New Times and the Sun have brought you reader-submitted stories for the annual 55 Fiction contest. Each year, hundreds of entries come from all over the coast and world. This year I’m joining in on the fun, in hopes of pissing off the masses with fewer words than ever before.
Sex offenders’ advocates?
Here’s a new one—a group advocating for fewer restrictions on where convicted sex offenders can live. The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws filed a lawsuit against Lompoc for what it says are unconstitutional residency restrictions on sex offenders. Maybe it’s just me and Lompoc, but I don’t want sexual assailants near my nest.
But on the other hand …
Some, including the California Supreme Court, say the residency restrictions placed on sex offenders do almost nothing to protect the communities said sex offenders live in and instead actually make it more difficult to monitor and rehabilitate convicted sex offenders. That makes sense to me, so I guess I have a lot to think about.
Ego death
For maybe the first time, I don’t know where I stand on an issue.
Who am I? Where are my heavy-handed opinions if not fluttering about in my bird brain?
*Tweet*
I call out to my opinions. No response.
Then I remember a story we wrote last week and the reaction that ruffled me so.
Regarding last week’s story, ‘Living in fear’
Have you guys ever thought, even for one second, that a link to our story about how the rhetoric surrounding immigration is impacting the well-being of children is not a good place to shoot out careless anti-immigration sentiments? We get it. You guys think illegal immigrants are worthless criminals. But what about their kids?
The Canary has a newfound respect for 55 Fiction winners. Send thoughts to canary@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Jul 11-18, 2019.