[hackerspaces] Sex Offenders at a 'Space

[Randall Arnold]

Very well put, Sam.  Agreed on all counts.

> On February 18, 2015 at 10:20 AM Sam Ley <sam.ley at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>     I think most of us here have had the experience of being somewhat an
> outsider, which results in some sympathy toward the individual who's
> application would be rejected.
> 
>     That said, while it may suck to be someone trying to live down a
> conviction like that and having a hard time getting jobs or entry into
> hackerspaces, it probably sucks a lot more to be a victim of a sexual assault.
> If I were to make a list of the different kinds of vulnerable populations that
> I would like my space to be a haven for, I think I'd rank "young women with a
> desire to learn technical skills" far above "sex offender who may or may not
> be reformed" in terms of my priorities, especially knowing that I can't
> support both at the same time.
> 
>     Our society still has a lot of mismatched expectations for when a
> particular individual is reformed. In my experience, we seem to underestimate
> the reforming capacities of young black men with drug offenses (who are
> typically given maximum sentences) and white male sex offenders, who are often
> recommended for early release, but have very high rates of re-offending.
> 
>     I do support rehabilitation and reintegration, but with my space's limited
> resources, I'm going to put others at a much higher priority.
> 
>     -Sam
> 
> 
>     On Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 8:01 AM, Randall Arnold <
> randall.arnold at texrat.net <mailto:randall.arnold at texrat.net> > wrote:
> 
>         > > 
> >         The point's been made though: hackerspaces are not equipped to solve
> > problems of mental illness. Who among the leadership is going to judge
> > whether or not the offender will repeat, and accept the liability? How do
> > you tell if he's "still a creeper"? Is the determining factor for "kicking
> > his ass out" another molestation, this time in your hackerspace?
> > 
> > 
> >         Sorry for risking What If recursion.
> > 
> > 
> >         Anyway, like Matt said, there are mistakes and then there are
> > 'mistakes'. One has to draw a line somewhere, and I go with the thread
> > consensus on this one.
> > 
> > 
> >         Randy
> > 
> >             > > >             On February 18, 2015 at 1:48 AM Derek H <
> >             > > > dh405okc at gmail.com <mailto:dh405okc at gmail.com> > wrote:
> > > 
> > >             I'm really happy for you and I. We're lucky, Matt. We aren't
> > > afflicted with a mental illness that causes inappropriate sexual
> > > attraction to those who are incapable of forming consent. That's fantastic
> > > for us, but I recognize that some are not as lucky as I in that matter.
> > > Perhaps, Matt, the only reason you haven't molested a child is because
> > > you're not mentally ill in that particular way? None of us can know for
> > > certain how we would behave if we were in someone else's shoes.
> > > 
> > >             At any rate, my only point is that the guy may well have
> > > gotten his life together and his mental state under control. As we are all
> > > just collections of flaws in a roughly bipedal shape, maybe we can be
> > > human even to those who have screwed up?
> > > 
> > >             That said, if he's still a creeper, kick his ass out. Nobody
> > > has time for that kind of disruption and risk.
> > >             _______________________________________________
> > >             Discuss mailing list
> > >             Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> > > <mailto:Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org>
> > >             http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> > > 
> > >         > > 
> > 
> > 
> >         _______________________________________________
> >         Discuss mailing list
> >         Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
> > <mailto:Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org>
> >         http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
> > 
> > 
> >     > 
> 


 
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.hackerspaces.org/pipermail/discuss/attachments/20150218/ebfb7e32/attachment-0001.html>