Protect children

Crimes against children, especially those of a sexual nature, are the most evil acts our criminal justice system has ever had to face. This seems to be one of the very few issues liberals and conservatives can agree on.\nAfter being relegated to the back burner for a period of time, the issue of child predators was brought back into the spotlight a few weeks ago after a prosecutor in Terrell, Texas, committed suicide as police attempted to arrest him on charges of soliciting sex over the Internet from a person he thought was a 13-year-old boy. Local authorities, working in conjunction with "Dateline NBC" and activist group Perverted Justice, had been investigating this prosecutor as part of an online sting operation. \nI am not glad this guy committed suicide, but I am glad that a child predator will not be able to harm any children. I also hope those who helped catch this guy will be able to continue doing their good work.\nPerverted Justice and NBC's "To Catch a Predator" have been unfairly criticized by some for their efforts to expose and prosecute those who prey on children. Some view them as dangerous vigilantes, but I view them as a sewer to drown the rats of society.\nAnother controversial measure designed to punish those who prey on children is Jessica's Law.\nNamed after 11-year-old murder victim Jessica Lunsford, Jessica's Law mandates a 25-year minimum prison sentence for those convicted of certain sex crimes against children. This model law, first passed by unanimous vote in the Florida House and Florida Senate, also requires lifetime GPS tracking of these offenders if and when they are released.\nCertain states, however, are taking the law even further.\nFor example, Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst has proposed an expanded version of Jessica's law that would make those convicted of a second sexual offense against a child eligible for the death penalty. \nWhether or not this can be done remains to be seen. However, there is no question that repeat sex offenders who commit crimes against children should be put to death.\nDespite the logic of such punishments, there are some that oppose harsh treatment of child predators.\nLess than 36 hours after taking his post, a newly elected U.S. District Court judge in Baldwin Park, Calif., blocked implementation of a version of Jessica's Law, known in California as Proposition 83. At issue are the residency restrictions of the law, which bar convicted sex offenders from living within a 2,000-foot radius of a park or school. \nWhy is the judge that wrote this ruling trying to prevent California from protecting its children?\nThe bottom line is that we as a society have an obligation to protect the most vulnerable among us. We must do everything possible to prevent these predators from hurting any more innocent children.\nIf that means curtailing the civil liberties of child predators and making their crimes capital offenses, so be it.