Should Sex Offenders Be Permitted To Have Passports – A Question To Consider

There are few documents that hold the importance and privilege as a United States passport. In fact, it is such a valuable document that many feel a person who has been convicted of a sex crime should not be permitted to obtain one. You many not be aware that out of the sixteen million passports that were issued in 2008, 4,500 of them were issued to registered sex offenders who had been released from jail.

As we consider this dilemma, it’s import to understand that the title of sex offender covers a broad range of crimes.  If you are convicted of going to the bathroom outside where other people may possibly see you, you are put into this classification. Those who commit rape, even violent rape, or perpetrate sexual crimes against children are also in this same category. Perhaps you can see the reason for the discussion. Those convicted of participating in “sex tourism” are denied passports of all the others in the group mentioned can get one.

Some people feel this right should not be restricted hoping the sex offender will commit their crime in a foreign country where the penalties are much more severe than here in the United States. This opinion holds to the idea that once the debt is paid, they should be allowed to travel as much as they please and if they are caught in another country committing a crime, perhaps the harsh punishment will finally teach them a lesson.

There are probably as many different opinions on the subject as the people you ask. There are those who feel that once you have been convicted and served your time in jail or prison, there should be no more restrictions added after release and denial of a passport is certainly a restriction. It restricts international travel. If your term has been served, many feel that should be enough and a person should be allowed to get back into society and live like a regular person who does not have crimes like these to his or her credit.

United States passport requirements are very defined and currently, those who have been released from jail, whether they are sex offenders or murderers, are permitted to get an American passport. There is, however, a restricted group and that includes sex tourists, those who have neglected to pay court mandated child support, drug traffickers and those currently in jail. This is because of the flight risk involved.

You can see that a United States of America passport is a very valuable booklet and some feel that the privileges it gives should be withheld from sex offenders while others do not share that opinion. The United States passport requirements have been established to keep passports out of the hands of criminals and terrorists but those who have already been caught and punished for their crimes are still given this privilege. Many who are not permitted to have them manage to obtain stolen or forged passports to conceal their identity and further enable them to perpetrate their crimes. This is certainly a very important question that needs an answer.