Econonomic Development that We Don’t Need

A troubling story appeared in last night’s Sentinel. Judge Tormey is looking to establish a facility either at Griffiss or in Whitestown to handle an expected flood of trials associated with the state’s civil confinement program for convicted sex offenders.

According to the Judge, having the trials on location at one of the area’s already heavily secured facilities “would set the wrong tone.“

The hearings can be held either in the county of conviction, or the county of incarceration.

Just because it is convenient for the State to send most of its sex offenders to us should not require us to also process their civil confinement matters.

If jurors are needed, that would be an unfair burden to place on Oneida County citizens and their employers. Jury duty is no longer a civic duty when it becomes a service to other parts of the state.

Also, processing these matters locally suggests that many of these offenders will be released locally rather than where they came from.

This is a burden that we should not have to bear. Instead of accommodating these issues (and perhaps increasing his supervisory responsibilities), Judge Tormey should lobby to have these matters transferred back to the counties of conviction.