Online Sex Offender Registry Back and So is Criticism; Five Westporters Listed
The states controversial sex offender registry is public again, almost two years after it was ruled unconstitutional and pulled from the Internet. And so is the criticism of it.

Residents can now access the registry at local police departments and online at the state Department of Public Safety’s Web site.

A search of WestportҒs 06880 zip code shows five registered sex offenders who have been convicted of crimes ranging from first-degree sexual assault to risk of injury to, or impairing morals of, children

Federal courts shut down the public registry in May 2001 after sex offenders filed suit. They said they were denied the opportunity to prove they were not a danger to society before their names and addresses were made public.

But last month the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the earlier rulings and the registry went back online Monday.

Critics, including longtime Westporter Emanuel Margolis, called the site a “serious invasion of privacy rights,” according to The Advocate of Stamford.

“Without the finding of present dangerousness, this is just a form of humiliation that is unnecessary and unfair,” said Margolis, a legal adviser to the Connecticut Civil Liberties Union.

04/01/2003 12:11 pm Comments (0) • Permalink

Westporter Watts Wacker Says World Entering Epoch of UncertaintyӔ
Westporter Watts Wacker, who makes a living pontificating about whats to come as a futurist, says the world is at a historical turning point.

In an interview with the Hartford Courant, Wacker said he sees the attacks of Sept. 11 and the Iraq war as historical “anchors,” but not necessarily as the causes of the shift.

Wacker, who heads Westport-based FirstMatter LLC, said the world is entering the “epoch of uncertainty” – a churning sea of incessant change with few islands of stability and security. The dominant organizational principle of this emerging age, he said, is paradox.

“Of course, you see that so brilliantly in what’s been happening in these past few days,” Wacker said.

“You have war protests with regular people like you could not imagine. These are not professional anarchists. These are everyday American people. At the same time, you’re seeing polls that show huge support for this war.”

With the pillars of business, religion and education crumbling under the weight of scandals, he said, anxiety is spreading.

“What’s whacking people out is that there is nothing to compare [our current situation] against that makes you know it’s going to be OK,” he said. “These periods of great change have huge disruptions and result in huge numbers of people being displaced physically, emotionally and spiritually.”

04/01/2003 01:41 am Comments (0) • Permalink