Sex offender registry

I left Facebook in protest over their denial of membership to people convicted of sex offenses about a month ago, but my friends still ask me why I quit. Let me explain, using the example of my client who I had in the office this morning. For the sake of convenience, let's call him Bob.

When Bob was 14.5 years old, he was going out with a girl a year younger than he. According to the police report, Bob forcefully kidnapped her and tried to have sex with her unsuccesfully. He let her go, and her mother reported him to the police. Neither the victim nor the mother responded to the police once the initial report was filed. Now, according to Bob, he and the girl were making out in the back of his friend's car, when things got a little heavy, and he put his finger in the girl's vagina. The girl said she didn't like it, so he stopped. The girl left shortly, and he went home too. Later that evening, her mother called his house and accused him of rape. He pled guilty to the charges of lewd and lascivious act with a minor under 14 and sexual battery. He is now a registered sex offender. For life.

Since then, Bob accumulated a string of property-related convictions. 2nd degree robbery, petty theft, etc. He says it's because it's been extremely hard for him to find a job. Despite all his record, he has been able to secure a couple of minimum wage jobs. But he had to turn them down because the job locations turned out to be within 2000 feet of the places that he is forbidden to enter, e.g. schools, day care centers, etc.

Bob is 34 years old and is homeless now. In other words, it's been 20 years since his alleged sexual offenses. And he's been drifiting ever since, never able to hold down his job for more than a few days at a time, i.e. until his background check result comes back and he is fired. Unless the law changes or he catches a huge break, I don't see how he can ever become self-supporting, because, as long as his name and picture remain on the Internet, he won't be able to get a job anywhere.

It breaks my heart that there is so little I can do for Bob. Quitting Facebook over its policy of denying membership to convicted sex offenders is to, in a small way, assuage my conscience. He and thousands like him are forced to suffer from social alienation for the rest of their lives. So I chose to forego Facebook and its conveniences to remind me of that.

Yes, quitting Facebook is nothing. It doesn't do anything to advance the cause. But when Bob sat across from me today and his eyes started welling up with tears of frustration and shame, I was able to look him in the eye and empathize with his pain without feeling hypocritical. And that's enough for me.