Moral Panic

Over at Doug's blog, the latest in the saga of sex offender panic, and extra reading about this puritanical phenomenon:

"Moral Panic," by Philip Jenkins. Essentially a history of sex offenders in modern America. Also Carl Sagan's "The Demon-Haunted World," which has excellent chapters on the "satanic ritual abuse" fever that gripped the nation for a decade or more. Opened my eyes to the historical realities as much as Mike Gray's "Drug Crazy" did for the drug war when I was in high school.

Additionally, here is a post regarding our swollen prison population and which political party/politicians are responsible.