Sex Offenders and the Lottery
There have been many who have commented that Uxbridge, Mass resident Daniel Snay should not be allowed to collect his $10 million dollar prize he won on a scratch ticket purchased last January because he is a level 3 sex offender. Now I by no means do not condone his past criminal activities and for the most part believe that those who sever their time have paid their debt however I have two complaints about this overall story.1. If the public at large believes he should not be free, then let's change the punishment laws. Otherwise, he is a free man to play [and win] the lottery. Or petition the Lottery Commission to change the laws about who can purchase tickets. As of today, anyone - including non-US citizens - can purchase and win the lottery. After all the money is created by those who play so anyone who plays should be able to win. I can see it now, I would like a scratch ticket. Can I see you drivers license sir? We are going to run a background check before we give you a mega ball ticket.
2. Now that Mr. Snay has won and it has been revealed he is a level 3 offender, who is not registered as required by law, the state of Massachusetts and Connecticut are looking into his failure to reregister in each state. Does it take winning the lottery for our state agencies to track know se offenders? Sure the system requires offenders to register but shouldn't their be some checks and balances in place as well? For example, Mr. Snay has been an employee of Certified Sales Inc, in Mendon, MA for the past 40 years so it's not like the IRS didn't know where he worked. Shouldn't the system require him to fill out a census like document each year [like I do for my very own town] to inform the state where his is living?
Hopefully this story will be a wake up call to the state agencies that oversee this process to rethink how it works instead of just "requiring" these convicted criminals to remember to keep the state informed of their whereabouts.
posted by TheWino @ 10:10 AM
2 Comments:
Since when does being a criminal mean you can't buy beer, cigarettes, and scrach tickets? If he doesn't get the money it will be a shame, as he deserves it (for buying the scratch ticket, not molesting children). They are separate actions and should be independent of one another.
I am surprised this is such a big deal! Are only the good people allowed to win the lottery? That does happen, I know it for a fact. But good things happen to bad people, too. Life just isn't perfect, so give Mr. Class 3 his check and then throw him in jail for not registering!
And in that order!
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