South Dakota won't be getting a statewide list of sex offenders to post on the Internet, but it may make online gambling a formal crime.
State House have lawmakers turned down a bill to allow online sex offender registries. Opponents who worried about protecting sex offenders who'd paid their debt to society and people accused falsely of being sex offenders carried the day in the debate, says the Associated Press.
One who opposed the bill was Rapid City Police Chief Tom Hennies - who also happens to be a lower House lawmaker. ''This bill is just an opportunity for assassination by innuendo, ''he says. "If people can hack into Pentagon computers, they surely can get into the state computer system and alter the sex offender registry. It's our duty to protect the innocent people who might be affected by this bill."
Hennies says lists of sex offenders can be viewed at local law enforcement agencies.
But his fellow Republican Matthew Michels argued in favor of the bill, saying it should have been passed for the good of those who had to go a long distance to see those registries ''This is, quite candidly, a convenience issue,'' he says.
Meanwhile, the state Senate State Affairs Committee has approved a bill to single out Web gambling businesses as illegal activities and provide penalties for violators, the Associated Press says.
Supporters say it would help keep Web betting from getting started in South Dakota. Rep. Roger Hunt, a Brandon Republican, tells the AP if you can gamble in the comfort of your own home with your credit card, it will cause all sorts of problems. ''It's going to open up greater and greater stresses on our families,'' he says. ''It's going to open up greater indebtedness.''
