<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;"><br><div><div>On 17 Feb 2015, at 9:31 pm, Ben Brown <<a href="mailto:ben@generik.ca">ben@generik.ca</a>> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><blockquote type="cite">
<meta content="text/html; charset=windows-1252" http-equiv="Content-Type">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
Speaking from an organization's standpoint, that sounds like a
liability lawsuit waiting to happen -- admitting someone who is a
known recently-paroled sex offender, volunteering to 'police' them
(essentially taking responsibility for their behaviour), and if
something bad does happen, your directors and your space are totally
screwed.<br></div></blockquote><div><br></div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>You might be right - given the litigiousness of US culture - but you might also be opening yourself up to discrimination suits as well. </div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>If you are concerned about legal liability, it is a a good idea to get the advice of a lawyer. It is not good governance to make decisions based on layman’s opinions about legal issues (which doesn’t mean you should always take a lawyers advice at face value, not all lawyers are great and a lawyers job is to recognise legal risk, not to balance it against other factors). </div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>But if you feel you know what your membership wants, you should probably do what they want. </div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>I personally think refusing entrance based on a sole offence 7 years ago is an overreaction. Quite possibly you have other members who have committed thefts or crimes of violence in the last 7 years, but they are not required to inform you. </div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Cheers</div><div><br></div><div><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>David</div><div><br><blockquote type="cite"><div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000">
<br>
Usually I'm one of the first people out of the gate for giving
people a second chance, but at times I believe the risks outweigh
the benefits. Our space allows members as young as 16, and we have
numerous public events involving kids. In this guy's case, it
doesn't sound like a drunken public piss or a couple teetering on
the age of consent. If our BoD didn't have a problem with that (and
I highly doubt they wouldn't), our membership certainly would.<br>
<br>
Ben<br>
<br>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 2/17/2015 7:33 AM, B F wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote cite="mid:CAJOpAXQaDs57cfq_80p6F_MR+fF9pfcGO8=hpxwyo9gz1Qcz+g@mail.gmail.com" type="cite">
<div dir="ltr">
<div>
<div>That echos my feelings exactly. I won't get involved in
nitty-gritty of the discussion of who to or not to admit
because it's outside my experience.<br>
<br>
However I know of a case from twenty or thirty years back
(which was BEFORE things really got out of hand), in which a
man ALMOST got in trouble because a girl he was tutoring
mentioned to someone, "He touched me." He HAD touched her
-- on the HAND! Fortunately, he was able to dodge that
bullet. (This is not apocryphal. I know the names
involved, but, of course, won't repeat them here.)<br>
<br>
</div>
Child molestation is a real problem. I, for one, would
probably have the gut reaction of lynching someone I caught
molesting a child. I think children (especially) need ample
protection against predators. <br>
<br>
But what our society has only recently come to realize it the
"con man" (or child molester in this case) is the person you
LEAST suspect of it. He (or she -- to be clear) is not the
ugly, dirty, disgusting person of the movies, but rather the
church deacon, the camp counselor, the scout leader -- the
person you trust your child to. (This is not to say all such
people are child molesters, of course.) Child molesters
gravitate to positions of responsibility over children. That
SHOULD have been a no-brainer, but when people see a
wholesome, clean-cut person, somebody "just like you and me,"
they assume that he is safe to leave in charge of one's child.<br>
<br>
</div>
My point is that if there are child molesters in your space, you
probably won't know it soon enough to matter. When a person is
a known child molester -- and I don't mean a person caught
peeing in a back alley, or falsely reported for an amber alert
-- you have a head start. I would think it perfectly
appropriate to admit that person but to inform him that he is
NEVER to be alone with children in your space, and to enforce
that. Since his record is public, it would be acceptable to
inform everyone in your space of the fact.<br>
<br>
- BF<br>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Feb 17, 2015 at 6:14
AM, ITechGeek <span dir="ltr"><<a moz-do-not-send="true" href="mailto:itg@itechgeek.com" target="_blank">itg@itechgeek.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px
0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid
rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr">Actually I feel the same about the
sex offender registry laws as I do about the tax
laws, both need MAJOR overhaul.<br>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><span class=""></span><br>
</div>
</blockquote>
</div>
-- <br>
<div class="gmail_signature">
<div dir="ltr">
<div><br>
<br>
<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
<br>
<pre wrap="">_______________________________________________
Discuss mailing list
<a class="moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org">Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss">http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss</a>
</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
</div>
_______________________________________________<br>Discuss mailing list<br><a href="mailto:Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org">Discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org</a><br>http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss<br></blockquote></div><br></body></html>