[hackerspaces] Sex Offenders at a 'Space

[Edward L Platt]

Sam, if you've ever seen any discussion on this list about creating safe
spaces for minors that involved steps other than banning registered sex
offenders, please link.

On Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 11:40 AM, Sam Ley <sam.ley at gmail.com> wrote:

> Ed, I don't think that your assumption that no one is doing anything to
> keep people safe is unfair - you don't know the internal policies of the
> spaces at hand. And most of us commenting have been clear that our spaces
> are private - not publicly funded. Additionally, I'm not recommending
> blanket bans - just criteria for entry that are strict, but still evaluated
> case by case. For instance if this was a case of "peeing in an alley" sex
> offender, the answers here would be very different.
>
> -Sam
>
> On Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 9:35 AM, Edward L Platt <ed at elplatt.com> wrote:
>
>> If, like me, you care about protecting minor members in your space, you
>> should be focusing on making sure minors are supervised. The unknown sexual
>> predators are far more of a risk than the know ones.
>>
>> If you care about avoiding litigation, make sure to apply your decisions
>> evenly. If you ban some people and not others, you are effectively
>> endorsing everyone you don't ban, and again, registered sex offenders are
>> not the most likely people to commit abuse and assaults. Also, as I
>> mentioned before, if you receive any public funds, banning sex offenders is
>> a civil rights violation:
>> https://www.aclu-nm.org/10th-circuit-upholds-aclu-challenge-to-albuquerque-sex-offender-ban/2012/01/
>>
>> If you're putting more effort into this email thread and addressing
>> specific registered sex offenders than you are into implementing and
>> evaluating safe space policies for minors, you're doing little more than
>> puffing your own sense of moral superiority. It's sad, but hilarious to see
>> so many hackers reinventing and fervently supporting security theater.
>>
>> -Ed
>>
>> On Wed, Feb 18, 2015 at 10:01 AM, Randall Arnold <
>> 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> 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
>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Discuss mailing list
>>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
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>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Edward L. Platt
>> http://elplatt.com
>> http://civic.mit.edu/users/elplatt
>> http://i3detroit.com
>> @elplatt <http://twitter.com/elplatt>
>>
>> This electronic mail message was sent from my desktop personal computer.
>> Please forgive any long-winded, overly-prosaic ramblings.
>>
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>>
>
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>


-- 
Edward L. Platt
http://elplatt.com
http://civic.mit.edu/users/elplatt
http://i3detroit.com
@elplatt <http://twitter.com/elplatt>

This electronic mail message was sent from my desktop personal computer.
Please forgive any long-winded, overly-prosaic ramblings.
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