KC Metro Subdivision Prohibits Sex-Offenders

The Kansas City Star has an article reporting that a subdivision planned in Kansas City suburb of Lenexa, Kansas will as a part of its homeowner’s agreement ban sex offenders[*1] from living in the neighborhood:

In August, construction will begin on the Kansas City area’s firstsex-offender-restricted subdivision, probably only the second suchdevelopment nationwide.

“Certainly, there are things you can do to improve a neighborhood,like pour better streets or build a park. But this is more,”Texas-based developer Clayton Isom said. “We can keep one little girlor boy safe.”

This is one of those issues where I’m a bit torn.  Mostly I think that people should be free to enter whatever agreements they want with each other–even neighborhood covenants.  On the other hand, even sex offenders have to live somewhere (or do they?  he asked, chuckling evilly).

On the third hand, it seems to me that good old back-alley whuppins by the men-folk of the victim upon the offender would control sex offenders much more decisively and completely than our law enforcement system.  Perhaps that should be legalized as a part of the punishment meted out by judges to child molesters:

“I sentence you to be beaten within an inch of your very life by your victim’s dad, the victim’s uncles Joe, Ken, and Michael, her two brothers Victor and Ivan, and her grand-dad Pops, and after that, should you survive, then spend ten years in the State Pen taking it up the wazoo from Big Bubba the Cellblock Boss.  Oh, by the way, any relative of the victim shall also, for the rest of your natural life after your sentence is served, be allowed by Law to beat the holy bejeezus out of you if they ever, EVER lay eyes on you again. Bailiff, take the convict out back to the alley.”