This page focuses on the projects forming RSOL's main work. Some of these have been initated by RSOL, and others are the efforts of others which we encourage our members and the public to support. Our main focus is to lobby for changes in the law, but some of our projects are aimed at giving a helping hand to registered individuals and their families. Keep checking this page for developments.

Vote in Poll on Tonya Craft´s Show

By Kelly <gfr1@gasorr.org> Posted on 20.08.2010 Link to this action item: [00105]

send to Kelly Piercy, gfr1@gasorr.org , with a copy to alexm60fastmail.fm . WE URGE PEOPLE TO VOTE IN THIS NEWSPAPER POLL!!! The entire message is: GO HERE! VOTE YES! Support our voice on radio! http://www.timesfreepress.com/polls/2010/aug/Will_you_tune_in_and_listen_to_Tonya_Crafts_bi_we/results/ -------------------------- URL http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/aug/13/craft-signs-host-radio-show/?local Chatanooga Times Free Press Aug. 13, 2010 Craft Has Radio Show Tonya Craft, the former North Georgia kindergarten teacher who was acquitted of 22 counts of child molestation, aggravated sexual battery and aggravated child molestation, will be hosting a talk show on WGOW-FM 102.3 beginning Sept. 7, the station announced Thursday. The show will be called “The Truth of the Matter” and will air every other Tuesday from 3 to 4 p.m. The show will be produced by Kevin West and will feature Craft talking with callers and with studio and call-in guests discussing criminal cases, civil cases and other topics dealing with the legal system, he said. According to news director Bill Lockhart, Craft was hired through December, when things will be re-evaluated. “In metro Chattanooga, Tennessee, in the year 2010, there is one name, one individual, that I think everyone would agree is a household name. (She is) a person that everyone wants to know what they think about, what they are thinking, what makes them tick and that person is Tonya Craft. “She is very intelligent and articulate and passionate. We are very pleased that she is on our team,” Lockhart said. Craft said in a news conference at the station that she did not ask for the fame that came with her much-publicized trial, but it has given her a platform to speak out for truth and she plans to use it. “I will do what I feel like is the right thing, no matter who it ticks off,” she said. “It’s not about me. It’s not about this situation. It is about the children and what they go through.” She said she was frustrated when her trial, which should have been an exercise in finding the truth, became more like a game between attorneys. “It’s offensive really. Whenever you go into a trial it’s perceived almost as if you are going into a tennis match. Point here. Point there. It’s not a game,” she said. “People who have been in my situation and sat in my shoes, know it is not a game and it shouldn’t be a game to anyone.” The idea for hosting the show came from a discussion with one of her lawyers in Atlanta and she approached WGOW about being involved, she said. She hopes to study to become a lawyer and will be taking the LSAT test in October, she said. “I am going to focus on a few specific laws. I am working on a national minimal standard for people who forensically evaluate on children. I want to work on that locally, statewide and nationally,” she said. Chickamauga resident Sandy Hunt, who said she followed Craft’s trial, said she is excited about the show. “I think she has a lot to talk about,” Hunt said. I think she is a strong person and to me what happened to her could happen to anybody, anywhere, and I am thrilled that she is taking the initiative to change things.”

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PASSPORT BILL MUST BE OPPOSED

By alex marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 29.07.2010 Link to this action item: [00104]

SEX OFFENDER PASSPORTS COULD BE REVOKED IF THIS BILL PASSES! New Bill in Congress: HR 5870 - Passports of Registered Sex Offenders are Under Attack! Filed by Rep. Poe (TX R TX 2) RSOL PARTICIPANTS URGED TO CONTACT ALL US REPS AND SENATORS - THIS BILL IS AN OUTRAGE - THE FINAL END OF THE US CONSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM AS WE ONCE KNEW IT!!!! TEXAS FOLKS ESPECIALLY, CALL REP POE AND TELL HIM THE BILL IS AN OUTRAGE! Readers will think this bill is crazy, I would agree, in any court I would hope judges agree, but facts of each case may tell a different story. I am talking about: HR-5870 which has "No Name" just a description of its purpose "To restrict passports of certain sex offenders, and for other purposes." introduced 7-27-2010 by Rep. Poe (R-TX-2). the bill was Referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The bill: SECTION 1. RESTRICTION OF PASSPORTS OF CERTAIN SEX OFFENDERS. (a) In General- The Secretary of State may revoke, restrict, or limit a passport issued to an individual who is a sex offender (as defined in section 111(1) of the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 (42 U.S.C. 16911(4)) who is-- (1) included in the National Sex Offender Registry established pursuant to section 119 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 16919); or (2) required to register in a jurisdiction's sex offender registry under title I of such Act and with respect to whom information may be maintained in the National Sex Offender Registry under such section 119. ------------------------------- Just because someone is properly registered in the National Registry (created by states uploading their registrants to the national registry) and following all laws, on a whim of the Secretary of State, a person's Passport could be revoked, restricted, or limited. No misconduct is required, it can be done on a whim. The bill's purpose does say "certain sex offenders" but there isn't a word addressing that anywhere in the bill. This is what they call a Democracy where Due Process prevails, except for former sex offenders. For them, the standard due is "because I feel like it." This sounds like the latest "Hate-Legislation" coming out of Congress, however, here we know who wrote the bill.

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CALL SENATORS NOW: REMOVE ANTI SO LANGUAGE FRM HR 5297

By posted by alex <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 28.07.2010 Link to this action item: [00103]

HR 5297 IS BEFORE THE SENATE - CONTAINS LANGUAGE TO BAN S.O.S FROM RECEIVING AID Breaking News: The Senate is -right now- considering HR-5297 "Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010," which contains "Offensive Language" and will deny former sex offenders convicted of a crime against a minor any possibility of a Small Business Loan, IF, it passes the Senate. We urge ALL RSOL participants to call their Senators NOW to get this language deleted from this bill. Send us the results of your lobby effort. alex

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Support US HR 5624 Now!

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 14.07.2010 Link to this action item: [00102]

SUPPORT US HR 5624 NOW! SEE ALSO URGENT COMMENT AFTER THE ACTION ITEM - There seem to be two opinions about whether to act on this bill yet! Alex ---------------------------------------------------- HR 5624, is currently sitting in Committee in the U.S.House Judiciary. The Committee needs to hear from it's constituents on this bill and that it should be passed. Call your local US Congress people, even your State Congress people and ask them to contact the House Judiciary Committee and let them know that this bill must pass! When one understands that our Constitutionally guaranteed rights are in actuality "real property," you'll begin to see the importance of this bill. Our Constitutionally guaranteed rights have been ruled "property" by multiple judges throughout court history. As a "real property" (found under the "corporeal property" definitions), this bit of legislation will allow us to bring forth suits against government agencies for deprivation of rights under color of law. This legislation won't be a major win, but it will lay the foundation and also make it easier for wins in the future. It is a stepping stone in the grand scheme of things. I have already "tweeted" and called my State Congresspeople about this bill. I sincerely hope that RSOL as an organization steps behind this one. It may seem a stretch, and may even seem as to not benefit us much at the moment, but I promise that the fruits of this will be shown later. I would be happy to answer any further questions. CFC Washington http://www.cfcwashington.org cfcwashington@hotmail.com ------------------------------------------ Urgent anonymous comment from a well-known reform advocate: Until the next step in the House I strongly advise folks to hold off supporting this bill. Tonight I will post something which explains what has happened to the three other bills we have been watching and folks have complained about, and what occurred there may occur here in HR 5624. I would give this bill 1 week or so before acting on it.

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PROTEST VIOLATION OF S.O.S' Privacy

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 14.07.2010 Link to this action item: [00101]

ALL RSOL FOLKS! PROTEST THIS TV STATION'S INTRUSION OF PRIVACY! Jackson, Tennessee ABC Channel 7, wbbjtv, has sent reporters along with police to check on allegedly noncompliant sex offenders in Haywood County (Brownsville), TN. The channel has shown the alleged offenders shackled and with their faces shown, as they were arrested for allegedly giving wrong addresses. This clearly violates U.S. and TN Constitutional protections of privacy. We urge all RSOL people to call, write and email the station - and if you can, also the Brownsville, TN, police department, to protest this outrageous practice. See RSOL News Item no. 253 for the story, and the url to get to the video to see these people sadly humiliated. CONTACT: www.WBBJTV.com , ABC Channel 7, 346 Muse St., Jackson, TN 38301, 731-424-4515, asearl@wbbjtv.com . Let me know the results, as well as Dave, the TN contact person who alerted us to this - wtnrsol@yahoo.com

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STOP PROVISION TO STRIP S.O.S OF FED BENEFITS

By alex marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 09.07.2010 Link to this action item: [00100]

ALL RSOL PEOPLE URGED TO CALL REPS TO AMEND HR 5618 Several rsol activists have urged RSOL to call for action on this U.S. House bill, HR5618, which unconstitutionally discriminates against sex offender in federal benefits! We urge everyone to read this action alert from eAdvocate, and call your Representatives NOW to demand a stop to this. Perhaps, as some say, many have not noticed this buried down in a bill about other matters. alex marbury ACTION ALERT: Congress stops certain sex offenders from receiving money under TWO federal programs! 7-9-2010 Washington DC: Congress will now prevent certain sex offenders (whether required to register or not [i.e., registration terms completed]) from receiving A) Unemployment benefits; AND B) Small business loans, if these TWO bills ultimately become law. Unemployment Benefits: On 6-28-2010 Rep. Jim McDermott (WA-7) introduced HR 5618 "Restoration of Emergency Unemployment Compensation Act of 2010" a necessary bill, with a disastrous provision built into it. The bill was co-sponsored by Rep. Sander M. Levin (MI-12). Within the bill is the following: (h) Procedures- Any State with an agreement under this Act shall implement reasonable procedures to-- `(2) ensure that benefits under this Act are not provided to any individual convicted of a sex offense against a minor (as such terms are defined in section 111 of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (42 U.S.C. 16911)); and ... Small Business Loans: On 5-13-2010 Rep. Barney Frank (MA-4) introduced HR 5297 "Small Business Jobs and Credit Act of 2010" also a necessary bill. The bill has 20 co-sponsors. The bill as introduced had nothing about sex offenders, the House passed the bill and sent it to the Senate. On 6-29-2010 in the Senate there were 23 or so amendments, somewhere buried in those amendments a Senator added the provision concerning certain sex offenders. Within the bill is the following: (2) LOAN RECIPIENTS- With respect to funds received by an eligible institution under the Program, any business receiving a loan from the eligible institution using such funds after the date of the enactment of this title shall certify to such eligible institution that the principals of such business have not been convicted of a sex offense against a minor (as such terms are defined in section 111 of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (42 U.S.C. 16911)). Discussion: There is no doubt in this writer's mind that both of these are based on "HATE" and not any context of safety of the community. Congress cannot base law on "HATE" that simply violates our Constitution. In fact, Congress is supposed to make laws to prevent such, as hate too often leads to violence; history tells us so. What makes this even more egregious is that, lawmakers know this violates constitutional protections, especially since many are lawyers. Obviously the "Unemployment Benefits" affect far more folks than do the "Small Business Loans" so the greatest effort must be directed to HR-5618. A few thoughts, first is, that how can Congress deny folks unemployment benefits when folks have paid a portion of their salary, as had the employer, to fund unemployment benefits. These monies have already been collected, and benefits accrued. While it is true that, this bill is a supplemental bill to extend money available to pay additional benefits beyond what is normal, and maybe some may say, we can deny any based on that theory. The reality is, that would raise a equal treatment under the law issue. Workers are workers, equal footing in the national work force, and must be treated equally, they all have put in their time, and there is no misconduct. While I can't say I am a Guru of employment law, my heart tells me that, many labor laws -state and federal- would have to be addressed before Congress is permitted this type of labor law amendment, esp. since some folks may have worked under a union contract. What can be done: HR-5618 "Unemployment Benefits" is still in the Senate and that is where folks must focus efforts. It is in some committee and unfortunately the Thomas site doesn't tell us which one. This committee needs to be contacted as soon as folks find out which one it is. It is time for EVERYONE (includes moms, dads, aunts, and anyone else in the family) to be e-mailing, faxing, calling and writing their Representives and Seantors in Congress to get this changed and removed from both of these bills. I wish I had more, but right now I think it more important to get this message out to everyone, rather than do more research. I'll post an update if I find more. For now, have a great day and a better tomorrow. eAdvocate

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Int. Megan´s Law BILL still out there

By posted by alex <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 10.06.2010 Link to this action item: [0099]

ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS URGED TO CONTINUE OPPOSITION TO THE INTERNATIONAL MEGAN´S LAW BILL - US HR 5138, sponsor, Rep. Chris Smith of NJ. Go to www.opencongress.org/bill and register to vote against this bill. It was introduced again (third year running)on April 21, and referred to both the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees on April 26. Both are considering them this summer in hearings. CONTACT ALL CONGRESS PEOPLE TO BE READY TO OPPOSE THIS. Otherwise, it is a ´feel good´ bill that some would say cannot possibly fail. Yet, WE KNOW BETTER. It will HELP no-one and ruin many people´s lives. Not to mention that it is opposed by virtually every other nation in the world - especially Canada and the EU. alex

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Sign Change.Org Petition!

By Alex Marbury posted it <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 07.06.2010 Link to this action item: [0098]

RSOL PARTICIPANTS: SIGN THE CHANGE.ORG PETITION AGAINST DISPORPORTIONATE CHILD PORN SENTENCING We urge all RSOL folks to go to change.org and sign this petition. If you do let me know (alexm60@fastmail.fm) and also Howard and Rita, the NY contacts, (nyrsol@aim.com) Alex URL for Change.Org Petition: http://www.change.org/petitions/view/disporportionate_sentencing_for_possession_of_child_internet_pornography

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Urge Close Questioning of Kagan on S.O. Decision

By Sandi <sandihr@sbcglobal.net> Posted on 21.05.2010 Link to this action item: [0097]

ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS are urged to write members of the US Congressional committee interviewing the nominee for Supreme Court Justice, Elena Kagan, who, as US Solicitor General, won an important case demanding that ¨dangerous sex offenders¨ be considered, under Federal law, for permanent incarceration after serving their sentences. RSOL should demand that Kagan review her position, that states be given paramount decision-making power in such cases, that ´dangerous offender´ be more specifically and narrowly defined, and that no offender be automatically confined after serving his or her sentence. We also urge RSOL participants to write to editors about Ms. Kagan´s position on S.O. imprisonment after sentences are served.

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Oppose SC Decision to Hold SOs Permanently

By alex marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 20.05.2010 Link to this action item: [0096]

THIS OUTRAGEOUS SUPREME COURT DECISION MUST BE CHALLENGED! WE URGE ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS TO WRITE LETERS OR MAKE CALLS IMMEDIATELY TO NEWSPAPERS AND OTHER MEDIA TO CONDEMN THIS DECISION! alex marbury ---------------------------------------------------- URL for CNN story, May 17, 2010 http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/05/17/scotus.sex.offenders/index.html#disqus_thread The US Supreme Court, even as it struck down life-time sentences for juvenile offenders, also held that ´dangerous´ sex offenders can be held for life, even imprisoned beyond their sentences, if civil commitment centers are not available. The ´dangerous offenders,´ included several whose charges were for child pornography. This is a clear violation of double jeopardy and ex post fact constitutional protections being wholly ignored. PLEASE, RSOL activists, send emails and letters to all media about this!!! We must be heard! (ARTICLES AND OP EDS IN RESPONSE FROM RSOL PARTICIPANTS ARE HERE: From Sandi Hrozak (published in the Charlotte Observer and elsewhere in various forms) It is certainly good to know that our new Supreme Court justice not only is willing to violate the Constitution of the United States and the separation of powers between the legislative and the judicial branches but also advocates the federal government usurping the powers accorded to the individual states. Sex offenders who have served their sentences today; who tomorrow? Certainly seems like drug dealers are an ongoing threat, especially to children and youth. And they have to be mentally ill as many of them are also users, and surely nobody in his right mind would put that stuff in his body. Hmmm, with a little thought, I imagine a case could be made for just about anybody. And the point about the states not being willing/able to bear the financial burden of transitioning and treating these individuals, I guess that since the federal government is so solvent and has such a surplus of funds, that makes sense too.

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POST on FaceBook Walls of ALL Candidates

By Yvonne <dachglobal@aol.com> Posted on 11.05.2010 Link to this action item: [0095]

ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS URGED TO POST COMMENTS ON FACEBOOK WALLS OF CANDIDATES This suggestion comes from Yvonne, dachglobal@aol.com - please send comments to her, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm . All RSOL folks (except sex offenders in those states where they are not allowed to visit social networking sites) should go to the FaceBook sites of candidates for office in their states - especially for Governor, but also for Judge, District Attorney, and for State Representative or State Senator - as well as for U.S. Representative. Both incumbents and challengers almost all have such facebook sites - they need to see comments coming from people favoring sex offender law reform Doing this will make all of the friends and fans of these candidates, as well as the candidates themselves, aware of how these unfair laws are a problem. A STRONG OPPOSING COMMENT FROM AN RSOL PARTICIPANT: n response to "POST on FaceBook Walls of ALL Candidates" Facebook has a no RSO policy and it doesn't matter if the state has no law against RSOs on social networking sites. While you think the result would be just that you get booted if identified, Facebook also notifies your state Attorney General which can lead to an investigation of you even if by state law you\'re allowed on social networking sites. I'm in VA has no social networking laws and have been booted off facebook twice and investigated twice by both the AG and state police. Of course the investigations were closed after being found unwarrented but its not fun having a state trooper show up to ask about Facebook. I wouldn\'t recommend you telling RSOs that its Ok to go on Facebook.

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Petition to Rep. Smith, NJ, on Int. Meg.Law

By Terry <NowJustice4All@gmail.com> Posted on 09.05.2010 Link to this action item: [0094]

We still Need HELP in signing our petition against US HR 5133 INTERNATIONAL MEGAN'S LAW. We could use your help, as I would like to present this to Congressman Chris Smith, of New Jersey, as he is my congressman. You don't have to sign your last name and we will not give him any emails it you make it private. Here are the steps: Go to www.JusticeINJersey.org Go to the PETITION tab Click in the INTERNATIONAL MEGAN'S LAW tab Sign the Petition. You will be sent a confirming email to your email address. Once you acknowledge your signature your name will be added to the Petition. We appreciate your help. If you have already signed, thank you very much. Don't forget to spread the word and ask any and all of your friends or people in your organization. It would be great if we could make a huge showing of signatures. Megan's Law took 89 days to enact with over 400,000 signatures. We only have 16 at this time. HELP!!!! -- Terry ....Now Justice For All RSOL, State Coordinator NCIA Member ACA Member SOSEN Member SATA Member www.reformsexoffenderlaws.org www.JusticeInJersey.org NowJustice4All@gmail.com

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Stop NJ Version of Jessica Lunsford Act

By Terry <nowJustice4All@gmail.com> Posted on 09.05.2010 Link to this action item: [0093]

ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS, please write the sponsors of this bill. If you are in New Jersey or nearby, try to attend the hearing Thursday, May 13, in Trenton! THIS IS THE ASSEMBLY BILLS VERSION OF THE JESSICA LUNSFORD ACT!!! Send copies of your letters to Terry, the NJ contact, and copies to alexm60@fastmail.fm 5/13/2010 10:00:00 AM Judiciary Committee Room 12, 4th Floor, State House Annex, Trenton, New Jersey New Jersey A1767 - Enacts the "Jessica Lunsford Act;" increases sentences for Sex Offenders and persons who harbor them. Minimum mandatory sentence is 25 years. Under this act, a 19-1/2 year old who has consensual sex with his 15 year old girlfriend would be sentenced to 25 years in prison!!! OMG!!! We can not let this happen. Identical Bill Number in NJ Senate: S294 Sponsored by: Assemblywoman NANCY F. MUNOZ District 21 (Essex, Morris, Somerset and Union) Assemblywoman JOAN M. VOSS District 38 (Bergen) Assemblywoman MARY PAT ANGELINI District 11 (Monmouth) Co-Sponsored by: Assemblymen Rumpf, Diegnan, Biondi, Chivukula, Bramnick, Green, Egan, Assemblywoman McHose, Assemblymen Russo, McKeon, Prieto, Wolfe, Scalera, Assemblywoman Quigley, Assemblymen Dancer, Conaway, Conners, DeCroce, Assemblywoman Handlin, Assemblymen Holzapfel, Albano, Thompson, Amodeo, Caputo, Milam, Assemblywoman Addiego, Assemblyman Carroll, Assemblywoman Casagrande, Assemblymen O'Scanlon, Giblin, Wisniewski, Assemblywoman Vainieri Huttle, Assemblyman Rible, Assemblywoman Tucker, Assemblyman Rumana, Assemblywoman Oliver, Assemblymen Chiappone, Moriarty, DiMaio, Assemblywomen Evans, Coyle, Wagner, Assemblymen Chiusano, Webber, Assemblywoman Jasey, Assemblyman Rudder, Assemblywoman Vandervalk, Assemblymen Malone, Polistina, DeAngelo, Burzichelli and Assemblywoman Gove Sponsored by: Senator DIANE B. ALLEN District 7 (Burlington and Camden) District Office: 11 West Broad St., Burlington, NJ 08016 (609) 239-2800 Senator STEVEN V. OROHO District 24 (Sussex, Hunterdon and Morris) District Office: 115 Demarest Rd., Suite 2B, Sparta, NJ 07871 (973) 300-0200 District Office: 227 Route 206, Bldg. 1, Suite 15, Flanders, NJ 07836 (973) 584-4670 Co-Sponsored by: Senators Ciesla, Singer, Kyrillos, A.R.Bucco, Cardinale, Weinberg, S.Kean, Van Drew, Connors, Bateman, Baroni, Beck, T.Kean and Sweeney SYNOPSIS Enacts the "Jessica Lunsford Act;" increases sentences for sex offenders and persons who harbor them. This bill, known as the "Jessica Lunsford Act," imposes amandatory term of imprisonment for certain sex offenses and for those persons who harbor or conceal certain sex offenders. The bill amends N.J.S.A.2C:14-2 to provide for a mandatory term of imprisonment for certain sex offenders. Under this section, a person convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a minor under the age of 18 or the new crime of first degree sexual assault of a minor under the age of 18 would be sentenced to a specific term of years fixed by the court which would be between 25 years and life imprisonment, of which the person must serve 25 years before being eligible for parole. SENT BY - Terry ....Now Justice For All RSOL, State Coordinator NCIA Member ACA Member SOSEN Member SATA Member www.reformsexoffenderlaws.org www.JusticeInJersey.org NowJustice4All@gmail.com

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Protest Life Sentence in NEV for Woman S.O.

By alex marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 08.05.2010 Link to this action item: [0092]

ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS - Join FAMM (Families Against Mandatory Minimums) in their action to protest the incredible, draconian life sentence for female sex offender Lyn Taylor! See contact info. below. alex marbury for RSOL. See also RSOL News Item No. 00243 for news coverage of this case. ------------- FAMM Condemns Mandatory Life Sentence for NV Woman FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 26, 2010 WASHINGTON D.C. - Families Against Mandatory Minimums, the nation's only nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to fighting one-size-fits-all sentences, condemned the mandatory life sentence issued to Michelle Lyn Taylor on April 15 in Elko County, Nev. According to published news reports, a jury convicted Ms. Taylor, 34, of lewdness with a minor under 14 for forcing a 13-year-old boy to touch her breast through her clothing and soliciting him for sex. Conviction for lewdness with a minor under 14 carries a mandatory life sentence in Nevada with parole eligibility after 10 years. "Based on what we've learned so far, we believe the life sentence handed to Ms. Taylor is a total travesty of justice," said Julie Stewart, FAMM founder and president. "FAMM does not condone criminal behavior, especially where a minor is the victim, but no reasonable person can believe that the punishment fits the crime in this case. Life sentences are usually reserved for murderers and repeat violent offenders." Click here to read local news coverage on the case. "FAMM opposes mandatory minimum sentencing laws that carry disproportionate one-size-fits-all sentences and enormously expensive penalties. Keeping Ms. Taylor in jail for the rest of her life could cost Nevada taxpayers well over $1 million. This seems like a terrible waste of a life, and limited taxpayer resources," concluded Stewart. The harshness and high expense of mandatory sentences, like the one meted out to Ms. Taylor, are two reasons why other states are reforming mandatory minimums. Over a dozen cash-crunched states, including New Jersey, Rhode Island and Michigan have enacted significant sentencing reforms in the last decade, saving millions of dollars and reducing pressure on overcrowded prisons. FAMM can provide background about the states that are rejecting mandatory minimums and retooling their sentencing laws. Families Against Mandatory Minimums is a national nonprofit, nonpartisan organization supporting fair and proportionate sentencing laws that allow judicial discretion while maintaining public safety. For more information on FAMM, visit www.famm.org or contact Monica Pratt Raffanel at (202) 822-6700 or media@famm.org.

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CHANGE FEDERAL CHILD PORN POSSESSION LAW

By Howard & Rita <nyrsol@aim.com> Posted on 17.04.2010 Link to this action item: [0091]

Refer in comments to Action Item 0091 - Change Federal Child Pornography Possession Law, and send to nyrsol@aim.com, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm . Good work, Howard and Rita in New York! ------------ CHANGE FEDERAL SENTENCING LAWS FOR CHILD PORN POSSESSION With your help, we are continuing our agenda to change Federal Sentencing for possession of child pornography. We have attached a letter for members of the Subcommittee of Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security. We have also attached a list of addresses/phone numbers and fax numbers for each of the 16 members. Please feel free to include your personal story with each letter. Please take the time to call and voice your opposition to these sentences. We have sent our letters and included our personal story and took the liberty of including 2 scientific studies. Below is is an email list of each members legal assistants that you can forward your letters to also. Bobby Scott (VA) http://WWW.bobbyscott.house.gov/ Bob Goodlatte (VA) Judiciary Director-branden.ritchie@mail.house.gov J. Randy Forbes (VA) JudiciaryAssistant-will.hupman@mail.house.gov Zoe Lofgren (CA) JudiciaryCounsel-ryan.clough@mail.house.gov Daniel Lungren (CA) JudiciaryCounsel-alexandra.snyder@mail.house.gov Maxine Waters (CA) Judaicary Assistant-twaun.samuel@mail.house.gov Thomas Rooney (FL) JudiciaryAnalyst-jessica.moore@mail.house.govLegislative Director-hannah.walker@mail.house.gov Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (FL) Deputy Chief of Staff-jonathan.pyatt@mail.house.gov Mike Quigley (IL) Judiciary Counsel-brendan.moore@mail.house.gov John Conyers Jr. (MI) http://conyers.house.gov/ Chairman of the Committee Jerrold Nadler (NY) JudiciaryCounsel-andrew.ginsburg@mail.house.gov Anthony Weiner (NY) http://weiner.house.gov/ Steve Cohen (TN) Judiciary Assistant-david.greengrass@mail.house.gov Louie Gohmert (TX) JudiciaryDirector-scott.lively@mail.house.gov Sheila Jackson Lee (TX) Chief Counsel-talib.karim@mail.house.gov Ted Poe (TX) Judiciary Director-tim.tarpley@mail.house.gov Together we will continue to work for change.

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Pro-Reform Quotes Needed from Leaders

By Tonia <toniat@sbcglobal.net> Posted on 17.04.2010 Link to this action item: [0090]

Refer in comments to Action item 0090, "We Need Quotes from leaders," and send to toniat@sbcglobal.net, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm . I'm putting together information to take to the Illinois capitol, and need some good quotes here and there in from those (in power) who know these laws are not working or know we need reform - for example, from judges, law enforcement, politicians, educators, therapists. If politicians actually knew that there are people in power who realize reform is necessary, then maybe they wouldn't be so afraid to speak up about it. Tonia in Illinois - toniat@sbcglobal.net .

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CALL 20/20 & Other Media: Stop Implying that murderer was an RSO!

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 17.04.2010 Link to this action item: [0089]

CALL 20/20 & OTHER MEDIA: STOP IMPLYING THAT THIS MURDERER WAS AN RSO! ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS should contact 20/20 & other media who seem to imply through guilt-by-association, that Jarred Harrell, the murderer of Somer Thomson in Orange Park, Florida, was a registered sex offender. He was not! He now stands accused of sex crimes as well as murder. Obviously, he is a dangerous criminal, if he's proven guilty, but he was NOT a registered sex offender as 20/20 and other media seem to imply by speaking of the 162 rsos within 5 miles of the murdered girl's home. This is exactly how 'tightening up the registry" gets pushed by the media. This story was on April 15 - we may be late, but we can still protest this! See the story on RSOL News Item 0238 for the truth, and then call 20/20 to protest!!!!!! URL http://abcnews.go.com/2020/

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Lobby Sen. Smith in Ohio on SB 237

By posted by James and Dolly <ohiorsol@yahoo.com> Posted on 11.04.2010 Link to this action item: [0088]

FROM DOLLY AND JAMES IN OHIO - ohiorsol@yahoo.com TO ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS! OPPOSE SB237 in Ohio. Please take immediate action by contacting the office of Senator Shirley Smith of Ohio who wants to amend the decision that Tier Level III offenders may apply to have their names removed from public notification. Please follow the link below for full detail. Senator Smith's Contact Info: Senate Building 1 Capitol Square, 2nd Floor Columbus, OH 43215 Phone: (614) 466-4857 Email: SD21@maild.sen.state.oh.us http://ohiosenatedems.blogspot.com/2010/03/senator-smith-calls-for-immediate.html S. B. No. 237-Senator Smith, et al. To amend sections 2950.06, 2950.10, 2950.11, and 2950.13 of the Revised Code to apply SORN Law victim notification and community notification to specified offenders or delinquent children who verify their registered residence address and for whom such notifications previously have not been provided and to revise the criteria for subjecting offenders and delinquent children to SORN Law community notification.

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CALL OPRAH SHOW FOR MON APRIL !2

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 10.04.2010 Link to this action item: [0087]

CALL OPRAH SHOW BEFORE APRIL 12 ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS SHOULD call or email the Oprah Show - URL is http://www.oprah.com/index.html The Monday, April 12 Oprah show will feature what Oprah calls "The Most Dangerous Child Sex Offenders in America." Oprah has been one of the worst exploiters of sex offender hysteria. Let us know you called or emailed, and demand Oprah show both sides of the story! ----------------------------------- SEE ALSO OTHER COMMENTS BELOW! Here's what one RSOL participant, Vicki, sent already - follow her lead! ---------------------- This is what I sent to the Oprah producers after we got the notice that Dr. Phil was wanting information on sex offenders: Dr. Phil just issued a request for input to the sex offender laws and he will have folks on the show to talk about it. I applaud him for that. Because of the media sensationalism over the small number of "violent sex offenders" every man/woman/juvenile on the sex offender list is "assumed" to be someone that snatches, rapes, tortures and murders children. Please educate yourselves and then the public. There are over 700,000 registered sex offenders on the list. The offenses range from urinating in public, possession of child pornography, streaking, conceptual sex in a teen relationship, confessed rape, allegations of attempted rape, allegations of child molestation by an angry ex-wife, incest, sexting, teens getting drunk at a house party and performing oral sex on someone under 18 and on and on. Oprah, who I know won't read this, made a statement recently on her show that just because you are molested by your father doesn't mean you should do this or that. That is how Oprah feels today in the midst of fame and fortune but, how about when she was 16, 18 or even 24. My son was sexually abused by his biological father starting at the age of 6 when he would go to visit on weekends and summer. We learned this after our attorney forced the military to have my son evaluated by a forensic psychologist after being charged with possession and distribution of child pornography. She said he was looking at the child pornography trying to figure out why it happened to him. In some sex offender treatment programs they have to consent to having a device attached to their penis and be shown images and their reaction is recorded. They have to pay for polygraph testing at regular intervals after being released. They also have to attend and pay for on-going counseling. They can't live any closer that 1,000 feet from a day care and if they already reside somewhere and a daycare is put in....they have to move, they can't go to the public library, live near a school, bus stop, go on a college campus with the administration being notified and in some cases being escorted while on school ground. Even John Walsh said, "Let's get rid of the sex offender registry with the 700,000 names and monitor the 10,000 "violent sex offenders!" Legislators have said, off the record, that they know they have gone too far but it would be....get this....political suicide to stand up and say this. So, the easier route is to ruin the lives of every person convicted of these non-violent offenses as well as the collateral damage to their families and friends. I implore you to educate yourselves and while at it look at SORNA which is Title 1 of the Adam Walsh Act and you will learn why the majority of states say they cannot comply with this because they simply don't have the money. Sincerely, Vicki Henry ----------------------- ANONYMOUS COMMENT REF Action Item 0087 I emailed the "FEEDBACK" portion of her Web Site. Pretty much said and pointed out all that you did in your letter. You had many more well thought out discussions for her to consider. I applaud you. Dr. Phil cannot be contacted annonimously on his site. Many of us live in fear. I am not a registered offender but the mother of one who is. Another caught up in a "consensual" affair and had mommy not found out, the girl would be considered the predator in this case. No justice is being served treating all "offenders" the same as the "VIOLENT SEXUAL CHILD MOLESTER." All categories you pointed out in your letter are valid descriptions of what is going on in America today. The Ref 0086 is most disgusting. How is it that human beings can be treated so inhumane, even the most violent offenders need help not dehumanization. The attitude of those in authority does NOTHING to protect the "sex offender" - once on the Registry. The ones who are the childhood sweethearts, relieving of oneself in the woods, the streaker and so on are viewed the same as the perverted one who stalks and rapes a child. Lives are destroyed, families destroyed all because the public is uneducated and has become judge and jury. The hype put out there by the media has driven this into a frenzy. The registry a calling card to let the public become vigilanties in their own right. Why can't all of this be brought to the Supreme Court? The violation of every person's Civil Rights. The discrimination of a nation of "The Non-Violent Sex Offender" whose lives and their family's lives are now in danger because of the Registry. Every male in America, be warned, it may be you next! It may be you who is strolling down the isle in the supermarket and offer to help a young woman to reach something on a shelf and "ACCIDENTLY" brush up against her, beware that she may be a person who is emotionally unstable and cries "I've been fondled!" You're done, you get arrested, made to Plea Bargin, serve time, get labeled for life, and Register!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! TRY AND GET A JOB, A PLACE TO LIVE, A WIFE, CHILDREN..... YOU ARE FINISHED FOR LIFE, NO SECOND CHANCES HERE. If you have been so lucky to get caught up in this, you served your time, registered, are done with your registry, here comes John Walsh with "Let's make the Registry Retroactive" to hell with what it does to all concerned. AFTER ALL, THIS IS A FEEL GOOD LAW, RIGHT? MANY SUICIDES WILL COME OF THIS. IS THIS WHAT YOU INTENDED JOHN WALSH, OPRAH AND DR. PHIL? YOU ARE NOT TO SIT IN JUDGEMENT, THERE IS ONLY ONE WHO JUDGES. I bet I dont hear from Oprah either. There is a letter on this site that was written to Dr. Phil I wonder if that person ever got a response? I SUPPORT THE REFORM OF SEX OFFENDER LAWS IN THEIR ENTIRETY! ---------------------- ANOTHER COMMENT FROM AN RSOL PARTICIPANT When I went on the site and clicked on the upcoming show, there was one letter there purporting to be from a young girl who was being abused by her father. I replied to it as though to the child, although I seriously doubt a child wrote it. I believe the show will be about the prison facility on McNeil Island--I think it used to be Alcatraz. It is a facility for truly dangerous sex offenders, and I am sure Oprah's show will sensationalize everything as much as possible, but they probably are the most dangerous sex offenders in America. This is my response to the little girl--or whatever: Sweetheart, what he did to you was and is so horrible. Your situation is very typical of sexual assault against children. Over 90% of assault of this type is committed by family members and close friends. I know Oprah has a show coming up titled, "The Worst Sex Offenders in America," but the worst ones in America are ones like your father, ones that have never been arrested or convicted, ones who hurt their own children and relatives, not the majority of sex offenders on the registry. Most of those people have never hurt a child or anyone else yet everyone thinks they are the monsters when they are not. I will pray for you to get help and counseling and your father also. God bless you! ----------------------

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PROTEST NAZI-STYLE S.O. TREATMENT (T.H.E.)

By joni <pacwar.ca3@pacwar.org> Posted on 03.04.2010 Link to this action item: [0086]

Refer in comments to Action Item 0086 and send to pacwar.ca@pacwar.org, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm SEE GREAT COMMENT AFTER THE BLOG! Please note, Comments and blogs do not necessarily represent the policy of RSOL - only those who write them are responsible for them. --------------- PROTEST NAZI-STYLE SEX OFFENDER TREATMENT IN COLORADO! RSOL participants are urged to call or email T.H.E., a horrific Nazi-style "treatment" center for sex offenders in the Denver, CO, area, where the draconian 'peter-meter' tests are still in use: CALL T.H.E., 303-504-6188, or email them, http://about-the.org - condemn their brutal program! Also email Joni, pacwar.ca3@pacwar.org and Bennie, lostjustice@comcast.net, and FLOOD DENVER MEDIA WITH DEMANDS THAT THEY INVESTIGATE T.H.E. "Once a year, clients at T.H.E. are brought into a room where, individually, they sit down before a screen. With their pants down and a wire attached to their penis, they view pastoral scenes of lakes and falling leaves. They use a slide-show clicker to advance to the next photo, and with each click, the pictures grow more risqué, although none are pornographic. Some are of women in lingerie, others are of shirtless men. Many are of children. All the while, an audio recording of a man whispering suggestive things plays. "I'll never forget this: There was a photo of a newborn baby and a voice-over saying, 'I'd like to snap you up and carry you off,'" says one young sex offender treated at T.H.E. "It was just sick." Gregg Vieder, T.H.E. director, says sex offenders cannot be cured, and he proposes to lock them up and 'treat' them with savage treatments for life. Joni of W.A.R. women against the registry, says, " The sadist and LONGTIME VICTIMS' ADVOCATE, Grieg Veeder, is a real creep and CO is where my son was falsely accused and convicted." Another method T.H.E. clients complain about is the use of noxious smells as a deterrent to perversion. On their own time, sex offenders are supposed to sniff a vial containing ammonia or rotten meat whenever they start to entertain a deviant fantasy. In the daily journals they're required to keep, the offenders are supposed to report all of their sexual thoughts and the methods used to stave them off. Sometimes they're quizzed about their truthfulness on those matters during polygraphs. For the opportunity to participate in this therapy, patients pay $500 a month. ALL OF THIS IS TERRIBLE - BUT THE WORST THING IS THAT IT HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR MORE THAN 25 YEARS! Eight years ago, this was exposed in the article, Arrested Development, by Julie Jargon, at Westward News, Denver (url - http://www.westword.com/2002-12-05/news/arrested-development/4 ). And yet T.H.E. continues! Stop T.H.E! Flood them with calls. Contact Denver media and demand they expose these atrocities. Contact Bennie Walton of Colorado RSOL, lostjustice@comcast.net and Joni, pacwar.ca3@pacwar.org THIS ONE IS BIG. RSOL MUST ATTACK T.H.E. AND STOP ITS PROGRAMS! -------------------- REF 0086 When convicted sex offenders cannot pay for the polygraphs, registration and so on they are put back in jail. Let's do the math, assuming these costs are in the range of $500 the state believes to save the world putting them back behind bars at $60,000 per year makes sense???? It does from the cowardly politicians' viewpoint! It increases the recidivism rate, which is now portrayed to the public through the media as 'those people'committing another sex crime. The public is not told it WASN'T A SEX CRIME they were re-arrested for, they just let the public think and believe - "SEE THEY CANT BE HELPED THEY WERE REARRESTED, AGAIN", "THEY DID IT AGAIN" I have an idea, let's have everyone donate $10 dollars to this website. We can than hire one of the country's best retired private detective and have John Walsh and Dick Zimmer's days in High School investigated and polygraphed as to whether they had sex back then. These great crusaders who are going to save children from themselves. Who drive this relentless oppression with their feel good laws and padding the politicians pockets. Instilling fear and hype. Oprah also thinks she is doing good. She is lashing out of her own experience. Shame on her using everyone else to do her bidding! She holds her audience with just tidbits of a story, not being fair to tell the other side. She wont tell the other side because she is a victim. Not caring to really see there is another side because she was violated. I have empathy for what she went through, my son was violated by a family member. So, understand me when I say, I dont speak of this lightly. These laws are unjust to many, justified for the true child molester, not the childhood sweethearts, streakers, people urinating in the woods only seen by the occasional bird or squirrel, the woman wanting revenge against her husband, the girl who wants revenge for being jilted, the girl whose mindset is, "If I can't have him, nobody will" - so off to jail he goes and now becomes a registered sex offender. His life and his family's ruined for LIFE !!!!!!!!!!! Society needs so to be educated soon, this cant go on. They are being mislead by people like Oprah, Dr. Phil, John Walsh, Dick Zimmer and all the politicians who are benefitting from this, surely its not the children. They are still being abducted and molested, Meghans Law is not working. So you can't live 1000 feet from a school, day care or Library, BUTTTTTT you CAN LIVE 1001 feet thats okay. Does this sound ridiculous? its because it is. What is to keep a true predator from driving into a neighborhood, to a play ground, or peruse a Library, they dont need to live 1000 feet away, 1001 maybe. Get a grip people! This may be your husband, son, daughter, nephew, niece, brother,sister, uncle, aunt, mother, father who gets caught in these nets next! Think about it, it doesnt take much to convict, just a word from the so called "victim" They are always right, you plea bargain, go to jail, register and pretty much life is over as you knew it. Even the rich cant escape this and dont look to the police to protect your now "NON-EXISTENT" rights, because after all you are a "SEXUAL OFFENDER" and so what if your life gets taken because of the registry? As the one officer said, "Tough!" America this is your country: no civil rights, an "OUT-DATED" Constitution. By the way, as far fetched as this sounds, the girl who got jilted and puts this person away, now knows this person's whereabouts for the rest of his life. The girl is a sociopath, stalker and she is going to fix him for jilting her. Knows where he is at all times because of the registry. This also has happened!

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Urge Protest Against Fargo Commissioner

By fima <estrinyefim@gmail.com> Posted on 31.03.2010 Link to this action item: [0085]

TO ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS! PROTEST FARGO, ND, COMMISSION PROPOSAL TO BAN SEX OFFENDERS FROM THAT CITY. Fima Estrin. the RSOL contact for Minnesota has contacted the Fargo Commissioner, David Piepcorn, to protest his proposed ordinance to ban sex offenders, including those in an existing group home, from virtually all parts of Fargo, North Dakota. Estring says that when he asked Piepcorn where sex offenders were to go, he replied, I do not care! Estrin asked RSOL to urge ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS to read the article and call the news station to protest this outrage. Estrin said, We are all in grave danger. Spread the word about this! You can reach Commissioner Piepkorn by e-mail at dpiepkorn@cityoffargo.com or by phone at (701) 730-1718. URL for the article, which is also RSOL News Item 00221. http://www.kxnet.com/getArticle.asp?ArticleId=547920

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Lobby Against HR4727, Keep Kids Safe Act

By Mary <rsolvirginia@comcast.net> Posted on 25.03.2010 Link to this action item: [0084]

THIS IS ANOTHER FEEL GOOD BILL - We urge all rsol supporters to oppose it and let us know the result of your lobbying. RSOL is not pro or anti gun ownership, but it is unfair - as always in these cases - to single out sex offenders! Alex --------------------- From: RSOL of Virginia Date: 3/25/2010 12:42:37 PM Subject: HR4727 Keep Kids Safe Act Dear Members of Congress, I have learned of HR4727- Keep Kids Safe Act 2010. This bill would amend title 18, United States Code, to place limitations on the possession, sale, and other disposition of a firearm by persons convicted of misdemeanor sex offenses against children. The RSOL of Virginia is neither pro-gun NOR anti-gun but we strongly oppose this bill. Since my State, my Country failed my husband in 2007 and made him a public target for any vigilante I bought my first and only firearm. I have learned how to use it to protect myself and my husband and at the moment if he needed to use it to protect me he legally could. Owning a gun and having a misdemeanor sex offense charge against a child have no correlation. A sex offense charge against a child could include "sexting" in many states, an 18 or 19 year old boyfriend having consensual sex with his 15, 16 or 17 year old girlfriend and he took a lesser plea to avoid prison or it could be a sexual assault which was someone simply pinching someone else’s rear-end without permission. Yes, this is who you have put on the sex offender registries. What about those who commit misdemeanor sexual crimes against adults? Why wouldn't Congress attempt to take away their right to own a firearm? It’s because the Legislators want to take EVERYTHING away from those who are stigmatized sex offender always using the excuse "to protect the children". It works like a charm. This pattern of legislation based on hate and fear needs to stop and you should be supporting a successful reentry into society. Legislation should be based on the multitude of research that has been done in this field instead of on hysteria, hype and personal gain. Look at the title of the bill, who wouldn't vote for it? The name has nothing to do with reality. It doesn’t even make sense. If a firearm were involved it would be a felony charge. Simply revoking ones rights just for the sake of looking tough on a particular group is not good legislation and does not even remotely resemble the United States in which I was born. It’s very much like HR2674 “Protecting America’s Children Act 2009”. This Bill also has a very misleading title. What legislator or parent wouldn’t want to protect their children? But in which way does it actually protect anyone. It does not. HR4727’s title needs to say what it really does. How about, HR4727 “Revoking the Second Amendment Right of Misdemeanor Sex Offenders Who’s Offense was Against a Child, but Not Those Whose was Against an Adult 2010 Act”? Now this says what it does, it’s not some cloak and dagger bill. Stop conning America’s parents. The over criminalization of America must stop. Either, take away guns from ALL American citizens who have ANY type of misdemeanor conviction or just drop it! RSOL of Virginia Reform Sex Offender Laws of Virginia PO Box 98 Mechanicsville, VA 23111 E-mail: rsolvirginia@comcast.net Web-site: www.rsolvirginia.org ---------- ---------------------------------- I have sent the below letter in regards to Congressional Bill HR4727, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-4727 I e-mailed to all the U.S. Judiciary and Virginia Representatives Assistants that we have addresses for: jacki.pick@mail.house.gov; Allison.rose@mail.house.gov; Cecilia.daly@mail.house.gov; ryan.clough@mail.house.gov; Alexandra.Snyder@mail.house.gov; Michael.mcgourty@mail.house.gov; jeff.lowenstein@mail.house.gov; twaun.Samuel@mail.house.gov; Jessica.Moore@mail.house.gov; hannah.walker@mail.house.gov; Jonathan.pyatt@mail.house.gov; Ellen.mclaren@mail.house.gov; jonathan.ossoff@mail.house.gov; casaday.nguyen@mail.house.gov; Nicole.dinis@mail.house.gov; brendan.moore@mail.house.gov; davida.Walsh@mail.house.gov; Jordan.downs@mail.house.gov; john.mautz@mail.house.gov; alyssa.gowens@mail.house.gov; hasan.sarsour@mail.house.gov; andrew.ginsburg@mail.house.gov; Jared.dilley@mail.house.gov; David.greengrass@mail.house.gov; scott.lively@mail.house.gov; Conrad.risher@mail.house.gov; talib.karim@mail.house.gov; tim.tarpley@mail.house.gov; erek.loosli@mail.house.gov; amber.shipley@mail.house.gov; michael.lenn@mail.house.gov; Jason.scism@mail.house.gov; chris.davis@mail.house.gov; Barry.londeree@mail.house.gov; frank.talbott@mail.house.gov; ericke.cage@mail.house.gov; branden.ritchie@mail.house.gov; Jamie.miller@mail.house.gov; larry.dillard@mail.house.gov; will.hupman@mail.house.gov; hear.abbasi@mail.house.gov; mike.fossi@mail.house.gov; Trevor_moe@Webb.senate.gov; Auguste_Humphries@warner.senate.gov; Then I snail mailed to the Sponsor, the Co- Sponsors and ALL the Virginia Representatives: The Sponsor of HR4727: The Co-Sponsors of HR4727: Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) Alcee Hastings (D-FL) Steve Israel (D-NY) 2334 Rayburn HOB 2353 Rayburn HOB 2457 Rayburn HOB Washington, DC 20515 Washington D.C. 20515 Washington DC 20515 202-225-5635 (202) 225-1313 (202) 225-3335 Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) Nita Lowey (D-NY) Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY) 102 Cannon HOB 2329 Rayburn HOB 2346 Rayburn HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515 (202) 225-3072 202-225-6506 (202) 225-5516 Louise Slaughter (D-NY) Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) Anthony Weiner (D-NY) 2469 Rayburn HOB 118 Cannon H.O.B 2104 Rayburn HOB Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington, DC 20515 Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-3615 202-225-7931 202.225.6616 All the Virginia Representatives: Robert (Bobby) C. Scott Rick Boucher Robert J. Whittman 1201 Longworth HOB 2187 Rayburn HOB 1123 Longworth HOB Washington DC 20515 Washington DC 20515 Washington DC 20515 (202) 225-8351 (202) 225-3861 (202) 225-4261 Bob Goodlatte Frank Wolf Glenn Nye III 2240 Rayburn HOB 241 Cannon HOB 116 Cannon HOB Washington DC 20515 Washington DC 20515 Washington DC 20515 (202) 225-5431 (202) 225-5136 (202) 225-4215 Eric Cantor Gerry Connolly J. Randy Forbes 329 Cannon HOB 327 Cannon HOB 2438 Rayburn HOB Washington DC 20515 Washington, D.C. 20515 Washington DC 20515 (202) 225-2815 (202) 225-1492 (202) 225-6365 James (Jim) Moran Tom Perriello 2239 Rayburn HOB 1520 Longworth HOB Washington D.C. 20515 Washington D.C. 20515 (202) 225-4376 (202) 225-4711 Senator Mark Warner Senator Jim Webb SR-459A Russell SOB 144 Russell SOB Washington, D.C. 20510 Washington, DC 20510 (202) 224-2023 (202) 224-4024 I also contacted the NRA and they have already responded to me. Please take a few minutes to send an e-mail or write a letter about this bill.

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WE WON - Viagra Bill defeted!

By Mary of Virginia <rsolvirginia@comcast.net> Posted on 24.03.2010 Link to this action item: [0083]

This action item has been successful!!!! The bill has been defeated. Good work Mary in Va, and all others who lobbied on this! alex ----------- Refer in comments to Action Item No 0083 and send to rsolvirginia@comcast.net, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm ------------------------------------ WE URGE ALL RSOL folks to lobby hard on this one! These are such 'feel good' laws for unscruplous legislators! Support Mary of RSOL Virginia! And say NO to the No Viagra bill - in retaliation by Republicans concerned about Obama's health care act. Specifically, it's: HR4727- Keep Kids Safe Act 2010 - March 2, 2010 - To amend title 18, United States Code, to place limitations on the possession, sale, and other disposition of a firearm by persons convicted of misdemeanor sex offenses against children. Http://WWW.govtrack us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-4727 ALL RSOL SUPPORTERS in EVERY STATE! THE GOP is saying No Viagra for Sex Offenders! as part of an Amendment HR4727, to the Keep Kids Safe Act. A vote will be taken as early as WED MARCH 24 evening on whether this amendment goes forward. Please send a brief e-mail tonight or tomorrow morning to the following Judiciary assistants about this Viagra amendment. Thank you! Mary jacki.pick@mail.house.gov; Allison.rose@mail.house.gov; Cecilia.daly@mail.house.gov; ryan.clough@mail.house.gov; Alexandra.Snyder@mail.house.gov; Michael.mcgourty@mail.house.gov; jeff.lowenstein@mail.house.gov; twaun.Samuel@mail.house.gov; Jessica.Moore@mail.house.gov; hannah.walker@mail.house.gov; Jonathan.pyatt@mail.house.gov; Ellen.mclaren@mail.house.gov; jonathan.ossoff@mail.house.gov; casaday.nguyen@mail.house.gov; Nicole.dinis@mail.house.gov; brendan.moore@mail.house.gov; davida.Walsh@mail.house.gov; Jordan.downs@mail.house.gov; john.mautz@mail.house.gov; alyssa.gowens@mail.house.gov; hasan.sarsour@mail.house.gov; andrew.ginsburg@mail.house.gov; Jared.dilley@mail.house.gov; David.greengrass@mail.house.gov; scott.lively@mail.house.gov; Conrad.risher@mail.house.gov; talib.karim@mail.house.gov; tim.tarpley@mail.house.gov; erek.loosli@mail.house.gov; amber.shipley@mail.house.gov; michael.lenn@mail.house.gov; Jason.scism@mail.house.gov chris.davis@mail.house.gov; Barry.londeree@mail.house.gov; frank.talbott@mail.house.gov; ericke.cage@mail.house.gov; branden.ritchie@mail.house.gov; Jamie.miller@mail.house.gov; larry.dillard@mail.house.gov; will.hupman@mail.house.gov; hera.abbasi@mail.house.gov; mike.fossi@mail.house.gov; Trevor_moe@Webb.senate.gov; Auguste_Humphries@warner.senate.gov ------------------------------------------------ From: RSOL of Virginia Date: 3/24/2010 3:09:14 PM Subject: GOP says, "No Viagra for Sex Offenders" Members of the U.S. Judiciary Committee and Congress, Earlier this morning I overheard a member of the GOP being interviewed on the Today Show. The discussion was the GOP amendments that were planned to be introduced in opposition to the Healthcare Bill that just became law. The member of Congress being interviewed (I did not make it back into the living room in time to see who it was) said, “No prescription Viagra for rapists”. I immediately thought, I bet they aren’t just going to apply this to rapists and that he phrased it as such JUST to get public support for the amendment. I knew once I checked on it, it would be ALL registered sex offenders. Sure enough it's ALL Sex Offenders, http://WWW.cbsnews.Com/8301-503544_162-20001033-503544.HTML I am outraged by this proposal especially coming from Senator Tom A. Coburn, a physician. How would this restriction even be implemented? I figure there are two options. 1- My physician would now have to check the sex offender registry before writing out any first time prescriptions for Viagra. Then they'd know their patient is a registered sex offender. That information would then also be recorded on the patients chart so every nurse and office worker would now know they are a sex offender. OR 2- When I drop off a prescription the pharmacy would have to check the sex offender registry so when I returned to pick up my prescription I would not only be told I am not allowed to have it but that declaration would be in front of any other customers and pharmacy workers, basically a public “outing” in the grocery store or CVS I visit weekly. I’m sure the pharmacy would also alert my healthcare provider of this information too. None of these people in either option need to know if someone is a registered offender. This amendment is just another example of the Legislators doing everything they can to destroy lives and reentry into society of those who are stigmatized sex offender under the guise "to protect the children". If in 10 or 20 years my wonderful husband of 18 years needs Viagra he should be able to obtain it. How dare you attempt to invade the sanctity of our bedroom. Do you know that MANY physicians prescribe Viagra for high blood pressure? So now Legislators are determining what medication can and can not be prescribe for a citizens own medical condition. What's next? No condoms for sex offenders? CBS News wrote, “One part of that strategy is to offer amendments on which Democrats would be hard-pressed to cast a "no" vote. If the Senate makes any amendments to the legislation, it has to go back to the House -- a possibility that Democrats are hoping to avoid”. It's all trickery. Make up an issue that John Q. Public is going to get upset about and then oversimplify it. So as usual the sacrificial lamb used by Legislators time and again, the registered sex offender has been trotted out and re-named ‘rapist’ and is being used as a pawn by the GOP against the Democrats. Please stop promoting hate and anger towards the 700,000 Americans that carry the label sex offender. It’s not just rapists, more often then not it’s a kid who’s made a stupid mistake. Stop taking away every right and freedom they have while spinning it as a public safety service. Only 5.5% of Sex Offenders recidivate the other 94.5% are attempting to live their lives as productive citizens and raise their families, let them do so. Enough is enough. Sincerely Mary RSOL of Virginia Reform Sex Offender Laws of Virginia PO Box 98 Mechanicsville, VA 23111 E-mail: rsolvirginia@comcast.net Web-site: www.rsolvirginia.org

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Georgia Challenges All States to Hold Conferences!

By Kelly <semperfidelas@gmail.com> Posted on 10.03.2010 Link to this action item: [0082]

GEORGIA CHALLENGES ALL STATES TO HOLD A CONFERENCE LIKE THIS ONE! 6 March 2010, Georgians For Reform held a 12 hour conference in the State Capital. Our attendance was over 180. Our speakers included a District Attorney who participated in writing the original legislation that created the registry in Georgia, a Defense Attorney who addressed the ex post facto aspects of the registry, a Lobbyist, lawyer, and sociologist who spoke to the wrong directions taken by the registry and thus its detrimental effects on those registered and society as a whole and its consequent ineffectiveness, Religious Leaders who spoke to the Challenge presented by the registry to the faith community, Prison Counselors and Prison Chaplains who spoke to the reality of the registry for those incarcerated and released, and Paul Shannon who established the national presence of RSOL. Every speaker, including the attorney who participated in the original legislation, told us the registry is failed policy and is punishment. In addition to those presented above, CNN sent a reporter to chronicle the event. To put close to 190 people, the majority of who are not on the registry, in the state of Georgia, leaves no room for anyone to say it cannot be done, that the onerous nature of the registry presents too many hurdles to such an event, must now explain how Georgians For Reform accomplished this signature event. Now, Georgians For Reform issues its own challenge. Georgians For Reform challenges every State Affiliate and every partner of RSOL to hold a conference with equal visibility in their state. We have moved the ball, we need each and every state and partner to keep it rolling until we gain the momentum to defeat this failed policy and create a policy that makes communities safer, protects children, and recognizes the rights of people to heal and move forward in their life. Kelly R Piercy Georgians For Reform http://www.gasorr.org semperfidelas@gmail.com

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Balt Sun Pol on Juveniles on SO Registry

By Sandi <sandihr@sbcglobal.net> Posted on 28.02.2010 Link to this action item: [0081]

Refer in comments to action item no 0081 - Baltimore Sun Poll on Juveniles on Sex offender Registries, and send to sandihr@sbcglobal.net with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm -------------------------- ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS ARE URGED TO VOTE IN THIS IMPORTANT POLL in the Baltimore Sun ¨Should juveniles be added to the state's sex offender registry, as Gov. Martin O'Malley has proposed?¨ Go to the URL below and VOTE!!!!!! Already, rsol folks have begun to tip the vote AGAINST (it had been heavily in favor). Let us know if you vote, and what the results are. URL http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/bal-poll0225,0,5594750,post.poll

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CHANGE.ORG - Vote to Abolish Retro. S.O. Reg.

By alex marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 23.02.2010 Link to this action item: [0080]

ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS. We need your votes on change.org to urge aolition of retroactive sex offender registration laws, as an issue of violation of the ex post facto clause in the US Constitution. PLEASE VOTE NOW!!! (send a copy of your action to alexm60@fastmail.fm - I´ll also send it to the person who initiated this action item.) Please go to the url below, for Change.Org: http://www.change.org/actions/view/abolish_retroactive_application_of_sex_offender_registration

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NH Leg. Has Great New Bill - but leaves out S.O.s!

By posted by alex <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 22.02.2010 Link to this action item: [0079]

Refer in comments to Action Item 0079 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm, with a copy to cldornin@aol.com (I´ve made some major comments added onto Chris´ excellent report on his own testimony last week.) THIS COMES TOO LATE FOR THE HEARING IN THE NH LEGISLATURE, but stay posted about SB 200, and Chris Dornin´s excellent lobbying. RSOL participants are urged to send Chris support and make comments. AMONG OTHER THINGS, Write the state legislators that leaving sex offenders out of this otherwise good bill MAKES NO SENSE! Note from Alex Marbury ----------------------------- From Chris Dornin, NH RSOL activist, cldornin@aol.com Below is my testimony at the public hearing last week on Senate Bill 500, which stands to pass in both houses with huge, if not unanimous, majorities. You can follow the progress of the bill on the NH government website, www.nh.gov. Here is my alert about SB 500 and below that you will find the full text. The website of the Justice Reinvestment project has reports on the Texas and Kansas projects. Every state ought to be doing this. Chris Dornin 603-228-9610, cldornin@aol.com ...................... Working for Smarter Criminal Laws URGENT LEGISLATIVE ALERT From Chris Dornin, 603-228-9610 Anyone who seeks criminal justice reform should turn out for a crucial bill hearing this Tuesday to help most nonviolent inmates serve less prison time and start parole with may be a decent chance of staying clean, sober, free, and crime free. It´s no exaggeration to say SB 500 is the finest crime bill the state has produced inthe last decade, and maybe ever. And it won´t increase taxes in a terrible economy. Make no mistake,the legislation is going to pass, with or without a showing from ex-felons,parolees, their loved ones and others who care about social justice. The sponsors of SB 500 include Senate President Sylvia Larsen, House speaker Terie Norelli and key leaders in both parties who sit on the committees that handle crime legislation and pay for it. They´ve all shown tremendous vision and somepolitical courage. The Justice Reinvestment Commission behind the bill met foreight months. That group included the three chief justices, several statedepartment heads, the governor’s office, the top management from the Departmentof Corrections, and the attorney general as chairman. The publichearing on SB 500 was Tuesday, February 16 at 2 p.m. You´re getting notice too late for you to testify, because of the rushed schedule at the State House. Now the Senate is under huge deadline pressureto approve it before the fast approaching deadline for all Senate bills to cross over to the House. Why is the billso good? SB 500 would let many nonviolent inmates leave prison when their minimum sentence expires or shortly afterwards. Today a large number fail parole at their first and even second and third chances. The bill would grant parole or probation officers the personal authority to bust a consenting person into a halfway house for just a few days to steer them back on track for rehabilitation. Today, almost the only sanction in the officer´s tool kit is apetition to send someone back to prison or jail for the rest of their maximum sentence. Under SB 500, few nonviolent inmates would max out any more, instead leaving nine months or sobefore the end of their maximum sentences. That´s to assure the high-risk parolee the greatest supervision and support while making the shift from prisonto freedom. Today that person typically leaves without a job, savings or place to stay, a perfect setup for failure and recidivism. A 180 degreechange in policy like this was unthinkable even a year ago. But the New Hampshire prison population has grown 31 percent in the last decade while yearly corrections costs have spiked from $52 million to $104 million. If future legislatures agree to it, some of the projected savings from closing selected prison units,starting as soon as 2013, would go into community treatment programs and better supervision. The NH Center for Public Policy Studies has forecast a prison population of 3,029 by 2015 under the current growth trend. If the bill succeeds as hoped, that census mightdecrease from 2,878 this year to 2,422 five years out.....(text cut for brevity) Four consultants from the National Association of State Governments gave the task force an in-depth analysis of all the New Hampshire data available from the prisons, jails,courts, probation departments and parole offices. These experts were assisted by NH Charitable Foundation and substantially funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts. Focus groups took input from victims, advocates, the judiciary, defense attorneys, parole officials, prison planners, police chiefs, the association ofcounties, prosecutors and other key stake holders. However, an interest group deeply affected- inmates, parolees and their loved ones- had no voice in the eight-month research and planning process except through the defense lawyers. The benefits of the bill will not extend to the more than 600 sex offenders in prison and 2,000 or more in the community. Today they are all defined as violent criminals as a matter of policy despite abundant research showing that few sex crimes areviolent in the strict dictionary sense of the word. The research also shows something the public is almost universally unaware of, that sex offenders ingeneral have the lowest recidivism rates of all criminals to begin with. ´ Do not expect lawmakers to adopt that amendment in an election year. Realistically, they dare not seem to be helping sex offenders when the tide of opinion and mediacoverage is so hostile to them. Still, the legislature needs to understand how thoroughlythe enlightened proposals in SB 500 clash with the worst practices in re-entry the state now imposes on sex offenders. If the proposal succeeds with nonviolent offenders, saves money and makes the public safer, that public a fewvyears from now might want to widen the experiment in smarter crime laws. Chris Dornin is a retired Statehouse journalist working for prison reform. You can reach him at 228-9610 and cldornin@aol.com

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CONTACT OPRAH AND URGE HER TO OPPOSE AWA

By alex marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 16.02.2010 Link to this action item: [0078]

Refer in comments to Action Item No. 0078 - and send the results to alexm60@fastmail.fm ------------------- RSOL ACTION ALERT - ALL RSOL ACTION ALERT PARTICIPANTS ARE URGED TO CONTACT OPRAH WINFREY! Oprah Winfrey interviewed 4 ´child molesters´ and claims she is trying to educate parents, but she promotes the Adam Walsh Act, and urges it be enacted in every state. TELL OPRAH THE TRUTH ABOUT SEX OFFENDERS and these laws, and to stop portraying all offenders as monsters! Go to www.oprah.com for general comments! I have been reading the Recent Oprah topics and she did a show last week that allowed her to interview four child molesters and claims that she is trying to make parents aware of sex offenders and wha tto look for. In addition to that, she is promoting the Adam Walsh laws to be passed. She is asking people to write congress to pass these laws and in these next few months she is going to continue to address shows to target sex offenders. I can assure you that they will only be one side of the story and that none of the non-threatening stories and their families will be told. So I am encouraging everyone to write Oprah and in form her the truth about sex offenders and to be more open minded and stop portraying ALL sex offenders as monsters. Please go to Oprah.com for genreal comments or Comment on any or all of the follwoing discussion topics below: 1. she is asking everyone to help raise money for the Adam Walsh Laws http://www.oprah.com/world/Adam-Walsh-Child-Protection-and-Safety-Act 2. She talks about Traits of a sex offender, labeling ALL of them as the same: http://www.oprah.com/relationships/Traits-of-a-Sex-Offender Here she focuses on americas shame that talks about incest and targets sex offenders. http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Americas-Shame Here she interviewed four child molesters and had a therapist present to help explain their behavior: http://www.oprah.com/oprahshow/Q-and-A-with-Sex-Offender-Therapist-Dawn-Horwitz-Person_1

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ASK THE LEGISLATORS A QUESTION!

By alex marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 12.02.2010 Link to this action item: [0077]

CAPITOLNEWSCONNECTION.COM/questions_answers This relatively new site allows citizens to ASK THEIR LEGISLATORS a question - and then counts the votes per question. Joni G., rsol participant of California, urges RSOL participants to ask pointed questions. Her first question, ¨Do You Think Before You Act?¨ already had a response. RSOL suggests much more pointed questions ¨Should Juveniles Be on the Sex Offender Registries?¨ ¨Should families of sex offenders be penalized with residency restrictions?¨ GO for it, and let us know the results! Alex Marbury

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Book with Laurie Peterson´s Article

By posted by Alex <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 04.02.2010 Link to this action item: [0076]

BUY THIS BOOK with RSOL´s LAURIE PETERSON´S ARTICLE IN IT. We strongly urge people to buy this book with our own Laurie Peterson´s article in it! This is perhaps the first book for children on this topic. "Cengage Learning At Issue: Age of Consent". Paperback is $21.85 - the book encompasses a wide range of views on the topic. One can find the book at the Barnes & Noble site: AGE OF CONSENT by Olivia Picklesimer BUY THIS ITEM$30.85 Online Price $24.68 Member price (Save 20%) Age Range: 8 to 12 Pub. Date: February 2010 128pp

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Contact Change-Org, Support S.O. Campaign

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 27.01.2010 Link to this action item: [0075]

Refer in comments to Action Item 0075 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm, and I´ll send this to the person who sent it in. Change.Org frequently has items about sex offenders, but they seldom make it to the top of their lists. This one has made it to 7th place among human rights issues. VOTE to make this one an issue for change.org. the URL is http://www.change.org/idea/view/change_the_sex_offender_laws_so_people_can_have_their_life_back_2 SEE ALSO COMMENT AFTER THIS ACTION ITEM Here´s the Item to vote for - follow the directions in change.org to cast your vote. Change the Sex offender laws, so people can have their life back Change the Sex Offender laws so that the only people who have to register and be followed by public is the offenders who actually physically hurt people and children. Today there are about 700,000 people on the Sex offender list, and more than half of them are not a threat to anybody. Alot of them are kids that have had sex or are being punished for being kids. Take these people off the list and let them have their life back. Also, Take the internet crimes off the list. Most of this group is not a threat to public. They made a mistake as EVERYONE does. Should they have to pay for this the rest of their lives?? Also, Restore the rights to the people who have been caught up in the illegal laws forcing them to reregister years after they have been convicted. Yes we are talking about the laws that are against the CONSTITUTION OF THE USA. Restore the rights to the people who do not belong on this list. Let them have their lives back. Treat them as you would anyone who has been in trouble and paid for it. Only monitor the Physical offenders who deserve to be on this list. The ones that that actually hurt People and Children. - David Holbrook, Greensboro, NC Jan 25 @ 08:15PM PST ------------ COMMENT I fully support action item 0075.I could not agree more. Please let David Holbrook know that I stand with him and wiil do whatever I can to bring this to fruition.

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Vote Against Renewal of AWA!

By posted by Bennie <lostjustice@comcast.net> Posted on 12.01.2010 Link to this action item: [0074]

Refer in comments to action item no. 0074, VOTE AGAINST RENEWAL OF ADAM WALSH ACT! and send to Bennie, lostjustice@comcast.net, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm Important: If each of you don't mind, please go to the website pointed to by the link below and on the right side of the page click the oppose button after setting up an account. H.R.1422 - Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Reauthorization Act of 2009 http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h1422/text Note from Alex - THIS IS OUR CHANCE TO VOTE AGAINST THIS!!! VOTE NOW! Bennie Walton RSOL of Colorado Denver, CO 80239 Email: lostjustice@comcast.net Web: http://www.gimeweb.com/

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OPPOSE DELAWARE ¨ZERO TOLERANCE¨

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 07.01.2010 Link to this action item: [0073]

URGENT ACTION REQUIRED AMENDED REQUEST with IMPORTANT QUALIFICATION: All Delaware and Nearby RSOL particants are urged to write Rep. John Atkins to oppose his very ignorant, panic-driven ¨zero tolerance¨ proposal. See below the letter from Mary of rsolvirginia@comcast.net, and urge this bill to be withdrawn. Send copies to alexm60@fastmail.fm, and to editor@sussexcountian.com. SPECIAL NOTE: RSOL does NOT use the term pedophile pejoratively as Mary does in her letter - the term refers only to a sexual attraction, not to acts against children. All Delaware and Nearby RSOL particants are urged to write Rep. John Atkins to oppose his very ignorant, panic-driven ¨zero tolerance¨ proposal. See below the letter from Mary of rsolvirginia@comcast.net, and urge this bill to be withdrawn. Send copies to alexm60@fastmail.fm, and to editor@sussexcountian.com. ------------------------------------------------------------- Atkins plans to introduce zero-tolerance bill package for high-risk, repeat sex offenders By Patrick Varine/Sussex Countian Sussex Countian Georgetown, Delaware Wed Jan 06, 2010 Rep. John Atkins (D-Millsboro) wants to make Delaware a very uncomfortable place for a high-risk, repeat sex offender. The most uncomfortable, in fact. “If we can set a trend and lead the nation, we can push ‘em out and push ‘em out,” said Atkins, who has proposed a legislative package that aims to do just that. Atkins’ proposal includes a “sex offender” stamp on drivers’ licenses, a special license plate that must be registered and displayed on an offenders’ vehicle, truth in sentencing for offenders and – potentially the most controversial – mandatory chemical castration for male offenders over the age of 21, who have targeted a child younger than 12. “It is my intent to make Delaware the toughest place for a repeat sex offender to live,” Atkins said. “We need zero-tolerance for child molesters and other sex offenders.” Go to this URL to read the article: http://www.sussexcountian.com/news/x1793472992/Atkins-plans-to-introduce-zero-tolerance-bill-package-for-high-risk-repeat-sex-offenders ----------------------------- Here´s Mary of RSOLVIRGINIA´s letter! From: RSOL of Virginia Date: 1/6/2010 6:33:11 PM To: Atkins John (LegHall) Subject: Your Proposed Legislation Representative Atkins, Are you aware that Tier 3 offenders have only offended once? Are you aware that there are many Tier 3 offenders that were only guilty of consensual teenage sex with an underage girlfriend? Are you aware that Internet Chat will label someone as a Tier 3 offender? Tier 3 offender are not ONLY pedophile's (Note from RSOL: RSOL would use the term ¨child molesters¨), rapists and repeat offenders a fact that the general public is not aware of because politicians like you never tell them the truth! I'm available too! Crime Commission Refuses 'Sexting' Recommendation (Virginia), December 15, 2009: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/15/AR2009121503362.html A Swedish reporter with Dagens Nyheter ("Daily News"), Sweden's largest morning paper read the Economist article in early August, http://WWW.economist.Com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14164614 and was astonished that Americas Sex Offender Registries have become a useless tool that simply names and shames. It seems Sweden is currently considering a Sex Offender Registry and they wanted an example of someone that should never have been placed on an American registry, well that's my husband. John blev uthängd som farlig sexbrottsling, http://www.dn.se/nyheter/varlden/john-blev-uthangd-som-farlig-sexbrottsling-1.936041 Read a study, a report or a book ( http://WWW.rsolvirginia.org/reports.HTML) before you just give the green light to castrate an entire group of American citizens. Mary Davye

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EXPOSE and OPPOSE AWA!

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 27.12.2009 Link to this action item: [0072]

Refer in comments to Action Item 0072 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm ---------------------------------- THE ADAM WALSH ACT IS AN EXPENSIVE TRICK! Go to the RSOL state affiliate in your state and contact them. RSOL is working to expose the high cost of AWA compliance in Illinois and Ohio, and also in Nebraska. WE CAN AND MUST BLOCK COMPLIANCE with this terrible law! See also Blog No. 0193 and contact eAdvocate@yahoo.com for more information.

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AWA COMING NOW TO OHIO, SOON TO ILL

By Tonia, Dolly & James <toniat@sbcglobal.net,ohiorsol@yahoo.com> Posted on 17.12.2009 Link to this action item: [0071]

SEND URGENT LETTER NOW TO THE OHIO SUPREME COURT The Adam Walsh Act has been passed in Ohio - the only state so far - and is under Ohio Supreme Court Review. Illinois is watching Ohio, and may become the next state. The AWA will add misery to the lives of sex offender families. Justice Pfeifer in Ohio asks, ¨How does Registration affect the lives of sex offenders and their families?¨ We know! It makes them a living hell. PLEASE SEND all Justices of the Ohio Supreme Court letters with concrete issues affecting your lives if this passes - short letters, to the point, but concrete and about real people. Four cases are now before the Ohio Supreme Court go here for details: http://constitutionalfights.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/ohio-supreme-court-oral-argument-videos/ Send letters to all seven justices if possible - first class, or special delivery if possible, and in particular to Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer Justice Paul E. Pfeifer Supreme Court of Ohio 65 S. Forest St. Columbus, Ohio 43215-3431 LET US KNOW WHEN YOU DO IT! DO IT NOW!

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TIPS FOR CONTACTING CONGRESS

By alex marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 17.12.2009 Link to this action item: [0070]

Thanks also to Bennie Walton, lostjustice@comcast.net, the RSOL Colorado organizer, for sending this. --------------------------- COMMUNICATING WITH CONGRESS TIPS FOR WRITING CONGRESS Heightened security measures have dramatically increased the time it takes for a letter sent by post to reach a congressional office. More and more, citizens are using emails and faxes to communicate their concerns and increasingly elected officials’ offices prefer electronic communications for constituent contact. As a general rule, Members of c/Congress are far more likely to heed your message if you are one of their constituents. Purpose of Your Letter: State our purpose for writing in the first sentence of the letter. If your letter pertains to a specific piece of legislation, identify it. And make sure that you are referencing the correct legislation to the correct body of Congress. House bills are H.R. ____: Senate bills are designated as S. ____. Be courteous. If appropriate, include personal information about why the issue matters to you. Address only one issue in each letter or e-mail. Addressing your Correspondence: To a Senator The Honorable (Full Name) United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator (Last Name): To a Representative The Honorable (Full Name) United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20510 Dear Mr./Mrs./Ms. (Last Name): Note: When writing to the Chair of a Committee or the Speaker of the House, it is proper to address him/her as: Dear Mr. Chairman or Madam Chairwoman: Or Dear Madam Speaker: TIPS FOR PHONING CONGRESS Telephone calls are usually taken by a staff member. Ask to speak with the aid who handles the issue about which you wish to comment. After indentifying yourself as a constituent, tell the aide you would like to leave a brief message, such as: “Please tell Senator/Representative (Name) that I support/oppose (S. ___/H.R. ___.”

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DEMAND UN CONDEMN US S.O. LAWS

By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 10.12.2009 Link to this action item: [0069]

Refer in comments to Action Item 0069 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm. I will send them along to this civil liberties activist and advocate! He´s right!!!! SEE COMMENT BELOW and NEW STRONG COMMENT!, also posted as a blog. no. -------------------------------- URGENT ACTION: All US sex offender laws violate the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Why not use this in lawsuits. DEMAND the UNITED NATIONS CONDEMN U.S. SEX OFFENDER LAWS! I have read most of the RSOL material and contributors comments but I have not seen any use of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights document (treaty) to get rid of the "sex offender" laws. Most of the treatment and requirements and limitations of the "sex offender" laws are in direct conflict with the Declaration. Why has this treaty, which supercedes the laws that take away human rights, not been used in lawsuits? The "sex offender" laws all violate the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. -------------------------- Comment - Dec. 18, 2009 If there is a link with a clear describtion about the violation, please send it to me, thanks. renate gvr123@aol.com ADDITIONAL COMMENT I could not dare say this to anyone around me, anyone I work with, or to anyone one I meet with great pride. Why, because I will get judged, my husband will get judged and the three children that we have together will get judged. I will be judged as a sick woman for being with a man who is a danger to children, he will be judged as a man who is looking for a child to victimize and my children will be judged as the children who are getting victimized by their own father. We will be judged, because this is what society has portrayed ALL sex offenders. The problem is not just how society portrays ALL sex offenders, but the problem is that the laws were passed to lump every sex offender in the same caegory and make them abide by laws that treat them unfairly so that society can label them as "dangerous to America's children". By all means, my husband is not that "dangerous" sex offender. He was 18, she was 17 when they had sex and it was mutual, since alcohol was involved in their concensual act, he got convicted of sexaul assalt on the second degree level. He was originally convicted four 5 years porbation and community service and be done with it. However, he got grandfathered into the SORNA laws and he has been paying for his crime ever since. Not only him, but we have too (we, the family who loves him dearly and respect him because he is a good man). My family has suffered humility and discrimination because of his label. My family has lost great opportunities for him to have a great career because the job is within a restricted zone. We have lost the opportunity to choose where we want to live in order for my kids to go to the school of our choice because they are in the restricted zone area. My kids have been teased and bullied because other kids found out that their dad is a sex offender. We have been separated for time periods from state to state in order to make sure that when we come together we are not violating any of the SORNA laws. Why am I writing this? I am writing this to show you how the SORNA laws are violating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. My husband, nor my family deserve this punishment for something that he paid for a long time ago, but have been grandfathered into. I believe that the SORNA laws should only apply to the high threat sex offenders. Keeping the sex offenders who are not is a violation of their Human rights for themselves and for their families. Let me point out how the SORNA laws are violating the Universal Declaration of Human rights to my husband and his family.. Article 3 Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person. -Our family does not have the right to life because it is being stripped away from us to live life peacfully and successfully Article 5 No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. -We are degraded everytime a notification letter is sent to the people around us to let them know that he is in the area. This type of notification is misleading the people into believing that he is a threat to their kids or to the community. It leaves us self-consious everytime we step foot out the door and people stare as if to say "disgusting" Article 7 All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. -These laws are to protect the children from sex predators, but they do not protect my children from the humiliation and discrimination they have to face everyday because people know that their dad is a sex offender. Article 10 Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him. -My husband did not have a fair trial to begin with because the 17 year old that he had sex with, did not want to press charges, she agreed that it was concensual sex and that she was drinking alcohol too. So, the state picked it up anyways because the girl did not want to press charges. He did not get a fair trial and in addition to that, his initial outcome was to serve five years community service and probation. That was not fair, but accepted. What is not acceptable or more unfair is the fact that they grandfathered him into the SORNA laws and lumped him with the sex offenders that deserve to be convicted to them. Article 11 1. Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence. 2. No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed. - Part 2 of this Article goes against my husband's initial penalty, which was five years probation and community service. By grandfathering him into the SORNA laws after a judgement was already concluded, it became a heavier penalty that is now for life. Article 12 No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. - Because of the SORNA laws my address is not private, and my husband's conviction that happened over 16 years ago is not private. My son is an actor and I am an author, our reputation is on the line because my husband's conviction is open to the public. My husband can't have lunch with his son at school unless he is secluded in a confined room that is designated by the principal. this type of seclusion interferes with him being an honorable father to his children. The media attacks ALL sex offenders whether they are a dangerous one or not. Article 13 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. -We are not allowed to reside where we want to live. We have to reside 2000 ft away from a school or daycare. This reduces our given right to choose where we really want to live. When we moved to a new state, we were looking at a really great city and had our hearts set on it, however that was stripped away from us because every house was near a school or daycare. Now I am living in a city that I had to settle for and am not happy with. Article 16 Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution. Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses. The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State. -Thank God that the laws do not keep sex offenders form marrying, because my husband and I have been married for 13 years and I would not be happy without him. However, the SORNA laws violate the third section of Article 16. If the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State, then clearly the SORNA laws violate this because mentally the laws caused great stress factors and circumstances for may family and we have been separated for periods of times because we would be in violation of the SORNA restrictions laws if we were together. Society is labeling my husband who is not a threat to society and passing judgement on him everyday and discriminating against him. My children are suffering and losing new found friends because it is discovered that their dad is a sex offender. these laws are not protecting our family, they are hurting us. Article 23 1. Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. 2. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. 3. Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection. 4. Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests. -My husband does not have the right to work where he wants to because of the 2000 ft restriction laws stating that he can't work near a school or daycare. My husband has been offered great job career opportunities that would have benefited my family, but has turned them down because they are within 2000 ft from a school or daycare. He is not able to ensure for himself or his family in the manner that he is capable of and the desire he wants because of the restriction laws. Please reform the sex offender laws and only make it apply to those who are a threat to society. Someone like my husband was convicted of having sex with a 17 year old when he was 18. He has shown to not be a threat to society 16 years later. He has a family who loves him and who he loves, he is trying to provide for us and give us the lifestyle that we all want to live, but he is restricted from truly living the way we want to live because of the SORNA laws that apply to him too. It is not fair.

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Ohio Leads Nation in SO Laws? Hell No!

By alex marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 07.12.2009 Link to this action item: [0068]

URGENT - An editorial in the Cleveland (Northern Ohio) News Herald on Dec. 6, 2009, insists that Ohio is in the forefront of S.O. Laws because it is the only state in full complicance with the Adam Walsh Act. This is an outrage. Please see RSOL News Item No. 0185 for the whole editorial and one good comment. THE URL for this, and all comments, is http://www.news-herald.com/articles/2009/12/06/opinion/nh1781496.txt#story_comments ----------------------------------------- WE URGE ALL OHIO RSOL PARTICIPANTS TO SEND COMMENTS ABOUT THIS OUTRAGEOUS EDITORIAL - Essentially, RSOL should say, ¨Hell, No! Compliance with AWA is NOT progress. Stop this false security.¨ Also send your comments to me (alexm60@fastmail.fm) and to James & Dolly Madison, the Ohio organizers, ohiorsol@yahoo.com Alex Marbury

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WRITE AMERICA'S LEADERS ABOUT DR. WRIGHT'S BOOK

By Mary and John of Virginia <rsolvirginia@comcast.net> Posted on 30.11.2009 Link to this action item: [0067]

Refer in comments to Action Item 0067 and send them to rsolvirginia@comcast.net. with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm ---------------------------- PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO PRESIDENT OBAMA AND OTHER DECISION MAKERS AND MEDIA PEOPLE, URGING THEM TO READ THIS IMPORTANT BOOK BY DR. RICHARD WRIGHT - SEX OFFENDER LAWS: FAILED POLICIES. (To read excerpts from Dr. Wright's book, see Research Item 012 on the RSOL Research Page.) Today, Monday November 30 we mailed out a copy of Dr. Richard Wright’s book Sex Offender Laws: Failed Policies, New Directions to the following people who we would be unable to hand deliver a copy to. President Barack Obama The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500 Vice-President Joe Biden The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW Washington, DC 20500 Attorney General Eric Holder U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20530 Anderson Cooper CNN 1 Time Warner Center 4th Floor New York, NY 10019 Nancy Grace CNN 1 Time Warner Center New York, NY 10019 Glenn Beck Fox News 1211 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036 Bill O’Reilly Fox News 1211 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10036 David Gregory Meet the Press NBC News 4001 Nebraska Avenue Washington, DC 20016 Bob Schieffer Face the Nation 2020 M Street NW Washington, DC 20036 Steve Kroft 60 Minutes CBS News 524 West 57th St. New York, NY 10019 John Stewart The Daily Show w/ John Stewart 733 11th Ave. NEP Studio 52 New York, NY 10019 The books should arrive to their destination by Thursday. It may take a few more days for the two to work their way through the White House security. So we'd like to ask you to please take some time this weekend or early next week to write to these people who we sent a book to, acknowledging that we mailed them a copy of this very important book and that you hope as a citizen and as a viewer that they will take the time to read the book. If they are a television host/reporter you could also recommend they interview Dr. Wright on their show.

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OPPOSE MASS BILL TO BAN S.O.s from Shelters!

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 18.11.2009 Link to this action item: [0066]

Responses to this action item, refer to action item no. 0066 and send them to alexm60@fastmail.fm --------------------------------- URGENT ACTION NEEDED! Massachusetts is about to become the 2nd state in the US (after Florida with it`s infamous s.o. homeless camp under a bridge in Miami), to ban registered sex offenders from homeless shelters. (See RSOL News Item 017) This shameless bill, pandering to the never-ending hysteria, has the support of an otherwise progressive group, the Mass. Housing & Shelter Alliance. WE URGE ALL RSOL FOLKS to contact MHSA, Executive Director & President, Joe Finn - email, jfinn@mhsa.net, tel. 617-367-6447, PO Box 120070, Boston, MA 02112, to condemn a homeless advocacy group for increasing sex offender homelessness. Also, contact the Mass. ACLU (ACULM, John Reinstein, Legislative Director, email - jreinstein@aclum.org, tel. 617-482-3170) to praise them for their outstanding work against repressive sex offender laws. Finally, write Globe Reporter, David Abel - dabel@globe.com - and give your opinion. contact the Mass. ACLU to praise their outspoken opposition to this bill, and to criticize the Mass. Housing & Shelter Alliance for their shameless support of it!

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Are We Human? Civil Commitment in VA

By mary <rsolvirginia@comcast.net> Posted on 02.11.2009 Link to this action item: [0065]

Please refer to Action Item No. 0065, and send to resolvirginia@comcast.net, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm. This is yet another outrage. Adding insult to injury, Mary of RSOL Virginia reports that not ONE member of the media or the Va. Legislature has responded. Is America deaf to all pleas for justice? We urge all RSOL participants to write Mary and give her your support - She will let you know what else you can do! Also, see below for a list of legislators and a media person whom you could contact, plus the office of the Governor of Virginia. THIS IS URGENT! Alex ----------------------------------------------- By: RSOL of Virginia and the Inmates of Piedmont Regional Jail Date: 11/02/2009 Dear ACLU of Virginia, every Virginia Delegate and Senator and every Virginia Congressman and US Senator: A supporter of ours received a petition written in pencil from her son and other inmates at the Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville ,VA. She has typed up the petition and has asked that we forward it on to raise awareness and hopefully correct the violation of human rights that is currently occurring at PRJ. The inmate’s current housing is entirely inadequate and unsanitary per the attached petition. The conditions and treatment mentioned in the petition are similar to the conditions discovered in third world countries. Her son is one of three supporters son's that we know of that are currently being considered for Civil Commitment in Virginia. He was having consensual relations with a girlfriend who lied about her age and now he's facing possible commitment to an institution for the sexually perverse. His wife and daughter have already been without their husband and father for way too long. Civil Commitment is supposed to be for the most heinous, repeat offenders so why would our State even consider him for such a fate? RSOL of Virginia October 29, 2009 The signatures that follow this letter identify the inmates/detainees that are currently going through this atrocity known as Civil Commitment. This group is currently being housed at Piedmont Regional Jail in Farmville, VA. The signatures are followed by release dates, so it should be noted that some are past their mandatory release date and some are quickly approaching. None of us are being held in a DOC facility nor being housed under DOC regulations. There is a pod contracted by DOC to hold us and it is well-equipped. Instead, our current housing is entirely inadequate, unsanitary, and a direct violation of our rights. Before leaving our previous institutions, we were made to send home all of our personal belongings, save for legal documents alone. No hygiene, commissary, photos, writing correspondence, or personal mail was permitted. Upon arriving here, we were told that DOC lied and we could have brought it all. Being as though we are detainees for DOC, we are under the assumption that the contracted facility should provide the necessities such as t-shirts, socks, boxers, towels, etc… Instead we have only what we wore in on our backs. The rest must be purchased off of an overpriced commissary without us being permitted jobs to earn money for our basic needs. The responsibility is instead put on our family to provide for us when most of us have completed our sentence. Therefore, in this NON-PUNITIVE process, not only are we suffering punitive actions but our loved ones are being punished as well at the hands of DOC. It costs approximately $11.25 to make one 15 minute phone call, local or not, which our family must pay for. Our sentence is completed…there is NOTHING civil about this process. During our initial arrival and intake process at Piedmont Regional, we were scolded by the “Chief of Security” and an overly animated “Lieutenant Lee” that (quote) This is not DOC, Not run like DOC, and we will learn to deal with it or we can be dealt with ourselves”. We were then threatened to be sent to Red Onion and even with physical abuse, all for merely questioning why they would not provide us with clothes, hygiene, and towels. We have not been given access to Law Library services, Inmate/Detainee Advisors, counselors, or grievance coordinators. We have received no outside recreation and most of us have not received a medical screening or even talked to a doctor and have noted medical conditions that must be attended. Again, this is supposed to be a civil process and we are done with our active sentence, yet we are being housed in an overcrowded pod/dorm where during count time some of us are locked down for several hours. The pod is designed to hold 20 men in 10 cells, but 8 double bunks crowd the dayroom and there are currently 31 men in the pod/dorm. This creates unsanitary conditions in an already decrepit environment. We are sex offenders with a variety of offenses, but we are also your sons, fathers, brothers and friends. But most importantly, we are human beings in America. We have paid our debt to society that was set forth by an official elected by citizens to give the sentence that we have completed. We ask you all…where are our human rights? Where are the organizations to protect out human rights? The state has embarked on a modern day witch hunt and we are being discriminated against and placed under Double Jeopardy for crimes we have paid for, and there is NO voice to speak for us and no chance at Redemption. We are all aware of the intent of Civil Commitment and understand its value on society, but we also agree that there was adequate time to determine each individual case before our release dates. This has become a stepping stone for political careers and we are merely political hostages. Note: Some men were afraid of signing due to retaliation from staff and/or DOC… 25 Signatures were listed on this petition. RSOL of Virginia decided to remove their names to protect their privacy for this web posting. ----------------------- CONTACT - Please send an email urging an immediate investigation of the conditions at Farmville! (Especially email the Gov's office, the two Senators, and the Richmond Times Reporter) 1. Governor Kaine's Office- ima@governor.virginia.gov 2. Lt. Governor Bolling's Office- ltgov@ltgov.Virginia.gov or bill.bolling@ltgov.virginia.gov 3. ACLU of Virginia- kwillis@acluva.org 4. Senator Janet Howell- district32@senate.Virginia.gov 5. Senator Henry Marsh- district16@senate.Virginia.gov 6.Richmond Times Dispatch Newspaper- fgreen@timesdispatch.Com (Reporter F. Green)

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Help a W.Virginian, Falsely Convicted

By Bobby <bboothe3@yahoo.com> Posted on 25.10.2009 Link to this action item: [0064]

Comments should refer to Action Item 0064 and be sent to bboothe3@yahoo.com, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm ------------------------ The son of Bobby, Scott will be sentenced Dec. 4. It is a very, very unjust case. Scott is a disabled miner. He refused an unjust plea bargain because he insists he's innocent and won't plead guilty to something he didn't do. The family is hoping someone will be able to give them support at the sentencing, where Scott faces up to 100 years in prison. Please send an email to bboothe3@yahoo.com, if you have ideas or can attend the trial. Let us know any feedback. Alex Marbury (for RSOL)

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SUPPORT BRITISH CLASS ACTION

By Brian <br@rothery.com> Posted on 06.09.2009 Link to this action item: [0063]

WE URGE ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS TO contact Brian Rothery at the above email address, and to visit the website - http://www.Inquisition21.com to support the Class Action Suit in England on the 10th anniversary of the notorious FBI Landslide raids in the US, which led to even more arrests in England, affecting about ONE QUARTER OF A MILLION MEN! The name of the class action, which is now before the High Court in London, is Operation Ore Group Action. For more information, also see Blog No. 00172 on the Blog page of www.reformsexoffenderlaws.org. We urge you to send money and other support to Inquisition21. Alex Marbury

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URGENT MEDIA ALERT ON GARIDDA CASE

By Kelly Piercy <semperfidelas@gmail.com> Posted on 06.09.2009 Link to this action item: [0062]

This article needs massive response. WE URGE ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS TO WRITE ALTERNET AT ONCE! The way we respond is to remove hundreds of thousands from the registry so the few who have been certified as truly dangerous by qualified professionals can be detained and treated until found no longer dangerous. Essentially, this would be to adopt the Canadian system, rather than the U.S. registry which destroys the lives of hundreds of thousands of non-dangerous people and their families, yet protects NO-ONE from real dangers. Alex Marbury and Kelly Piercy. READ THIS ARTICLE: How Do We Pass Rational Sex-Offender Laws With Psychos Like Phillip Garrido on the Loose? URL: http://www.alternet.org/rights/142405 With apparent psychos like Garrido wreaking havoc, it's hard for society to be reasonable about the thousands of people have been wrongly swept up by excessive sex offender laws.

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Jacee Lee Dugard Case: Proof that S.O. Registries Don´t Work

By Linda and Mitchel <> Posted on 03.09.2009 Link to this action item: [0061]

Refer in comments to Action Item No. 0061, and send to "Linda gallagher" , "Mitchel Stimers" , with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm. THIS IS AN URGENT ACTION ITEM: All RSOL Participants are urged to write letters to all media about this case. ------------------------------------------------- THE JAYCEE LEE DUGARD KIDNAPPING: PROOF THAT S.O. REGISTRIES DON´T WORK! (summry by Alex Marbury) If a registered sex offender can kidnap and sexually abuse an ll year old girl, and hold her captive in his backyard in a small California town for 18 years, isn´t that proof enough that the Regitries don´t work? Some say yes, MAKE THEM STRICTER! RSOL says it´s because these registries ensnare hundreds of thousands who are NOT dangerous, and thus the truly dangerous go unnoticed, and also that public humiliation does NOT keep people from offending - it may even drive them underground to commit worse actions. ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS are urged to write letters to editors of the New York Times, USA Today and all other media that have covered this case, urging that it launch a complete re-thinking of the repressive sex offender registry laws that clearly don´t help anyone! Send copies to alexm60@fastmail.fm .

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SIGN PETITION TO MICHAEL MOORE

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 21.08.2009 Link to this action item: [0060]

Refer in comments to Action item no. 0060 and send comments to alexm60@fastmail.fm --------------------- A Petition has been created to send to Michael Moore urging him to do a documentary on the "injustice" system. It is sponsored by the National Coalition for Criminal Justice Reform. They are trying to get 1000 signatures. These petitions really only take a minute of your time so please everyone, take a minute and sign this very important petition. THE URL FOR THE PETITION: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/ask-michael-moore-to-document-the-injustice-system

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S.D. Legislature Reviews All S.O. Laws

By posted by Tonia <toniat@sbcglobal.net> Posted on 16.08.2009 Link to this action item: [0059]

Refer in comments to Action Item No. 0059 and send to toniat@sbcglobal.net, copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm --------------------------------------------------- URL for the AP story from KTIV, Sioux City, SD is http://www.ktiv.com/Global/story.asp?S=10935796 URGENT ACTION FOR RSOL PARTICIPANTS NEAR SOUTH DAKOTA The South Dakota State Legislative ¨sex offender registry study committee¨ will review ALL aspects of S.D. laws in room 414, at the S.D. State Capitol, 500 E.Capitol Ave., Pierre, SD, 1pm, TUESDAY AUGUST 18. PUBLIC COMMENTS WELCOME - if possible call the state capitol, house of representatives, and ask for the chairman of the so. registry study committee, and register that you want to testify.

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Restore Voting Rights to Felons

By posed by Mary <rsolvirginia@comcast.net> Posted on 14.08.2009 Link to this action item: [0058]

Refer in comments to Action Item 0058 and send to Mary, rsolvirginia@comcast.net. This goes beyond sex offenders, but every sex offender and their families should get behind this bill. It´s House Resolution 3335 - urge your US Representatives to support it, and get it through committee and onto the floor! Here´s the information - at this URL US Congressional Bill HR3335, Restoration of > Voting Rights for Felons, http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill > xpd?bill=h111-3335

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ANSWER THIS UNINFORMED D.A.!

By posted by Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 14.08.2009 Link to this action item: [0057]

Comments should be sent to alexm60@fastmail.fm (see also News Item 00157) -------------------------------------------------------- ANSWER THIS UNINFORMED D.A.! An uninformed and prejudiced LA Prosecutor has slammed the recent excellent article in the ECONOMIST (see RSOL news items) which calls for major sex offender laws reform. Robin Sax needs to be educated! We urge all RSOL participants to go to his twitter site and respond vigorously, as well as leave comments on the Huffington Post. The article may be read on RSOL News Item 00157. Let us know if you´ve done this, send us your comments, and let us know if Sax responded. ---------------------------------------------------------------- the url for the article is http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robin-sax/did-the-economist-do-sex_b_258282.html His twitter address is www.twitter.com/robinsax -------------------- FYI - Here´s one of our first responses, from Mary in Virginia - way to go, Mary! Robin, I just read your Huffington Post response to The Economist's article Sex Laws Unjust and Ineffective a factual article that should have been written years ago. Then I decided to read about you, your background and your experience in this field. That's when I learned that your career and financial existence is entirely rooted in the media and political hysteria that has landed our country here. To say real sex assaults are not treated the same as teenage consensual intercourse, sexting, public urination, mooning, streaking or flashing is reckless. To also claim that cases with an accusation alone or no evidence are not prosecuted is a complete lie. There are many dangerous and sick people out there and they should be the ONLY people convicted, imprisoned and stigmatized as "Sex Offender", but that is NOT what has happened in our country and if you want to bury your head in the sand to the reality of our justice system go ahead, but stop spreading those falsehoods in so-called news articles. Our Story- http://www.rsolvirginia.org/our_story.html Mary RSOL of Virginia Organizer

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Make Sex Offenders Eligible for ¨GOOD TIME¨

By Mary Sue Molnar <marysueintx@yahoo.com> Posted on 10.08.2009 Link to this action item: [0056]

Comments should refer to Action Item No. 0056 and be sent to Mary Sue, marysueintx@yahoo.com, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm. Actions 1. Research and report on HR 1457 in US Congress 2. Research your own state rules on whether or not Sex Offenders are eligilbe for ¨good time.¨ If not, GET BILLS FILED TO DO SO IN EACH STATE. ¨GOOD TIME¨ FOR SEX OFFENDERS Is anyone familiar with HR 1475? i have just been sent a copy of this bill which would allow "good time" to be restored for those incarcerated in Federal prisons. I am really, really interested as my hope is that each individual state will follow suit. Here in texas, those incarcerated for "sex offenses" are not eligible for "good time". Please let me know if anyone has further info on this bill. Thanks, Mary Sue

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URGENT by Aug. 10: US Sent. Comm. Seeks Public Input

By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 03.08.2009 Link to this action item: [0055]

Comments should refer to Action Item No. 0055 and be sent to alexm60@fastmail.fm. RSOL participants are urged to contact the Sentencing Commission with comments, and to seek a position on the Advisory Group. These MUST be made by August 10. ----------------------------------- REQUEST FROM US SENTENCING COMMISSION FOR PUBLIC INPUT, and FOR A VOLUNTEER MEMBER OF THE VICTIMS´ ADVISORY GROUP - APPLY BY AUG. 10! This is from the US Sentencing Commission asking for public input on laws going before Congress regarding SO sentencing - need to act by Aug 10! There is also an opening on the Victims' Advisory Group - apply by Aug 10! http://www.ussc.gov/NOTICE.HTM The link is on the main page in the L column, second down from top - Federal Register Notices. Federal Register notice of proposed priorities and request for public comment: > > > As part of its statutory authority and responsibility to analyze sentencing issues, including operation of the federal > > > sentencing guidelines, and in accordance with Rule 5.2 of its Rules of Practice and Procedure, the United States Sentencing Commission is seeking comment on possible priority policy issues for the amendment cycle ending May 1, 2010. Public comment should be received on or before August 24, 2009. (74 FR 29737) > > > Federal Register notice of request for public comment: On May 1, 2009, the Commission submitted to the > > > Congress amendments to the sentencing guidelines and official > > > commentary, which become effective on November 1, 2009, unless Congress acts to the contrary. Such amendments and the reasons for amendment subsequently were published in the Federal Register. (74 FR 21750, May 8, 2009). One of the amendments, specifically Amendment 7 pertaining to the undue influence enhancement at subsection (b)(2)(B)(ii) of §2A3.2 (Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Minor Under the Age of Sixteen Years > > > (Statutory Rape) or Attempt to Commit Such Acts) and at subsection b)(2)(B) of §2G1.3 (Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with a Minor; Transportation of Minors to Engage in a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct; Travel to Engage in Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with a Minor; Sex Trafficking of Children; Use of Interstate Facilities to Transport Information about a Minor), has the effect of lowering guideline ranges. The Commission requests comment (to be received no later than August 10, 2009) regarding whether that amendment should be included in subsection (c) of §1B1.10 (Reduction in Term of Imprisonment as a Result of Amended Guideline Range (Policy Statement)) as an amendment that may be applied retroactively to previously sentenced defendants. > > > (74 FR 27586). > > > Federal Register notice of period during which > > > individuals may apply to be appointed to the membership of the Victims Advisory Group; request for applications > > > Section 995(a)(1) of title 28, United States Code, > > > authorizes the United States Sentencing Commission to establish general policies and promulgate rules and regulations as necessary for the Commission to carry out the purposes of the Sentencing Reform Act of 1984. The Victims Advisory Group is a standing advisory group of the Commission. The Commission invites any individual who has knowledge, expertise, and/or experience in the area of federal crime victimization to apply no later than August 10, 2009, to be appointed to the membership of the Victims Advisory Group. (74 FR 27586).

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SOSEN Project re homeless Miami S.O.s

By Linda Pehrson <lindape1ster@gmail.com> Posted on 21.06.2009 Link to this action item: [0054]

Refer comments to Action Item No. 0054 and send to Linda Pehrson, lindape1ster@gmail.com, with comments to Alexm60@fastmail.fm. WE CONGRATULATE SOSEN ON THIS EXCELLENT ACTION, and also America`s Reality Check for its program! We urge all RSOL participants to support the SOSEN homlessness project in Miami. SOSEN participants will join the RSOL conference in Boston and report further! Alex Marbury --------------------------------- SOSEN URL - http://sexoffenderresearch.blogspot.com/2009/06/sosen-announcement-of-new-project.html Wednesday, June 17, 2009 SOSEN Announcement of a new project concerning "homelessness" under the Julia Tuttle Causeway 6-17-2009 National: A little background on how this SOSEN announcement was made, important because this is today's way of expressing First Amendment, Freedom of Speech rights which anyone can do. Apparently there is a Internet radio show known as "America's Reality Check" (ARC) which discusses "the TRUTH and not MYTHS of a range of Topics in our nation." ARC has scheduled shows where MC Kevin discusses the topics, and callers call-in to further the discussion. Anyone can participate, the number to call-in is 724-444-7444 use code 29521 to get on the show. (For future shows CLICK There are three expected on this announcement)(Past shows are also archived on the site). Today ARC read an announcement from the SOSEN Board of Directors which indicated the start of a new SOSEN Project: "A Day or days in the lives of sex offenders forced to live under the Julia Tuttle Causeway in Florida." A video yet to be made, but it began today with the LIVE interview of a SOSEN Board of Director member at the Julia Tuttle Causeway in Florida. SOSEN is intending to interview those forced to live there, their families, and also attend the Broward County Task Force meeting (more on that Task Force here), and interviews with Jill Levenson, B.A., M.S.W., Ph.D. (Professor and Researcher of sex offender issues) and Ron Book (Lobbyist), and whatever else is necessary to make this video which will show the cruel and inhumane conditions these folks are forced to live in. These conditions exist because of a LOCAL ineffective cruel and unusual residency ordinance; legalized vengeance! Following tonight's show the folks at "Sex Offender Issues" made a two part YouTube video of what transpired during the LIVE Show

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Know the Opposition - Contact These Folks!

By Bennie <lostjustice@comcast.net> Posted on 15.06.2009 Link to this action item: [0053]

Refer in comments to Action Item 0053 and send to Bennie, at lostjustice@comcast.net ------------------------------------------------ In an email that I sent to Alex, Alain, RSOL group leaders, and to members here in Colorado from my website, Colorado-CURE members, and RSOL group members in Colorado, I spoke of the Surviving Parents Coalition and sent an email with the website of that group. Know Your Oponents is something that we in RSOL, SOSEN, and the CURE groups need to keep in mind. To that end, I signed up on the Surviving Parents Coalition website so I can know what is going on in their efforts. This is something I think all groups should do, but I present it here as only a suggestion. The Surviving Parents Coalition, based in Washington D.C http://www.survivingparentscoalition.org/ Each member of that coalition should be sought out on the Internet for a website that each might have, and we should keep in contact with them in some non threatening way so as not to be blocked, and begin using bits of persuasion from the more skillful thinkers and writers.

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Sample Letter to NC City Councils

By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 11.06.2009 Link to this action item: [0052]

Here is a sample letter, sent by an RSOL participant, for use in lobbying the NC city councils, to seek support to counter the current push for draconian laws in North Carolina. It could be useful in any state. Refer in comments to Action Item 0052 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm - i`ll send the comments to this activist `sex offender.` -------------------------------- Dear City Council Member, Good evening (sir/maam/to whom it may concern), from a registered sex offender in North Carolina. This letter is in reference to the potential of an amendment to be added to Jessica's Law, which would effectively prohibit all sex offenders from being in the city's public parks, rec. centers, etc. Without citing the dozens of studies which show that 1-sex offenders almost never "strike at strangers", and know their victims beforehand, 2-that sex offenders, contrary to popular belief, have a very low recidivism rate, and 3-that, using common sense, creating "buffers" against sex offenders (while excluding convicted drug dealers, pickpockets, muggers, and other dangerous ex-criminals) does not, in fact, prevent any crime, but simply takes away any remaining civil rights, liberties, and positive social activities that an ex-offender may choose to partake in, I ask you to please think long and hard about passing a law that would do more harm than good. By ostracizing ALL "sex offenders", regardless of the severity of their offense, disregarding the time and rehabilitation that has occurred, and creating a blanket policy of "ALL SEX OFFENDERS are EVIL, and MUST BE BRANDED, PUNISHED, AND HUMILIATED for the rest of their natural lives" is both archaic and self-defeating. Do you want to push people into a corner, regardless if they have learned from their mistakes, and are trying to live positive, healthy, productive lives? If a sex offender committed a crime, say, almost a decade ago (as I did..by having a consensual relationship with a teenage girl when I was 20-21), are they really more dangerous than other ex-criminals in a location such as a public park? Is it impossible that they are no longer a threat to society, but simply made a mistake, learned from it, and moved on, never wanting to commit another crime ever again? Should we continue to kick them when they are down, after they have served their sentences, paid their debt, and attempted to integrate themselves back into society, and have normal lives, with their own families? Please use your head as well as your heart, and think twice about not allowing men and women who have made mistakes in their lives to lead normal lives themselves. Enjoying a walk in the park, possibly with their own children, and enjoying healthy activities such as this don't threaten anyone, and allow ex-offenders to lead a healthier, normal life. Taking away all of their freedoms, one by one, retroactively, after they have paid their debt, will do more harm than good. How can someone pushed into the corner again and again lead a normal life, and be expected to do well? I thank you for your time, and please know, not everyone who made a mistake, perhaps many, many years ago, is an "evil" person, "looking for the next victim". Some of us just want to live, and live well.

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Contact N.C. Governor and Legislature!

By Chris & Linda <rsolnc@gmail.com, lcanada777@aol.com> Posted on 09.06.2009 Link to this action item: [0051]

Refer in comments to Action Item No. 0051. WE URGE ALL IN NORTH CAROLINA TO CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS AND THE GOVERNOR TO BLOCK PASSAGE OF THIS LAW. NOTE - THE EMAILS OF ALL THE NC LEGISLATORS ARE ATTACHED BELOW. PLEASE WRITE THEM ALL AND URGE THIS LAW`S DEFEAT! Thanks to Adam for sending his letter to us, and to our NC contacts Chris and Linda. We will send him your comments - send your comments to them at --------------------- LETTER TO THE GOVERNOR, ATTY GEN AND STATE LEGISLATORS OF NORTH CAROLINA I appreciate your time you are taking to read this email. Naturally, being on the NC registry, I pay very close attention to the possible law and registration changes, and obviously, the new law that Gov. Perdue is attempting to pass is quite disturbing. I am referring to H1317. Some descriptions of the new possible law can be found here: http://www.citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090515/NEWS01/905150325 http://www.ncleg.net/Sessions/2009/Bills/House/PDF/H1317v2.pdf I am on the registry in NC for having a consensual relationship with a teenage girl when I was 20-21 years old. This happened 9, almost 10 years ago. I have never been in trouble before, nor after this. I took a plea in court after being scared witless by the D.A. and the local PD, threatening me with 25 years in prison. If I had known that every couple of years or so, the state would be applying retroactive restrictions on me, in violation of my constitutional rights, I would have never taken the plea, and would have taken my chances in court. Every couple of years, new restrictions are somehow being applied to thousands of registered offenders in NC, and it has gotten to the point where I am certain people will undoubtedly be forced into rash action. I'm assuming the belief by the governor is that no matter how long ago an ex-offender's crimes were, no matter if they have re-habilitated or not, they are to continue suffering and being punished, again and again? I've had hard time finding employment, my car has been vandalized, this has cost me friendships and relationships..and with bill H1317, now I won't be able to work out at a gym or health club, go see a movie (the only thing I do for fun, really), go to the State Fair...why? I don't understand. Why don't they make anyone who has ever shoplifted never be allowed to enter a retail store again? Or how about a drunk driver...they shouldn't be allowed to drive or drink in a bar or shop in a liquor store any more. I mean, I had ONE underage girlfriend...a stupid, stupid mistake, but one I LEARNED from and never made again. But people who repeatedly offend with MUCH more dangerous to society crimes...drinking and driving, selling drugs, breaking and entering, assault and battery...they are convicted, multiple times, and after they are "free", they are FREE, never to be persecuted again. Am I so much worse than them? I am not trying to shed my fault or guilt from my crime. I feel bad for what I did, and accepted the consequences. I did my jail time, went through probation without flaw or error, did my community service faster than anyone else, paid my restitituion, and NEVER got in trouble again. Now, I work 60 hrs. a week, and KEEP TO MYSELF. I only wish to be left in peace. THAT'S IT. What's next? That when I see a person under the age of 18, I have to turn 180 degrees, and run, screaming, at the top of my lungs, in the opposite direction? How about a tattoo on my forehead? Maybe they can just put all of us in a penal colony, or a cave. I don't know what to do. Please contact me if there is anything that I can do, LEGALLY, that could possibly combat this situation effectively, and help me protect my rights as a human being. Thank you for your time. If this bill/new law is passed, this is going to affect, literally, tens of thousands of people in NC..all of the sex offenders, and their entire families. Please let me know if there is anything I can be doing other than running my mouth and feeling like a trapped animal to better my situation...or if you truly believe I am a huge danger to society that should be brandished as a fiend for the rest of my life. --------------- NORTH CAROLINA LEGISLATOR EMAIL LIST Speaker Joe Hackney > Joe.Hackney@ncleg.net > > Senate Judiciary Committee I members > RC.Soles@ncleg.net > Martin.Nesbitt@ncleg.net > Daniel.Clodfelter@ncleg.net > Peter.Brunstetter@ncleg.net > Josh.Stein@ncleg.net > Charlie.Albertson@ncleg.net > Phil.Berger@ncleg.net > Dan.Blue@ncleg.net > Ellie.Kinnaird@ncleg.net > Floyd.McKissick@ncleg.net > David.Rouzer@ncleg.net > Andrew.Brock@ncleg.net > Harry.Brown@ncleg.net > Debbie.Clary@ncleg.net > Malcolm.Graham@ncleg.net > David.Hoyle@ncleg.net > Clark.Jenkins@ncleg.net > Tony.Rand@ncleg.net > Richard.Stevens@ncleg.net > Jerry.Tillman@ncleg.net > > House Judiciary II Committee members and House Bill 1317 sponsors > Martha.Alexander@ncleg.net > Hugh.Blackwell@ncleg.net > Alice.Bordsen@ncleg.net > Justin.Burr@ncleg.net > Jean.Farmer-Butterfield@ncleg.net > Jim.Crawford@ncleg.net > Dale.Folwell@ncleg.net > Rick.Glazier@ncleg.net > Bruce.Goforth@ncleg.net > Pat.Hurley@ncleg.net > Verla.Insko@ncleg.net > Julia.Howard@ncleg.net > Darren.Jackson@ncleg.net > Linda.Johnson2@ncleg.net > Earl.Jones@ncleg.net > Tim.Moore@ncleg.net > Earline.Parmon@ncleg.net > Jimmy.Love@ncleg.net > Marvin.Lucas@ncleg.net > Johnathan.Rhyne@ncleg.net > Tim.Spear@ncleg.net > Cullie.Tarleton@ncleg.net > Ray.Warren@ncleg.net > Jennifer.Weiss@ncleg.net > Michael.Wray@ncleg.net

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Tex. Atty Gen Brags About S.O. Arrests

By posted by Helga Dill, TX CURE <dill.c@tx.rr.com> Posted on 07.06.2009 Link to this action item: [0050]

Texas CURE sends this press release from Texas Atty. Gen. Gregg Abbott about his marvelous campaign to arrest 1000 `fugitive child sex offenders.` Only problem is, many of these are minors having consensual sex with other minors, and some are false charge cases. We urge all Texas folks to contact their legislators, and all RSOL participants to send a protest email to Atty. Gen. Abbott at his email address (or see tel. and mailing address further down): webmaster@oag.state.tx.us WHEN commenting on this Action item, refer to Action Item 0050, and to respond or comment, contact Helga Dill, dill.c@tx.rr.com --------------------------------- Law Enforcement Update Fugitive Unit Tallies 1,000th Child Sex Offender Arrest Young Texans are literally the future of this great state. As law enforcement officers, we must do all we can to protect children. When it comes to convicted sex offenders who have been release and are back on the streets, we must be especially vigilant. There are far too many stories about sexual predators who get out of prison, only to strike again. These previously convicted offenders have already proven they are a threat to innocent children. So, it is critically important that law enforcement closely monitor these offenders – and react swiftly if they violate the terms of their release. To help crack down on sexual predators, I established a Fugitive Unit that locates and arrests sex offenders who either fail to register with local authorities or violate their parole conditions. With the arrest of our 1,000th child sex offender last month, we reached an important milestone. Fugitive Unit officers arrested John Charles Dickerson, 46, for violating his parole after he reported to work in Houston without all of his mandatory monitoring equipment. In 1989, Dickerson was convicted of indecency with a child by exposure in Nueces County. His victims were four young children whose ages ranged from 8 to 11 years old. Importantly, these 1,000 arrests would not have been possible without the close cooperation with police departments, sheriff’s offices and other law enforcement agencies across Texas. That collaboration has been crucial to our successes – especially considering the fact that the Fugitive Unit had only five staff members when we created it in 2003. In 2007, the Texas Legislature authorized additional funding that allowed the OAG to expand the Unit. With this funding, we established regional offices in the greater Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth areas, which allowed us to respond more quickly and effectively to protect children. Since opening the Houston office in 2007 and the Fort Worth office in 2008, these regional offices have improved our ability to protect Texas children. Thanks to coordinated efforts with local law enforcement, Fugitive Unit arrests increased more than 130 percent. The Fugitive Unit’s efforts are complemented by our Cyber Crimes Unity, which cracks down on child pornographers and sexual predators who use the Internet to prey upon children. To date the Cyber Crimes Unit has arrested more than 100 child predators. Just as we partner with local law enforcement to crack down on criminals, we also partner with legislators to help ensure the law stays up with criminals. To adequately protect our fellow Texans, law enforcement must have the right legal tools. State Sen. Florence Shapiro and state Rep. Aaron Peña authored a law that would update state sex offender registration laws. If enacted, their legislation would require convicted sex offenders to provide their e-mail addresses, mobile telephone numbers, social networking aliases and other electronic identification information to the Department of Public Safety’s sex offender registry. With access to this information, law enforcement can help ensure that offenders are complying with their parole requirements and make the Lone Star State safer for young Texans. To learn more about our efforts to crack down on sex offenders, visit our Web site at www.texasattorneygeneral.gov. --------------------------------------------------------------------- You have received this e-mail from the Office of the Attorney General because you have subscribed to this topic on our website. We do not sell our subscriber list to anyone, and do not acquire lists from third parties; we only send to persons who have subscribed themselves via our website. You may unsubscribe from this list, review your subscriptions, or change your e-mail address on file, by logging into this page (your e-mail address is your user-id). You may also call (800-252-8011) or write: P.O. Box 12548, Austin, TX 78711-2548. We hope that you find this system useful. Please send any concerns or comments you may have to: webmaster@oag.state.tx.us

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Demand Recovery Houses Admit S.O.S!

By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 16.05.2009 Link to this action item: [0049]

Refer in comments to Action Item No. 0049, and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm. I´ll forward to this Massachusetts mom who is fighting against recovery house discrimination! --------------- DEMAND THAT RECOVERY HOUSES ADMIT SEX OFFENDERS! All over the US, alcohol and drug rehabilitation recovery houses and half-way houes are often denying admission to sex offenders - sometimes in violation of their own rules, and sometimes under orders from the state´s sex offender registry. This is a scandal! We urge ALL RSOL participants to call or write every aa and na recovery house in your area and inquire about their policies, demanding that they allow s.o.s! Let us know your results. Alex --------------- FROM AN ANGRY MASSACHUSETTS MOM! my son was in jail for a violation of probation (dirty urine). His real issue was addiction. I personally wrote at least 45 of the recovery houses in Mass. Only two people responded back out of all of them. I was gratefully to the two fellows that responded, and although they saw the great need for registered SO to be allowed into recovery houses, their hands were tied. At least they responded. I have an alchol addiction, and if it wasn't for the foundation I found in a recovery house, I would most likely be dead. The fact alone that recovery houses deny anyone with a desire to stop using, is against the law. Period. These house receive state funding, and that needs to be looked at. My son is out of jail now and has used already. He wanted to get into a recovery house a couple of years ago. As to whether he will be able to stay sober on his own is a question i can't answer. These addicts are up against a wall. They use to forget. However society does not let them forget. They have discriminated against them for years now. I am horrified at just how uneducated people in society are. how badly relatives and children of the SO also suffer due to the laws.

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Lynn Mass City Council Seeks to Block S.O. Halfway Houses

By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 14.05.2009 Link to this action item: [0048]

Refer in comments to Action Item 0048 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm. See also associated News Item.00136. LYNN MA. CITY COUCIL PROPOSES BANNING ALL S.O. HOUSING IN THE CITY We urge all RSOL participants (especially those in Massachusetts) to write or call the Lynn, Massachusetts, City Council, and it´s President, Timothy Phelan, to urgently protest the stupidity and prejudice of recent proposals from the Council to oppose a church-sponsored half-way house for ¨sex offenders.¨ We also urge people to contact the church, Life Point Church in Lynn, to offer support for their effort. RSOL dose NOT endorse any religion, but we do support all religions as they seek to help ¨sex offenders¨ re-enter society or as they work to reform the unjust laws.

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IOWA AWA Compliance Bill About to Pass

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 24.04.2009 Link to this action item: [0047]

Comments should refer to Action Item No. 0047, and people should contact Kyle, the Iowa contact person, iowa.csor@gmail.com, as well as me (Alex Marbury). ----------------------------- Iowa folks, contact your Iowa State Rep and Sen and make your anger known about this last minute hearing with no real input from those affected, and urge defeat of the bills in both houses! Contact Kyle Payne, iowa.csor@gmail.com, the Iowa state RSOL contact person, for further information. IOWA STATE LEGISLATURE ACTION Public hearing held at the last minute (sent by an Iowa RSOL member) Senate File 340/House File 711. (No name on either bill, other than Adam Walsh Act Summary). The Public hearing was held on Monday, April 20, 2009 from 6:30-8:30p.m. at the Iowa State Capital. This bill takes all of the current sex crimes that define the offender as a sex offender and classifies them into one of three tiers. Tier one offenders must update their information every year. Tier 2 offenders must update their information every six months. Tier 3 offenders must update their information every three months. This bill will also create exclusionary zones around public or nonpublic elementary or secondary schools, daycare centers, playgrounds, city, county or state fairs or carnivals, public libraries, swimming pools,playgrounds, public parks & campgrounds, arcade or facilites providing programs or services intended primarily for minors. This bill "may" remove some offenders from the 2000 ft. rule, such as those who have committed incest. Some present scolded lawmakers for waiting until what could be the last week of the session to seek public feedback. As of this posting, many details about how the legislation would work with individual offenders was still unknown.

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HOLD D.A.´S PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE

By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 05.04.2009 Link to this action item: [0045]

Comments should refer to Action Item No. 0045 and be sent to me at the above email address, and I´ll pass them along to the person who has this idea. Alex Marbury --------------- The only option is to HOLD THE DISTRICT ATTOURNEYS PERSONALLY RESPONSIBLE ! Someone PLEASE start a website with the name,address,and phone number of every one who has participated in this witch hunt. Then let the rest of us spread the word and have everyone we can contact THEM AND THEIR FAMALIES AND FRIENDS, and expose them to public humiliation for THEIR CRIMES ! I am not smart enough to do this myself, but i am willing to help as much as i can. Please someone contact me about this!

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Contact Army & Navy about S.O. Discrimination

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 05.04.2009 Link to this action item: [0044]

Refer in comments to Action Item No. 0044, and send to me at the above email address. Alex. ----------- THIS LETTER was sent by RSOL Virginia contacts, John and Mary (rsolvirginia@comcast.net) to the Sec. of the Navy. We urge all RSOL participants to contact both the army and navy about these discriminatory policies. For information, see the url: http://www.military.com/news/article/marine-corps-news/zero-tolerance-for-sex-offenders.html John and Mary recommend that you write members of the Armed Services Committee of the US Congress http://armed-services.senate.gov/members.htm As well, as write to Sec. of the Navy Donald Winter, 1000 Navy Pentagon, Washington, DC 20350-1000 and Secretary of Defense, Dept of Defense, Army 1400 Pentagon, Washington, DC 20350-1000 --------------------- (Letter from John and Mary, RSOL Virginia) Dear Secretary of the Navy Donald Winter, We've recently learned of the intent to remove all privileges previously earned by service members based on a conviction for a sexual offense, regardless of the circumstances. SEE: February 6, Military.Com article, ¨Zero Tolerance for Sex Offenders¨ and March 9, Navy Times.Com, ¨New Policy Bars Sex Offenders from Navy Housing.¨ We are surprised and disappointed that military leadership would bow to the popular sentiment regarding this issue when it comes to protecting its own. We at RSOL of Virginia feel this is not the stance that our military leadership should take. It is well documented despite what the media and local governments would have you believe that the Sex Offender Registry are listing citizens who should have never been labeled a ¨sex offender¨; and the registry has become a useless tool in identifying a true threat from a non-threat. I am personally listed as a ¨sex offender¨ because of an angry child who wanted to save her fourteen year old dog from being put down. In America today an accusation alone is sufficient to convict, imprison and stigmatize someone as a ¨sex offender¨ when there is a sexual claim. Teenagers who engage in consensual sex & text naughty photos are also labeled as sex offenders. In some states urinating outside, flashing, streaking and mooning will also land a person on the sex offender registry. Certainly I cannot be the only person on the registry wrongly convicted so this casts a doubt on the entire system in regards to whom and how one lands on this registry. Even if you were to cast aside the question of innocence the fact remains that the benefits and honors our government wants to strip from those who served our country with valor and honor had earned these benefits prior to whatever crime they were convicted of. If you are to go forward with this ruling should you not include any and all servicemen who have broken any law after they had left the military? Should we not include any and all persons who have demonstrated less than honorable actions and behaviors? One could easily argue that we should, but this would have to include persons who have had affairs or been ungentlemanly towards their wives. Essentially this would preclude a large quantity of our servicemen. The bottom line on this is that a person´s action later in life do not and should not diminish his or her accomplishments of the past. How is it that you can so easily dismiss the good in someone due to a mistake or crime committed later in life? In some cases the register-able crime is a result of mental illness or post-traumatic stress. Please recall that our country sadly has a history of returning our military heroes to society with mental issues. To some extent we might be punishing our servicemen and women for problems that their service induced and then they were offered no care. I served in Desert Storm and personally do not intend to ever ask for nor take advantage of the benefits I earned during my time in the Navy. But many U.S veterans will and it is extremely wrong to vindictively take away those benefits that had been earned by respectable service for our country based on something that had no relevance to the sacrifices made during the individual´s active time serving our country. Please do not proceed with the ban of registered sex offenders in military housing, in commissaries and exchanges and the removal of their burial rights (Bill-HR 731). John and Mary RSOL of Virginia Organizers

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Follow Texas Voices - Raise Hell where you live!

By posted for Mary Sue Molnar <marysueintx@yahoo.com> Posted on 27.03.2009 Link to this action item: [0042]

Refer to Action Item 0042, and send to Mary Sue, and a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm. Also being posted as a news item because of it´s importance. MARY SUE AND TEXAS VOICES: Keep giving them hell!!!!!! RSOL folks - please watch this tv clip and emulate Texas Voices! Alex -------------------- This was shown on Chanell 12, KSAT, in Texas the week of March 22. Go to URL: http://www.ksat.com/video/19008568/index.html

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Send Stories About Powerful People Accused of Sex Offenses

By Tonia <toniat@sbcglobal.net> Posted on 21.03.2009 Link to this action item: [0041]

Comments should refer to Action Item No. 0041 and be sent to Tonia at the above address, with copies to alexm60@fastmail.fm ------------------ Tonia will present a flyer and a presentation at a civil liberties meeting in Alton, Illinois, Thursday, March 26, in the evening. She is especially interested in stories of powerful people or celebrities accused of sex offenses and how they have been treated differently from ordinary folk. If you have such stories, or want to attend the meeting, contact Tonia for further information at her email address above, or see her website: www.love-is-not-a-crime.com

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AWA Lobby Coalition Formed

By Mary Duval <rickysmom@rickyslife.com> Posted on 21.03.2009 Link to this action item: [0040]

Comments should refer to Action Item No. 0040 and be sent to Mary at the above address, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm ---------------------------- On Sunday, March 16, 2009 many of us came together to discuss the Adam Walsh Child Protection Act hearing last week in Washington D.C., via conference call. We all realize the importance of this hearing and the significance of many areas Congressman bobby Scott brought forth during the question and answer time. So, hence the Washington Coalition is being formed by a group of Advocates to work together on several AWA issues so we can send Representatives to Washington D.C. to hopefully Guest Speak and bring to light the collateral damage of this federal law. Below you will find a link to the forum titled the Washington Coalition. Please go there and register with a username and password of your choice.(This forum is secure and for members only) http://www.cfcoklahoma.org/forum If you have any questions please feel free to contact me for further assistance. Mary Duval Email: rickysmom@rickyslife.com 918-575-7318

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GIVE A LITTLE CASH TO RSOL

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 17.03.2009 Link to this action item: [0039]

Comments should be sent to the above email address. Cash should be sent as indicated to Paul Shannon! ---------------------------------- RSOL (www.reformsexoffenderlaws.org)has never been a fund-raising group. We have asked for very limited funds for our stand-alone support hotline. Because we do not believe it helpful to involve RSOL in the time-consuming and privacy-invading bureaucracy, we do NOT have a tax exempt status! RSOL needs LIMITED funds for specific issues: About $1000 needed now. 1. The Hotline 800 number needs ongoing funding. All hotline volunteers are just that, and there are no other expenses. This provides a very helpful support line for those who write RSOL asking for legal, mental health or simply social support. Many of these people are in great need or pain, but RSOL itself is NOT a support group, working instead to reform the laws. The HOTLINE could use another $500. 2. RSOL basic maintenance, mainly paying the monthly and yearly fees for the main website, for a couple of linked sites, and email addresses, also needs about $500. Up until now, one person has been paying for all of this, but as RSOL grows, the costs increase and we need to share the burden. WE ASK RSOL PARTICIPANTS AND SUPPORTERS -- Send small checks of $5 to $50, not tax exempt, marked ¨for hotline¨ or ¨general expenses,¨ or ¨either hotline or general expenses.¨ They should be made payable to Paul Shannon (a well-known and respected peace educator), and sent to him c/o Indochina Newsletter, 2161 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02140. WE NEED A LITTLE HELP NOW! Please do this soon.

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Laurie´s Ideas on Lobbying US Congress

By Laurie Peterson <laurie.peterson@compucom.com> Posted on 14.03.2009 Link to this action item: [0038]

Comments should include reference to Action Item 0038 and be sent to Laurie at her address above, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm ------------ Where to submit testimony for the record always depends on where the bill is being heard. In this case, it was being heard in the subcommittee on Crime Terrorism and Homeland security and they have staff attorney's who are responsible for making sure information from the public gets into the written record. With regard to subcommittee hearings, you are never allowed to speak in subcommitte for the public record unless you are invited to speak. This invitation must come from Congress. They try to keep the list short, in the interests of time, and once a bill is in subcommittee, the general public hearings on the issue have already taken place. IN this situation, I was able to hunt down the person I needed to speak to with regard to submitting testimony for the record through the chairman of the committee's staff (Rep Scott). They pointed me to Karen Wilkinson and she asked that I send her the info directly and she would make sure it was included for the record, which she did. But she will not always be the point of contact person depending on what stage the bill is at. It will take some work to determine who is the contact for each stage of a bill through the House and Senate, and this is work I am willing to do if someone else is willing to stay on top of these bills/laws having a hearing in Washington. Once we know there is an opportunity, I will find out who we need to get written testimony to for the public record. Those that can attend in person should still send their testimony for the written record. If it is the first public hearing on a bill, anyone can speak without being invited and this is really the optimal time to be heard. I don't know that there are any opportunities such as that in the near future. As a side note here... Testimony about a laws affect on your family or you can be sent to ALL memebers of the Judiciary in the House and Senate ANYTIME. It's an information letter that lets them know the unintended consequences. Laurie Peterson

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March 10 Congr. Hearing: Laurie´s Final Report

By Laurie Peterson <laurie.peterson@compucom.com> Posted on 13.03.2009 Link to this action item: [0037]

Comments should refer to Action Item No. 0037 and be sent to Laurie at the above address, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm. This is an historical event - our own RSOL reporter covering this important hearing. A start in the right direction.. SEE COMMENTS FROM CONSTITUTIONALFIGHTS (Ohio) and responses from Laurie at the bottom of her report. ------------------------------------------------------ A REPORT ON THE MARCH 10, 2009, HEARING ON THE ADAM WALSH ACT AND SORNA BEFORE THE U.S. JUDICIARY SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, TERROR AND HOMELAND SECURITY Laurie Peterson I arrived in DC at approximately 11:00am. I located the correct building and began my search there. I had lunch in the Rayburn building cafeteria and decided to personally visit as many subcommittee members as I could and hand over my testimony to their staff directly, with a request that this be placed near the top of their file for the hearing. I advised that it was personal, the legislation affected my family deeply and that I would appreciate the opportunity to meet with the Congressperson before the hearing (if possible) and if not, I advised that I would be attending the meeting and hoped to speak with the Congressperson after. The staff were mostly helpful… Some Congressmen had their main doors closed, so a quick knock and a turn of the knob were necessary. Others had their doors wide open and I just walked right in like I belonged there. The Rayburn building connect by underground passage to the other 2 Capitol buildings Longworth and Cannon. It's best to use the underground route so that you do not need to go through security again and again. I contacted Mary from RSOL-VA about 20 minutes before the meeting was to start and made my way over to the hearing room. After taking a seat next to Mary (in the 2nd row!) I approached Mark Lunsford. I indicated that my husband was on the registry for life for a teenage consensual offense, much like his son would have faced if it were not for Mark's intervention. Mark indicated that his son served 10 days, but did still plea to a felony. He said that he advised OH prosecutors that he would expose every sex offense case where they gave a lenient sentence to a true sex offender if they treated his son like one of those predators. And so, his son avoided registration. Let's be clear though, this is a good thing. No young man should be registering for situations such as these, and it could be argued that no person should be registered for any consensual/non-forcible offense that is not indicative of coercive or predatory behavior toward teens. I told him that I did not begrudge him his advocacy, that I was not sure I could live a life without any of my children if they had met the fate of Jessica. He said he understood the teenage issue and that he 'did not believe those Romeo and Juliet type situations should be registered'. I handed him a copy of my personal testimony, which included my contact numbers and asked him to call me after the hearing sometime so that we could talk with less time constraints. He said that he would and I hope he does. We were interrupted at this point and I walked away to wait for the hearing to start. The meeting started late, at approx 2:20pm. I took 16 pages of scrawled notes, and the live feed of the hearing probably does better justice to what actually was said than my hastily scrawled notes. At the start of the hearing, Congressmen Scott, Smith, Gumhert and Poe were in attendance, as well as Commissioner Pierluisi. 2 Staff Attorney's were present, as well as several aides. The witness table was assembled, with Laura Rodgers (SMART office) in the first slot, Emma Devillier, Assistant Attorney General of Louisiana in the 2nd slot, Madeline Carter from CSOM in the 3rd position, Ernie Allen in from Missing Kids in the 4th position, Mark Lunsford 5th, Det Shilling from Seattle PD in the 6th position, and Amy Borror of the Ohio Public Defender's office speaking last. The members of the subcommittee were allowed their input first and then the witnesses followed. Because there is a live feed of the hearing, I will not enter all of my notes, but will try to hit the highlights: * No State to date is certified as SORNA compliant. Out of 50, 38 have submitted their changes for review to the SMART office. 23 have requested and received 1 year extensions (according to Ernie Allen). * The Act was not properly funded at it's outset.… 2008 Byrne grant allotments totaled 374 million for all the States, and in 2009 that amount has increased to 2.225 billion, however even with the increase, no State is compliant. * The SMART office issued the guidelines for SORNA/AWA in June of 2008, almost 2 years after the law passed and within only 1 year to go before compliance was expected (July 2009). The 2 year delay was caused by the SMART office not having any staff/funding for staff and was comprised of 1 person (yes 1) who was tasked with completing the guidelines. That person was Laura Rodgers. * Asst AG from Louisiana indicated her major concerns with the law (which are reflective of the concerns in other States) are as follows: 1) Registration ASSUMES conviction. If she cannot convict someone, they will not register, even if they are a threat. This becomes a problem when defendants will not settle the case with a plea bargain because of mandatory 25yr to life registration required by AWA on a public list. It is a problem for the child victim in that they would need to testify in court and potentially relive the trauma of their abuse. AWA allows no flexibility in registration for such cases because it is based solely on the age of the child victim and not the underlying facts of the case. 2) The Adam Walsh Act defines compliance as substantial. However the guidelines indicate that States must be in strict or actual compliance. This means that there is no flexibility to do what is right in the eyes of the State based on the individual case and may not impose less registration than what AWA calls for. States can only exceed the minimums outlined in the Act, not fall short, even where appropriate. 3) In LA, retroactive application of the AWA is a problem. The guidelines indicate that anyone not currently registered after the first sweep under Wetterling could be subject to registration if and when they enter the criminal justice system again for any new crime (even if it is not a sex offense) if they had a past sex offense conviction on record. LA had a practice up until 1999 that allowed an offender in a sex case to waive registration as part of a plea and those offenders would have their plea agreements violated directly. The Courts in LA have already ruled that the defendants in such situations could vacate their original pleas if this happened, which could cause huge problems in prosecuting the original cases again. Her best comments regarding the AWA were: "The Devil is in the details", "SORNA did not get it right". * There was a promising amount of discussion on risk assessment, evidence based practice and the fact that registration does NOT prevent sexual abuse. Most notably Ernie Allen made the mistake of saying "Registration is not about prevention, it's about regulation". I call this a mistake because this is where Ernie Allen exposed, in my opinion, the futility and emptiness of the registry. Such an intrusion by the government into the lives of former offenders is only justified if there is an overwhelming and justifiable public safety concern… and in the case of registration laws that concern was mounted under the premise that sex offenders were habitual recidivists that must be controlled and managed in order to PREVENT further victimization… alas Ernie Allen has called a spade a spade without realizing it. * Det Shilling stressed that education was KEY to prevention, that risk assessment and allocating law enforcement resources to the highest risk offenders was essential. He quoted a study from 2004 from Harris and Hanson that followed released sex offenders for 15 years and noted that 73% of offenders were NOT convicted of another sex offense after those 15 years. He also raised serious concerns about the reclassification under SORNA/AWA that will elevate many more offenses to a tier 3 status, causing erroneous panic in the public. *Amy Borror put facts to Det Shillings statement on the reclassification of offenders by advising that prior to OH's version of AWA, only 18% of the registered offenders were considered high risk. But after SB10 (OH's AWA) a total of 54% of registered offenders would be redesignated as tier 3 with the public assumption that they were all high risk. It should also be noted that 2 other Congressmen/women entered during the hearing Congresswoman Jackson-Lee of TX (there for perhaps 30-40 min at most) and Congressman Rooney attended briefly. Congressman Smith was in attendance (not as part of the subcommittee members) but only to insert his testimony/opinion for the record. He left not long after the hearing started. Commissioner Pierluisi attended a good part of the hearing, but left and returned several times until he finally left around 4pm for good. The hearing concluded at approx 4:48pm. More importantly for me, what was often lost in the discussion was that SORNA/AWA is an empty law altogether unless the States feed information into the national registry. So whatever the State decides is criminal and convicts is potentially a registerable offense. If a State registers an offense that is not required to be registered by SORNA, or registers an offense longer than the required amount of time under SORNA, then SORNA still applies insofar as an offender being listed on the national registry and being subject to the requirements of the Act because the State has listed that person under the umbrella of SORNA. Many of the questions asked to Laura Rodgers of the SMART office were to clarify if certain realties that you and I know to be true were indeed registerable under SORNA. Her response to many of these questions was that they were not required to be registered under SORNA. This may be true under SORNA, but SORNA sweeps up all State registration laws and practice into the national list and many who should not be registered under SORNA at all are still being required to register by the State, which again, I REPEAT, makes SORNA apply to them. Regardless of what Laura Rodgers knows SORNA applies to as a matter of Federal law, she forgets that it applies to anyone registered by the State and that SORNA would be empty if not for the State registries, thus making SORNA apply far more broadly than it was written or intended. To sum the above paragraph up: Registration under SORNA/AWA hinges on State conviction and registration laws, whatever they may be. * The entire board was asked if they thought consensual type offenses should be included on the registry to which everyone answered "NO". This brought tears to my eyes…. So many young lives ruined by these laws and finally some acknowledgement of that plight. Congressman Poe indicated that Congress needed to evaluate this dilemma and also stated that a 4 year difference with regard to consensual offenses was completely arbitrary. (this we've known for quite some time… ) The re-occuring themes throughout were some of the old standby's, namely protect the children at all costs, that sex offenders are re-offending at high rates, but more importantly some new themes emerged as a whole. That evidence based practices are best, that re-offense rates are lower than that of other crimes (however one could argue that the impact of sex abuse mitigates lowered reoffense rates), that registration does not prevent sex crime, that there are deep flaws that go beyond funding in the text and guidelines of the AWA, that not all registered offenders are high risk or the same. After the meeting adjourned, Mary and I hit the floor to speak with the subcommittee members still remaining (Scott, Gumhert, & Poe). I had a wonderful conversation with both Poe and Gumhert regarding teenage offenses and the plight of my husband and so many others like him and they both asked me to contact them for follow up (and I will). I talked with Nicole Pittman and Emma Devillier. Nicole gave me her business card and I gave her my testimony and contact information. I certainly will keep her card handy and try to network with her to find out what is next at the Federal level and how we can become better involved. Anything I learn will be passed on to the group for participation. I spoke with Congressman Scott who has an impressive understanding of the issues and the shortcomings of registration law as a whole, the unintended consequences and the climate in which we must deal with these issues politically. I approached Mark Lunsford again about a comment I heard him make during his testimony that sounded as if he suggested that it was ok for the wrong person to register if it meant saving the life of child. I wanted him to know that it was most certainly NOT ok, that my husband had lost his dignity and self worth because of wrongful registration and that it would NEVER be ok to register someone as a 'small sacrifice' for the greater good of potentially saving one child. He indicated that he did not believe that he had said something to that effect and that he did not mean for that to be my understanding. I know that others around me heard the same thing… Mary and I offered our services to him to the extent that we were committed to protecting children from sexual abuse, but that we simultaneously would be fighting to remove our loved ones from wrongful registration. My parting words to him were in reference to his tie, faces of his daughter all over the tie he was wearing and I said simply "She's beautiful". And she is… that little girl did not deserve to die and this man does not deserve his pain any more than we deserve our pain. I asked him again to call me as there are many things I'd like to talk to him about, but this was not the time or place. Time will tell. Just before leaving, I grabbed a spare copy of John Walsh's written testimony for the record. I will scan this and send it, most likely in a separate email. I can sum it up: it didn’t say more than any of us expected. We must protect the children, the Act must be funded. What I've learned from my first federal legislative experience: While things are more formal, they run mostly the same. The major difference between the States and the Feds is that everyone on Capitol Hill has staffers and these people run the show. You will very rarely catch a Congressman without a pre-set appointment either on the phone or in the office. Mary had a fantastic idea and had a notebook with everyone's picture and name pasted into it that she could use to spot the right people. It is worth it's weight in gold. Even though they are required, they don't always wear their identification. Also don't let staffers discourage you with questions such as "are you a constituent or have you talked to your own Congressman?" Politely but firmly tell them that your Congressmen are not part of the Judiciary committee and thus do not understand the issues involved as well as Congressman (fill in the name) . We must all begin to send our personal injustices in a letter, no more than a page and half tops, to each member of the Judiciary committees in the House and Senate. These people need to hear about our pain, about the collateral damage and the unintended consequences of these laws. They, like anyone, love a good story. SO GIVE THEM YOUR STORIES! They used Mike's age and his partner's age in their line of questioning during the hearing.. 19 and 15… THEY READ my testimony. There does not have to be a bill in congress for you to do this…. Send your story to them because they are on these committees and you want them to be aware of the issues you face. The best letters are direct and to the point. Follow this format .. It's the one I use with the most success. Tell them why you are writing/who you are. Tell them the problem you are facing and close by telling them what you want them to do to fix it. We must all encourage each other and our state members to do this immediately. State members may want to send letters as individuals, State contacts may want to send a letter acknowledging that they have started a State group for support and advocacy to address the issues, collateral damage and pain that families of RSO's and RSO's themselves are facing. To the best of our ability, we must try to follow federal legislation or any hearings that may be called regarding sex offender issues in order to show up/be a presence (whether in person or through testimony for the record). There is a point of contact for each committee/subcommittee who is responsible for collecting and submitting written testimony to the public record, so we'll have to identify this person each time and make sure that we get our voices on the official record of the hearing. Best practice is to send a statement letter that addresses the needs of the hearing, the problems/concerns and personal impact each time there is legislation, follow up with phone brief phone calls to staff and email your testimony to Reps/Senators directly, then send the person in charge of admitting testimony for the written record a copy of your testimony as well. This way, with any luck, the staffers told the Rep that there were calls, the Rep received your testimony personally in email (if there is enough time, you can try snail mail as well) AND most importantly your testimony goes into the record itself instead of getting lost on a staffers sticky note or deleted in a Rep's email box. I think this sums it up…… if I've missed anything or anyone has questions, please feel free to ask. I'll try to respond in a timely manner, but I'm quite a bit behind myself this week with everything going on. Thank you, Laurie Peterson Wk: 603-641-0423 Mb: 603-557-7991 ---------------- COMMENTS (from Mark of Constitutionalfights@yahoo.com - Ohio RSOL Affiliated state group, and responses from Laurie) Laurie, I wish to thank you for representing us all at the hearing on March 10th. After reading your overview it is apparent that you represented the several thousands of sex offenders and their families well, so we are grateful for your time and hard work.. Just a few short notes: One, Mr Lundsford did indeed state that he feels it to be acceptable for some to be on the register who shouldnt, rather than to see another child die. Of course this is a non-sequitur with no relation of one thing to the other, but more importantly it demonstrates his bias at the cost of constitutional rights of others. Second, Congressman Poe came off sounding very nazi-like in his bias. One would assume that members of the Judicairy Subcommittee on Crime would be of character to come into these hearings open to both sides of an issue, but it was clear that Mr. Poe has a common hatred of those "nasty sex offeneders". Lastly, from your physical presence, did you get any better sense than we viewers did for what may come next , or for a time frame in which Congress might address this legislation? Or did you sense that they got too stuck on the issue of extending the time frame for compliance over anything else? I meant to include a thought or two on this... because after all the purpose of the hearing was not the flaws of registration, but rather whether or not AWA deadline for compliance should be extended. (Laurie )My sense from the discussion was that they are 50/50 on delaying the deadline. After all, States do have 2 1-yr extensions they can request and that in essence extends compliance to 2011. There were mixed feelings on delaying compliance and the logic behind delaying that compliance. Ernie Allen, Mark Lunsford and John Walsh, Congressman Smith and even Poe/Gumhert all believed that compliance would follow the funding. Jackson-Lee said she supported stiffer Byrne Grant reductions (which by the way have to do with druge enforcement grants, not sex offenders anyways) in order to compel States to comply. It seemed to me that her mind was mostly made up before attending the hearing, but then she was only there for a small portion of the whole. Toward the end, my sense was that things were leaning toward delaying compliance to study the issues more... as there was some agreement that compliance issues were not just related to funding, but to the actual written guidelines given for AWA. I am not sure when the next step will be taken and follow up will need to be done. My time constraints may not allow me to follow up quickly enough I fear... but I will be following up when I can. (Mark) Again, Laurie, thank you for helping so many people with your latest work! We have been following this closely at our blogs and have posted audio and video links to the hearing, on a souce other than what others have posted. It never hurts to have more than one souce for viewers, and our video can be downloaded in FLV format, which could be useful. Mark ConstitutionalFights.org

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Support Geo. Senate Bill 157 re S.O.s

By posted by Kelly <gasoem@gmail.com> Posted on 20.02.2009 Link to this action item: [0035]

Please refer to Action Item No. 0036 when commenting on this, and send to Kelly at the above email address. -------------- The following is from the Southern Center for Human Rights, Mica Doctoroff, mdoctoroff@schr.org. Also see their website: www.schr.org We write today to provide you with an update on SB 157, the bill pending in the Georgia General Assembly that makes changes to Georgia's sex offender law. The bill (which is detailed below) was discussed in the Senate Judiciary Committee today and passed unanimously. The bill now goes to the full Senate for a vote. If the Senate votes in favor of the bill, it will go on to the House to be voted on there. We want to make it clear that at this time, SB 157 has not been passed by the General Assembly nor has it become law. Only if it becomes law will these changes be implemented. We will be sure to keep you posted about any new developments on the progress of this bill. SB 157 details: Georgia Senate Bill 157 – Revisions to Sex Offender Laws Georgia Senate Bill 157, if passed, will fix several of the many problems with Georgia laws for sex offenders. While not eliminating all problems, the bill addresses several areas including: Volunteering at Churches Would Be Allowed in Many Circumstances While SB 157 retains the prohibition on being "employed" at a church, it narrows the restrictions on "volunteering" at a church to prohibit (1) helping minors as a teacher or teaching assistant or (2) volunteering with minors in an unsupervised atmosphere. The revision specifically allows volunteer activities in worship services and engaging in religious activities with persons over the age of 18. While not perfect, this provision represents progress over the existing law being challenged by SCHR. Disabled and Elderly Persons May Be Relieved of Residency Restrictions SB 157 permits a Superior Court to release a person from the residency requirements if the court finds that the persons does not pose a substantial risk of future sexual offenses and the sex offender resides in hospice, a skilled nursing home, residential care facility for the elderly, nursing home, is totally/permanently disabled, or is seriously physically incapacitated. Homeless Sex Offenders Reporting Requirements Under SB 157, homeless sex offenders may now identify the place where they sleep "by a street address or other description." A homeless sex offender has additional reporting requirements including identifying the place where they sleep within 72 hours of release, and reporting weekly to their sheriff's office. This change was necessitated by a successful challenge to the laws impact on homeless sex offenders last year in the Georgia Supreme Court. Private, Unlicensed, In-Home Day Care Facilities Not Included SB 157 eliminates private, unlicensed, in-home day care facilities from the definition of a child care facility for the purposes of the employment/residence restrictions. Passwords Would Be Private SB 157, still requires people on the sex offender registry to divulge e-mail addresses and user names, but allows them to keep passwords private. Other Important Procedural Changes SB 157 includes several procedural changes including: New rules for appeals of decisions by the Sexual Offender Registration Board. · Sentencing changes that explore the likelihood of re-offense in determining the level of risk classification. · New and more-sensible limitations on sex offender registration requirements for certain offenses including kidnapping, misdemeanors, and proceedings in juvenile court. · Changes in reporting requirements for release and renewal. · Allowing sex offenders to seek an order releasing them from the registration requirements after completing their sentence (including parole and probation). The current law has a ten-year delay period after release before one may seek such an order.

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Georgia Requires SO passwords,email addresses

By Kelly Piercy <gasoem@gmail.com> Posted on 06.01.2009 Link to this action item: [0034]

Comments should be sent to Kelly at the above email address, with a copy to alex - alexm60@fastmail.fm. --------------------------------------------------- GEORGIA REQUIRES SEX OFFENDERS TO HAND OVER PASSWORDS AND ALL ONLINE ADDRESSES One of the most outrageous laws in America now requires Georgia ¨sex offenders¨ to give the state their email addresses and passwords - literally allowing state snoops to read personal email without a warrant. Is there NO Constitutional protection left for ¨sex offenders¨? Where are the Georgia civil liberties groups? Watch Eric, from Troy, Georgia, discuss this issue. If you get angry enough, call the Georgia Civil Liberties Union, and send letters to the editor of the Atlanta Constitution and other media in protest of this travesty! Contact Kelly to see how you can help Georgians organize to roll back this law. The powerful Youtube video URL is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUIBtiaTUTo Kelly R Piercy > email: gasoem@gmail.com > SKYPE: kelly.ray.piercy > Phone: (706) 955 2009 > Address: gasorr.org > P. O. Box 180 > Hull, GA 30646

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Write These Foundations NOW!

By Margie <snapper1964@hotmail.com> Posted on 17.11.2008 Link to this action item: [0033]

ATTENTION - We join Margie in urging RSOL participants to write to these foundations, that support the ¨victims¨ in the name of famous and violent sex cases - to urge them to review their campaigns in the light of the terrible injustices now wrought by ¨sex offender registries¨ and similar laws across America! SEE ALSO COMMENT AT THE END OF THIS ACTION ITEM - and be sure and send comments to the specific foundations! Refer to Action Item No. 0033, and send to Margie at the above email address, and send a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm ----- Megan Nicole Kanka Foundation, Inc. P.O. Box 9956 Trenton, NJ 08650 Jacob Wetterling Resource Center 2314 University Ave W., Suite 14 Saint Paul, MN 55114 Mark Lunsford c/o Jessica Lunsford Foundation POB 4319 Homosassa Spring, Fl 34447 ----------------------- Comment: NOTE, please send such comments directly to Mr. Lunsford or the other foundation directors. Dear Mr. Lunsford, I would like to first say that there is nothing that I can think of worse that can happen to our kids than what happen with your beautiful Jessica. My heart is deeply hurting and can only send prayers to the family. I realize that there are very sick people in this world and wish that a better answer can become available to us when it comes to protecting our children. The reason I am writing, is because I did get a chance to see the meeting that took place back in March in front of the Judiciary committee and thought to myself how brave you are to attend it and make your statements. Though I understand exactly what you were saying, I have to say that I disagreed with it partially. Like you, I am all for knowing and toughening up sex offender registry laws in order to protect our children from the possible danger that Jessica shamelessly experienced. However, I do not believe that those sex offenders that are a non-threat should be on it at all. My husband was 18 when he had consensual sex with a 17 year old. The 17 year old did not want to press charges, but the state picked it up and took him to court. His initial term was 5 years probation and community service, however, he got grandfathered into the register for life sex offender registry. His so called “crime” happened 14 years ago and we have been married for the last 12 years and have three wonderful kids. The sex offender laws have always been an issue with us because he is often looked at as a danger to society. I can assure you he is not looking for his next victim. He is just looking to be able to provide and protect his own family with his three kids and to provide a peaceful and successful life for us. Unfortunately our lives have not been peaceful because people scorn us. They judge me for being married to a man they think is a danger, they judge him without knowing that it was a consensual incident, they judge my kids and think that they may possibly be victims in our own home. Our kids have been shunned away because of the fear that if any of the other kids come to our home they will be “victimized”. My children can’t have lunch with their father in a normal school cafeteria; they have to go to an enclosed secluded room because of school policies. We can’t live where we want to live and provide the same opportunities that everyone else wants for their kids because of the restriction laws. My husband has had to turn down excellent job offers to work for several companies because they are within the 2000 ft restriction law from a school or daycare in many states. We have had to be separated several times while in transition to move for work opportunities because of the residency laws. My children have questioned our separation during these times and we have never explained it is because of the sex offender laws. We have people stare at us when they are notified that he is a sex offender. We are a good family, my husband is a good father, we have very good kids and we are being stripped of so many opportunities, but most importantly our dignity. Now are kids are old enough to really want to know what is going on because kids ask them why their dad is a sex offender. The comment you made in regards to letting it be okay to register those who are not a threat to save another child’s life from being victimized, was too harsh in my opinion. I can never know and truly hope to never know what you have gone through, I believe it really would be too much for me to handle, but you also do not know what families including their children are going through when dealing with these sex offender laws that have categorized all of them in the same registry. For the sake of my own kids, I do want to know where those dangerous sex offenders are and they should remain on the registry, however I do not need to know where those who are a non-threat, such as my husband, are. They have little to do with the Megan laws, Adam Laws, Jacob laws or the Lunsford laws. I want my children protected from the high threats and from the injustice that we are serving because their father is a sex offender. If it is at all possible, please help us reform these sex offender laws and make it so that they only reflect the dangerous sex offenders not for the many more who are not a threat. These non-threat offenders want what is right for their families too. Thank you for your time in reading this. Sincerely, The wife of a non-threatening sex offender

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Offender Hopes to Move to a Better Place

By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 17.11.2008 Link to this action item: [0032]

NOTE: Anyone responding to this, please be aware of the laws in your state about offenders who move into state. Those who wish to respond, should send email to Alex Marbury at the above email address, and I will send your response, either with your email address, or anonymously, as you choose, to the person who wrote this request. Please comment by referrring to Action Item No. 0032. Alex ------------- (From a ¨registered sex offender¨ now living in an Eastern state with strict residency requirements) IM LOOKING FOR A STATE THAT UNDERSTANDS THE ISSUES THAT I HAVE TO LIVE WITH (AS A NONVIOLENT REGISTERED ¨SEX OFFENDER¨). I AM READY TO RELOCATE NOW. I WOULD LIKE TO FIND A PIECE OF LAND, WITH ELECTRIC AND WATER HOOK UP, SINCE I BOUGHT A 30 FT CAMPER JUST SO I COULD HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE,AND NOT BE IN A SHELTER OR UNDER AN OVERPASS. I WOULD LIKE TO BE IN WYOMING, MONTANA, COLORADO, UTAH OR IDAHO ON A LARGE SECTION OF LAND WITH NO PEOPLE, EXCEPT MABY A RANCHER THAT HAS BEEN IN THE SAME POSITION AS ME AND MAY NEED A HAND. IF YOU KNOW OF ANYONE THAT IS SEARCHING FOR SOMEONE LIKE ME LET ME KNOW PLEASE, THANK YOU. ITS BEEN SO LONG SINCE I HAVE LIVED WITHOUT REGISTRATION I CANT EVEN REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS LIKE BEFORE MY CUSTODY BATTLE, I WOULD THINK THERE ARE OTHERS LIKE ME OUT THERE, IF I COULD GET CONNECTED IT MAY BE EASIER THAN BEING ALONE. W.

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Colton Calhoun Update

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 15.11.2008 Link to this action item: [0031]

To comment,refer to action item no. 0031 and send to the above email address. ----------------------- The case of the young Oregon ¨sex offender¨ who claims false charges brought him to prison needs to be updated. His website has been taken down, evidently unfairly. Participants have sent this url for a montage that clearly outlines his case as he sees it. As in all ¨false charges¨ claims, we do not assume that we know the ¨truth,¨ but we do know that false charges abound and that offenders need their case to be heard, since it is seldom heard in court. Alex Marbury URL - http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared p=48791a0838b78fb05ef904&large&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=embed

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Sign the Texas Petition!

By Mary Sue Molnar <marysueintx@yahoo.com> Posted on 13.11.2008 Link to this action item: [0030]

URGENT - ONLINE TEXAS PETITION: To ALL RSOL signatories and other participants: Texas Voices, the RSOL Texas affiliated group, has its own online petition to reform sex offender laws. Please visit the Texas Voices website (www.tx.voices.com) and follow instructions on how to sign this important petition! ----------------------------------- Comments should refer to Action Item No. 0030, and be sent to Mary Sue (email above) as well as to me, Alex Marbury, alexm60@fastmail.fm

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Tune it to Texas Voices Radio!

By Mary Sue Molnar <marysueintx@yahoo.com> Posted on 12.11.2008 Link to this action item: [0029]

Refer to Action Item No. 0029 or blog No. 0076 and contact Mary Sue Molnar at the above email address. TEXAS VOICES, the Texas RSOL affiliate, has its own radio show on ¨real public radio.¨ Texas Voices, American Voices. The 2nd program will be Nov. 15, then weekly thereafter. You can listen online or by phone. Listen Online: Go to TalkShoe.com and enter in Call ID: 29561 or click on the link below: http://www.talkshoe.com/talkshoe/web/talkCast.jsp?masterId=29561&cmd=tc Listen by phone or call in with comments: 724-444-7444 enter Call ID: 29561 Press 1# to join as guest Look at this link for additional information: http://tx.american-voices.us/TexasVoicesRadio.html

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Ongoing Battle in Maine

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 21.09.2008 Link to this action item: [0028]

Thanks to the Maine contact person, Matthew, and to volunteer coordinator Alain Levesque,for this item! to comment, refer to Action Item 007, and email alexm60@fastmail.fm URGENT SUPPORT NEEDED FOR CASE IN MAINE RSOL has reported for a year now on the case in Maine where the Main Supreme Court ruled that a "sex offender" registrant could indeed sue to have his name removed from the registry - with the Supreme Court justice using strong language to indicate disapproval of the registry approach, likening it to the witchhunt in Salem. Now the original suit, in Superior (local) court has been joined by others, with a total of 25 registrants suing to overturn the part of the law that makes the registry retroactive for those who completed their sentences before the registry was enacted in 1992. Alaska and Missouri Supreme Courts have already thrown out portions of their laws on ex post facto grounds, which is the key in the Maine case. WMTW TV in Portland, Maine, reported recently that the case is going forward in Kennebunk County Superior Court, though the presiding justice in that court, Hon. Michaela Murphy, could take a year or more to get to the case. Meanwhile, State Senator Bill Diamond (D) of district 12, has indicated he is considering a bill to remove the retroactive portions from the registry. ACTION: We urge all Maine RSOL participants - and others, too - to contact Matthew of the Maine group - Mainersol@yahoo.com, and join him in calling the judge to urge her to consider the matter promptly, and to contact the Senator to set up a meeting to consider strategy for this and other reforms in Maine! To see the TV story, go to http://www.wmtw.com/news/17474588/detail.html Alex

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Important Websites for S.O. Action!

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 11.09.2008 Link to this action item: [0027]

WE NEED TO KEEP INFORMED! WE URGE RSOL FOLKS TO GO TO THESE WEBSITES! 1. An excellent source for all information about sex offender issues is http://sexoffenderresearch.blogspot.com Here one can find information on the murders of registered sex offenders, as well as suicides caused by the burden or registration. This site provides the best list and summary of all current bills before the US Congress that impact registered sex offenders and their families. The site also has a detailed summary, point by point, of the Adam Walsh Act and problems with it. ------------------------------------------------------------------ 2. The Justice Policy Institute is a major research and action tank aimed at ¨reducing society´s reliance on incarceration.¨ It has several important articles on sex offender issues. http://www.justicepolicy.org From the Justice Policy Institute on the Adam Walsh Act - http://sexoffenderresearch.blogspot.com/2008/09/from-justice-policy-institute-on-adam.html Three brilliant pieces of public policy work produced by the Justice Policy Institute - http://www.justicepolicy.org/. *Fact Sheets Examine Impact of Sex Offender Registries* Factsheet: Youth Who Commit Sex Offenses http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/08-08_FAC_SORNAFactFiction_JJ.pdf Factsheet: The Negative Impact of Registries on Youth http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/08-08_FAC_SORNAKidsAreDifferent_JJ.pdf> Factsheet: What Will It Cost States to Comply with the Sex Offender Registry and Notification Act (SORNA)? http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/08-08_FAC_SORNACosts_JJ.pdf Note: The third Factsheet concludes "Given the enormous fiscal costs of implementing SORNA, coupled with the lack of evidence that registries and notification make communities safer, states should think carefully before committing to comply with SORNA." A list is provided of the estimated costs for ALL states, compared with the estimated money that will be lost if the state does not comply with SORNA by July 2009.

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Internat. Megan´s Law Cosponsors

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 16.08.2008 Link to this action item: [0026]

TO ALL RSOL participants. Here are the sponsors of the chilling ¨international Megan´s Law Act¨ bill (HR5722). We urge you to contact your own US Rep and Senator to urge them to vote against. It is especially important for those who live in the districts of these Representatives, to contact them and let them know your opposition. We think the Democrats may be particularly approacheable on this, but members of both parties should be contacted. Let me know of your efforts and the responses - alexm60@fastmail.fm. Refer to Action Item #26. Rep. Christopher Smith [R-NJ] Cosponsors [as of 2008-07-06] Rep. John Boozman [R-AR] Rep. Dan Burton [R-IN] Rep. Steven Chabot [R-OH] Rep. Thelma Drake [R-VA] Del. Eni Faleomavaega [D-AS] Rep. Jeffrey Fortenberry [R-NE] Rep. Frank LoBiondo [R-NJ] Rep. Donald Payne [D-NJ] Rep. Joseph Pitts [R-PA] Rep. Deborah Pryce [R-OH] Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen [R-FL] Rep. Diane Watson [D-CA] Rep. Addison Wilson [R-SC] Rep. Frank Wolf [R-VA]

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URGENT: International Megan´s Law Bill

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 14.08.2008 Link to this action item: [0025]

URGENT ACTION NEEDED: Contact US Representatives and Senators to urge blockage of HR5722 - the ¨International Megan´s Law Bill of 2008.¨ Let me (Alex) know the results of your lobbying. To read the full text of this bill, see HR 5711 http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h5722/text The International Megan´s Law bill is in some ways the most chilling to come down the pike among all these unConstitutional proposals that undermine our Constitution and way of life. It mocks the Constitutional right of freedom of travel. HR5722 would make it mandatory for every ¨sex offender¨ to report in advance any intention to move to or visit a foreign country. ¨Sex offender¨ is defined as it is currently in the national ¨sex offender registry,¨ which means that it includes a vast array of people, from teens who engaged in consensual sex, to those entrapped on the internet by fictituous ¨victims,¨ to others. As reviewed by some legal experts, it could be applied retroactively, possibly as far back as 1965. It would make it virtually impossible for any current or former ¨sex offender,¨ no matter what their state law currently allows, to travel abroad. The bill also calls on foreign governments to require their ¨sex offenders¨ to report any travel they intend to the U.S., and to contact the U.S. government about such travel. With regard to foreigners, it defines such people as any persons accused or convicted of such ¨sex offenses,¨ or (and get this incredible provision), any persons whose behavior could be interpreted as having been a sex offense under U.S. law. The bill would collect information on foreign governments, including making a list of those governments that have not made efforts to comply with this U.S. law! Such arrogance is unfortunately customary today when the U.S. deals with other governments. We urge all rsol participants to contact their U.S. Congress people and to report the reactions. Urge defeat of the ¨international Megan´s law bill.¨ If anyone gets the Senate number for this, let us know!

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RSOL-generated HOTLINE IS UP!

By alex marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 12.08.2008 Link to this action item: [0024]

The Support Hotline is now ready for calls and emails! 800-773-4319 hotline@thesupporthotline.org The Support Hotline is an all volunteer project staffed by private citizens. We are not professionals or lawyers. We are people deeply concerned about the damage being done to our families, our children and our country by the nation's sex offender laws. We are working to change those laws. The goal of this hotline is to support people affected by those laws with information and ideas - or just listening to what people have to say about what's happening to them. Given how bad the laws and the media are, we may not be able to be of much help. But we will try. You can call the hotline at 800-773-4319 or email us at hotline@thesupporthotline.org. We will return your call or email within 24 hours. If , however, you prefer not to leave a message, you can call during the following hours to speak directly to a volunteer: (Please note that all times provided are for the eastern time zone. So please adjust them to your time zone.) Mondays 10:30am to 2:30pm Tuesdays 7am to 11am Thursdays, 3pm to 9pm Fridays, noon to 6pm Saturdays, 9pm to 2am Sundays, 1pm to 5pm

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Comparing SO Laws in the states

By alex marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 09.08.2008 Link to this action item: [0023]

TO ALL RSOL PARTICIPANTS: We are constantly trying to get comparative information about the sex offender laws, state by state. It´s still hard to do. The following websites are not perfect, but they are a start. Give me your feedback - and let me know if there are other helpful sites for state-by-state comparisons. Alex Marbury ------------------------------------------------ This one lists the sex offender registry, registry requirements, registry requirements for those moving in from other states, and other regulations for sex offenders state by state (a few states are not there because they don´t have state-wide rules), but it´s mostly as of Sept. 2007 LLRX.com/features/sexoffenderlaws.htm -------------------------------------------------------- This one is more up to date - some as late as spring 2008 - and has a list of all laws and bills before the legislatures in virtually every state. Full texts of most laws and bills. http://sexoffenderstatelaws.blogspot.com/search/label/

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Crisis at Fla. Civil Comm. Ctr

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 05.08.2008 Link to this action item: [0022]

There is a terrible situation at the Florida Civil Commitment Center in Arcadia, Florida. During the last 3 weeks of July - the hottest days of the year, this facility was without air conditioning. As temperatures soared between 95 and 105 degrees, the men held there were still detained within their cells, which have no access to fresh air, no windows, etc. They were given no relief, but made to endure such inhumane conditions continuously for the three-week period. People are urged to call the Commitment Center and the Florida Civil Liberties Union. alex

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Housing needed in Oregon

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 02.08.2008 Link to this action item: [0021]

URGENT APPEAL TO PEOPLE IN OREGON A young ¨sex offender¨ is having serious problems finding housing in the Aloha, Portland or Beaverton, Oregon, area, for this fall´s school term. He is an upstanding young man, is supported by his loving family, and is also hoping to attend school. If you are willing to give your name and email to me, I will forward this to his mom who will contact you. Let us hear as soon as possible. Alex Marbury

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URGENT ACTION - HELP JEAN PONZANELLI

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 31.07.2008 Link to this action item: [0020]

TRAGEDY IN TEXAS Go to the MEDIA PAGE of this site, to read the sad story of Jean Ponzanelli´s sentence. In my opinion, this is another ¨plea bargain¨ engineered by a ¨public defender¨ - and it is no bargain at all! Jean was 17 when arrested, he´s 19 now, and after 3 years in prison, he´ll be deported - all for consensual sex between two teens! If you can, please go to KXAN.com and send your comments. So far, there are many comments denouncing Jean´s sentence as unjust, including some really good ones from Mary Sue, the RSOL Texas contact, and from Jan Fewell, a local, very brave woman who has championed Jean´s case. And Jean is not alone! At least 6 other teenaged boys in Williamson County Texas have received similar or longer sentences for consensual sex with other teens. Justice in America!? You may also email Jan Fewell - msfewell@sbcglobal.net - to find out more and to offer your support to her in this difficult and sometimes lonely struggle in Texas! Alex Marbury

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Windsor Locks, CT, votes on residency requirements

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 20.07.2008 Link to this action item: [0018]

From David Fields, RSOL Signatory in Connecticut: I have written a letter to the first selectman, Steven Wawruck, of Windsor Locks, CT, regarding an ordinance his office is proposing (similar to the one already existing in Danbury CT)that would keep registered sex offenders out of designated safe zones. This ordinance will be put to a vote by the town on August 5th 2008. I wrote to Mr Wawruck asking him to reconsider how ineffective such laws are in really protecting children. I also strongly recommended he visit the RSOL web site to better understand why hastily drawn up ordinances and laws to control where RSO can live can be counterproductive and unfair. Please contact Mr Wawruck: Mr Steven Wawruck First Selectman Town Hall Windsor Locks 50 Church St Windsor Locks, CT 06096 They also have a town web site with phone numbers if you want to contact him by phone.

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Support Colton Calhoun in Oregon

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 14.07.2008 Link to this action item: [0017]

HELP COLTON CALHOUN GET A NEW TRIAL A particularly grievous case of an unfair trial seems to be that of a man, now 24, who was convicted at age 19 for sex with another teenager, and who makes a strong case that he did not get a fair trial. Check out his case, and if you agree, you may want to sign his petition. His name is Colton Calhoun, and his website (maintained by his supporters since he is in prison) is www.coltoncalhoun.com. Calhoun was a star athelete and excellent student, with no previous record, when he was charged, and he claims was poorly represented by his lawyer, and mislead by her. Let us know if you do support him after going to his website. Alex

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Alert Australia to Dangers of Copying US SO Laws

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 14.07.2008 Link to this action item: [0016]

Several RSOL particpants and also some citizens of Australia have urged us to post this! Please go to the article url and send your comments to keep the Australians from just blindly copying bad U.S. law! AUSTRALIAN LEGISLATORS URGE RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS SIMILAR TO US FOR SEX OFFENDERS RSOL partipants are urged to go to the url below and leave comments, telling Aussies that Jessica´s Law and the Adam Walsh Act have been very bad mistakes here and certainly should not be copied! click here and go to the site, follow instructions to leave comments. let us know if you do! email alex at alexm60@fastmail.fm http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23995183-5017590,00.html

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Urgent: Please Complete Survey

By Mary Sue Molnar <marysueintx@yahoo.com> Posted on 11.07.2008 Link to this action item: [0015]

This survey is very important! Dr. Levenson has been a tremendous help for our cause and was responsible for the Harvard Study. Results of this study were overwhelmingly in our favor. Please take the time to complete this survey and/or pass along to others http://www.txvoices.com Dear Sir or Madam: Please post the following invitation on your website or blog: Website invitation: Dr. Jill Levenson of Lynn University in Florida is conducting a research project to better understand the impact that sex offender registration, notification, and residence laws have on families of registered sex offenders (RSO). If you are the family member of a registered sex offender in the USA, please click on the link below to complete the survey. This survey is confidential, secure, and anonymous. All answers will be used only for research purposes, and your identity will not be known. The survey should take about 15 minutes to complete. If you have already completed this survey, please DO NOT do so again. However, please feel free to forward this link to anyone else you know who is a family member of a RSO and might be interested in taking the survey. LINK: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Vp78RpEgx5vauuvyWtho8Q_3d_3d Click Here to take survey Jill Levenson, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Human Services Lynn University 3601 N. Military Trail Boca Raton, FL 33431

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Forced Lie Detector Tests

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 02.07.2008 Link to this action item: [0014]

New Jersey is requiring all registered sex offenders in certain categories to take lie detector tests annually - the specific questions to be asked remain unknown. People in New Jersey should contact their legislators and demand that this requirement be repealed. QUERY: Do others know of other states were forced lie detector tests are the law? Has there been a test case in the courts about this anywhere? Please contact me, Alex Marbury, with any information

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Petition for Jean Ponzanelli in Texas

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm> Posted on 30.05.2008 Link to this action item: [0013]

------- FORWARD THIS TO YOUR FRIENDS ------- Hi, I wanted to draw your attention to this important petition that I recently signed: "Please help us fight for Jean Karlo Ponzanelli" http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/fightforjean?e I really think this is an important cause, and I'd like to encourage you to add your signature, too. It's free and takes less than a minute of your time. Thanks! --------------------------------------------- Once again, thanks for signing the petition! Sincerely, iPetitions Campaigns Team p.s. If you would like to start your own free petition, you can do so here: http://www.ipetitions.com/start-petition

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Successful Coalinga Rally!

By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fasmail.fm> Posted on 04.03.2008 Link to this action item: [0011]

The brave detainees and their families at Coalinga State Hospital made a major breakthrough on March 2, with a public rally outside the hospital gates, demanding fair treatment for the detainees, and civil liberties for all sex offenders. Several dozen family members and supporters rallied outside, as detainees joined the protest inside. Jaymie Stallworth, a family member of a detainee, made strong and clear statements about the violation of the detainees´ rights. These were carried on local television stations, one of which also interviewed detainee Michael St. Martin by telephone. The hospital superintendent, Nancy Kinkaid, made outrageous statements about all the detainees being extremely dangerous offenders, ¨the worst of the worst.¨ Stallworth and St. Martin were able to refute her, showing the reasonable nature of the demands and the fact that many of the detainees were never dangerous in the first place, and that all have completed their sentences and should be evaluated for release. Paul Shannon of RSOL addressed the rally from Boston by phone, reading a strong statement of support. RSOL participants should congratulate the detainees and their families by emailing michaelst.martin@hotmail.com or Allan Marshall at detainees@gmail.com. Link: http://www.ksee24.com/news/local/16171037.html

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Annotated SO Network List

By webmaster <webmaster@reformsexoffenderlaws.org> Posted on 04.01.2008 Link to this action item: [007]

RSOL has received many messages from registered individuals and those around them asking for help with registered life. Although we are not a public service organization, we are working to build a few resources to help. The first will produce is a reasonably comprehensive annotated list of groups that work with registered individuals. These groups may be involved in anything from providing basic services for those transitioning from incarceration to the outside world, to psychological services for friends and family who are being punished by association. We are looking for both online and real-world associations, and we would like to have resources in every state. Although our resources focus on the United States, we welcome information about groups and organizations anywhere in the world. This work is currently in progress. If you would like to help with such an effort, please send an email to alex@ReformSexOffenderLaws.Org

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