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Forum: Off Topic

Thread (Discussion): And now a "Deadbeat" list is coming!

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Message 122476
Where will it end?


Posted by lj on Nov 30, 2003 01:06 AM | Also by lj
Gender: Male, Age Bracket: 50 - 59, State: California, Country: United States
http://www.rrstar.com/localnews/your_community/springfield/20031129-4947.shtml

‘Deadbeat’ Web list stirs more debate

By AARON CHAMBERS, Rockford Register Star
SPRINGFIELD — There’s one more reason a person’s photograph could wind up posted on a state Web site — and one more reason for civil libertarians to complain the government is pushing the bounds of personal freedom.

The Illinois Department of Public Aid’s announcement Monday that it will post the names and photos of “deadbeat” parents on its Web site marked the expansion of this state’s practice of using the Internet to spotlight people who break the law.

llinois government increasingly uses the Web to alert the public as to the whereabouts of sex offenders. It also employs the tactic to encourage citizens to settle public debt.

Court-ordered child support is the issue with “deadbeat” parents. The department is using its Web page to highlight parents who owe $5,000 or more in child support.

Lonnie Nasatir, administrator of the department’s child support program, said the scheme should cause delinquent parents to materialize and agree to payment plans with custodial parents. In the alternative, Nasatir hopes third parties will help lead authorities to a delinquent parent’s assets or employment information.

He said the display also should motivate delinquent parents not on the list to pay up.

“Those similarly situated people who owe over $5,000 in the Illinois system hopefully will hear about this,” he said. “And I think shame is a pretty good motivating source for them to say, ‘I don’t want to be the next person on this Web site. I need to contact the department and find a way to get back on track and pay what I owe.’”

Civil libertarians have long complained about proliferation of personal information on the Internet. The information at issue is public record. But previously, somebody interested in retrieving it had to contact the state or a county clerk. That severely limited the flow of information.

“What is it that we are trying to accomplish with these sites?” asked Ed Yohnka, communications director for the Illinois American Civil Liberties Union. “It seems that we look at these lists as a way to embarrass or shame people. And the question is whether that is a legitimate tool for the government to use to enforce laws and regulations.”

Nasatir said the public aid department was careful to scrutinize records relative to each case. In addition, he said, the custodial parent in each case agreed to have the case publicized.

“We did a lot of due diligence on the cases that we put there (online),” Nasatir said. “And we will do the same for those cases that will appear in the future.”

The state Department of Revenue ordinarily publishes a similar list — of tax scofflaws — on its Web site, but the list is temporarily unavailable. Department spokesman Mike Klemens said this is due to a staff shortage.

“We will go forward with that in some fashion,” he said.

The revenue department has credited Internet publicity of scofflaws with helping the department recoup millions of dollars in delinquent tax revenue. At one point, the list included 19 scofflaws from the Rock River Valley who owed more than $400,000.

The Department of State Police hosts the sex offender database — the most notorious of Internet offender lists. Visitors to the state police Web site can search for registered sex offenders by ZIP code, city or county.

Dominic Iasparro, deputy chief of detectives at the Rockford Police Department, said the public is interested in this information, and police routinely field phone calls from people asking about local sex offenders.

The reporting system does have limitations. Sex offenders are required by law to register their whereabouts and they do not always do so.

“The burden is on them to come forward, and the burden is on us to follow up and make sure they provide accurate information,” Iasparro said. “If somebody moves into town and doesn’t register, we may not have knowledge they moved into town unless they are stopped for a particular crime and we determine they are a sex offender from another city. That has to catch up to itself.”

Yohnka noted the range of crimes for which a convict must register has evolved well beyond pedophilia. The General Assembly has given extraordinary attention to this class of criminals in recent years and there are at least 31 such offenses. They include possession of child pornography, sexual relations within families and first-degree murder of a child.

The state police database includes more than 14,000 registered adult sex offenders.

“It’s difficult to say that something has been prevented from taking place,” Iasparro said. “But I think people and children are safer because of the sex registration laws and the fact that it’s publicly available.”

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Thread


122476, lj, Nov 30, 2003 01:06 AM [Where will it end?]
      122975, TGoodman, Dec 12, 2003 04:03 AM
            122994, marta, Dec 12, 2003 03:16 PM [I like the idea]
                  123003, orolan, Dec 12, 2003 04:50 PM
                        123004, steve, Dec 12, 2003 06:06 PM
                              123024, orolan, Dec 12, 2003 11:50 PM
                        123028, marta, Dec 13, 2003 12:36 AM [Unbelievable]
                              123046, orolan, Dec 13, 2003 03:52 PM
                                    123059, TGoodman, Dec 13, 2003 09:00 PM [Orolan]
                        123029, Rejected
            122996, Rejected
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