WRITTEN ON December 12th, 2007 BY William Heath AND STORED IN Data nitwittery, Foundation of Trust, What do we want?

Whoops. Government clerical processes aren’t perfect, and a clerical error in Michael Dodele’s record means he’s dead (says the Reg).

To Ivan Garcia Oliver it all makes perfect sense: if, as a parent, he had failed to murder Mr Dodele

“I might as well have taken my child to some swamp filled with alligators and had them tear him to pieces,” he added. “It’s no different.”

Perhaps during a long stint in jail he’ll start to discern the differences between not murdering your neighbour and feeding your son to alligators. For the rest of us it’s evidence that in the fearful, hate-filled heads of confused people a tiny clerical error on a Megan’s law database is a big deal. That’s how important reputation can be. But hey, even if Mr Dodele had been a child rapist (and indeed he was a convicted rapist, but of adults) the task he shares with his community is how to live within it without posing a further threat.

These “Megan’s laws” may not be a direct incitement to murder, but it’s far from clear they’re an effective way to lay the foundations for trust and accountability.