Tennessee state Rep. Matthew Hill (R) has introduced a bill that would require the state to print “sex offender” on the driver’s license of every offender in the Tennessee registry, according to Slate.
Hill wants the offense to be noted in three different places on the license and in red lettering. The lawmaker thinks that the law will help people identify sex offenders at “malls, grocery stores, retail outlets—all kinds of places where children are.” Hill said a constituent was concerned about sex offenders snatching children at day care centers.
When House Transportation Committee chair Rep. Vince Dean (R) pressed Hill on the legislation, asking if the bill was meant to humiliate sex offenders, he said it wasn’t.
“It is not my intent to embarrass them, but it is my intent that the public know that they’re a convicted sex offender,” he said.
But when asked by Dean if perhaps a “scarlett letter put on his breast” would better identify sex offenders, since people don’t typically ask to see someone’s driver’s license at the mall, Hill seemed willing to openly identify sex offenders.
“Well if you felt that was necessary, that would be fine,” he said.
Hill has also pushed state legislation that would require people to speak English at work.
