Matt Gaetz pushed for sexual predator legislation. How will that work out for him?
In 2014, long before he became the subject of a federal sex-trafficking investigation, Matt Gaetz pushed Florida to enact what he called a “scorched-earth” policy toward sexual predators.
Gaetz, then 31 years old, served as the chairman of the Florida House of Representatives’ Criminal Justice Subcommittee. He cosponsored legislation that increased the mandatory prison time for convicted sexual offenders, calling it some of the most important work his subcommittee would do.
Gaetz cosponsored legislation that year that would increase Florida’s mandatory minimum sentence for violent sexual offenders to 50 years.
The bill also broadened the definition of “sexual activity” that could qualify as a second-degree felony for a person 24 or older who engages in sexual activity with a 16-year-old or a 17-year-old, according to a staff analysis of the bill.
“If we’ve learned anything from the evidence, it’s that many of these individuals who specifically go out and target the very most vulnerable among us are simply wired differently, and I would like to see them behind bars for 50 years minimum,” Gaetz said
Gaetz, now a 38-year-old Florida congressman, is the subject of a Justice Department inquiry into whether he had a relationship with a 17-year-old girl that violated sex-trafficking laws.
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“Are simply wired differently”??? So, Matt, those who are mentally challenged are “wired differently”, too. Are you gonna put them in prison for that? It seems that since they are “wired differently” then prison should not be an option since their volitional control is the real issue.
It is rather convenient for you in Florida that sex offenders are held fully responsible for their voluntary choice to commit a crime by being sent to prison, but, once they are done with their sentence they are suddenly found to be unable to control themselves and place in civil commitment. Guess you just like having your cake and eating it, too….
Yeah, that quote bothered me too. It bothered me because it is not true, and I believe is a form of denial. Also considering it came from Matt Gaetz, it is dripping with irony. We have a schizophrenic relationship with sex in this country. It is everywhere, yet it is heavily saturated with guilt.
This “sexophrenia” (I wish I’d coined the term) evolved at least in part because people tend to hate what they fear most in themselves. Homophobia generally results in persons who have at least a kernel of sexual insecurity and lash out in an attempt to overcompensate. This is not to diminish valid consciously derived rationales such as religious convictions, However, those alone do not explain the vindictiveness, vitriol and violence expressed by some toward homosexuals.
Consider this broad category of persons termed sex offenders. We all know the spectrum ranges from innocent childhood sex play to the most heinous violent rapists. This begs the question of why society tends to lump all together.
IMHO, doing so is a way to, metaphorically, push away the mirror. Sexuality is deeply embedded in humans, and is not just a secondary characteristic of the species. Virtually everyone has had some stray thought that made them feel uncomfortable or fearful of their own potential. This could be as simple as a married person having fleeting thoughts about a coworker, a brief speculation about gay sex, or merely taking note of a niece blossoming into a young woman.
It is very comforting for persons or a society to convince themselves that any potential for sexual impropriety is not internal, but exists only in those “others” who are somehow permanently damaged monsters, or “wired differently.” Then the mirror has receded to a manageable distance.
Veritas.
I think the real question is, how many other politicians have their own skeletons just waiting to jump out of the sex offender closet?
Yea Bob i would bet its about 90% of them even if it was when they were 18 on up to the age they are now. They have had sex with someone younger than 18. I would bet on it and probably win!!.
“If we’ve learned anything from the evidence, it’s that many of these individuals who specifically go out and target the very most vulnerable among us are simply wired differently…” Gaetz said
Who re-wired your mechanism, Gaetz??
(Was it really re-wired, or are you just a human being with faults? – like the rest of us)
I am thinking …. he is really thinking…Shakespeare….Hamlet… and all possible aspects of the meaning “hoisted on his own petard”.
Whether he is guilty or not, this will give him pause for self-reflection. Maybe something positive comes from this.
He probably figured since he had a hand in making it law it would never be applied to him. Some of our lawmakers are extraordinarily narcissistic. Matt Gaetz, et. al., are not as uncommon as we should hope. If you can vote, make sure you do so.
Make sure Gaetz holds John Walsh accountable, too. They can both go down together.