@RealCatholicMen: The answer to the question of whether to imprison an innocent man or release a guilty man is in the basic tenants of the American justice system: Innocent until proven guilty, double jeopardy, & Ex post facto. The justice system is based around the belief that it is ALWAYS better to release a guilty man than to punish an innocent man.

Sex offender registries sound like a comfortable idea to most people, but forever branding someone based on something they did in the past doesn't sit well with me. Sure it may make us feel safer but it is essentially a life sentence for those on the list. For the example above, given by LUNAMOTH, I think everyone can agree that it's hardly fair to hand out a life sentence for what amounts to a sophomoric prank. In order to quell the "fears" of the populace these laws are written as broadly as possibly and have the unfortunate side effect of destroying the lives and livelihoods of innocent people.

I don't deny that there are people who may never be reformed and who it might be a good idea to keep an eye on, but punishing people who have already served their time based on the chance that some of them may regress goes against the societal values we have established.

Yes, rape is heinous. But the crime comes with a consequence, and once that time in prison has been served they have paid for their wrongdoing and shouldn't be punished further.

After my college (Case Western Reserve University) installed new key card access doors in the dorms and decided to charge a $5 fee to open your door when you lock your key inside students started using these made out of coat hangers. Instructions were published in a campus humor magazine.

However over the summer the Housing department found out and changed the orientation of the inside door handles to vertical so that these wouldn't work anymore. They claimed it was because of the security risk, though I wouldn't discount the sudden decrease in revenue from locked door openings clueing them in.