO(A)A inserted Section 34A into the pre-existing Sexual Offences Act (SOA). Section 34A attempted to minimize the risk posed to law-abiding citizens by requiring sexual offenders to be registered with and monitored by the law enforcement agencies for at least five years after conviction. Depending on the sentence, the monitoring of such perverse parties could be indefinite.
The jury is still out concerning how therapeutic SO(A)A has been since its nativity. As has been seen in the recent Tobago House of Assembly election, sometimes upright communities can be manipulated into completely ignoring a party's well-documented rapacious tendencies when he wants them to re-embrace: all he has to do is touch the right nerve.
The jury is still out concerning how therapeutic SO(A)A has been since its nativity. As has been seen in the recent Tobago House of Assembly election, sometimes upright communities can be manipulated into completely ignoring a party's well-documented rapacious tendencies when he wants them to re-embrace: all he has to do is touch the right nerve.
The noble intentions of SO(A)A can therefore be easily frustrated by the blood-is-thicker-than-water rule (Tobago Syndrome). Nonetheless, there's considerable merit in SO(A)A and so I recommend some similar regulation be quickly introduced concerning all blood and firearm crimes, regardless where or when the crime was committed.
If such was already in place, barring a repeat of the Tobago syndrome, it would have been impossible to read of persons deported from the USA and subsequently arrested for firearm-related offences ending up being employed as security guards.
If such was already in place, barring a repeat of the Tobago syndrome, it would have been impossible to read of persons deported from the USA and subsequently arrested for firearm-related offences ending up being employed as security guards.
Unless there has been some mixup, that is what the newspapers today reports as coming out of an ongoing trial: "(The defendant, who) was deported from the United States after serving prison time...(yesterday) pleaded guilty to the 2006 charge of having guns and ammunition. (The defendant) was released from prison in July 2012 after spending six years in jail on a murder charge, and has since found employment with (an unnamed) security company."
Security company? With a history like that?
Whoever needs to bell this cat needs to get cracking, before more undesirables slip in through the cracks, as (the defendant) has obviously done.
Security company? With a history like that?
Whoever needs to bell this cat needs to get cracking, before more undesirables slip in through the cracks, as (the defendant) has obviously done.
Senator Christlyn! Are you listening?
Gabby Fisher
No comments:
Post a Comment