It's definitely a violation on Human Rights. In a recent published article by Times, dated October 14, 2009, a man named James Nichols was arrested for just attending church. The police's reason: criminal records state him as a registered sex offender.

North Carolina is known to be take religion seriously. This makes it no surprise for people here to question more the law which most U.S. states are beginning to include in their governance---the law which prohibits sex offenders from coming within 300 ft. to any facility which caters to supervision of minors. In James Nichols case, N.C. folks did have their eyebrows raised with the man's while worshiping in a place which cannot be denied to have facility on keeping watch on children while the parents pray.

The law is clearly placing a hard fight for those whose criminal records state them to have been convicted of sexual offense. The places they visit after serving their time, paying for the said crime, has been limited due to the fact that most establishments do have their facility for minors. The 300ft limitation--a distance almost the length of a football field--is already a violation for their right. Nichols arrest for one is like going against the mission of the church, or any other religious sect for that matter, to reach out and spread goodwill to all. This is total irony: a man being taken by the police because of doing a non-offensive act. It's like asking "when does going to church a crime?"  

Other states have made more moves against sexual offenders. In the state of Georgia, convicted sexual offenders are not even allowed to work or live 1000 ft away from places which facilitates to taking care of minors. This makes N.C.'s ruling of a 300ft distance definitely lighter compared to theirs. There have been questions rising particularly on religion specifically on the sexual offender's partake in church activities like volunteering for kitchen duties of singing in the choir.

Georgia's Southern Center for Human Rights had already made a motion to this law. They made note that this is a clear violation of the First Amendment. There are churches that have made themselves fit to the needs of convicted persons; their way of acknowledging chance to those who seek the church's help as means to deal with their problem especially their past offenses. Nichols is but one who is presently attending such a place of worship.

The said law was passed by Sen. David Hoyle after Jessica Lunsford, the Florida girl who was kidnapped and killed by a sexual offender in 2005. The girl was born in Dallas where the senator also lives. After many years since the incident, sexual offenders are limited of the places they would go to. Unfortunately, even with the goodwill of children in the senator's mind, this bill do has some flaws to it, especially with his belief that their constitutional rights should not be worried about especially with the act of taking advantage of a child is in mind.

Nichols happens to have then reported a co-worshiper at the church, where he was arrested, who was fondling a 12 year old girl. But instead of giving him the treatment of a man who deserves praise for changing his ways, he was taken instead. This is one remorseful situation if not for the church where he presently attends to, headed by Pastor Grace Kim. It's good that he has still made a turn to God after the events that happened. What matters in that occasion was his move to show how he wishes to change---for that is one of his rights in the eyes of man especially of God.

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Simone Holly is a freelance writer, with experiences working as a marketing executive in a leading authority on the web when it comes to conducting background check and especially the court records, with the largest database consisting of over 26 billion government records is provided.