Scarlet Lettering

In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne wears a crimson A as punishment for adultery. In Portland, Ore., Richard Bateman may wear a similar badge of shame when released from jail in two months. At his sentencing in May, Judge Dorothy M. Baker knew that he was unlikely to spend a long time behind bars in the overcrowded prison system, despite his history of molesting young children. So she ordered that for four years after his release, Bateman, 47, must post signs on his home and on both sides of any vehicle he drives that read, in letters at least three inches high, DANGEROUS SEX OFFENDER, NO CHILDREN ALLOWED. "In a large community like Portland, people move into your neighborhood whom you don't know anything about. If we knew who the child molesters were, then we would not leave our children vulnerable." Amid concerns that Bateman will be unable to find a job or perhaps even a place to live, the American Civil Liberties Union has taken his case, and is now planning to appeal the sentence as cruel and unusual punishment.