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    Updates, News, Analysis, and Personal Stories

    We aim to provide articles, links to news stories, as well as commentary on the fast-moving area of sex offender policy on our blog. You can make a contribution, too. We are especially interested in reports or analysis of lobbying efforts, reforms, and other developments in your local area, though you may send any media article of interest. We will also accept personal commentary explaining why developing a critical awareness about sex offender policy is important to you. Such personal stories can help others think differently. With diverse content we hope ReformSexOffenderLaws.Org will become an important information resource. Please send us all your comments and suggestions about this site and the project.

     
    Table of Contents

    Virginia's Homosexual GITMO
    By posted by John & Mary <rsolvirginia@comcast.net>
    Posted on 27.06.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0149]
     
    Please refer in comments to Blog No. 0149 and send to rsolvirginia@comcast.net, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm.

    This is a marvelous piece of work - it exposes the unspoken anti-gay prejudice of sex offender commitment. RSOL hopes the gay community will take notice and act!
    ________________________________________________________________
    Virginia's Homosexual Gitmo

    RSOL of Virginia attended today’s Virginia Crime Commission meeting in Richmond, VA. One of the many topics they covered was the Civil Commitment of Sexually Violent Predators.

    We recently received correspondence from two residents at the Virginia Center for Behavioral Rehabilitation (VCBR for the civilly committed) which implied that a disproportionately large amount of the residents that have been civilly committed are homosexual. We attended today’s crime commission on this topic to attempt to ascertain if in fact homosexuals were being either purposefully or unintentionally targeted by the tools utilized to institutionalize them as Sexual Deviants who are a danger to society.

    During today’s discussion between legislators and the Attorney General’s office they covered the questionnaire/assessment tool (Static-99) used to decide who is a “Sexually Violent Predator”. They covered 10 questions and the implication was that there are only 10 on the Static 99. The current score to decide who must be locked up as a “SVP” is a 4 or a 5 and the discussion between the legislators and the AG’s office was about lowering it to a 3. This test is currently limited to just a few specific crimes, but the discussion was leaning towards removing that as a stipulation also. Thus any “Sex Crime”…. Underage Consensual Sex, Public Sex, Sodomy, Aggravated Sexual Battery (grabbing someone’s buttocks in a bar that results in a fight) “Sexting” and the like would be subject to the Static 99 Evaluation.

    Three questions give a grave concern on the Static 99 evaluation. They are as follows:

    · Is the Perpetrator 18 to 24.99 years of age? Yes, results in 1 point.
    · Has the Perpetrator ever lived with a lover for at least 2 years? No, results in 1 point.
    · Was the Victim a Male? Yes results in 1 point
    · Has the Perpetrator had any previous criminal convictions of any type, sexual or non-sexual? Yes, results in 1 point.

    As one can easily see any college aged, homosexual male, who has not lived/shacked up with anyone for 2 or more years need only to have a reckless driving mis-demeanor conviction and he is currently just 1 point away (4 points) from being deemed a serious threat to society and needs to be locked away for life in an insane asylum for the “Sexually Perverse”. Clearly the most insignificant “Sex Crime” would then immediately make him eligible for a life sentence being Civilly Committed.

    We find this unacceptable and hope you share our concern and outrage over this twisted form of justice.

    Mary and John
    RSOL of Virginia Organizers
    Reform Sex Offender Laws
    PO Box 98
    Mechanicsville, VA 23111
    Virginia Web-site - www.rsolvirginia.org
    National Web-site - www.reformsexoffenderlaws.org

    Seeking Justice and Safety for All Virginians
     

    Query: Propose Alternatives or Work to Reform SO Laws?
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 15.06.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0148]
     
    Please refer in comments to Blog No. 0148 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm.
    This active RSOL participants asks us to think about wether working for other changes, such as education of parents and children, might be better FIRST, before we work for reform of S.O. Laws. Send her your thoughts! Alex
    ------------------------------------------------


    I often wonder while we fight against the sex offender laws, maybe if we propose alternatives that would be better to end these types of crimes, would be a better way to go? This has just been a thought of mine. Like asking to put more money into education with school children, parents, and rehabilitation. Or maybe even demanding that there be better rehabilitation for these people and a real opportunity for them to change and get off of these lists. I know that until my son got caught for a sexual crime there were so many "stories" with his peers and their parents, that every time i went to correct a disbelief my son had, someone would discredit what I told him. And there were no one in school that taught them about the laws. It was only about safe sex and substance abuse. I mean people should have the right to know the facts, before they get into trouble by doing the wrong thing. Especially when everyone is all for this Face book and cell phones with cameras.They keep on arguing that this is all incurable, I honestly think that it never been given an honest try. I mean all the outside rehabs. for sex offenders, are packed and have waiting lists, because there is so few. This is something that really needs to change becfore they say this is incurable!
     

    Open Your Hearts, America!
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 15.06.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0147]
     
    Refer in comments to Blog No. 0147 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ------------
    I have never been arrested nor had any violations. I have read stories from sex offenders and have met and spoken with sex offenders. It would seem fair for me to shun these people, but these people have names and have families. They are are people once with clean slates, just like me. What I have learned from these people is that they have feelings just like me. Some have turned their lives over to a better person inside than they were before their crime.

    So what triggered their crime? I have discovered it is often childhood up-bringing in the household. You would be horrified to here how some sex offenders were raised. And I can certainly see how they got off track. Do I praise what they did? I certainly do not. My question to American people is this: why haven't you done your homework? Research sex offenders' childhood history. How would you like to be raised in a family who abused and sexually tormented you until legal age or ran away from home?

    Yes, I realize there are some who were not abused. But do your home work on them as well. I do not know about you, maybe there is no empathy in Americans anymore, afterall, it did not happen to them as a child. Wake up America, open your hearts and try to learn about these people`s childhood. We must reaffirm the laws and give these people a second chance to reestablish their lives. Give them living space and couseling support so they can live once again with their families. Did they not pay enough in the prison system? Something to think about, why must their families suffer for life,also. Let it not be said that Americans are a heartless nation. Keep on doing this unjust thing and we will reap what we sow. God Bless America.
     

    `All Are Created Equal` Includes Offenders
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 14.06.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0146]
     
    Refer in comments to Blog No. 0146 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm.
    Please note, RSOL is a good national organization to lobby in Congress, and our state affiliated contacts have done so, urging reform of the AWA.

    -----------------
    I believe that there is a fundamental constitutional right to distinguish between first time non-violent sex offenders with no recidivist criminal history and those sex offenders convicted of violent and serious crimes, or have been convicted as sexual violent predators.

    Most states have a provision in their respective statutes that first time offenders are given a true and fundamental chance to rehabilitate and integrate themselves back into mainstream society, with full reinstatement of their constitutional rights, privileges, benefits and immunities.

    There is no empirical data to support the present statutes which imposes the same and severe restrictions on first time non-violent and non-recidivist offender similar to the violent predator. Yet, this class of first-time offenders are handled by the State and the Federal with that same classification and restrictions.

    We must promote lobbyists and create a National Organization for the purpose of sending representatives during congressional hearings or senate hearing (State and Federal) to express the opposition against such selective, arbitrary, pretextual and oppression mode of operation.

    I do not believe that our forefather’s phrase contained in our Constitution, “All men are created Equal” means that convicts no longer are protected by that term and phrase of fundamental constitutional provision. We must get attorneys to represent offenders in case where it is clear that their prosecution for non-registration is arbitrary, capricious and pretextual. There must be a proactive assertions to change these “hate laws” which have been passed under the auspices of “protecting the public.
     

    Hate Speech Against RSOs
    By Eadvocate <eadvocate@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 09.06.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0145]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0145 and be sent to eadvocate@yahoo.com.
    =======================
    CA- Elementary school students suspended for kill list and sexual threats

    Comment from Eadvocate:
    Clearly the sexual issues are the result of all the political hate speeches about former now registered sex offenders, and real sex offenders who are committing crimes today. This is what political speeches are teaching to today's youth (esp. children of RSOs who not only hear it but also live it). Hate speech about RSOs, while not protected under Hate Crimes laws still has its effects on society, here we see today's youth using it at a very young age. No matter how you view this, it is a NEW form of "second generation" retaliation / revenge for what they are suffering daily. What goes around comes around...

    5-25-2009 California:

    A group of parents allege Santa Margarita Elementary School officials have failed to provide a safe environment and have chosen to keep their children home until their concerns are addressed.

    After numerous complaints, two Santa Margarita Elementary students have been suspended in the past few weeks for threats against other students. A fourth grader was sent home for producing a hit list and a third grader was suspended for making sexually violent threats against his classmates.

    CalCoastNews has chosen to leave out the names of the parents and the students involved in the incidents in order to protect the children’s privacy.

    More than a handful of parents said their children have been traumatized by a series of incidents that began on May 13. Parents described a student’s graphic sexual threats against other students in his classroom.

    Officials and parents claim Principal Melanie Karp has been slow to respond to complaints made by parents and students and has minimized the situation.

    School officials are mandated reporters and as such are required by law to report these types of criminal threats and certain suspicions of child abuse immediately, and follow up within 48 hours with a written report, said Child Protective Services Social Worker Desilyn King.

    “This all needs to be dealt with for the best interests of all, not just my child,” a parent said voicing her concern for the safety of the aggressor as well as her progeny. “My child hasn’t wanted to go to school.”

    Several parents have opted to keep their children home until school officials can assure them their children are being protected. Parents allege Karp has threatened to turn them in for truancy if their children do not return to school.

    “Our first and foremost goal is the safety of our students,” said Atascadero Unified School District Superintendent John Rogers. “It is awful to deal with providing the appropriate resources to help the individual student and balance the need for other parents to be assured their child’s safety is foremost.”

    Principal Karp was unavailable for comment.

    On May 13, the third-grade aggressor was suspended for three days and sent home to a parent who is on the Megan’s Law sex offenders list. Upon his return, he blamed a student for a beating he claims to have received as punishment for the suspension, sources said.

    An attempt to find out if a report regarding the alleged beating was filed with Child Protective Services was denied due to privacy issues.

    He then threatened to shove items into the complaining students’ rectums and/or vaginas. As a result, Karp assigned the child to a half day in-office suspension before placing him back in the classroom. Due to parent complaints, on May 20, the boy was moved to another classroom comprised of second and third graders.

    Parents also voiced concerns that the child’s mother, a registered sex offender known to commit lewd acts against children under 14 years of age, is permitted to attend school functions.

    “They recently put a black metal fence around the perimeter of the school to protect our children,” a parent said. “Then they let a sex offender in the front door.”

    There is a common misconception that laws prohibit registered sex offenders from encroaching on school grounds. However, according to California code, sex offenders may be allowed on their child’s campus for a variety of reasons. In addition, not all sex offenders are listed on Megan’s list which is primarily for habitual or violent offenders, said a San Luis Obispo County Sheriff deputy.

    While at Santa Margarita Elementary School, the boy’s mother is required to register and is then provided an escort while on school grounds, Rogers said.

    In addition, on Thursday May 14, school officials discovered a fourth grader’s kill list along with a visual depiction of a student’s demise. Five days elapsed before the mandatory threat assessment protocol was implemented, sources said.

    Following parent objections to a lack of concern over the hit list, on May 19, sheriff deputies were called to the school and the boy’s home was searched, sources added.

    The child remained in the classroom, shoulder to shoulder with children on his kill list, until he was officially suspended on May 20.

    The district has adopted a threat assessment protocol, a flow chart to be implemented by the principal. During the week following the threat, four psychologists did an evaluation to determine if the written warning was a transient or a true threat, Rogers added.

    “I can’t comment on what we have done with any one student,” Rogers replied when asked what actions had been taken.

    Last year, Karp was sentenced to two days in county jail for driving under the influence. Her blood alcohol was .12, one and a half times the legal limit. She is slated to retire at the end of this school year.
     

    I am Angry, but you won`t be surprised!
    By Mary <rsolvirginia@comcast.net>
    Posted on 09.06.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0144]
     
    Please send comments to mary at rsolvirginia@comcast.net, and refer to Blog No. 0144. thanks, Mary!!!!
    -----------
    Responding to the Smithton, Illinois story about the boy charged with a sex offense for consensual sex with a teenaged girl
    ----------------------------------

    I am angry and you will probably be surprised to hear this, as I am the organizer for Reform Sex Offender Laws of Virginia.

    I am angry because our country has gone beyond the extreme and implemented ridiculously harsh laws and penalties when it comes to consensual sex between teens and young adults.

    Each state has a different age of consent and a different age gap allowance. What is a crime in one state, may not be in another state. But one thing that is certain across EVERY state is, if you are a public offical, politician or celebrity you will not be convicted, imprisoned and stigmatized as a "sex offender" even though every other citizen will be.

    Consensual sex between a 19 and half and a 16 year old or a 17 and half and a 14 year old here in Virginia will be prosecuted as statutory rape or carnal knowledge. Our state has even been known to wait until the older teen turns 18 to press charges.

    We have one supporter who was the mother of a 15 year old that had consensual sex with a 20 year old. The mother didn't encourage the relationship or house their indiscretion she in fact told them both to stop it. But they continued on behind her back and when the state of Virginia discovered that the mother did not report the 20 year old to the state, the mother was charged, convicted of indecent liberties by person of supervision and is now stigmatized for life as a "violent sex offender".

    Just a little over a week ago the 40 year old aide to Senator Orie (PA) was caught asking a 15 year old for sex on-line. Senator Orie was a strong advocate for the Adam Walsh Act.Will the aide be charged, convicted and stigmatized as a "sex offender" as any regular person would be, it's yet to be determined but I'm betting, NO.

    Back in 2007 Joshua Lunsford, 18 year old brother to assaulted and murdered sister Jessica found himself in the hot seat for consensual sex with his 14 year old girlfriend. We do not believe this should be a crime, but our government does and they prosecute all others with a vengeance, except for Joshua Lunsford. It seems that if your father Mark Lunsford lobbyed Congress for legislation against "sex offenders" and you have now been caught up in the same laws your father advocated you can get off.

    I could go on with more examples but I will stop here.

    The state of Illinois should be ashamed of themselves. They destroy the lives of teens and young adults who are having consensual sex but they allow this 29 year old police officer to get off scott-free for having sex with a 16 year old.

    If I lived in Illinois I would be demanding that the district attorney hold this officer to the same standards as hundreds if not thousands of innocent Illinois teens and young adults have been and will be held to. Everyone and that includes public officials and celebrities must be held accountable to the same laws and standards even if those standards are questionable and need to be reformed.


    Mary


    RSOL of Virginia
     

    `Death Would Be OK`
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 09.06.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0143]
     
    Refer in comments to Blog No. 0143 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm. I will send it along to this sex offender who is obvioulsy in considerable anguish.
    --------------
    This is not how I feel at this time, but I would like to share my
    thoughts. And thank you for the great work your group
    does.


    Well death would be ok, they have put us in a place that we can never get out of and will never be allowed to get our life back. No matter what we do we are the scum of the earth and that is the way our crooked politicians wanted it, so they can be reelected on our backs.

    The hopelessness and pain never goes away no matter how much we would like it to. The lies we have been told by all the people in charge are overwhelming.

    The stigma of being a sex-offender has taken its toll on so many people around me, not only other offenders that I know, but their families and few friends that they have anymore. Most of us are not a threat to anyone, but the law does not look at it this way, it has become a life sentence. So what are our choices?

    We lose our wives and children, our friends, our freedom, our right to work. We have no where to live and in my case cannot ever go back where I was the most happy, China where I married my lovely wife and wanted to start a new life, before all the lies of my ex-wife and my oldest daughter changed my life for ever.

    A court system that said I was guilty before I even had a chance to
    defend myself and one that broke me financially and mental in the
    process. Even my so called lawyer lied to me. I am not crazy or insane but the system has beat me down so hard and taken every thing a loved away from me and each day I fight it just gets harder..

    To die in battle would be better than to live in the shadows of this
    corrupt country. I do not want to hurt anyone but they have given me so little choice and I have not one damn thing to lose except my life and it has became unbearable. If you saw the hopelessness on the faces of the men and women in the groups that I go to you would understand what I am talking about.

    I have reached out for help from every one I know and also the system
    itself only to get the door slammed in my face every time.. This is not a letter about self pity, this is the plain truth how most of us feel, the system does not work and never has, what choice to you give a person when you take every thing from them and tell them to go live under a bridge or a vacant field and make them pay a monthly fee even if they cannot find work ,who cares pay the fee or go to jail.

    And then when you think it will end they change the laws again and you have to register for life, when that was not the deal in the first place, oh you will not have a record if you take deferred judgment, just another lie and the many the system has told you. Therapy will only be a few years and then when you enrolled it’s open ended and 40 dollars a week for the next 10 years, and the lie detectors 200 to 300 dollars every time you take one and all the have to do is say you failed and you have to take a retest at another 300 dollars even when you know you have not done anything to fail it , it does not matter the have all the cards.

    The system as made a business around crime it is not about wanting to
    reform any one it is about the money and power. Does anything in this
    letter sound familiar to anyone? This is a example of hopelessness if we let it happen, Think about it, get angry and then stand up!

    If we do not stand together and let our voices be heard not later, but now, we will always be held down, Please get involved and start the battle to change these laws or hopelessness is going to be all you will ever know. Join any group you are interested in and donate your time and money, so we do not have to write these sad letters of how we feel, lets get our hope and life back so we can be productive citizens again!
     

    Who is the `victim` afterwards?
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 09.06.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0142]
     
    Refer in comments to Blog No. 0142 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm. This person sent no email - PLEASE GIVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS SO WE CAN SEND COMMENTS TO THE WRITER OF THE BLOG.
    Alex
    -------------
    Who becomes the victim after the victim? that's the real question. and with all these catch 22 laws that the states are passing it seems that i'm going to be a victim for the rest of my life. which makes trying to do something with my life seems useless.

    i have people telling me to keep my head up, but with this witch hunt going on it hard, and i know i'm not the only one that feels this way. and the crazy part about it is that a lot of people don't agree with the sexoffender laws but the state lawmakers got it so that the people can't vote on all the b.s sexoffender laws they pass.

    i always thought the policy was the people decided on the passing of big laws but i guess not, at least not in florida. so please contuine to fight for us to get some of these laws changed. and if the state feels murderers, thieves and other criminals should be allowed to get back into society we should be able too!!
     

    Confused `victim` feels pain, but also wants justice
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 30.05.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0141]
     
    Please refer in comments to blog no. 0141 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm.
    PLEASE GIVE US YOUR EMAIL WHEN YOU COMMENT so we can send it to the person who wrote the original blog or tale. This blog, to me, shows how very difficult this whole sex offender issue is for many people, including those who are victims of rape - this woman is in pain, and yet she also wants to make sure there is justice for the falsely accused, as well as for everyone.
    ---------------------
    I'm writing because I want to explain my story to someone that might understand poeple from the other side of this. I am a rape victim. I was 15, he was 21 and he beat me severely and raped me. It was new years eve and we were all partying and i passed out on a hotel bed and my friends left me with this man. i woke up to fists in the face and on and on. Well the police were mean to me and nice to him. I have suffered for years from that police abuse and society b.c i was drinking and partying.

    Then to read all these articles about how the justice system is going overboard to help these victims or so called victims amazes me. My rape occured in 1992 and i am now 33 years old. I am a single mom of two beautiful kids and turned my life around after this rape. After the rape i started with panic attacks and people phobias of being in public. I have struggled with very disruptive disfuntional relationships after this. My entire life has been flipped over b/c this man chose to rape me. I have had a lot of therapy but it is something no matter how hard you try, that never fully leaves you.

    I agree 100% that these people on the registry deserve some sort of life i do. but to expect these people to live as if nothing ever happened is not an option. I wish everyday i could wake up and live as if i were never raped but it doesn't work like that. To the wrongly convicted, that leaves a hole in my heart. NO ONE should suffer for having consensual(sp) sex with a girlfriend. That's crazy and we're all guilty of that. No one should be registered b/c they walked naked around there homes JESUS what has happened? I'm afraid for my kids. I know they will sexually experiement as we all do as adolecents. But to know that you could be a felon and punished even if the so called victim doens't even want to press charges is just crazy. Something does need to be done!!!

    But to have sympathy for a 24 year old man sleeping with 13 year olds or younger or to have sympathy for for a grown man having sex with someone he knows better, well these men are destroying young girls. He is the adult and he should know better. But if it's a legitamate wrongful case, jesus help these people. if you're guilty of truely hurting someone, well KARMA comes with life for all of us. I have nightmares, panic attacks, eating disorders and the list goes on b/c of my rape. And i have helped myself more than the average victim. so sorry no sympathy there. but to have someones life ruined b/c someone grabbed someone's butt while they fell to help them from not hitting the ground is crazy. as a victim i do believe in justice. Convict and give fair trials. WE ALL DESERVE THAT. the guy that beat me up and raped me got a plea and didn't serve the time he should have yet the innocent seem to be getting the screwy end of the deal. I don't get it. BUt again, if you're guilty you deserve your punishment. You are different than robbers and addicts b/c of the fact you completely alter someones life forever. i will never be the same due to a mans selfishness and violence. and he doesn't have the right for his life to return to the same either. for these women lying and getting angry, they deserve to be prosecuted as well.

    They make real victims such as myself the ones who really pay. this system is serious and for crimianls, not girls who get pissed a guy dumped them, hell i've been dumped alot, it's part of life. but it doesn't give you the right to literally ruin an innocent humans life. something really needs to be done

     

    Even a Fantasy in Texas is a Felony
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 29.05.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0140]
     
    Refer in comments to Blog No. 0140 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm.
    COMMENT IS POSTED AFTER THIS BLOG
    --------------
    EVEN A FANTASY IN TEXAS IS A FELONY

    In Texas (33.021(d)(3)in the Texas law code) even a fantasy is a felony. Worse, lawyers and judges will tell you it is unconstitutional, but you won't find a judge in Texas willing to strike it down, because they want to continue being elected - apparently, their jobs are more important than upholding the constitution or even just doing the right thing.

    Comment from Renate in Illinois,gvr123@aol.com

    this goes right along with the convicton of "intent of
    moving" no proof or "alleged" or "no criminal intent" as it was in
    the case of my son. guilty without proof like so many of our sons.
     

    Not About Protecting Children, But About Govt Money
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 25.05.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0139]
     
    Please send comments to alexm60@fastmail.fm and refer to Blog No. 0139. ALSO, PLEASE SEND US AN EMAIL EVEN WITH ANONYMOUS BLOGS SO WE MAY PASS ON COMMENTS TO YOU!
    ---------------------------------
    We miss the whole point of sex offender registration.
    This is not about safety of our children. This is all about the federal government (FBI) getting a data bank and federal funds using John Walsh as a catalyst. Larry King live with John Walsh. John Walsh stated after his son was abducted and found decapitated, that he had approached the FBI regarding posters for wanted criminals. The FBI told him we have data banks for auto theft burlary, homicide but not sex offenders or DNA to identify criminals after the fact. The FBI, according to John Walsh, said, ¨Why don't you do something about it.¨ John Walsh said that got him started.

    The FBI has used John Walsh and Patty Wetterling in order to tear down the U.S. Constitution on ex-post-facto and retroactive laws. All these laws are meant for collecting and storing data and getting funds for the FBI.

    Read all the text within these laws. Not one state getting the funds cares about what the state constitution stands for, or the federal Constitution means.

    All our elected officials care about is money for the state.

    When an unconstitutional bill passes Congress and is signed by the president, or when it is passed by a state legislature and signed by the governor, the Supreme Court is the last line of defense against its enforcement.

    Their job is to protect our rights. When they do, we owe them our gratitude for a job well done. When they don't, our very existence as a liberal democracy is threatened.

    Federal funding based on the number of sex offenders that are on the register each year for state’s compliance was the main catalyst (SEC. 607 , B, “In allocating funds under this subsection, the Director may consider the annual number of sex offenders registered in each eligible State's monitoring and notification programs”) violating the Tenth Amendment’s anti-commandeering prohibition, which prohibits the federal government from commandeering state officials into enacting or administering federal law. Congress also invoked its Commerce Clause authority, for the first time making it a federal crime to cross-states lines and fail to register. The use of the spending clause was used to circumvent the true meaning of the 10th amendment and the commerce clause.

    FLORIDA EXAMPLE
    The 1999 Florida Statute Title XLVI Crimes Chapter 775 definitions.

    775.24 Duty of the court to uphold the laws governing sexual predators and sexual offenders. (1). mid paragraph, The laws relating to sexual predators and sexual offenders are substantive law .Furthermore the Congress of the United States has expressly encouraged every state to enact such laws, and has provided that, to the extent that a states laws do not meet certain federal requirements, the state will lose significant federal funding provided to the state for law enforcement and public safety programs.

    §5.01 The Purpose of the Dormant Commerce Clause [117-119]
    The Dormant Commerce Clause seeks to achieve two purposes. First, it seeks to create a national economic market by preventing states from imposing barriers to trade. Second, it seeks to foster political cohesion by inhibiting states from imposing reciprocal barriers. The Dormant Commerce Clause addresses the situation in which Congress has not regulated some area which is within the Commerce power. Where Congress is silent, what, if any, barriers are there to state regulation?
     

    FEAR out of control!
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 24.05.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0138]
     
    Refer in comments to Blog No. 0138 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm. I´ll send them on to the brave woman who wrote this!
    -------------------------
    FEAR out of control!

    I have been praying that God would raise up an advocate for "us." I say "us" because I am in this with my husband, a registered sex offender. Every day we lose more and more rights as they somehow get away with tagging onto his already-served sentence. It has got to stop. This is FEAR out of control. Please know and understand that
    we both are wholly committed to stopping the terror of sexual abuse and firmly believe that there need to be laws to protect; however, with so many categories of sexual offenders clumped together on the State registries, how will people really know the ones that are dangerous if they have to weed through them all? There needs to be massive change in the registration laws, AND they need to quit grandfathering-in all sex offenders when they make new laws. It is ludicrous that my husband continues to "serve" his sentence LONG AFTER he has served his sentence. Thank you for stepping into the craziness that has escalated beyond belief and that has to be curtailed. Your efforts and your compassion (though I understand that does not mean condoning the individuals' actions) encourages me that there is hope. God bless you all.

     

    Criminal Justice Student Disovers S.O. Injustice
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 14.05.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0137]
     
    Refer in comments to Blog No. 0137 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm, and I¨ll send them on to this enterprising and honest young man!
    SEE COMMENT BELOW
    ---------------
    As a criminal justice major at my college, my first thought was that everyone on the national sex offender registry was an enemy of the state and I knew nothing about the laws governing the registry. My conclusion: The laws governing the national sex offender registry are unconstitutional, people are being put on the registry for the most ridiculous crimes, and the registry does nothing to protect the public except labeling and humiliating people for the crimes they’ve committed in the past (for the rest of their life). I agree we that may need a registry or some way to keep track of dangerous sexual predators, but the laws need to be reformed. I will get the word out to my local college and educate them to the best of my ability.

    --------------
    Comments
    Thank you from a sex offender's wife for that comment. Please do all you can to help all of us.
     

    Modern Day Lynching - It Felt That Way!
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 04.05.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0136]
     
    Refer in comments to Blog. No. 0136 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm. I´ll send them to the mother who wrote this.
    -----------------
    I need support. I dont know what to expect. My son was taken from me at 17 in form of a modern day lynching. It felt that way! I am yet grieving. What is next when he is released from prison?

    from a grieving mother in Arkansas
     

    Everybody can be tracked in this country!
    By Renate <gvr123@aol.com>
    Posted on 01.05.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0135]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0135 and by sent to Renate at gvr123@aol.com, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm.
    -----------------------
    Don´t worry about IPhones - Anybody can be tracked in this country!
    Renate

    pull up your little towns in your area, it gives you all the attractions, parks scools, restaurants.how many people live there and yes, how many sexoffenders live there.

    we don't even need the registry to look up sexoffenders. just pull up your area towns. the gov makes it easy for us. just expose everybody, violent or not, now the iphone and also oprah.

    the motivation behind all this is clear, easy money for everyone to make, in the name of the safty of our children. maybe a few gov.grants also. i realy don't know what good it does us to pay taxes for schools and parks and other opportunities, if most of our family members are not allowed to go there or participate!

    does anybody know, what comes up on the screen, if the police run your license? is this your right also to have a look at it? what happens if there is a hospital stay needed? will the ´sex offender' be in a single room? does anyone have to go and report and register if he stays in a hopsital? failure to do so: imprisonment?

    these polititians have their little get togethers and come up with more restrictians without public knowledge. everything is hush hush. who voted these people in office? us. but i find they do everything in the dark, just the same as they spread the panic: the next offender will snatch your child in the dark.

    everybody can be tracked in this country, via satelite(you already have a cellphone). your computer is not safe, your new car has a box somewhere, not known to the buyer, cameras on the city street corner. don't get all upset about the iphone, make use of it. turn it around and make it work for you.

    the motivation to promote all this nonsense about "getting though on crime" is very questionable to me anyway. but those are just my 2 cents worth of thoughts.
     

    Throwing a Person Away is Easier!
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 21.04.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0134]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog 0134 and be sent to me, Alex, and I´ll send them to the person who wrote this.


    -------------------------------------------

    My son became addicted to child pornography and because of that is now serving a eight year sentence. I use the word addicted because that is how I am truly starting to see this as especially after talking to many others who's love one is serving time for the same crime. I really believe that this type of crime can be controlled with the correct therapy and understanding rather than just throwing them into prison and looked upon as though they have leprosy to become a non-person just as we did not to far back with people who had bipolar or HIV. Now that we understand those two we are no longer afraid and the same can be done with people who are addicted to any type of pornography while on line. This could be a big step for the prison system by keeping this type of person out and really homing in on the issue and getting to the bottom of it, the population of the total system could possibly go down along with the possibility of the financing of keeping that person there. To stop the revolving door the system has to be dissected completely - or is it just that throwing a person away is much more easier to do. Out of sight out of mind.
     

    Brave and Angry: Austin´s Mom Writes Back
    By Shelley <shelley_led@hotmail.com>
    Posted on 19.04.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0133]
     
    Refer in comments to Blog No.0133,and send to the above email address,with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ------------------------------------
    Here are comments from Shelley,RSOL Oregon contact, about the ordeal she and her family have faced in recent weeks as a local paper has published a photo of their missing son, as ¨most wanted.¨ Below Shelley´s comments, are a letter to Shelley from Tom Brewer, who has helped organize a campaign for another young man, Colton Calhoun, also in Oregon. Taken together, these show both the incredible evil of this sex offender system, and the great integrity of those who oppose it!
    ------------------------------------
    Comment from Shelley to RSOL people:

    Just when we thought it couldn't get any worse, as some of you know, two weeks ago, in the Sunday East Oregonian, they published Austin's picture with the heading MOST WANTED and his charges beneath the photo. I thought about this for a while then decided I could not just let this pass. I wrote a letter to the editor and had not heard anything until Friday when someone from the newsroom called and verified that I'd written it. It's in today's Sunday paper, the best day I could have hoped for. Please forgive the length. The letter follows.

    ********
    LETTER TO THE EDITOR OF THE EAST OREGONIAN,
    Published, Sunday, April 19, 2009

    Prayers and understanding are greatly appreciated

    We wish to express our most sincere and heartfelt gratitude to all of you who know the truth of Austin's case and who, due to a recent newspaper posting, have taken this opportunity to contact us and again strongly affirm your love and support for him and your faith in his character. After this happened, Austin struggled to make a way for himself by way of employment, housing, etc., to no avail, and possibly feeling he could not survive here, unfortunately, he went missing a while ago. We fear for his safety and his health due to Crohn's Disease, and the compassion you've shown toward that helps ease the pain we feel.

    Never in our worst nightmares would we have believed such a travesty could occur in this community. Over the past 20-plus years we have lived here, our family, including and especially Austin, has willfully and unselfishly volunteered for community activities, including fund-raising efforts for the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and National Wild Turkey Federation, the Pendleton Round-Up, Pendleton Youth Soccer Association, high school and middle school band activities, and church functions. To see someone whom we love so much suffer so greatly has broken our hearts and caused us to question why we remain here. But then you write, and you call, and you cry with us, and you pray for us, and the reason is once again clear.

    Please continue to pray that Austin is safe. We miss him and love him so much as we know you do too.

    Shelley Ledbetter
    Pendleton
    *********
    (Footnote for RSOL -
    If the people who did this to him can read, I hope they see it. I had to word it in a manner I thought would make it past the editor's desk, and it did. I hope I got the message across that this should never have happened to him or our family. Really, the people who are supporting us most are those of you reading this email and we love you for it.)

    --------------------------------------
    Letter to Shelley from Tom Brewer

    From: Tom Brewer
    Date: 19/04/2009 10:30:00
    To: Shelley Ledbetter
    Subject: austin

    In my mind Shelley the gloves come off!

    It is time to fight like hell. It is time to bring forward the travesty that happened to Austin.

    WHY were charges not brought against the mother of the young girl... When Austin was assaulted? How can this be overlooked, when (and have the facts in front of you) she was a felon already? Why was this overlooked by the authorities??? [ I gather this from what you told me]

    Shelley... You have to pose questions to the media that leaves the COPS having to reply. So not even hint at a response from you. Drop the question out there and so called walk away... Force the media to get a reply from the Police.

    Same thing with the girls and the boyfriend. Drop open questions (be careful not to put yourself at risk [legally] BUT leave the cops having to answer.

    In my mind Shelley you owe this to Austin. Did they print other pictures or just his? Embarrass the hell out of them Shelley, there are a host of others on the most wanted list as you can see if you go to the jail roster site.

    Make it as damning as you can without putting you at risk. If you have "proof" the girls lied, etc use it. Get affidavits where you can.

    Give the names of the DA/AG rep etcetera too. Let them bumble their explanation. Make the authorities answer for their action/inactions.

    This could be the opportunity to open Austin's case. IF they lied they should be charged and working backwards negate the charges on Austin.

    Remember what I advised some time ago..."put a rat in a corner and it will fight to its death". Shelley, Austin is not a rat however he has been treated like one. Talk to your lawyer friends ask them as best you can what they suggest.

    Like I say while what happened is demeaning as hell... This could be the opening needed to blow this matter wide open.

    Go for the jugular vein Shelley, you/Austin have nothing to loose. The woman who assaulted Austin does have something to loose along with the girls. PUT and keep the pressure on and watch the rats leave the sinking ship.

    Like I say this might well be the opening needed... Go for it big time... Honestly can anyone embarrass you any more? The authorities expect you to crawl into a hole and hide well Don't... Be their worst nemesis.

    Tom

    Tom Brewer is a supporter of another Oregon young man unfairly treated, Colton Calhoun. Here is the url for information about that case:
    http://www.onetruemedia.com/sharedp=48791a0838b78fb05ef904&large&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=embed
     

    S.O. Status Like the Tatoos for the Condemned
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 16.04.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0132]
     
    Refer in comments to Blog No. 0132 and send to me (Alex) at the above email address, and I´ll send them to the person who sent this.
    ---------------------
    How easy we let the Judicial condem and regulate.

    All people to be treated justly, fairly and according to law and principle. For all these principles apply to every AMERICAN,regardless of RACE religion, color, creed OR ANY OTHER CITERIA!

    How easily the law makers take upon themselves to destroy people´s lives, young and old. To classify everyone as the same.
    All criminals: Sex Offenders, Murderers, Drug Lords, are not the same.

    This is like when people where tattooed when they were condemned!
    The sex offender registry is the same type of thing. It is very painful to get a tatoo or a regsitry ¨brand¨ to be removed and very costly.

    From, The Professor Vietnam Veteran who believes in freedom, not condemnation.
     

    Untrue Statement on Today Show about ¨Sexting¨
    By Mary <resolvirginia@comcast.net>
    Posted on 16.04.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0131]
     
    Comments about this blog should refer to blog no. 0131 and be sent to Mary at the above email, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm.
    Good for you, Mary!!!! (Alex) I urge all RSOL people who saw this program to send an email, too: today@nbcuni.com. (reference the Wed. morning program, April 15, 2009).
    --------------------------------
    We just sent the below to the Today Show. If anyone else watched this interview we are certain you were shocked with the incorrect comment made.
    Mary and John
    ----- Forwarded Message -----
    From: rsolvirginia@comcast.net
    To: today@nbcuni.com
    Sent: Wednesday, April 15, 2009 8:50:02 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern

    Untrue Statement Made on this Mornings Today Show about Sexting and the SO Registry

    Dear Today Show,

    My husband and I were watching the Today show this morning as we normally do and had taken notice of the topic that covered “Sexting”. We were hoping to open a discussion with you or one of your staff in order to hopefully enlighten some of your viewers.

    The statement was made by Donna Rice Hughes from Washington that "prosecutorial discretion is allowed that would prevent these children from being placed on the registry". This statement is simply not true in almost every state. Unfortunately, she is as many Federal Politicians is referring to Federal guidelines but all states mandate their own restrictions and regulations that are imposed upon those convicted of a "sexual" offense. In fact the Legislator from Vermont replied to Donna Rice that he did not agree with her statement, but the interview was ending so he could not elaborate.

    In Virginia a recent discussion was held during the 2009 General Assembly on how to go about arresting persons who have been convicted of a sex offense, including misdemeanors, who had been ordered by the Judge to not register. The arrest is in fact for violating the rules of the registry and a failure to register charge, which is now a felony in Virginia. Once again these persons had been told by the court that they will not have to register as a sex offender. The discussion also included possible repercussions to any and all Judges making such an order.

    The fact is during our many meetings with State and Federal Lawmakers that they are not fully aware of just how out of control the Registry has become. Just a quick tidbit of information, our organization has crunched the numbers and found that in Virginia 1 out of every 210 adult males are currently listed as a “Sex Offender”. This statistic is echoed across the United States. One could argue that America has a severe problem with mental health and sexual deviants or perhaps the system is including too many offenses, which we believe to be the case. Interestingly enough, most Lawmakers we've spoken to agree that the increasing numbers on the State Registries have made them a “useless tool”. They also know its political suicide to try to fix this problem.

    The current Federal and State laws force most persons on the registry out of work and all too frequently out on the streets. If the person who is listed is truly trying to go on with his or her life and become a contributing member of society this is hopelessly cruel. If the person is truly a threat to society and might harm someone else, homeless and untraceable is the last thing we should want. The Registry has become so dilute with non-threats that it has become a completely useless tool, except for those who would exact random violence on anyone listed. The laws have become a perversion of what they were intended to do and America needs to know.

    Currently in Virginia a select few misdemeanor charges will result in a minimum of 15 years on the registry, all others are for a lifetime sentence on the registry. This is not debatable or something that can even be petitioned against. The court is legally bound to ignore any and all requests until the minimum is served.

    Please contact us if you think this is a topic that the Today Show would like to be educated on or to educate the public on.
    The RSOL is a National Organization with thousands of supporters who have been directly and indirectly affected by these ridiculous laws. Our goal is return the registry to what it was meant to do, to warn society of real potential harm and not just a stockpile of names.

    Thank you,
    Mary
    RSOL of Virginia
    Reform Sex Offender Laws
    PO Box 98
    Mechanicsville, VA 23111
    Virginia Web-site - www.rsolvirginia.org
    National Web-site - www.reformsexoffenderlaws.org
     

    Ricky & Mom on National Spanish TV!
    By Mary Duran <rickysmom@rickyslife.com>
    Posted on 13.04.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0130]
     
    Refer in comments to Blog No. 0130 and send to above name and email address, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm

    WE SALUTE MARY - AND EVEN MORE SO RICKY - FOR THEIR COURAGE AND ARTICULATE STATEMENT ON NATIONAL TV!!!! Watch for an announcement of the details - Cristina Show, April 20, 10pm, EDT.
    -----------
    (We´ve edited this a bit, to cut to the chase - a description of Mary and Ricky´s experience on the program! Read about their earlier adventure as they visited homeless ¨sex offenders¨ under the Julia Tuttle Bridge on our website elsewhere. Mary also thanked RSOL folks for support!)

    (Ricky and I) were (at the TV station) on time and arrived at the studio around four p.m. There were several guests airing on this pre-recorded show titled, "Unjustly accused", and Ricky and I were put in a 'green room'. We were there for just a few minutes then the producer and others came in the room and sat and talked with us about our story, the fight I am in regarding the registry and our
    visit to the bridge and experience there. We discussed many topics regarding AWA, RSO laws, residency laws and the juveniles. They wrote down info regarding SOSEN and RSOL as well as CFCOklahoma and CFCIowa and then we were sent to make up.

    As we talked many were shocked at rickys story and many women of Hispanic origin kept repeating, "poor meho" and patting Ricky on his back. This is a Spanish speaking show, so the Producer and Cristina hired three interpreters and equipped us with ear pieces so a interpreter would tell us in English what was being said in Spanish during the other guests spots as well as when Cristina spoke to us. They had a young male there to interpret Rickys words to Spanish across the intercom for the audience and a woman
    there to interpret me.

    They were very friendly and the young male for Ricky was concerned ricky use "slang" and was a bit concerned he not know how to interpret in Spanish. We assured him ricky rarely used slang and would be ok.

    We had five or six guest before us and as it was interpreted in my ear piece I was horrified at the stories:

    Some were as follows:

    1) A man sat in a FL Prison 17 years for a murder he did not commit and DNA finally freed him and due to state law he was only paid 25,000 for seventeen years of his life being stolen.

    2) (This one shocked me) A gentlemen was found guilty of rape as a youth and served time and then DNA exonerated him and he was set free...However, he must still register as a sex offender under Illinois law.

    3) A family had been accused of child abuse even though there is a
    inheritable disease the mother has which a fall can cause a broken bone. Her daughter was taking from her and almost adopted out. They finally were exonerated and got their daughter back yet she is registered on a child abuse registry.

    Well Ricky was the last guest to air and we only had like ten or fifteen minutes. I worried over him as he was very nervous but we got out there and Cristina spoke to him in English and assured him he´d be ok...she was very motherly to him and told him his story broke her heart. She did tell me she wanted to focus on Rickys plight and story regarding age of consent which I understood.

    Well ricky, did me proud, and literally took charge of his life during this interview. He spoke clearly and told his story and had the audience attention. Cristina asked me "How long Ricky had to register"? and I simply answered in one word, "LIFE"!

    The audience reaction was that of shock and gasps and then I was asked how a parent knows their state of age of consent laws. I advised them to contact their Attorney Generals office and even a two year age difference could be registrable depending on your state laws.

    As we finished things Cristina put out a National plea on rickys behalf for a attorney to contact her if they were willing to take Rickys case pro-bono. We were not expecting that and the show ended.

    Once we were off camera Cristina gave Ricky a huge and told him he did not have to cry, which I did not realize he was, and told him she would find help for him and his case and expungment. As Ricky stood to leave the stage some mothers escaped from security, in the audience, and rushed towards ricky saying, "poor meho" and Ricky was almost embarrassed. immediately security whisked us away to the back and we sat there talking for a bit as Rickys young male interpreter came to him and told him he was "brave" and "courageous" and no one could of chose a better advocate for the romeo and Juliets across this country. They asked me why we went public, and I responded, "Generlo Wilson went public and he no longer sits in prison nor registers and someone has to lead the fight for the youths and adults. ricky and I were chosen in my belief."

    Before we left the studio Cristina and her producer took photos of Ricky and said they may bring us back at a later time to do updates and possibly more stories.

    I hope this will bring the registry more to light and show how its s bogus as a two dollar bill...

    We believe the show is on April 20, 2009 at 10 p.m. Eastern time. The show is in Spanish but hopefully we can get it translated to English.

    Since our arrival home I have been contacted by our state paper the
    Oklahoman and they are now running a story on our Julia Tuttle experience and Rickys story...

    I will never give up, folks, and even though we were asked to cover rickys story and age of consent you have my word we talked about the registry itself and the harm it does to families and former offenders.

    God Bless,
    Mary

     

    Differing Opinions on Chief Justice Decision on S.O. Commitment
    By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 08.04.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0129]
     
    Refer in comments to Blog No. 0129 and send to me at the above email.
    alex
    ----------------------

    To RSOL Participants -
    It is NOT clear that the recent appeal of the sex offenders facing commitment was due to specific Obama policy - but rather the result of an automatic appeal by the government of such federal decisions. What IS distressing, is the Chief Justice´s summary action without investigating the cases of those facing indefinate civil commitment.
    Here is the original RSOL post, with a disagreeing and clarifying note from one of our supporters, eadvcoate@yahoo.com.

    For more information, please contact him.
    Alex


    ----------------------------------------------------------
    Here´s the RSOL initial post:
    U.S. SUPREME COURT CHIEF JUSTICE BLOCKS SEX OFFENDER RELEASE
    Obama Administration Evidentlay Does Not Stand for Change on S.O. Issues
    (Please see RSOL News Item No. 00126 for the whole story.)

    Many RSOL participants had hoped that the new Administration would not simply maintain Bush policies on ¨sex offenders.¨ The Federal Court decision had been a promising sign that indefinate civil commitment laws might be struck down. Although such appeals are usually automatic, that Atty. General Holder and the Justice Department would take this active opposition to the decision, and urge the Supreme Court to block release of nearly 80 ¨sex offenders¨ who have completed long sentences, is disappointing. While some of them may indeed be dangerous, and possibly should be held, evaluated by actual risk they pose and the factual description of their actual actions (not merely the name of their ¨crime¨, such commitment could still be managed by the states. We urge all RSOL participants to write Atty. General Holder and the Obama Administration, urging them to reconsider their position on this urgent matter.
    -----------------------------------------------
    IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION from Eadvocate@yahoo.com

    In answer to a few reader questions here is a general rundown of what recently occurred.

    Background: State Civil commitment schemes were declared constitutional under the Clinton administration. see Kansas v. Hendricks, 521 U.S. 346 (1997). Now, the question today is, are federal civil commitment schemes constitutional (AWA enacted one)?

    Lets go back to the beginning in North Carolina:

    2007: North Carolina Federal District court declares AWA (portion about civil commitment) unconstitutional. i.e. Holding Congress did not have the power to enact FEDERAL civil commitment schemes. Note: NC Federal Dist. court is part of the Federal 4th Circuit.


    2008: Then the NC Dist court decision is appealed to the 4th Cir Federal Court of Appeals. However, the 4th cir agrees with the lower district court. i.e. Holding Congress did not have the power to enact FEDERAL civil commitment schemes.

    Note-1: So far the ONLY place this decision is VALID is in the 4th circuit (NC, VA, SC WV), no other circuit is required to follow it.

    Note-2: The next step is to the U.S. Supreme court, and because an act of Congress is involved, the lawyer who handles the case for the United States is the Solicitor General, also part of the Justice Department.

    Note-3: The job of the Solicitor General is to prove that any law previously enacted by Congress is valid, he is not allowed any personal opinion, he must follow what his job requires him to do. Under these circumstances he had NO DISCRETION, he cannot ignore that the lower decision INVALIDATED a congressional act, which are always presumed constitutional, and because of that decision (which also contained a HIDDEN question of public safety), HE MUST Appeal to the U.S. Supreme court and allow them the final say.

    Note-4:Can the public influence the SOlicitor General? No, no matter who says what, even if 10 million folks contacted him, he must ignore them because his job is to represent the U.S. and prove that previously enacted federal laws are constitutional; its his job even if his personal opinion is otherwise. However, there are additional special circumstances a constitutional Act is involved and a question of public safety. Where did the question of public safety come from? Read on.


    2009: So the Solicitor General appeals the 4th Cir decision to the U.S. Sup ct. Now so far we do not know exactly what he put in the appeal, as to the sex offenders which were being held, but we do know what the Judges of the 4th Circuit advised.... They wrote the following on the last two pages of their decision:


    "For these reasons, we can only conclude that the district court correctly held § 4248 unconstitutional. The challengers have made a "plain showing" that, in enacting § 4248, Congress exceeded its constitutional authority. Morrison, 529 U.S. at 607.

    Our holding, however, does not require that the Government’s legitimate policy concerns go unaddressed. If the federal government has serious concerns about the dangerousness of a person due to be released from federal prison, it can notify state authorities, who may use their wellsettled police and parens patriae powers to pursue civil commitment under state law. See generally Kansas v. Hendricks, 521 U.S. 346 (1997).

    Moreover, if the relevant state authorities prove reluctant to take charge of such persons, the Government is not without recourse. The federal government may, for example, wield its spending power to encourage state action, see U.S. Const. art. I, § 8, cl. 1 (granting Congress the power to allocate funds to promote the "general Welfare"), by providing funding to state institutions for this purpose. Cf. South Dakota v. Dole, 483 U.S. 203, 209-12 (1987). But Congress’s perceived need for the sort of civil commitment statute at issue here does not create constitutional power where none exists. See Morrison, 529 U.S. at 627. Congress must instead seek alternative, constitutional means of achieving what may well be commendable objectives.

    The power claimed by § 4248—forcible, indefinite civil commitment—is among the most severe wielded by any government. The Framers, distrustful of such authority, reposed such broad powers in the states, limiting the national government to specific and enumerated powers. "[T]hat those limits may not be mistaken, or forgotten, the constitution is written." Marbury v. Madison, 5 U.S. (1 Cranch) 137, 176 (1803). Section 4248 thus cannot be sustained as an exercise of Congress’s authority under the Commerce Clause or any other provision of the Constitution. For these reasons, we affirm the judgment of the district court. AFFIRMED"


    So, the question of public safety came from the judges of the 4th cir. Given they raised the issue, the Solicitor General cannot ignore that, which effectively kills any discretion he has at times. Now, when the appeal was filed in the U.S. Sup court, Chief Justice Roberts jumped in:


    "Robert's O R D E R

    UPON CONSIDERATION of the application of the Solicitor General,

    IT IS ORDERED that the mandate of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, case No. 07-7671, is hereby stayed pending the disposition of the petition for a writ of certiorari. See Walters v. National Assn. of Radiation Survivors, 468 U. S. 1323 (1984) (Rehnquist, J., in chambers) (“The presumption of constitutionality which attaches to every Act of Congress is not merely a factor to be considered in evaluating success on the merits, but an equity to be considered in favor of applicants in balancing hardships”). Should the petition for a writ of certiorari be denied, this stay shall terminate automatically. In the event the petition for a writ of certiorari is granted, the stay shall terminate upon the sending down of the judgment of this Court."

    This is tricky, But Roberts DID NOT order the sex offenders held (see above), he stayed the 4th cir decision, which means that decision cannot be carried out (a portion of it would have ultimately resulted in release of the sex offenders). Don't you just love how the law works?

    So everything that has occurred is nothing more than steps in the appellate process when a lower court declares an Act of Congress unconstitutional, and the belief of public safety issues.

    And now we wait................

    eAdvocate

    BTW: Another federal district court held AWA Civil Commitment unconstitutional. See
    MA- Massachusetts District Court Finds Civil Commitment Law Unconstitutional
     

    Seeking Sex Offenders Under a Miami Bridge
    By Mary Duran <rickysmom@rickyslife.com>
    Posted on 07.04.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0128]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0128 and be sent to Mary at the above email address, with a copy to Alex at alexm60@fastmail.fm
    RSOL is proud of this woman and her brave son - both of who have served as RSOL state contact people.
    ------------------------------------------------
    Photos of Mary and Ricky can be found at this url:
    http://sosen.us/index.php?option=com_content&view=section&layout=blog&id=11&Itemid=23
    -----------------------------

    THE LOST, THE FORGOTTEN, THE UNKNOWN
    A Visit to a Homeless ¨Sex Offender¨ Camp Under the Julia Tuttle Bridge in Miami
    by Mary Duran
    RSOL Oklahoma State Affiliated Group Contact
    (with her son Ricky)

    The day came in a glory of fire over the Caribbean waters as Miami began to bustle in the humid air. The sky lit up like a ray of rainbows as the sun began to rise and dawn broke.

    We - my son Ricky and I - watched the sun rise, and quietly discussed the Julia Tuttle Bridge and our determination to locate it and see for ourselves what we read in the National news. Part of it may be curiosity, but also a need as a human and civil rights advocate to proceed to locate those registered living under this famous causeway and to let them know there are advocates who truly care and find it horrifying how they are forced to live.

    As we stood quietly on a pier, overlooking the marina, filled with yachts and smaller vessels, one couldn’t help but notice a few yards away the homeless sleeping on their blankets as the warm breeze offered a small comfort as they slept peacefully in a world which seemed to be so brutal due to the economy.

    Ricky had been watching them, his young mind questioning why we have homeless living like this and were they “sex offenders”? I knew it was impossible and stated to him, as the sun continued to rise over the water, that they were simply homeless men since nearby was an elementary school and Miami law prohibited registered sex offenders from living within 2,500 feet of a public school or park.

    We made our way back to our hotel room, in a area known to Miami as “Coconut Grove” and prepared for our mission, to locate the bridge and find those under it.

    0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

    As the hot and humid sun continued to rise over Miami we found ourselves inside a taxi cab with a Hispanic male who seemed quite brisk and even downright rude. We told him we wanted to be delivered to the Julia Tuttle Bridge and his reaction was, ‘why’? Ricky spoke up and explained to him we were looking for the homeless living there to do a story and the driver retorted, “We have no homeless under the bridge,” and then said, “I need address to bridge to take you.”

    We were by this time a couple blocks from the hotel and the hair on the back of my neck raised as a bit of alarm grasped me because of the man’s attitude. I, again, explained we had no address, just the name of the bridge and he seemed to get quite angry. Instantly realizing this may have been a mistake I told him to let us out of the cab and we would pay him what we owe, and find a police officer who could be of assistance. Shockingly, he refused and with a heavy Spanish accent told us, “You want to go to bridge, I take you to bridge,” and then proceeded to again repeat, “You want to go to bridge, I take you to bridge!”

    By this time, being from a small town, and a protective mother, due to the scarlet letter my own son wore, I drew a deep breath and calmed myself. I sensed Ricky’s confusion and anger at the cab driver and told him to stay calm. I then told him loud enough for the cab driver to hear me that we would find ourselves a police officer and file a report since it seemed we were being kidnapped after we asked to be let out of the cab.

    This drew the cab driver´s attention as he asked me what organization I represent and I told him one which advocates for human and civil rights which he seems to dislike as he continued to speed through traffic - toward the bridge, I hoped.

    Moments later, we began crossing a long bridge, bustling with traffic and he told us that this was the bridge. He continued to drive for a couple more miles then swerved towards the side. At this point Ricky said, “Let us out here.” The cab driver seemed perplexed as to why we wanted to be at the bridge but said nothing as his job would lead him to another tourist and we soon be forgotten. We paid the cab fare and found ourselves to the side of the Julia Tuttle Bridge which seemed to stretch on before us, like the abyss of the unknown.

    We found ourselves in a bagel shop moments later and asked an African American gentlemen if he could tell us how to get under the causeway. At first he didn’t answer and looked at us with curiosity and then asked Ricky, “Why do you want to go under the bridge?”

    Ricky explained to him we were looking for the homeless registered sex offenders who are reported to be living there and we were with an organization called ‘SOSEN’.
    (Alex´Note: And Reformsexoffenderlaws.org)

    The bagel shop worker informed us “if” there were any homeless under the bridge then it is back at the other end, not here where the cab driver delivered us. He said we could walk back across the bridge and find some street but warned us it was a long walk. We thanked him and stepped back outside to figure out our next move. Ricky commented to me:_it was a long walk back across and he worried we might be hit by traffic or harassed by police for walking along the Interstate.

    So we began to walk in the area and ask others who were busy walking or waiting at the public bus signs, how can we get under the bridge from this side? Many were unsure, some were curious why ‘we’ wanted to get under the bridge and others blatantly ignored us as some pesky tourists who had a fetish for a bridge.

    Finally, Ricky left me on the sidewalk and hopped onto a bus to ask a public transit driver. They told him to catch bus 120 back across the bridge. So we stood there and waited. Bus 120 came and the lady transit driver told us she indeed would go back to the other side and to come aboard. We did, thankful for the moment´s respite from the heavy humidity which seem to be so oppressive since our arrival on the plane the day before. The bus was full to capacity, so Ricky and I held onto a bar as the bus lurched forward, but then a gentleman moved and offered me his seat so I would not lose my balance easily.

    We, within minutes, were back on the other side of the bridge so we left the coolness of the bus and thanked the driver for her assistance. As we began to look around we found ourselves near a public park where many were walking their dogs. We proceeded to the park, and began walking towards the bridge which you could see before us. However, Ricky quickly realized due to a fence we had no access and so we trekked back to where the bus deposited us.

    Here, we ran into another gentleman and asked him how to get under the bridge to locate the homeless. He told us there were none. That Floridians do not put their people under bridges. We assured him there were homeless there but he wandered off with his dog continuing on their morning walk, unconcerned at the thought of homeless people living under a bridge within sight.

    We found ourselves frustrated at how no one seemed to be aware of the homeless under the bridge, sensing some knew and just didn’t seem to care as it had no effect on their lives in the busy bustle of Miami. We were hot, tired and thirsty at this point but we continued on, determined to find these men and see for ourselves this famous Julia Tuttle Causeway.

    Again, we continued to ask around on how to get under the bridge. Finally a British guy, who was walking his Great Dane, told us we have to walk along the bridge and climb over the guardrail and hike down the side. He warned us it was a couple of miles´ hike back, and he felt since I was a woman with a youthful son we should be careful. Finally, we had an idea of how to find the men and directions to get there. Excitement raced through me, as we turned and headed for the actual famous Julia Tuttle Bridge and the unknown.

    As we began the walk across the bridge, with traffic racing by us, almost like we were invisible, a feeling of unease settled over me, not because we were going to the bridge, but because we were hiking along the Interstate fearing Miami police would stop us in violation of some law.

    The Julia Tuttle Bridge seemed endless before us, as we walked along the hot pavement of the interstate, the sun beating down upon our heads, the humidity pressing in on us making us sweat. Time passed, seemingly as we continued to walk until finally we stopped at the guardrail, Ricky noting there was a path leading down below.

    After Ricky helped me over the rail, we began slowly to descend the side of the bridge. Ricky noted carpets and blankets as well as trash along the path. The ground was moist and muddy and a few times I lost my footing and slipped, but we continued on our mission to find the homeless offenders.

    At the bottom we saw a couple of men fishing from a little pond and they simply stared at us but said nothing. We said hello and continued on, unsure if they were part of the colony we sought out. As we kept on, we came to the bridge, we saw a sign painted in black on the bridge pillars which read, “We R not monsters.” We first happened upon a Hispanic male who could not speak English but his girlfriend interpreted for us. We did not want to offend anyone and made this clear to her and she told us the camp was empty as most of the men were gone. We were welcome to take pictures but obviously they asked us to respect others who were farther up the bridge and we promised to respect their privacy.

    As we moved farther back under the bridge, we came across many tents and carpets where these men were forced to live. We found a camper and wondered if the ‘woman’ offender we read about in a previous week’s news article was there. As we continued our photo shots, we came across another young offender who was sitting in his car with a young woman. We quickly learned his name is Bryan and the woman was his wife who also lived under the bridge. I remember thinking of the concern for the lone woman offender here and yet it appeared there were other women living here.

    As we talked, Bryan told us his story and how he at age 19 was falsely accused of rape and even the police stated they thought the woman lied. I asked him if the Prosecutor had DNA evidence and he said, ¨No!¨ They literally told him if he did not take a plea bargain of five years´ probation then he would lose a jury trial and be sentenced to fifteen years. He had a public defender.

    We took a photo with Bryan in front of the sign, “We R not monsters,” and again discussed the colony these men and their girlfriends and wives were being forced to live. I asked him about the woman offender and he was not aware of her and said if she had been there its possible she had been removed. We went to the camper where we were told a man named Marcos lived and knocked but he did not answer so we again moved back to Bryan’s car.

    He told us how “Rocky” was fighting to get them help and get them from under the bridge and how his wife and him prayed soon that they would be free from living like this. He then showed me his GPS monitor and I asked him how much it cost. He replied, “seven dollars a day.” How does one pay for this with no job? No home? Bryan said he feared being violated since he could not afford the costs of probation such as treatment, probation fees and GPS monitoring. He went on, along with his wife, to tell us how he used to work in construction and did well, but last year they lost their jobs. His wife had an apartment, but Bryan could not live there and she, bravely and courageously, chose to be with him in the colony.

    Bryan’s wife was quiet but there was a sweetness about her and I learned she was only 20. She had been dating Bryan when this happened and decided to stand by him in the name of love. I said nothing, but could sense tiredness about this young woman and how living under the bridge was taking its toll on her. Ricky, seemed to sense this too, as he told her he hoped he could find a woman to love him so unconditionally, to stand beside him even when his own country and people treat him like a pariah of society, and he was honored to have met her.

    Our words seemed to surprise Bryan’s wife and she thanked us in her quiet voice. She began to open up a bit to me as Ricky and Bryan again walked around looking at things and she mentioned how it seemed no one cared about them. She repeated what the sign says, “We R not monsters,” and I assured her there are thousands of people across this once great country who do care and we seek help for them. I would not give up on her and Bryan once I left the bridge and returned home. She had my word.

    Bryan and Ricky came back and he asked me if I knew who slept on the carpet next to him? I obviously had no clue and he then preceded to tell us that the piece of rug belonged to an 18 year old boy. I was shocked, stunned and horrified at this thought and it smacked me, like the humidity: this could easily be my Ricky. The mother in me questioned - where in the hell are these kids´ parents? Where are the families who should be outraged at how their loved ones are being treated worse than animals and forced to live under a hot, damp bridge with no running water or toilets available?

    I turned to Bryan and asked him, ¨What do you all do with your trash?¨ He told us it was piled over in a burn pile even though they were not to burn trash - just nother hardship on the men and women under the bridge which caused unsanitary conditions. This then led me to ask where they use the bathroom. Bryan pointed to some Palm Trees and said they go behind there and were careful not to be charged with a second sex crime of ‘indecent exposure’.

    As we spoke to Bryan the heat continued to be oppressive and I began to feel faint and ill. Bryan and his wife immediately started their car and turned on the air and placed me in the backseat. They offered to take us back to the hotel and we greatfully accepted.

    Within minutes we were on our way back to the hotel and Bryan and his wife were kind and considerate towards my son and me. The cool air was refreshing and by the time we were back in our room I was feeling much better.

    As we sat there preparing for the Cristina show I pondered over the events of the day and realized those registered offenders under the bridge are truly ostracized from the community and are the lost, the forgotten and the unknown to the world. We may read articles in National News about those being forced to live under the bridge but nothing compares to being there and experiencing the conditions these men and women deal with daily.

    The questions which reverberate through my mind are:

    *How can this be in a country called the United States?
    *Is this the catalyst for more violations of human and civil rights as more states pass legislation regarding residency laws?
    *Is this colony of registered sex offenders the future of all offenders across this once great land?

    Days have passed since our return home and one thing which remains is the desperation and tragedy of Bryans voice as his future is that of the Julia Tuttle Causeway. Is there anyway for me as a mother, a advocate and a human to help these men and women?

    Daily I work with many who suffer because of these laws and yet should my son and I be thankful we do not live under a bridge? Will this day come? We realize now as we are back home in our trailer with running water and food, a warm bed to sleep in that maybe, even though these laws are destroying our lives and my family is the collateral damage, that we should be thankful for the small blessings we have.

    These include: a group of advocates and friends who care, a home and, most of all, we have each other. Indeed it’s the small blessings we should be thankful for.

    Written by,
    Mary Duval
     

    Psychiatrist´s Letter to Digest Editor
    By Dr. Rick DeMasi <jodemas2@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 03.04.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0127]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0127 and be sent to the writer, Dr. Rick DeMasi, at the above email address, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm.
    NOTE FROM ALEX MARBURY: The Blog page is for opinions, sometimes divergent from RSOL views. What is written below is NOT the official view of RSOL. We do not publish extreme opinions, but we do publish a variety of points of view on topics related to sex offender laws. We believe this is in the interest of free exchange of ideas, and is important as we come to grips both with the hysteria against ¨sex offenders,¨ and with possibility for reform.
    -----------------------------------------

    Letter to the Editor of the RSOL Digest (March 2009)

    I want to commend Kelly Piercy for pointing out the importance of words and expressing oneself clearly.

    I must however take issue with some points in the discussion of
    pedophilia. For example, Piercy states: "No one supports the act of a person of sexual maturity engaging in sexual conduct with a person not of that maturity."

    What about the case of William Elliott who in 2007 was shot dead in his home by someone who found his name and address on Maine's sex offender registry? When he was 19 he had sex with his girlfriend who was only days away from that magical birthday known as the "age of consent." The murderer also shot another man on the registry before killing himself as police closed in on him.

    While there may be some RSOL members who support age of consent laws, none would condone such a senseless crime. Many of us who have also seen the grave injustices wrought by age of consent laws realize that the battle against registration laws is not an all-or-nothing one, but one which must be fought on multiple fronts. The fight against unjust age of consent laws is part and parcel of that against registration laws.

    Piercy also makes good points in distinguishing clinical pedophilia,
    i.e, the sexual attraction to prepubescent children, from violent
    predatory non-consensual sexual activity, and advocating for treatment. He then undoes a lot of that good by placing in the middle of his essay
    "Pedophile = active dangerous person."
    Someone who just skims the article is going to remember that. I think you could see what I mean if I were to write, apart from everything else:
    ¨Sex offender (registrant) = violent dangerous predator.¨
    While a small few are dangerous, we all know that the great majority are not.

    Furthermore, Piercy neglects to give the origin of the word "pedophilia" which comes from the Greek "paidos" = "love" and "philia" = "children," just about the farthest thing form an "active dangerous person" there can be.

    If some are uncomfortable getting into the "age of consent" debate, take heart from Piercy's point about dialog. The reasons they are a bad idea can be explained to anyone willing to listen with an open mind, but more importantly, as Piercy points out, we just need to keep talking to each other, especially when we disagree.

    Dr. Rick DeMasi
     

    A War on Sex Offenders
    By posted by Terrence <tjwhite1963@gmail.com>
    Posted on 28.03.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0126]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0126 and be sent to Terrence at the above email, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ------------------------------

    URL for the full blog:
    http://www.concurringopinions.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/5239. 1361814130

    When Does Ordinary Law Enforcement Become a "War on Crime?"
    (A War on Sex Offenders?)
    posted by Corey Yung
    (Professor Corey Yung, John Marschall School of Law)

    In 1971, Richard Nixon declared the War on Drugs in America. However, the laws enabling that criminal war had been enacted years before Nixon’s speech officially recognized the new conflict. By 1968, Lyndon Johnson had established the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs (the predecessor organization to the Drug Enforcement Agency) to lead the charge against domestic drug use and distribution. The next year, efforts to limit drug smuggling along the Mexican border culminated in Operation Intercept which nearly closed the border entirely. When Nixon took over the Presidency, he signed into law the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act which established the categorization system for regulating narcotics. Perhaps the clearest sign that something was afoot even before Nixon’s speech was that the anti-drug-war group, The National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (“NORML”), was founded to counter the shifting policy priorities of the criminal justice system. By the time of the official declaration, the War on Drugs was already underway.

    So, when did the "war" actually start? In an era when foreign wars are not even truly "declared" anymore, perhaps it is not surprising to think that a criminal war might be underway without a specific statement from the federal government. In a paper I have been working on for a while that I will be presenting at the Law & Society Conference, I contend that a criminal war on sex offenders may have already begun. We are, thus, in a period like that in the late 60's and early 70's wherein the conflict has started even if the government has not yet acknowledged it.

    In reviewing America's history of criminal wars, I have identified three major characteristics of those conflicts. The first two are essential prerequisites for the war to begin and the third is a sign that it is underway. First, there must be a substantial campaign of myth creation. For the war on drugs, movies like Reefer Madness embodied the misinformation that was propagated to support government policy against drugs. In regards to the nascent war on sex offenders, there are already developed myths of the prevalence of stranger rape, of child molesters lurking in the bushes, that offenders cannot be "cured" based upon faulty recidivism statistics, and of the collective nature of the class "sex offenders." Second, there must be a significant marshalling of resources in proportion to the perceived threat. For sex offenders, policy innovation has created an environment at the federal, state, and local levels whereby offenders have a significant weight upon them. Lifetime registration, residency restrictions, civil commitment, lifetime real-time GPS monitoring, castration, community notification, and work restrictions are just a few of the policies that have targeted sex offenders. The treatment of offenders seems out of proportion given that previously convicted and released sex offenders are only responsible for a small portion of sex crimes. However, the marshalling of resources is still incomplete. The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, the most significant piece of federal sex offender legislation, has not been fully funded to enforce its various provisions. Perhaps with the economic downturn and a new administration, the focus of criminal justice resources on sex offenders might yet dissipate.

    Third, and importantly for non-sex offenders, an inevitable result of criminal wars is exception-making to various protected rights. The drug war has arguably limited the rights protected under the First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Fourteenth, Sixth, and Eighth Amendments. Further, federal authority has expanded well beyond the previous reaches of the Commerce Clause. These "exceptions" to prior doctrine have had long-term implications outside of the drug war. Similarly, the war on sex offenders through registration laws has limited due process rights, changed Ex Post Facto doctrine, and further expanded the federal reach under the Commerce Clause. Residency restrictions have revived banishment as punishment in a way that is detrimental to basic aspects of American democracy. Other punishments have already curtailed First, Fifth, Fourteenth and Sixth Amendment protections.

    So, based upon those criteria, I think a strong case that a war on sex offenders has already begun. There is a chance that through court decisions, state noncompliance with the Adam Walsh Act, or failure to fully fund the various sex offender laws, that the war could falter. However, based upon the politics of crime, it seems likely that America has started a new war on the criminal front.
     

    Victories in New Mexico!
    By posted by Lloyd <madalleyreport@aol.com>
    Posted on 23.03.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0125]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0125 and be sent to the above address with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    --------------------------------------------------------------
    Report by Lloyd of the New Mexico RSOL Affiliated State Group on their lobby effort and the results!
    VICTORIES IN NEW MEXICO!

    Folks, the (New Mexico legislative) session has ended and all 3 RSO bills are dead. 502 was on the House agenda today, but there was not enough time. I want to thank everyone for the help this session. As a completely new organization, it was a trial by fire, helping to stop 3 bills was an absurd proposition, but we did it. So if you participated, made calls, wrote letters, pat yourself on the back. If you are on the registry, you have not lost additional rights in 2009. These defeats are just the beginning, many legislators mentioned they craved reform, and evidence based "best practices" proposals from SOMB. Reform is happening in other states, and court cases have become exciting lately. We must build on this momentum and move forward with our next agenda, especially SOMB and legal. Without the demands in our first weeks of our organization working in Santa Fe, we can work on resources, prevention and other important things as well. The year of "the beginning of Justice Reform" has begun.
     

    US CONG HEARING:AWA-SORNA Violates Rights
    By eAdvocate <eAdvocate@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 22.03.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0124]
     
    Please refer in comments to Blog No. 124, and send to the above email address, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ------------------------------------------
    SORNA - Sex Offender Law Violates Rights, Puts Kids at Risk
    3-19-2009 National:

    Last Tuesday, a U.S. House subcommittee held a hearing to evaluate states’ compliance with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). That law requires that states scrap their sex offender monitoring programs and create online public registries of sex offenders according to strict new federal standards. Instead of basing the length of monitoring on an assessment of the chances that the person will reoffend, states must apply a three-tier system based solely on the person’s offense. The law covers all people convicted of crimes that involve a sexual act, including some minors and even covers people who had paid their debt to society decades ago. States that aren’t in compliance with this law by July 29, 2009, could lose a substantial piece of federal aid for state law enforcement.

    SORNA will not prevent sexual victimization. In 2007, Human Rights Watch released a comprehensive report, No Easy Answers, which found that if anything, these laws are counterproductive. They make it harder for law enforcement to focus its resources on the truly dangerous individuals. And unrestricted public access to the registries results in ostracism and diminishes the likelihood of reintegration into society. Our increasingly scarce resources would be better spent on counseling for victims, education for the community, and treatment for the offenders.

    We’ve gotten used to having few friends on this issue. We’re okay with this. We didn’t get into this business in order to make friends. With the exception of the criminal defense bar, there just aren’t a whole lot of people who want to stand up for the rights of sex offenders. So we were pleasantly surprised to hear the testimony of Emma J. Devillier, Assistant Attorney General of Louisiana, and Detective Bob Shilling, who works in the Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Unit of the Seattle Police Department.

    Bob Shilling was molested as a child, and has dedicated his life to ending sexual abuse. He testified that SORNA’s three-tier system is making his job more difficult. He argued that it’s more effective to base sex offender monitoring decisions on the actuarial risk-based system that attempting to calculate the chances that the person will reoffend and is currently used in over 20 states. Simply looking at the crime a person was convicted of tells you very little about the chance that he or she will reoffend. By adopting SORNA’s rigid categories, states governments and police departments will divert valuable resources away from policing high- and moderate-risk sex offenders to people whose risk of reoffending is very low.

    Emma Devillier is a front-line prosecutor of sexual offenders in Louisiana, and was in charge of implementing SORNA’s requirements in the state. She also argued that SORNA will make it harder for her to do her job. Sex offenses can be very hard to try. Often there is no physical evidence and no witness besides the victim. If Devillier does not have the discretion to waive the sex offender registration requirements, her ability to get defendants to plead guilty will be compromised. She will have to bring more of these cases to trial, forcing the victims to publicly relive their personal trauma.

    Knowing that laws like SORNA have done nothing to make us safer makes me suspect that many of the politicians who support them are thinking more about their next re-election campaign than actually protecting kids. I have a low tolerance for politicians who use kids to score cheap political points. It’s not like there isn’t anything else going on that Congress could be spending its time on instead of forcing counterproductive legislation down states’ throats. ..News Source.. by ACLU John Hardenbergh, Washington Legislative Of
     

    Tips for Neighbors of ¨Sex Offenders¨
    By Bennie <lostjustice@comcast.net>
    Posted on 21.03.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0123]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0123 and be sent to the above email address, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ---------------------------
    Tips for Neighbors
    By Bennie Walton, Colorado RSOL

    Sex Offender Living in the Neighborhood

    In using these tips remember these important points:

    1. Most sex offenders 85% are sex offenders of familial incest, relatives, or friends of the victim, family, or both.

    2. Sex offenders, the general population are low risk having a 5.3% probability of committing another sexual offense, meaning there is a 95.7% probability that you will have no trouble with your neighbor who is a registered no risk or low risk sex offender. You can think of these statistics as meaning the glass is more full than it is empty, meaning your risk of having problems with this neighbor caused by this neighbor is very negligible.

    3. Most registered sex offenders will live within the laws because they are living with great restraints upon them and this is good for you and your family.

    4. Most sex offenders are not habitual or repeat offenders as is noted by a 5.3% recidivism rate. Furthermore, this percentage has gone down over the years.

    Now here are the tips for you, your family, your friends, and your neighbors to live by.

    Tip 1: Leave your neighbor alone. He or she does not want you to bother him or her, and they don't want to bother you.
    Why? They are already deafly afraid that you are going to do something harmful to them and either cause, or have caused their death, re-incarceration, or something other that will make them and their family leave their home or place of residence.
    Sex offenders live amongst you each and everyday. You don't know them, but law enforcement does. The fact that they do live and work amongst you, should give you heart in the knowledge that if all sex offenders were dangerous there would be more problems than there are. This is another fact you should seriously keep in your mind before causing trouble when trouble is not necessary.

    Tip 2: If you have one or more children keep them off of his or her property. Respect his property as you hopefully respect the property of your other neighbors.

    Tip 3: Do not gather your family, friends, and neighbors outside of his or her place of residence to taunt this neighbor. Remember tip 1.

    Tip 4: Don't fantasize about that neighbor and create a situation for him or her. Fantasizing bad things will produce in you, your family, friends, and neighbors a paranoia that should not have been created.

    Tip 5: You don't have to hide your family inside the house. Your neighbor is not going to run out of his or her residence and grab your children.

    Tip 6: Calmly watch your neighbor as you would watch any neighbor that you really don't know.

    Tip 7: Watch your children as you ought to be doing anyway as a responsible parent. You should watch your children when you go anywhere, this is no different, it is the same normal action you should be doing all the time anywhere you and your children are at.

    Tip 8: Your sex offender neighbor will come and go just as you come and go from your residence. Don't read into it anything because your neighbor has to do many of the same things that you have to do, after all they are human.

    Tip 9: If you want to have security measures for your residence that is perfectly alright for there are thieves who try to break in and steal also.

    Tip 10: Your sex offender neighbor probably will do his or her best not to do anything in front of you and your family to give you cause to jump and call the authorities. Your neighbor will have a life style that may seem dissimilar to yours; you should accept that as you have accepted the ways of some of your other neighbors. He or she might see your lifestyle as strange as well. Don't create a cause for involving this person with the authorities just because you don't like his or her way of doing things.

    Tip 11: Be adult enough to approach your neighbor and calmly and respectfully speak to him or her with another person if you have a problem with their property or something on their property, but don't look for things to hurt this person, that is not a good neighbor.

    Tip 12: If you or your neighbors are notified that a high risk sex offender is living in your neighborhood, and might be a real danger, certainly you should be concerned, just as if you learn that a habitual criminal of any sort - a thief, for instance, has moved into your neighborhood.

    In time you may find that this person is not your enemy. You still don't have to like him or her just as you don't like some of your other neighbors. You don't have get friendly, you don't have to do anything except leave your neighbor alone as long he or she leaves you and your family alone.

    Remember this: This neighbor is already under considerable duress. He or she knows that the slightest illegal or wrongful event on their part might lead them to jail or prison. You just might find that he or she is more a model citizen than some of your other neighbors because these individuals are under heightened scrutiny, not only by you and your neighbors but also by the local authorities. In many cases this is simply because they by law have to be identified as sex offender.

    Example: You must realize that there are children, teens and other adolescents, and adults who are labeled as sex offender even when they did nothing warranting a label having a de facto meaning of child molester. Yes, even children in some states are forced to wear this label.

    You do not have to worry about your property value going down as long as you and your neighbors don't cause a big issue of this individual’s right to live where they want, just as you have that same right. When you make a big deal of a no risk or low risk individual living in your neighborhood it will be you who will have caused your property value to go down, so use good sense.

    How do I know these tips will work? Well it is because that is how I live amongst my neighbors and we have had no problems with each other, with the exception of that one neighbor who annoys everyone. You know the one; you have either seen or heard of inconsiderate neighbors before.

    When neighbors are not given to automatic paranoia and unwarranted fear, and you live and let live, and you don't create panic when it is not warranted, your neighborhood can be peaceful, and your property values won't go down unless you want to deliberately make an overwhelming issue of this person's right to live in peace.

    Bennie O Walton
    Sex Offender Liberties Advocate

     

    ¨Sex Offenders¨ Need Indiviual Housing, Not Group Homes
    By Alice <madalleyreport@aol.com>
    Posted on 21.03.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0122]
     
    Send comments to the above address and refer to Blog No. 0122.
    and copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm.
    -----------------------
    After trial and error myself I found that a "house" for sex offenders was not a good idea. They need to individually find a place to live where they are not identified as such. The best plan I have found is to encourage, if possible, every sex offender to do his parole within prison. Then when he comes out he can rent a room or bunk with friends or relatives until he gets work, gets into a friendly church, etc. That has been our experience. A "house" for a group identifies them as people who are especially handicapped in one way or another. I am talking about half-way houses, transitional living houses etc. Neighbors always think of those people as not quite normal. As a Christian, I believe there are churches, when approached ahead of time and educated on recidivism will be welcoming and nurturing. That is our experience here in NM. I believe most of us now believe that the registry and special surveillance does not guarantee an absence of recidivism. As with any other crime, if a person wants to reoffend, he or she will. As with the sex offender in Oregon who had the ankle bracelet on, he was able to commit another crime. Alice
     

    An Alabama View of the Hearings: Mostly Bad
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 13.03.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0120]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog no. 0120 and be sent to me and I´ll send them along to the person who made the comments. Alex.
    -----------------------
    Another View of the Hearings: Mostly Bad
    by our Alabama affiliated state group contact

    I watched the video feed from the Legislative Committee on March 10th. Although this is the first such meeting I have seen and as such may not be able to see the positives that are beginning to appear, I was extremely disappointed and depressed with what I saw. It was clear to me that our legislatures and many of the experts still are looking through a straw and trying the see the entire sky. The main focus as usual was child sex crimes with little attention given to adult offenders against adult victims but with minor offenses or long ago offenses. Its clear the same mentality of Sex Offender means pedophile is just as strong as it ever was. Its very discouraging. Sometimes its hard for me to see this nightmare ever ending. A minor mistake 17 years ago and a life in ruins as the result.

    Sorry don't mean to be mello dramatic or depressing. Its just sometimes......its overwhelming....
     

    Lee Lee´s Notes on the Mar 10 Hearing
    By lee lee <saveoursonsva@gmail.com>
    Posted on 13.03.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0119]
     
    Please send comments to Lee Lee at the above address, and to alexm60@fastmail.fm, and refer to Blog No. 0119
    ----------------
    Notes on the Hearing from Lee Lee

    I'm excited about this hearing as it leaned toward the need for change in the AWA - while not always for the reasons and in the ways we believe. However, those testifying for the "majority" all indicated a need for task forces to examine the evidence (my favorite word ...). There was some excellent testimony, and I'm looking forward to seeing the additional written testimony.


    I was pleased to hear about the concern for "consensual offenders" that exceed the AWA 4-year allowable age span. I was also disgusted to listed to Laura Rogers response to that concern. It's not clear if she was actually lying or if she really didn't know the answer (both are scary thoughts).

    Although there was a great deal of concern over juvenile offenders, one area that I think needs a lot of thought (and more attention) is the issue of those in between - the young adults whose brains are also not fully developed and are more similar to juvenile offenders than to older adult offenders. There is also insufficient focus on other one-time and/or minor offenders. Most (obviously not all) people agree that juvenile offenders should not be on the list and chronic or violent predators should be on the registry (private or public) or incarcerated.. It's the people in between that are getting lost in the shuffle.these are the people who are REALLY getting the shaft with AWA.
    Another issue that wasn't fully addressed (although it was touched on) was the concept of AWA being a floor not a ceiling. If AWA is supposed to be as tough as it gets, states shouldn't be exceeding it! I know many of you have more examples, but the one near and dear to my heart is the "consensual" offender issue. Across the country, kids and young adults are on registries for life because of their state's definition of this offense. Even after AWA was passed, states didn't make those changes that would have gotten those people off the registry altogether. They can't have it both ways - uniformity, but each state can be as harsh as they want? The way it is currently structured,even if AWA is changed, states that have already passed laws to comply (or already had stricter offense definitions/penalites) will be unlikely to repeal those laws - even if the feds say they made a mistake requiring it the first time!
    I won't go into the misleading testimony of Ernie Allen and the pathetic posturing of Mark "hang 'em all" Lunsford. The NCMEC continues to misrepresent statistics in their effort to continue federal funding while Mark Lunsford has the audacity to go after all offenders despite his propensity for child porn and his son's narrow escape from the registry. We can only hope that the preponderance of other facts and testimony will outweigh their positions.

    Rep. Bobby Scott is clearly a strong advocate for changing SORNA. He made great points about the fact that if states were convinced that it would prevent sex offenses, then they would come up with the money. Clearly, they are not convinced and neither is he.

    We all need to stay updated on this and contact the committee (or your own representatives) about this issue. They need to hear support for the testimony provided.I would strongly urge you to read the testimony (even if you watched the live feed) and take notes so that you can cite specific points in your communications. Bobby Scott needs support for his position. He has power and a lot of courage to confront this problem.

    Bobby Scott's contact info:
    WASHINGTON OFFICE
    1201 Longworth HOB
    Washington, DC 20515
    (202) 225-8351 Phone
    (202) 225-8354 Fax

    You can also check out the Sub-committee on Crime or the full Judiciary Committee for contact information for others. Also, if you have a representative who has expressed any concerns about AWA or incarceration rates (Senator Jim Webb, for one), this may be a good time to contact them as well.

    Kudos and thanks to those who attended!

    Thanks,
    Lee-Lee



     

    Mary´s First Notes on March 10 AWA Hearing
    By mary <rsolvirginia@comcast.net>
    Posted on 11.03.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0118]
     
    Comments should be sent to the above address and refer to Blog No. 0118, and a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    WAY TO GO, MARY (and Laurie)!

    -----------------------------------------------------
    INITIAL REPORT FROM MARY OF RSOL-Virginia ON THE MARCH 10 CONGRESSIONAL HEARING

    All,

    Good morning,I'm getting ready for work but I wanted to send everyone an update on yesterday's hearing.

    Yesterday's hearing went rather well. I read in my e-mail's this morning that Alice and Shelley watched the live feed and I hope many more of you did as well.

    There were two supporters from Virginia sitting with myself, Laurie Peterson and her mother-in-law and a third Virginia supporter was in the back with a friend.

    There is no way to re-watch the hearing but the witness testimony can be read at, http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/hear_090310_1.html click on the name of the witness on the right side.
    (Note - For now, you can see the hearing at the SDP123a site,
    the URL is in the Monthly Message on the RSOL Homepage)


    The six Congressmen/women that dropped down to three for the last hour (yes three) asked some very good questions near the end of the hearing. In fact if anyone was watching the live feed and heard Congressman Scott repeatedly ask witness Laura Rogers the same question regarding juvenile offenses and she answered only based on SORNA not based on what all the states have enacted, the Congressman said to her there is an entire row of people shaking their head's behind you, would you like to answer the question again (that row was us).

    I dropped off literature prior to the hearing to the Virginia Congressmen in the Rayburn building and also spoke to Congressman Scott and Poe afterwards. I also place "Are Americans Aware" (below) on every chair in the hearing room for all to read. Laurie visited as many offices she could prior to the hearing dropping off her information and also spoke to Mark Lunsford before and after the hearing as well as many others. I'm sure she will send a summary to everyone as well we all took very detailed notes.

    I plan on writing a follow up letter to every member of the Judiciary Committee and schedule appointments with the four Virginians on the committee when John can also attend.

    I also plan on writing to witnesses Robert Shilling, Amy Borror, Madaline Carter and Ernie Allen, once I locate their contact information tonight or tomorrow.

    The Congress members stated that there will be more hearings on the SORNA issues. Laurie and I hope to attend together again and if possible we will visit all the HOB's and leave our literature at every office.

    Well, I need to get ready for work, if anyone has any questions let me know and as I stated I'm sure Laurie will fill in the holes I have in this e-mail.

    Thanks.
    Mary
    ------------------------------------------------
    NOTE FROM RSOL: See important note in the text of this article about misuse of demonized terminology!

    Are Americans Aware?

    Are Americans aware that their teenagers are having consensual sex which could result in the older teen being convicted of sexual assault, battery or rape, a prison sentence and being listed on a Sex Offender Registry for 15 years, 20 years or for a lifetime?



    Are Americans aware that their teenagers are e-mailing and texting nude photos of themselves and others? This could result in both teens being charged with creating, distributing and possessing pornography with time in prison and being listed on a Sex Offender Registry.



    Are Americans aware that if they have knowledge that their juvenile child is having consensual sex with someone of 18 years or older, they (the parent) can be convicted of indecent liberties by person of supervision and listed on a Sex Offender Registry for 15 years, 20 years or for a lifetime?



    Are Americans aware that middle schoolers have been convicted and listed on Sex Offender Registries for pinching other middle schoolers on their rear-end?



    Are Americans aware that because of the “victim’s rights laws/ rape shield laws” an ACCUSATION ALONE is sufficient for a conviction, a prison term of 5 to 25 years or even life and then being listed as a Sex Offender most likely for life?



    Are Americans aware that NO evidence, NO witness, NO dates or times have to be given by an accuser?

    Are Americans aware that they CAN NOT defend themselves by supplying evidence or witnesses that can prove an accuser is lying and had motive to lie?



    Are Americans aware that some States (Virginia) allow an accuser only 21 DAYS to recant a lie? Any amount of time after 21 days, the wrongful conviction, the prison term and being labeled listed as a Sex Offender stands.



    Are Americans aware they are no longer innocent until proven guilty in America when there is a sexual claim; they are guilty and not allowed to prove their innocence?



    There is a huge difference between stealing a newspaper and robbing a bank, both crimes are considered theft but both are differentiated by law and society.
    Are Americans aware that the current laws that label someone as a Sex Offender in the U.S do not differentiate?

    Whether you are accused of teenage consensual sex, urinating in public, mooning or streaking, pinching or touching someone or being a serial rapist upon your return to society, conviction and sentence will be the same.



    Are Americans aware that a VERY large number of Registered Sex Offenders have never touched or raped anyone, let alone a child?

    But guilt by association on the Sex Offender Registry labels them all as a pervert, a ¨pedophile¨ and a ¨predator¨ for life.
    IMPORTANT NOTE FROM RSOL: We will not change this since it is a report by someone outside RSOL, but we must protest that the terminology is demonizing! Instead, one might use ¨violent rapists of children¨ for all three demonized terms. Only active ¨pedophiles¨ who offend against children are to be condemned - it is a condition that can be dealt with. The term ¨pervert¨ itself has a negative connotation connected with homosexuals of all kinds.



    Are Americans aware that their State’s General Assembly (Virginia 2006 & 2008) broadly re-classified Non-Violent Offenders to Violent Offenders? This includes many offenses that had NO physical contact.



    The situation that has been imposed upon the Registered is that; under the guise of protecting our children, the Legislators are in fact repeatedly trying, convicting and re-sentencing Citizens without even notifying them that this has occurred. To resentence a Citizen of the United States without giving them the opportunity to testify in their own behalf is clearly a violation of their Constitutional Rights.

    Our Legislators have taken a group of people and used them as a platform to win elections and instill fear into the parents of our country so that they look like heroes. People that are not child-molesters, ¨pedophiles¨ who have acted on their desires, or perverts have all been bucketed into one massive Registry and must endure a lifetime of shame.

    The Sex Offender Registries are extremely costly both financial and to the families of the registered.

    Contrary to popular belief among Legislators there is indeed hardship related to being listed on a Sex Offender Registry.
    The lives being destroyed are not just the Registered, but their spouse, their children and every family member sharing their name.

    When you are a Registered Sex Offender, you struggle to find and keep housing, employment and your family because of the stress and humiliation that the Registry creates within yourself, your neighbors, your co-workers and vigilantes looking for justice for a victim they don’t even know.

    The Sex Offender Registries are not protecting anyone, they are a means to humiliate, degrade, re-prosecute and destroy the lives of thousands of innocent Citizens.

    The Studies below have proven that the current Sex Offender Laws, the Registries and the Residency Restrictions are ineffective and damaging. There is also a study that proves the Internet is not as dangerous as our Legislators have convinced you to believe that it is.

    No Easy Answers: Human Rights Watch Study, September 11, 2007
    The Adam Walsh Act: Scarlet Letter, by Lara Geer Farley, April 17, 2008
    Fact Sheets Examine Impact of Sex Offender Registries: Justice Policy Institute, September 2, 2008
    Collateral Damage: Family Members of Registered Sex Offenders by Jill Levenson, Ph.D. January 2009
    Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies: Final Report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force to the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking of State Attorneys General of the United States. December 31, 2008
    Residential Proximity to Schools and Daycare Centers: Influence on Sex Offense Recidivism, An empirical analysis by Jill Levenson, Ph.D. December 23, 2008
    New Jersey DOC Study on the Effectiveness of Sex Offender Registration, February 11, 2009
    Registering Harm: How Sex Offender Registries Fail Youth and Communities, Justice Policy Institute, November 21, 2008




    The fear and loathing against Registered Sex Offenders that is currently considered acceptable needs to stop before additional Citizens and communities are harmed.



    Our Legislators need to rectify this mess they have created by bucketing all sexual related acts into Sex Offender Crimes. The broad brush that the Legislators have been allowed to use across our population will continue to grow until it reaches into your home and labels you and your family.
     

    Laurie´s First Note on Mar 10 Hearings
    By Laurie Peterson <laurie.peterson@compucom.com>
    Posted on 11.03.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0117]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0117 and be sent to the above email, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm

    ------------------------------------------
    WE NEED A STRONGER DC PRESENCE!

    I was there today (the March 10 Washington, DC, Congressional Hearing on AWA. The meeting started approx 2:20pm and lasted till 4:48PM. The discussion started down the same old paths of save the children and slowly branched out from there. I took a TON of notes...and most importantly, for those who stayed till the end, we saw the discussion shift completely to getting rid of registration for those with consensual sex offenses... vs violent forced offenses. It's progress from where we were, but the discussion was at the end and out of the mouths of Congressman Poe and Congressman Gomhert... two Congressmen who were very much on the side of child safety to the exclusion of other (issues) when the meeting started. (both are former Judges). Congressman Scott definitely understands the futility and uselessness of the registry (he was the Chair). My testimony was recorded for the public record as written testimony only, but I have been added to a list of those who wish to be called to testify orally in the future before the committee. (I can't wait!) It was very encouraging and as I type this I see hope for
    the future change at least in some areas sooner rather than later (I
    just got home from my flight back from DC). I talked with Mark
    > > Lunsford twice... before and after the meeting and had discussions personally with Con. Poe, Con. Scott, Con Gomhert after the hearing. Also spoke with Nicole Pittman from the Philadelphia Juvenile defense attorney's association (she works with Alisa, from ATSA). I talked to AG from Louisiana who discussed at length the difficulties of complying with AWA's guidelines in particular, not so much the law as written. Laura Rodgers from SMART office (tasked with writing the guidelines for SORNA/AWA) enlightened me that until June of 2008, the SMART office was a 1 woman show... (it was she alone) implementing and writing the guidelines for final distribution to the states... get a load of that, eh? Anyway, if you have questions, let me know. Mary from RSOL VA was there and passed out fact flyers on every chair in the room before people showed up (which was awesome!) . I also have a copy of the
    written testimony John Walsh sent to the committee. More later... I'm wiped out after a long long day! But after today, I can see that we need to be a stronger force in D.C. regularly.
     

    To Revise AWA is not enough!
    By Laurie Peterson <laurie.peterson@compucom.com>
    Posted on 09.03.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0116]
     
    Refer comments to Blog No. 0116 and send to the above address, as well as to alexm60@fastmail.fm

    Message from Laurie Peterson, RSOL NH contact person, as she prepares to fly to Washington to the hearing on the Adam Walsh Act, set for March 10: (Please call your US Representative and Senator to urge them to support overall reform of ´sex offender´ laws.)
    -------------------------------------------------------------------

    Reviewing the AWA is Not Enough!

    Let's be clear. AWA isn´t the original problem, Wetterling is. And for many states that already signed up hook line and sinker under Wetterling, the problems in complying are less in that they are mostly registering all offenders for life anyways, with no thought of scaling back on duration requirements as recommended in AWA for several tiers of offenders. This is part of the problem... and for those states that never did reach full velocity over Wetterling and only required 10,15 and 20 year registration for most offenders, they are finding themselves on the opposite end of the scale with suddenly being elevated to lifers... So it's a mess from several different angles. My focus (at the March 10 Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington) will be that regardless of where registration duration stood before the Act, there was already a problem, in that nothing looked to the individuals behind the convictions. AWA has only reinforced that logic by continuing to look at nothing more than convictions to categorize offenders. We must bring the focus back onto the indivduals involved in order to balance the ability of a former offender's right to a productive and law-abiding life and that of justice and society.

    ¨Sex Offenders¨ - Apples, Oranges or Fruit?
    (They Are People First, and People Deserve To Be Treated as Individuals!)

    The name we give to something identifies for others what a particular person or item is. In the question above, it is clear that both apples and oranges are fruit, but it is also clear that an apple is not an orange. We would not be doing a person who is allergic to apples any favors if we told them it didn’t matter which one they picked from the bowl, “they’re all fruit”. In fact, we could cause them tragic and irreparable harm.

    And so it goes with the label “sex offender”. These words are no longer a descriptive label; they have become an active dirty noun. These two words are synonymous with evil, the enemy child molester: a person worthy of moral exclusion. They infer that someone labeled as such is, at present, offending sexually against a child. They infer that those who wear the label are less than human, vile outcasts who deserve no fairness or justice in America. The label ‘sex offender’ has become another notch on the timeline of dehumanization throughout history.

    It is easy to dehumanize a population that has been declared the enemy of all American parents. There is no need to view the individual behind the label; their status has already been decided. They are registered sex offenders. This label reflects their fundamental core as dangerous and monstrous. They are no longer people. And once a community has decided that some among them are no longer human, those labeled as such become expendable, worthless and set apart for special treatment.

    In order to stop the progression of history’s latest dehumanization project, we must begin to bring the focus of this group back to the individual. These people are not ‘sex offenders’. They are people first. They are a group of people required to register for a variety of reasons, circumstances and situations. They are people who deserve to be treated like individuals, not a dirty noun synonymous with evil. They are people who deserve the same basic principles of freedom, fairness, forgiveness and justice as any other American. They are people.
    Laurie Peterson
     

    URGENT CONG. HEARING MARCH 10
    By Alden Baker <aldenbaker@sdp123a.com>
    Posted on 08.03.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0115]
     
    Refer comments to Blog No. 0115 and send to the above email address and send a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm

    Alex´Comment: RSOL salutes Alden Baker and his website for their vigilance - we urge you to go to the Congressional Hearing if possible and to email and call your US Rep at once. See also Action Item No. 0036 and the Message of the Month.
    ----------------------------------------------------------------

    Please review the following post at your earliest convenience.
    from Alden Banker



    sdp123a - Congressional Hearing - March 10, 2009

    http://www.sdp123a.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=705&Itemid=1

     

    Megan's Law: Millions for Nothing
    By CFCOKLAHOMA <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 24.02.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0114]
     
    Comments should be sent to the above email, refer to Blog No. 0114, and Alex will send them on to CFCOKLAHOMA. This is from the blog on that website - an affiliate state group of RSOL.

    URL for CFCOKLAHOMA WEBSITE
    http://cfcoklahoma.org/New_Site/index.php?option=com_fireboard&Itebmid=0&func=view&catid=85&id=810#810

    -----------------------------------------------------------

    You all know about "Megan's Laws." They are named after Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old girl from "America's favorite hometown" of Hamilton, New Jersey, who was raped and murdered by her neighbor, a released sex offender named Jesse Timmendequas, on July 29, 1994.

    Capitalizing on the fear this crime engendered, legislators proved themselves tough on crime by enacting Megan's Laws in all 50 U.S. states. The laws are designed to protect the public by mandating that convicted sex offenders register with local police and that police agencies keep the public informed about the whereabouts of these offenders.

    But do the laws really protect the public?

    Despite their enormous popularity, little research has been conducted into whether they work.

    Now, a federally funded study of New Jersey's law has found the following dramatic effects:

    * Effects on sex offender recidivism: NONE
    * Effects on time to first re-arrest: NONE
    * Effects on number of victims: NONE
    * Effects on state budget: $3.9 million-plus (as of 2007)

    The bottom-line conclusion?

    "Given the lack of demonstrated effect of Megan's Law on sexual offenses, the growing costs may not be justifiable."

    Other research has suggested that the laws may not only be ineffective at reducing sex offending, but they may paradoxically increase sex offenders' risk through the secondary effects of social stigmatization, loss of employment and housing, and even physical victimization, all of which increase stress and social isolation and make it harder for sex offenders to successfully reintegrate into society.

    Americans are standing in hours-long, Depression-style lines for a couple of free eggs at Denny's. Our schools cannot even afford pencils or electricity in the classrooms. Yet we are willing to pay millions for laws that only provide an illusion of safety. Something is wrong with this picture.

    The study, "Megan's Law: Assessing the Practical and Monetary Efficacy," by researchers Kristen Zgoba, Philip Witt, Melissa Dalessandro, and Bonita Veysey, is available on the CFCOKLAHOMA website.
     

    We need groundswell of civil disobedience
    By Alice Benson <madalleyreport@aol.com>
    Posted on 23.02.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0113]
     
    Refer comments to Blog No. 0113 and send to Alice at the above email address, as well as to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    SEE COMMENT BELOW THE BLOG!
    -------------------------------------------------------
    My opinion regarding the on-going attack on sex offenders is that it is time for a ground swell of civil disobedience, starting with the Christian rescue missions and overnight shelter programs. I think the freezing of the SO in Michigan is despicable and people can not call themselves Christian while these things are happening right in front of them. It is time for action. I called a shelter in Albuquerque when I learned about the freezing man. I asked the man who answered if he questioned the men on the street on freezing cold nights whether or not they were sex offenders. He answered that they did not. Let's stop fooling around with these issues and do something. I realize that people on the registry are running scared. It is time for people like myself who are not on the registry to stand up for what is right. Alice Benson, New Mexico

    ----------------
    comment: Referring to Blog #0113 from Alice in New Mexico. I agree sex offenders who have served their time should not be paying for their crime for the remainder of their lives. Also, many of the registered sex offenders have never sexually touched a child, but did have child porn on their personal computer. These people are considered violent sex offenders and must register right along with those who have had physical contact with a child. Does viewing a murder on a TV program make one a murderer? We do need to band together and stop this "witchhunt" for sex offenders.
     

    Proposed CT Law Impossible!
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 22.02.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0112]
     
    Refer comments to Blog No. 0112 and send to Alex at the above email address. This was posted without an email address.
    PLEASE GIVE US YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS WHEN YOU POST A BLOG SO WE CAN SEND YOU COMMENTS.
    ----------------
    I just researched the ammended/proposed/existing statute concerning REGISTERED \"Sexual Offenders\" in the State of Connecticut (Governor\'s Bill #6384 at www.cga.ct.gov). It is over 43 pages long! In addition there are several proposed bills concerning residency restrictions, pedophilia, monitoring, prohibiting travel,plea agreements, and allowing municipalities authorization to banish RSO from parks,etc. This is what is in store for the RSO. These laws are so burdensom, complicated, and frankly almost IMPOSSIBLE to abide by that it is inevitable that there will be many RSO ensnared in this legal and punitive nightmare.

    For example, the RSO must \"provide to the Commissioner of Public Safety, in writing, not less than 48 hours prior to entering the state, such person\'s name, DOB and residence address, the state or system where such person is required to register as a sexual offender and the locations where such person is employed (in which state?)...\" So what does a RSO who resides in a border town in another state such as Massachuset do to fulfill his obligations? This legislation does not enhance public safety but rather is another hurdle for the RSO. Again, the RSO lives are disrupted and face a daily threat of liberty infrigement which is clarified in the ever acceptble forum of the criminal courts.

    Connecticut is one of the states that mandate email and AIM rergistration with law enforcement. Utah had made a ruling in Jan 2009 that this is unconstitutional correlating to anonymous free speech yet it applies only to a one John Doe. Rockland County, NY had their residency restriction invalidated in Jan. 2009; Cherry Hill and Galloway Townships in NJ was invalidated because it was premptive of NJ State Law. However, it seems that it is long overdue (7 years) for the US Supreme Court to hear a RSO case and declare ALL RSO laws unconstitutional. It would restore civil protections and mandate States to enact laws that are research-based and achieve their intended purpose.

    I cannot see how the Supreme Court can allow infringement of civil liberties of Americans who completed their court imposed sentence, pose no danger to society, and deperately desire a redeemed and peaceful life for themselves and thier families. The scope of Connecticut SO law is completely different than the \"regulatory\" scheme as it appeared on the books almost 10 years ago when the US Supreme Court ruled in \"Doe v. Connecticut Dept. of Public Safety.\" The judicial system can not keep their heads in the sand and declare that the registries are merely making \"already public information public\" and justifying these policies on the MYTHS of \"recividsm\" and \"protecting the public.\"

    None of the proposed bills in Connecticut provides a means for the RSO to be relieved of these now obviously harsh registration requirements or force the State to set up classifications for dangerousness. Not one legislator proposes reexamining the effectiveness and consequences of these laws, nor establishing a committee of specialists who can provide comprehensive,research-based guidance when crafting SO policies. Instead, they have declared open season on the RSO. They seem to forget about the collateral damage that involves the children and relatives of the RSO.

    I am hoping and praying for the paradigm shift when society realizes the inefficacy and harm done by these registries and laws. I pray that RSO will be afforded redemption like all others who have made mistakes in their lives. At least a decade has passed since these SO laws were implimented and the research is out there. Unfortunately it is purposefully ignored by the the ones that can make a difference- the courts and politicians. However, i can and will not ignore it any more. I am relieved at times to know that truth will always be told and eventually it will prevail.

    Again, thanks to those who are courageous to say enough is enough- David McGuire (CT ACLU), Lynda/Jackie at SOSEN, Laurie Peterson, Paul Logue, Paul Shannon, Civil Disobedience in GA, and the others.
     

    S,O.s Must Prove Innocence, Rather than DA prove Guilt
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 22.02.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0111]
     
    Comments should refer to blog no. 0111 and be sent to Alex at the above email.
    From Alex: This blog was sent without a return email. PLEASE GIVE US YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS even if you want to be anonymous - we will keep your anonymity but be able to keep in touch with you!


    --------------------------------------------------------------
    I understand what some people think about SOs. What I don't understand is how someone can talk out about certain ones when they don't know the case! What would most people say about this offense? You hire a babysitter because of her good references with the neighbors, and is 18, which normally makes her somewhat responssilbe. She babysits for you for a while and one time you hook up. Later you find another job so you can be home after school lets out, so you don't need her anymore. She gets up set and files against you, at that point you find out that she is only 16 years old.

    You are now screwed for life.

    Family life- You can no longer take or pick up your child from school, throw a birthday party, watch a child recital at school, nothing. You can not buy a home near a pool, bus stop, playground.

    Work life- You can not apply to jobs that have a play area, by a school, by a church. Most employers will not hire you for this reason. You can't find a good paying job to support your family.

    People should realize that there are programs out there to help. For some people, they have to jump through hoops just to stay above ground. In normal trials they have to prove you guilty, in these cases, you have to prove your innocent.
     

    Murders of S.O.s Escalate!
    By eAdvocate <eadvocate@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 19.02.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0110]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0110 and be sent to the above email address.
    Alex`s Note: This shocking report on murders of sex offenders, and the increase in 2008, should bring Americans to realize that this approach is nothing short of murder in itself! And ALREADY IN 2009, SIX SEX OFFENDERS HAVE BEEN MURDERED.
    In addition, eAdvocate has a second list of those who died under other circumstances - I have not included that list here.

    -------------------------------------------
    Here`s the URL to see the chart:
    http://sexoffenderresearch.blogspot.com/2009/02/murdered-in-united-states-2008.html
    MURDERS OF SEX OFFENDERS ESCALATE

    The 2008 year was the worst year ever for deaths of RSOs, Persons accused of sex offenses and others. This year brought so many new circumstances that we have had to restructure our statistical methods to be able to report what has happened.

    (Added note from Alex Marbury - The grand total of sex offenders murdered in any circumstance in 2008 was 45. To date, the total number is 184!)

    In 2008, of those murdered or killed not in jails, prisons or civil
    commitment centers, the total was the most dangerous state is Florida where 5 persons were murdered. PA and TX have 3, CA, MD, MA, NC, and TN each have 2. AZ, CO, DE, GA, IL, IN, IO, KS, KY, ME, MO, NM, NY, UT, WA each have 1.

    Sometimes a chart is better than words:
    (The categories in each list are
    Murdered in 2008
    Murdered Previously
    Grand Total to Date

    RSOs
    15
    40
    55
    Registered Sex Offenders (RSOs) who were murdered

    A-RSOs
    6
    11
    17
    Accused registered sex offenders

    FA-RSOs
    0
    3
    3
    RSOs falsely accused of a sex offense

    IB-RSOs
    1
    2
    3
    Innocent Bystander (RSO)

    DO-RSOs
    8
    10
    18
    RSOs who where killed in domestic situations.

    A
    4
    23
    27
    Persons murdered who were accused of a sex offense

    A-FA
    1
    14
    15
    Persons falsely accused of a sex offense and were murdered

    A-DO
    1
    0
    1
    Persons accused of a sex offense who were killed in a domestic situation

    Civil Commit
    1
    5
    6
    Persons killed, murdered, or were denied medical care and died in civil commitment

    Jails & Prisons
    8
    31
    39
    Persons murdered or killed in jails or prisons

    TOTALS:
    45
    139
    184
    Total persons killed or murdered

    eAdvocate
    PS: 2009 deaths are not included in the above, and so far, there are 6 more RSOs killed or murdered.
     

    There IS no Defense in These Cases!
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 13.02.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0109]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0109 and be sent to the above email. I`ll send it along to the person who wrote this. Alex
    -------------
    These laws have allowed a new set of Americans to be outcast and considered social lepers. They have not allowed them freedom
    or access to justice because statute laws do not allow them to defend themselves: There is no defense even in consentual cases.
     

    Will EVERYONE Soon be `Sex Offenders`?
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 13.02.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0108]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0108 and be sent to me at the above email address. I`ll forward them to the courageous woman who wrote this! Alex

    SEE COMMENT AT THE END BY ANOTHER FAMILY MEMBER

    ---------------------------------------------------------
    From the VERY PROUD aunt of so-called sex offenders,

    I have 2 nephews and a neice that are considered 'sex offenders' because our legislature cannot tell the difference between teenagers being normal and exploring their sexuality, and they do it rather parents like it or not and rather the parents are aware of it or not. Over half of our youth are considered 'sex offenders'. Their lives are ruined because there is no seperation between true sex offenders and teen sex.....what are our young men and womens futures going to be like when EVERYONE is eventually classified a 'sex offender'. I proudly sign this and I pray that the sex offender laws are reformed soon.....

    ----------------
    To my sister Shelia, thank you so much for posting this blog. As mother of one of your nephews who is currently in jail because of this law, i hope our prayers are answered. My son's life is ruined, and it makes me wonder how many of our law makers would be sex offenders if this law had been present when they were 17 and 18.
    Our governor Bobby Jindal is so wrong. These teenagers go to school with one another, and are not taught that the law will charge them as sex offenders. I am 46 years old, and i did not know. It makes me ashamed to say i am from Louisiana. My son would never hurt a child, yet he is considered a sexual predator.
     

    Letter to Dr. Phil
    By Kelly Piercy <gasoem@gmail.com>
    Posted on 08.02.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0107]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0107 and be sent to Kelly at the above email address, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm

    WE URGE EVERYONE TO WRITE DR.PHIL. The url of the program concerned on Feb. 3 was
    http://drphil.com/shows/show/1217
    and the URL for the email to provide feedback to Dr. Phil is
    http://drphil.com/plugger/respond/2plugID=9164

    -------------------------------------------------------------
    Dr. Phil,

    I watched your program today, Tuesday, 3 February 2009, with interest and disappointment.

    I understand your intent and applaud your effort to keep children safe. I noted that you spoke directly to the need for parents to parent. That is excellent advice. I applaud your attempt to get the message out to the teens about how dangerous their behavior can be. I even understand the attempt to express this message with the horrible crime committed against a twelve year-old girl who did not understand her dangerous behavior and a mother who did not parent well enough to explain that danger to her daughter.

    My disappointment comes from your presentation of the danger these children face. It is irresponsible productions like yours and irresponsible journalism that have created an hysteria across America that is destroying individuals and families.

    Not once did you bother to mention that most people convicted of a 'sex offense' did not lure a twelve-year-old child into a car and rape her. You failed to mention that the hysteria around 'sex offenders' is driving people from their homes and making employment only a distant memory.

    I am done asking. I insist that you step up to the responsibility you claim. I demand that you take a serious look at what the over-broad sex offender registries have wrought. You must look at the monster that has been created. You must understand that the vast majority of persons on the registries are there for offenses that have no victim contact or attempt at contact. Far too many have no identifiable victim at all. There are people on 'sex offender' registries for 'crimes' that have no sexual component. There are far too many teens who had consensual sex with other teens whose life is ruined by the registry.

    This monster has been created by irresponsible portrayals on programs like yours and by irresponsible journalism. We cannot blame our legislators; they only react. They react to what they see on television and read in the newspapers. You, and other entertainers, are responsible for this monster. Will you take the time and have the courage to learn and tell the truth?

    Kelly R Piercy
    gasoem@gmail.com
    Georgians for Sex Offender Registry and Residency Restriction Reform
    http://www.gasorr.org
    Reform Sex Offender Laws
    http://www.reformsexoffenderlaws.org
    RSoL Correspondence Committee
    http://www.gasorr.org/rsolcc/index.html
    gasorr.org
    P.O. Box 180
    Hull, GA 30646
    (706) 955 2009

    Here is the link. Please help me get this tsumami rolling.
    http://www.drphil.com/plugger/respond/?plugID=9164
     

    All Pleas Are Fictions!
    By Ingrid <edh_advocates@live.com>
    Posted on 06.02.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0106]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0106, and be sent to the above email plus a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ----------------
    Fact is, all pleas are fictions jointly concocted by prosecutors and defense attorneys. The prosecution always overcharges--partly to intimidate the defendant, but mostly to give himself bargaining chips. The goal is a win at any cost. The defense is complicit in this game, because they get more money if they collect a retainer and don't have to go to trial. The system is frankly completely broken.
     

    Still More on Civil Disobedience
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 06.02.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0105]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0105 and be sent to me at the above address.

    From Alex: Unfortunately, this person did NOT give an email, so we cannot let him know the comments. PLEASE, when you send a comment, give us your email!

    -------------------------------------------------------
    thanks for posting "Civil Disobedience..." It was inspirational to me.

    I wanted to send information about sex offenders being banned from parks, playgrounds, lakes or practically any public recreational facility in the Town of Ridgefield, CT. They are voting to pass it into law (which of course it will) on Feb 18th, 2009 @ 7:30PM at the Ridgefield Town Hall at 400 Main Street, Ridgefield, CT.

    Can you please suggest some form of intervention to delay or change the minds of these "policy makers?" I sent about 200 pages of research to Selectman Marconi and the board as well as Kate Czaplinski at the Ridgefield Press at the beginning of Janurary 2009 in hopes that there could be some rational dialogue. However, if you read the press articles, it didn't do anything and it was business as usual.

    Their main justification for this ban is to enable the police to "question" a sex offender in a park. Read the article. Since when is the police unable to question ANYONE and ANYWHERE if they were suspicious? Garbage in, garbage out. So far Danbury, Windsor Locks and Bristol have this ban on the books. Greenwich is already in the drafting stage.

    I'm afraid of retribution but I'm more afraid of what other punitive laws these politicians can conjure up down the road under the pretenses of "public safety" if we do not draw the line in the sand and say, "Enough is enough!
     

    Let them know the real damage of the registry!
    By annonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 04.02.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0104]
     
    Comments about this blog should refer to Blog No. 0104, and be sent to me. I'll forward them to the person who wrote this.
    Alex
    ------------------------
    There is something that comes up over and over against in these SOR cases, particularly in the ex post facto challanges and that is the complete minimalization of the effects of sex offender registration. It is reffered to as "mere registration" or some similar denial of the massive impact that even the processes of going to the police station to register can have on a person. In my town the registration is done in the lobby with all the civilian workers right in front of you, you have to tell them what you are there for of course and then anyone in the lobby sees and hears everything too, they have the screen to take your picture there and you get finger printed etc...they also sent a registration receipt to your home in police envelopes and you can see through the paper to see the sex offender registration in bold black, they also come to your home often in teams and ask questions about you insinuating as they did in my case a few months ago that I had been in some kind of trouble involving kids, when I did not.

    If sex offenders are going to get anywhere with establishing SOR as a
    punishment for legal purposes it is up to us to show by the clearest
    proof that it is punitive in effect, so we need to document every
    little thing. If a police officer treats you like he has you in
    custody and abuses you verbally or physically you have have to file a
    complaint and keep it formal too, get the lawyer involved the whole 9
    yards to document it. They have to do this when you file a complaint, it may take a while for them to get around to it but they will. One thing that is repeated over and over is that the shame associated with SOR is due to the fact of your conviction, but I know that this is not the case in a very large number of cases. Remember, shame may be associated with rape by force, or child molestation but that is really about it.
     

    FIRST OPEN CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE BY S.O.
    By Brian Rothery <br@rothery.com>
    Posted on 22.01.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0103]
     
    FIRST OPEN CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE BY S.O. in the USA
    from Inquisition21 website, Brian Rothery, Web Organizer
    Updated Jan. 22, 2009
    --------------------
    From Alex: SEE ALSO COMMENTS BELOW THE ARTICLE ABOUT DEFINITION OF CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE. We publish such comments in the interest of fostering debate and free speech! Meanwhile, I still congratulate the man in Georgia!
    --------------------
    Ray of hope! Courageous American man makes a start!

    A petitioner to a Georgia court, broke, evicted from his home, shamed and dispossessed, is taking a stand and challenging the draconian American SO residency laws. On his first attempt on Wednesday January 21 2009, his case was accepted by the court for filing.

    The purpose of the case is to challenge amended provisions of Georgia's 'sex offender statutes' relating to internet identifiers (e-mail addresses, passwords, etc.). Due to the fact that he has petitioned the court to proceed under pseudonym, neither the case docket number, nor the style (name) of the case can be published for now. The reason why he has requested anonymity in regard to this case is that publication of his name with regard to this case would destroy the very anonymity and privacy he is trying to get the court to protect. Hence, publication of his name with specific regard to this case would undermine his very argument itself.

    Conscious of this, we are also prepared to suspend reporting on his progress should he ask us to do so.

    However, a very important development to report is that the judge and the officials he dealt with treated him with courtesy and care and the judge in particular was very attentive to his application. This is the first good news from America concerning the draconian SO legislation.

    Remember as you read he is doing everything himself - some feat for a homeless man.

    The original story

    On January 2 2009, Petitioner (surname now removed as case is proceeding), a registered sex offender in Georgia USA decided that he would take a stand and resist the current legislation which has driven him and thousands of others into internal exile.

    Petitioner was already evicted from his home and facing shaming, shunning and further displacement from the draconian residency restrictions being placed on Americans who are on the sex offenders register. The event which triggered his decision to resist the law in an act of civil disobedience was when it was broadcast that Georgia had now joined the State of Utah in requiring all registered sex offenders to tender their internet and email user names and passwords to their local Sheriffs Departments. The penalty for this new law, which went into effect in Georgia on 1st January, 2009, is a felony, which means landing all those on the SOR who do not comply back in prison.

    Let us be clear about this. this Georgia petitioner is the first American to take a stand and say that he will no longer comply with the sex offender residency restriction laws. If you are in a position to influence the situation he now places himself and thousands of other Americans in, your life may be defined by what you now do or do not do. You can condemn him (and you will not be alone in that cowardly act), you can ignore him (as millions of Germans ignored the ever advancing fascism of the 1930s), or you can stand beside or behind him and support him, and have your life defined as one of value to humanity.

    This is what he wrote to Inquisition21 on the day he made his decision:

    “The thought that has been repeatedly running through my mind these last two days has been in the form of the famous quote from Patrick Henry:

    ’Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?’

    “I, for one, would rather fight this in court (even if it means temporarily giving up my physical freedom) in order that I not live the rest of my entire life as a slave and in chains, deprived by the state of all my freedoms. I cannot of course speak for everyone - only for myself - but, for me, the time has come to stand up and make a bold statement, and truly fight this battle once and for all. I think we are now at the point where public opinion (on average) is favourable enough for reform of these laws, so that it will not take much to tip public opinion in our favour. (Minus, of course, the opinions of those hate-filled, emotion-led fear-mongers whose opinions will probably never be changed.)

    “As Thomas Paine said, "These are the times that try men's souls."

    “We are about to find out what stuff we are all made of.”

    ¨... I am finished with hiding or pretending this doesn't exist. Ich bin die Welt abhanden gekommen.¨

    “As Whitman so beautifully said, ‘I am more resolute because all have denied me, than I could ever have been had all accepted me’.

    “None of us were prepared for this new development (the new law concerning passwords); it quite literally blindsided us all. I am strongly suspecting another instance of Republican 'midnight legislation', which (as I'm sure you know) is their favoured tactic for sneaking in highly questionable legislation, under cover of darkness.

    “As you will I'm sure realise, this is not only a violation of the right to privacy, but it is also an end-run around the need to obtain a legal search warrant. It thus directly and brazenly violates the United States Constitutional Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures.

    “This is what I specifically had in mind when I said that I would refuse to cooperate, and allow myself to be arrested and incarcerated before ever going along with such a nefarious scheme.

    “It is now clear that the mighty Behemoth State is intent upon annihilating not just all of our natural rights, but also our very identity, our sense of Self. Well, I refuse to consent to the annihilation of my inmost Self.

    “The State wants to literally hound and punish us to the ends of the Earth. But they do not want us dead: they want us alive, so that they can torment us the more, and so that we can suffer the more.

    “As I know you will realise, the only thing that will stop this is exposure: their evil deeds must be exposed, and brought to the light of day. Not until their evil deeds are decried from every housetop, not until the average and the ordinary people step up to demand that such evil cease, will we ever see any positive change.

    “As has been so truly said, the real evil is not the Hitlers of the world: it is the mass of simpering, terrified, ‘ordinary’ citizens who cow in their corners and refuse to speak out against the evil, and thus enable it--permit it to happen. Hitlers are never possible without such enablers.

    “Europeans should take note of this new development with horror, and beware: how long will it be before this is repeated in your land?

    “How can fascism rear its ugly head so soon after we thought we defeated it in the last century? Simply and sadly, by reason of the apathy of the populace. This is what allowed it in the first instance, and is what is allowing it again.”

    ----------------
    COMMENTS FROM eAdvocate

    2-2-2009 Georgia:

    Today a few sites are claiming "FIRST OPEN CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE BY S.O.," and citing a Georgia court case which is in progress today.

    Civil disobedience is a refusal to follow some law, going to court to seek an injunction against the state enforcing a law, is not civil disobedience, nor is this the first case of a former sex offender going to court seeking an injunction against a sex offender law.

    Black's law (6th Ed): "Civil disobedience: A form of lawbreaking employed to demonstrate the injustice or unfairness of a particular law and indulged in deliberately to focus attention on the allegedly undesirable law."

    Note: Since the gentleman (a Georgia RSO) is seeking to proceed in court anonymously (John Doe status) and at this point does not have a lawyer, the court giving him time to find one (and the court indicating it may appoint one if the gentleman cannot find one), I will not mention his name nor give links to my sources. With that said,

    The facts in essence: Georgia enacted a law requiring all of its RSOs to turn over certain information to the state as part of its registration scheme (namely passwords to all online e-mail accounts, and other things).

    Following enactment of that law a Georgia RSO (The gentleman mentioned above) has gone to federal court seeking an injunction to stop the state from enforcing that law against him on his next birthday (apparently that is when the state requires him to update his registration information including anything new required by the state, hence the passwords and e-mmail addresses).

    Because he presented a minimal but compelling argument and supported same with equally compelling facts, apparently the court issued a temporary injunction without objection from the state's attorney.

    Next, is this the first RSO who has gone to court seeking a declaration that this type of collateral registration law is unconstitutional, NO he is not the first.

    There are other similar cases (which should be presented) in different states: Passwords Registered Sex Offenders Must Comply with New Internet Rules. Ga. sex offenders must hand over online passwords

    In each of those links are other links to the current and past court cases on this and similar issues in a few states.

    Good Luck, Georgia RSO!

    -----
    Added by eAdvocate
    (Names taken out by Alex because the case is ongoing)

    In my first e-mail I mentioned that someone had misconstrued something to claim he committed an act of civil disobedience. OK, "words spoken" rarely can be claimed to be an act of civil disobedience, one example might be, telling a judge "no matter what you say I'm not going to follow your decision," no doubt the judge would say "contempt of court" and we could say it was an act of CD. But that is not what has happened with (this person), here is what is on the Inquisition21 website as to CD:

    "(Petitioner) was already evicted from his home and facing shaming, shunning and further displacement from the draconian residency restrictions being placed on Americans who are on the sex offenders register. The event which triggered his decision to resist the law in an act of civil disobedience was when it was broadcast that Georgia had now joined the State of Utah in requiring all registered sex offenders to tender their internet and email user names and passwords to their local Sheriffs Departments. The penalty for this new law, which went into effect in Georgia on 1st January, 2009, is a felony, which means landing all those on the SOR who do not comply back in prison. "

    Their comment "The event which triggered his decision to resist the law in an act of civil disobedience was ..." is in error, that is not CD, although -words spoken- it is not yet an act of CD. Inquisition21 was incorrect, possibly they do not fully understand when CD actually occurs.

    Thoughts are not CD, and at the point that (this man) decided to not follow the law, he had not yet failed to follow the law. CD does not happen UNTIL ONE FAILS TO FOLLOW THE LAW IN QUESTION. Thinking about it is not CD, even making a decision to refuse to follow a law is not CD, ACTUALLY FAILING TO FOLLOW the law, that is CD.

    While this may seem to be a mere technicality, it is how a court would construe it, one cannot be charged with failing to follow a law, until they actually fail to follow it. There are many who do not understand these seeming subtle points, and I always do my best to help folks understand them.

    Personally folks who pursue claims of civil disobedience, depending on how they present it, is dangerous for the RSO cause and most certainly will bring the eyes of law enforcement to them. CD is but one step from claims of rioting and LE would quickly quell such acts by whatever means they see fit at the time.

    Right now this man is following the prescribed court procedure and that is not civil disobedience.

    Should he -in the future- lose in court AND THEN ACTUALLY not follow the law, THEN and only THEN would his act constitute an act of CD, only time will tell if that may happen, but should it happen he would be arrested for violating the law.

    The law must be broken to be CD.

    FINAL CLARIFICATION from eAdvocate (after a query from Alex M.)

    "...I am speaking of how law enforcement looks at MASS CD, when they encounter it they immediately are prepared to quell riots should they occur. That's all I meant, how LE would view mass CD, they must be prepared, which is their motto. I did not mean to infer that rioting follows CD which I think is how you (Alex) interpreted my comments. On second thought I could have been clearer but thats in hindsight which is always 20-20. I meant no disrespect."


     

    To Obama: S.O. Laws are Hate Crimes
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 15.01.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0102]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0102, and be sent to the above email address. They will be sent on the person who wrote this.
    -----
    LETTER TO PRESIDENT OBAMA FROM AN RSOL PARTICIPANTS
    (Sent as a comment under civil rights, on the change.gov site.)

    Regarding your promise and/or plan to: a) reintegrate ex-felons into society, and b) to more accurately categorize and more harshly deal with hate crimes, please consider the following.

    Due to recent unconstitutional and horrific sex offender laws and restrictions, all manner of productive life has been taken from those required to register. A case in point, in Portland, OR, a "sex offender" was recently released from prison and because he had nowhere to go, was dropped off by a police officer beneath a bridge with a tarp and a sleeping bag. When the person then went to AZ where his family was, he was again arrested and brought back to Oregon for a further jail sanction for leaving the state. As Americans living in the land of the free, we are so ashamed of this type treatment of human beings in our country. In spite of rhetoric indicating "help is available," it is simply not true. Consider the unmanageable size of the sex offender registry now, some states posting not only name and physical address but name and address of employers and shoe size of an offender on line (Texas), and most major employers implementing policies of no-hire for sex offenders, and further consider that many of those finding themselves on the registry are not predatory, not violent, and many, many, many are there due to Romeo and Juliet liasons, false accusations of vindictive teens (as no physical evidence or proof is required to convict in a sex crime), or teen indiscretion much the same as you and I likely experienced in our youth. American citizens are demanding that you hear us on this issue as we witness the lives of our young sons and daughters being destroyed in every imaginable way because of this. These cases are "easy wins" for the District Attorneys so they pursue them with a vengeance.

    This leads to the issue of hate crimes. The registrant, wrongly convicted or not, becomes a potential target of hate crimes. Many states further assist these vigilantes by providing online the address of the offender and mapping out the route to the offender's residence. Very recently, laws are being passed to force registrants to provide to law enforcement not only email address but password. I take offense to this as my right to privacy is most certainly violated when I write to friends who may be registrants. I am not, but they (law enforcement) can read every word I write to them if they have the password. I have nothing to hide, but I assume even President-Elect Obama wouldn't want me, for instance, opening and reading his mail. Another case in point regarding evidence that sex offenders are victims of hate crimes is a podiatrist who was recently assaulted by ignorant vigilantes who believed the word "podiatrist" to be "pedophile."

    We want to once again feel pride for our country. We abhor violent and predatory sex offenses, but so many who are not in this category in any way have been thrown to the wolves, and we are watching closely to see what action will be taken on the part of President-Elect Obama. Please do not ignore these issues. We are counting on this administration to make the changes promised
     

    Grand Jury Foreman Deplores Waste in S.O. Cases
    By an Oregon participant <attorneysonyourside@gmail.com>
    Posted on 15.01.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0101]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0101 and be sent to the above email address, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm.

    NOTE: This is an important letter from a citizen, not an offender, who was an Oregon Grand Jury foreman! It was sent to major Oregon and Washington newspapers.

    Dear Editor,

    While we are all basking in the glow of Xmas and the New Year and intoxicated with the notion of "Change. I propose that this time we do something more meaningful than giving the idea of "Change" a few weeks of heart felt lip service. It has been along time since we as Americans ...with the shared common values that bind us together, have had this type of opportunity, or momentum to really bring about enduring and meaningful change. Let's not forget that due to the length of time since we all last felt this sense of collective oneness and before we start looking for new things to change, that we already have quite a backlog of wrongs on our plate desperately in search of being made right.

    At the top of that list should be to immedietly do something to correct the abhorrent and inhumane treatment we have suffered upon the people we refer to as "convicted sex offenders" in the name of "feel good" justice. Why is it that everytime our lawmakers pass legislation, with only the noblest intentions for the protection and well being of us all, there is always a group of people who take something good and make it ugly and shameful. Our progressively mean spirited, extra judicial, vindictive prosecution (and then life long persecution) of actual and alleged sex offenders is today's 'crimen exceptum", and our national shame.

    This last summer I saw these senseless human tragedies played out before me 2 full days every week, for 6 weeks as foreman of the Multnomah County Grand Jury. I was surprised and sickened by the resources and manpower that we as a society have apparently committed to the pursuit, prosecution and incarceration of what constitute a majority of what we refer to today as "registered sex offenders"....The crimes committed by this new breed of felons don't come the trappings you would normally
    expect ...namely, ...complaining victims.... and exist only in the minds of the men and women we have entrusted to enforce our laws fairly and responsibly.The makeup of our grand jury was so conservative that it had to be a rare statistical anomaly here in our fair city. Even so, after the second day of being asked to return multiple felony indictments against teenagers who were unlucky enough to be 3 yrs and 1 day older than their high school girlfriends for doing something that each and every one of us either thought about or did (or wish we had... to one degree or another) when we were teenagers, we told the DA not to bring us anymore "Rape 4 - Sex Abuse 3" cases or we would no true bill every one of them.

    I am not soft on crime, and at the time I supported the ideals these laws represented. After seeing what happens when the enforcement of some of our laws are left in the hands of bright, well meaning, overly aggressive and ego driven men and women, I can no longer support the actions being taken in my name and yours, nor am I willing to simply thank my lucky stars and sit back while 100's and 1000's of lives are ruined every single day in this country for no good reason. Does this mean there aren't bad people who deserve to receive the full measure of the law? Not at all.

    What I am saying is that there are good, innocent young people starting their adult lives burdened with the label of "felony sex offenders" ... the pariahs of society ...shunned, humiliated, beaten up, harassed, unable to find suitable employment or housing who were not the people the legislature was contemplating when they came up with the idea of passing out fliers, or posting pictures and addresses on the internet by way of our public registration requirements.

    During this time while we are all focused on change... let's not forget the duty we owe to our own citizens so that they may enjoy the same rights and protections they are entitled to and which are the ideals that guide us as a nation. The torture these laws inflict on the wrong people should cause us all to be outraged the way we were when we discovered the atrocities at Gitmo. The way I saw justice dispensed during my brief term of service left me with no doubt that we must tell our lawmakers to immediately correct these injustices that hurt us all. As it stands now, I would rather be waterboarded than branded a registered sex ofender in this country. It's time to change that.
     

    S.O.Case Mgr. Deplores S.O. Laws
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 11.01.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [0100]
     
    Comments should refer to blog no. 100 and be sent to alex at the above address. they will be sent on to the parole officer who wrote this.
    --------------------------
    I am a Case Manager at a cognitive behavioral program for parolees. We have a number of sex offenders in the program who possess offenses from child molestation to public urination. Some offenses make me cringe, others I find almost humorous. However the law's treatment of these individuals is in no way humorous. Forced transience, GPS, destruction of family units, forced to quit jobs...the injustice goes on and on. I do not condone their crimes, but they have already served their time; now they are imprisoned on the cold streets. Laws like Jessica's Law sound good at first and make great PR, but actually strip people of their dignity and civil liberties and comes dangerously close to Double Jeopardy. Please redraft or rescind these laws!
     

    Men who should never go to jail!
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 11.01.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [099]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog no. 099 and be sent to Alex at the above email address. I´ll send them on to the person who sent this in.
    ------
    Observer of the Justice System.....
    I have watched 4 men go to prison for alleged allegations
    that should have never made it to court in (my) County alone.
     

    SUPPORT S.O. BILL IN TX LEGISLATURE
    By Helga Dill, CURE <dill.c@tx.rr.com>
    Posted on 11.01.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [098]
     
    Comments should be sent to Helga at the above email address, and copies to alexm60@fastmail.fm, and marysueintx@yahoo.com. Refer to Blog no. 098.
    ----------------
    Please observe that the Texas Legislature 2009 will be introducing SO bills. The first one has been introduced by State Rep Alonzo , HB190, pertaining to SO registration.

    Note from Alex: THIS BILL WOULD SHORTEN THE LENGTH OF TIME ON THE REGISTRY FOR LOW LEVEL OFFENDERS, AND ALLOW A PROCESS FOR SEEKING TO BE REMOVED FROM THE REGISTRY FOR SOME OFFENDERS.

    Please support the Representative, read the bill and add your part to it if you need to.

    Helga Dill, Chair, TX CURE
     

    DEMO AGAINST POISON PRISON WATER in SF,CA
    By Alex <one2vegas@sbcglobal.net>
    Posted on 05.01.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [097]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 097, and be sent to Alex at the above email - with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm

    ------------------------------------------------

    SF,CA DEMONSTRATION AGAINST POISONED PRISON WATER
    Feb. 4 - Federal Courthouse at 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco at 9 am.

    Dr. B. Cayenne Bird
    published January 04, 2009

    The media is banned from California´s prisons which is outrageous when a full blown humanitarian crisis is taking place out of public view, which I believe is the reason that journalists can´t interview specific inmates and often have their notes seized. There are four journalists in the UNION and hundreds of family members who refuse to cooperate with this unconstitutional media ban, even though there is severe retaliation against those who file lawsuits and report the news from inside. There is less retaliation against the family members, since there is no way for the wardens and guards to know the source of information. Every effort is made to cover up wrongdoing, which doesn´t work when people are educated and are dedicated patriots who know the difference between right and wrong.

    The UNION´s jailhouse lawyers are suffering increased and severe retaliation during the final phases of the Plata trial in a concerted effort to silence them. There is very little help coming from the State lawmakers and officials to do anything to stop the deliberate physical and psychological torture being inflicted. I will be writing more on this topic soon and have been invited to be a guest on a national talk show to discuss the fact that there is no one who will assist families or inmates with real intervention even in life and death emergencies, unless they are able to write big checks or have a friend in office, which is rare. Losing a loved one to Prison is emotionally and financially devastating, which is why there is no large public outcry ad campaigns.

    On February 4, 2009, we are going to rally outside the Federal Courthouse at 450 Golden Gate Ave., San Francisco at 9 am. In order to get national media involved, at least 500 folks need to be there to stand up against medical neglect and continued abuse of the mentally ill in California's horrific prisons. While more than 100 family members attended our Nov 21 rally, we need five times more than that to make a stronger point that no one is addressing folks who are suffering and dying right now. Many are inmates who could be released right now to save the state billions and give some relief to the parents who are out of their minds with sick worry as a inmate dies daily. Many more will die before this gets resolved, but each of us must be the public outcry and fill up our cars for this historic day. Go here, hit print and mail 50 copies into an inmate to help spread the word, we are all unpaid volunteers in the UNION and cannot afford large mailings. This is a way everyone can help, we need crowds to bring in the national media so the lawmakers will do something to prevent more deaths which are highly visible right now.

    Here's the flyer for Feb 4, when closing arguments before Judges Thelton Henderson, Lawrence Karlton and Stephen Reinhardt will take place in the Plata case. The power of noisy numbers is the only solution, suffering in silence doesn't work.

    http://www.1union1.com/Feb4_rally_flyer_plata.html

     

    Land proposal out west for S.O.s
    By Jonathan <gor117@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 05.01.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [096]
     
    RSOL NOTICE: This is a proposal for ¨sex offenders¨ to pool money and move to a remote area in a western state, living in a community that would be far away from other people. RSOL does NOT endorse this idea, but we have agreed to allow this individual to propose it, in case some are interested. Also, anyone who responds to the above email does so at their own risk - we cannot vouch for the property or the deal. We do wish anyone involved the best, and hope to hear from you. Comments should refer to Blog No. 096 and be sent to Jonathan above, copies to me at alexm60@fastmail.fm
    Alex Marbury - for the Admin. Team
    COMMENTS and RESPONSES are also posted at the bottom of this page.

    -------------

    Dear Friends,
    There´s a nice piece of gated property for sale, 250 acres, paved road with cul de sac at the end. You can look at it by going to google earth and typing in Gloria Trail. The road that is labeled is the road on the property but in actuality the road up above that road with the houses on it is Gloria Trail. The road´s real name that is mis-labeled is Kara Lane.

    That is the land for sale. We need at least 100 interested offenders who can invest a couple of thousand dollars each to get this property as a settlement for offenders to set up homestead and raise the flag. I think they are asking around 250 thousand for the piece of land and it has a lake that you can see from the google map.
    Jonathan

    ------
    Anonymous comment:
    If this property was bought, will there be any \"background\" check of the people who are allowed to live there? I firmly and strongly believe the laws are far to broad which is the reason many of us end up here. But, I do believe there are a select few who should be on the registry. Would their be a plan in place to monitor this?
    What would be the requirements for living there?

    RESPONSE From Jonathan
    I am not sure what your question is. this is simply an idea more than a plan. anyone could live there registry or not but the purpose of buying such a tract of land would be for those who are on the registry who want to live somewhere where they call the shots. someone one recently purchased the doublewide and lot next to me.
    apparently its the high class suburbs where upper middle class (people) flee that sex offenders are not wanted and are kept out by city ordinances like lexington,cayce, and irmo sc. This only applies to the city limits.
     

    Not the Same Man I was 8 Yrs Ago!
    By anonymous - posted by Mary <rsolvirginia@comcast.net>
    Posted on 03.01.2009
    Link to this blog entry: [095]
     
    Comments should be sent to Mary at the above address, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm. They will be sent to Ted, the author of this painful letter, which was sent to the Virginia affiliated state group of RSOL, in response to a letter sent by Mary to all ´sex offenders´ on the Virginia registry.

    -----------------------------

    NOT THE SAME MAN I WAS 8 YEARS AGO
    Ted (named changed to protect privacy)

    Dear RSOL of Virginia,
    I received your letter, wherever did you get my address? HA!

    I must say I am glad to see that someone is speaking out about the as yet seemingly unchallenged disregard for the Constitution and the Bill of Rights when it comes to sex offender legislation. It has been a number of years since I committed my offense. I have been up and down and in and out on why I did what I did.

    I am increasingly fascinated by society’s generalizations and ignorance regarding sex offenders as it applies to human behavior. Despite our supposed advances as a society, our handling of the matter of sex offenses seems to be spiraling backwards faster than anyone can keep track of them. I wonder if any of these lawmakers can recite the requirements of a registered sex offender and the list of applicable offenses from memory. Since their decisions affect my fate, it would make me sleep at least a little better if I knew that they knew what they were doing and to whom they were doing it. It reminds me of an interview I saw recently in which a congressman was pressing hard for a sculpture of the Ten Commandments to be displayed in front of a federal courthouse. When asked by the interviewer to name all ten, he could only come up with about one and a half.

    I thought the piece written by Paul Shannon was well spoken, what caught my eye was his mention of the public outcry for the rights of people being incarcerated for alleged acts of terrorism and the lack of public outcry about the similar disappearance of rights for those charged with sex offenses. For the record I agree that those detained as suspected terrorists deserve all of the same constitutional rights as anyone. But I think there is a reasonable explanation for the comparative lack of outcry on behalf of sex offenders. People think of terrorists as people in a far off land, they don't think of their neighbor. Sex offenders are all around us. In general, it is easy for the public to keep a clear head about the constitutionality of someone far away, not doing anything near them.

    I think the subject of sex offenses forces people in society to take a long, hard look at themselves, their culture and their society that most don't want to think about or deal with. And what do we do when we don't want to understand or deal with something? We bury it. We hide it. Get it out of our sight. Just keep us safe from those perverts, whatever we have to do. Anytime this issue comes up, we punish it more. I believe people just don't like to think about the idea that they are capable of doing the same thing that a sex offender has done. They don't want to try and understand how that person may have come to the decision to do what they have done. While that doesn't excuse the offender, at least we can understand and address the problem in a way that helps everyone. Other people don't want to entertain the idea that “those people” are anything like them, so they distance themselves from “those people” as much as possible and dehumanize them in the process. When we're not human anymore, we don't have any right anymore.

    Anytime a “sex offender” is in the headlines, I cringe because whenever a story like that gets a lot of press I can expect some new legislation within a few months, so that I am reminded what the lobbyists and lawmakers think of me, even when they don't realize that people like me are lumped in with 10 or 20 actual predators that we do need to worry about and who will still offend if they really want to, no matter how many crazy flaming hoops the rest of us have to jump through.

    As Paul Shannon said, “the worst thing I have ever done becomes the only thing I have ever done”.

    Suffice it to say, I am not the same person I was when I committed my offense 8 years ago. I have worked extremely hard to become a better person and I like the person I am becoming. I am a year and a half away from graduating summa cum laude with a B.S in mechanical engineering.

    Reaching where I have has taken hard work, dedication and self-exploration and confrontation that would terrify most people to have to do. I think there should come a time when society should take it upon itself to get out of my way and leave my true penance for the things I have done between me and God.

    If there is anything I can do to help, volunteer or what not. If you need to reach me, look me up on the state police web-site. See, it’s good for something!

    Thanks again. Ted

     

    Opposed to RSOL Death Penalty Statement
    By Mark Keil <markinohio2004@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 28.12.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [094]
     
    Please refer comments to the above email address, refer to Blog No. 094.
    NOTE: RSOL does not take a position on the death penalty per se, but opposes the use of the death penalty for sex offenses which do not involve murder. The US Supreme Court has ruled similarly this year. We are revising our statement to reflect the new situation.
    Alex Marbury
    ------------------------
    IN RE: Pesky Number Five of the RSOL Statement

    While I was a relatively early signatory to RSOL's statement, I was then and still am bothered by the pesky number five statement: "Abolish all laws that provide the death penalty or life in prison without parole for sex offenders."

    I have a feeling this may be a stopper for many people with important and influential names and voices, who might otherwise be willing to sign the statement. One of the problems with the statement, in my view, is that it is exactly counter productive to at least one of the missions that RSOL is trying to accomplish: to bring people to the realization and recognition of the fact that all sex offenders are not the same - that all "sex offenders" are not John Couey, e.g.

    The fact of the matter is, truly, that some of even the most liberal voices, not to mention more centrist minds, realize that in certain cases, as with any other type of criminal, life without parole is sometimes the only rational and reasonable solution to protect society from certain sociopaths and psychopaths, some of which will undoubtedly happen to be sex offenders as well.

    The death penalty, and meting it out for sex crimes in particular, is a separate issue, in my opinion, and thus, in my estimation, deserves its own statement. I don't know what the consensus of the body of signatories on the matter would be, but I feel the death penalty, when and if used, ought be reserved for murderers, alone, regardless of whether a sex offense was a part and parcel of the crime. My reasoning for this is limited entirely to the rationale that if the death penalty is in the offing, then more sociopaths will simply kill their victims, rather than just stop at a sex offense, resulting, ironically, in the deaths of more victims and the elusion of law enforcement by more criminals.

    One of the largest barriers faced by any group seeking to challenge the status quo is that of being taken seriously by the mainstream. And, one of the greatest impediments to being taken seriously by the mainstream is the appearance of extremism, of irrationality. I submit, that for very many people, considering the quite limited alternatives for the protection of society from the likes of a John Couey, statement number five will appear on its face extremely irrational. No one, I don't think, wants John Couey to be their spokesperson, their poster child, and statement number five makes him exactly that for RSOL.

    While the John Couey's of the world may need and deserve the help and advocacy of some reform group, I think they neither need nor deserve the advocacy of one like RSOL, which endeavors to make a better future for hundreds of thousands of other people who are nothing like John Couey. Statement number five is the statement RSOL's opposition will leap upon, and use to proclaim to the world, "RSOL wants John Couey released to your neighborhood to prey upon your children!"

    Statement number five is the one statement that restrains me from a more robust support of RSOL and its objectives; the one objective that constrains me from seeking new signatories to the full statement and new supporters for the full RSOL mission. I am sure I am not the only one, signatories and not, for whom statement number five is a similar stopper to more action. Moreover, and conversely, I am confidant that the statement does very little to invite more signatories and more support, not to mention that its placement and wording is a real barrier to being taken seriously.

    Not to belabor the point, or resort to hyperbole, but really, who does RSOL need to be taken seriously by more than the politicians writing, and hopefully someday repealing certain sex offender laws? I ask, then, what politician in their right political and vote-earning mind, would ever consider to take RSOL seriously, much less sign the statement, when RSOL wants to "release John Coeuy to the neighborhoods of their constituents"?

    A moderation of statement number five could, I believe, both add to the credibility and seriousness of RSOL and remove a barrier to a more broad overall support of its objectives and mission. Think about it: while groups like the "fringe lunatic" stoptheaclu.com gather broad exposure, if not ouright support, on a variety of fronts, the relatively more moderate reformsexoffenderlaws enjoys no such parity. Google "reformsexoffenderlaws" and you get 1780 results, while Googling "stoptheaclu" yields up a hefty 76,000 results. If you're counting, that is 42 times the exposure that that group is enjoying over that of RSOL. In the information age, when dissemination of information, particularly information outside the mainstream, is accomplished in this way, via the Internet, this deficit between these groups, if it weren't so serious, would be laughable.

    Therefore, I have taken the time to write this letter and am strongly urging you, and RSOL, to consider a revamping of statement number five, and possibly a separation of it from the death penalty issue. I would encourage you to submit these considerations to the body of your signatories and email list for their feedback on the matter.

    It would not surprise me a bit, and nor should it surprise you a bit, either, if there is an overwhelming support among that body for these viewpoints on the matter. It just makes sense. It makes good, rational, and most importantly, serious sense for RSOL.

    Thank you for your consideration, and I look forward to any action, which you and RSOL may contemplate or take. I am hoping things change in regard to statement number five so that I can more honestly and robustly support the important mission and objectives of RSOL. If not, I haven't a choice, no matter how serious, and ironically, because I am so serious about the issues, but to remain on the sidelines, so far as RSOL is concerned.

    Last, if you like, and think this issue deserves the exposure, you may publish at your website, perhaps for feedback, this letter, including my signature.

    Sincerely,

    Mark Keil
     

    Kelly´s New Year Message
    By Kelly Piercy <gasoem@gmail.com>
    Posted on 27.12.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [093]
     
    NOTE from Alex: Kelly Piercy is a disabled veteran who has become one of RSOL´s most valuable members and organizers. He is working on multiple fronts to try to change the unjust portions of ¨sex offender¨ laws. In my book, Kelly is a #1 hero! But then, so are ALL RSOL participants. Keep up the struggle in this New Year!
    Refer in comments to Blog No. 093, and send to Kelly at the email address above, with copies to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ------------------------------

    A New Year´s Message

    I was sitting in Mass at Federal Corrections Institution (FCI) Three Rivers. Our Priest was called away by duties at the Diocese. An ancient Priest Emeritus filled in that Sunday.

    For the Homily, he came to the front of the Alter from the podium.
    Clasping his hands he looked out on the twenty or so of us seated in the chapel. He smiled softly at us and began.

    "I don't really have a prepared sermon for you. I am here because you are here....There is something I want you to understand. For whatever brought you here, God forgives you if you ask his forgiveness; I forgive you without being asked....There is something else I need you to understand. I know each of you prays, probably every day, to be let out of here."

    "For every one of you, who pray for this, there are a hundred and more that are praying that you are not let out."

    With that, he concluded the Mass.

    We all work and many of us pray every day to end the registry and inordinate sentences and to stop the shame of false accusation suffered by the 'justice' system.

    For all that work and hope and prayer, there are hundreds more working and hoping and praying that it continues and becomes ever more restrictive.

    We must each do the work, have the hope, and even say the prayers of those hundreds that oppose each one of us.

    It is hard, there are days I want to give up and worry about me and try to navigate the rules alone in hope for the day I can buy my boat and leave this all behind me. I cannot, I will not. We must all resist those times and days and do what we can. When it gets too hard, take a step back, rest and reflect. We cannot let others fight this battle for us, they will not. We must strive, even in the face of despair.

    We can try and fail, we must not fail to try.

    Kelly
     

    John Walsh Exploits Fear
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 21.12.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [092]
     
    Comments about this blog should refer to Blog No. 0092 and be sent to Alex at the above email address. I will forward them to the person who made the comment.
    --------------------------


    Concerning John Walsh and his continuing exploitation of fear among the public, against what he portrays on TV, as the bad guys. This is a despicable man, as he has not only profited from the death of his son, but he has also convinced a generation of Americans that child abductions from strangers is out of control. He continues his child abduction crusade despite government statistics that show stranger abductions to be virtually nonexistent. The fact is that the majority of child abductions come from a noncustodial parent, not a stranger as Walsh would have you believe.

    The man (Ottis Toole) that the Hollywood Police Department conveniently pinned the murder of Walsh\'s son on was a serial killer, and not a ¨pedophile,¨ as Walsh and the media describe him. Not only is Toole no longer around to defend himself against the Walsh murder, but all the evidence in the case was lost or destroyed by the Hollywood Police Department. His guilt has to be proven in a court of law, not the court of public opinion.

    This thing has stunk from the beginning! As far as I know the mother of Adam Walsh was never a suspect in the case, and if this tragedy had happened today, she would have been the first one on the suspect list, as she was the last one to have contact with the boy. As terrible as that statement sounds, that is exactly what a sex offender has to deal with on a daily basis due to John Walsh and his misguided crusade to save the children while lining his pockets.

    I don't think this case should be closed, and I am quite surprised that Walsh so easily accepts the Hollywood Police Department´s decision to announce that the case has been solved. This is a prime example of how law enforcement tramples on the rights of all, whether we're in the grave or still among the living.

     

    SEX PANIC KILLS SANTA
    By Alex Marbury posted this <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 19.12.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [091]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog. No. 0091 and be sent to me at the above email address, and you may also want to send them to Debbie at the email address, naess@gmail.com
    Note from Alex: Debbie Nathan is one of the most peristent critics of the ¨sex panic¨ that has spawned the ill-conceived ¨sex offender laws.¨ This is from her blog, already picked up by several websites.


    --------------------------------------------------------
    SEX PANIC DEATH OF OPERATION SANTA CLAUS
    by Debbie Nathan
    Dec. 19, 2008

    URL http://debbienathan.com

    Santa Claus is dead! At least, the charity Santa who was born during the first Gilded Age, and whose fantasies about the poor fueled an enormous, Victorian-mentality welfare program, run for decades from the giant Post Office at 33rd Street and 8th Avenue in New York City.

    Yesterday, three months after the death of the second Gilded Age, that Operation Santa came to a screeching halt, thanks to additional dark fanatasies: this time about pedophilia.

    It used to be that middle-class and rich people pored for hours over hand written letters from the indigent, then went to the houses of the underclass to give them Christmas gifts. To do that, the donors needed kids’ names and addresses. This year, a registered sex offender did his poring and got his address. The Post Office found out and summarily shut down the entire Op Santa program, even though, in its almost 100-year history, it has never received a complaint of child sexual assault or abuse. Officials told the media that in the future, donors will have no access to children’s identifiers, which means they be unable to make deliveries to the slums. Instead, they’ll donate to anonymous recipients, and mail their packages at the post office.

    The PO said this will save the program. That’s not true and they know it. The success of Operation Santa Claus was always based on complex class relations and conflict, complete with reticulated fantasies that could only be satisfied by the letter reading, the name gathering, and those noblesse oblige home visits. Without all this, the program is kaput.


    In New York City alone, over a million poor families came to depend on the Operation for entitlements — warm clothes, toys, even schooling — that used to be dispensed by machine politicians or New Deal agencies. Today, the old ho-ho-ho pols are long gone. And now the country talks of a new FDR. It took a black man to get that conversation going, and now, thanks to an anonymous, registered sex offender schlemiel with disposable Christmas income, the children and adults of America may be forced recognize that in this day and age, “No, Virginia, there is no Santa Claus.”

    Debbie Nathan

     

    Mother & Wife Lives in Two Worlds
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 12.12.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [090]
     
    Refer comments to Blog No. 090 and send to Alex at the above email address, and I will forward them to this mother!


    MOTHER AND WIFE LIVES IN TWO CONFLICTING WORLDS - HER HUSBAND´S and HER SON´S:

    I am a mother with a son who is now serving time for child pornography which needless to say has brought me down to my knees. I truly thought my world had come to an end - even my husband would not comfort me when the news was given to us. Like many other mothers, I felt extremely alone with this. To this day, he won't talk to our son in any way or form, just keeps saying, "I warned him" and nothing else. He has even said he could care less if he was to die and never see him again or if something bad should happen to him while in prison.

    I'm a person who is living in two worlds and it's so very hard. I'm a believer that a person can turn the corner if the right support group is there. You will never know how surprised I was when I fell upon this website - I\'m not alone, not at all!

    My son knows he did something so very wrong and wants very much once released to become a productive citizen again. It tore my heart apart when he said to me that he was prepared to sleep under bridges and beg for whatever food he may get. No mother wants to hear that -not at all. All any mother can picture is those pictures taken when the son was a little boy doing little boy things. To think that may possibly be his residence (homelessness) for the rest of his life makes the heart just stop.

    He is just a few months into his sentence so I'm just starting now hoping I can make it better for him later. Thank you, thank you for each of you to come together as a group on an issue that many just want to lock away.

    As I told people in my family that has basically turned away from me, we used to avoid people with AIDS and people with mental disabilities only because we did not understand, now we do and we find that with the correct treatment the person afflicted can possibly lead somewhat a normal life.

    As my son said, registering is no different that when the Jewish people had to wear that yellow star - there is no difference. Yes my son did wrong and is now paying dearly for what he did and as so many have said, will be paying again once released due to the registering. He wants to move back to (his home state - from where he is incarcerated in another state) but I have no clue as to the "rules" that he will need to follow.

    Can anyone out there help me with this? Will he truly become a "wanderer" or is there something out there for him?

     

    Everybody contact all govt officials, demand change!
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 12.12.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [089]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 089 and be sent to Alex at the above email address.
    ---------------------
    I am concerned for our country at this point. I would have thought after the Salem witchhunt days that our Country would know better than to punish people for lifetimes for mistakes. Not everyone is a predator, but many are being set up as ones with the sting operations and destroying lives that would never have been involved in these types of situations without the entrapment. The lifetime punishment for these individuals and their families goes against everything that our country stands for. I urge everyone signing this to contact their local, state and the federal government asking for change.
     

    IMPORTANT RIGHTS to disclosure & privacy
    By Sandy Kennedy <sdk5460@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 08.12.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [088]
     
    THE MARYLAND RSOL affiliate contact, Sandy Kennedy, provides this very important brief summary for ¨sex offender¨ who are in mandated therpay programs. PLEASE SHARE!
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 88, and be sent to Sandy, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm

    ------------------------------------

    The Right To Disclosure and Privacy
    (Summary by Sandra Kennedy, Maryland)

    HIPAA ( Federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.

    Protected health information (PHI) is individually identifiable health information that is maintained or transmitted . Medical records are confidential. Health practitioners must ensure that all your information is kept confidential . In a doctor’s offices they hand you a demographic sheet to look over. Your full social security number should not be identified, just the last 4 digits. If their sheet contains you full address, telephone numbers, and date of birth, request in writing that it be deleted. HIPAA stipulates that a patient has a right to their medical records: all medical records, counseling sessions, therapy notes, test answers, polygraph evaluations may be obtained despite who is paying the bill. They have 30 days to comply after submitting a written request. In psychological evaluations, they do not provide you with the test, just your raw answers. Look over your records closely. Ascertain the evaluations they allegedly gave to you, you actually took. In psychological evaluations, make sure the person they are physically describing is indeed you and make sure every sheet you have signed is your signature. If a therapist has signed an evaluation, who you do not recognize, search the internet for their licensure. If you find any discrepancies, file a formal complaint with your state’s Dept. of Health and Mental Hygiene. Keep your records and ask for them periodically. Each session, request, in writing, a copy of your progress note.


     

    Frightened, Broke, Tired, Vulnerable, Defeated
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 04.12.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [087]
     
    Refer comments to Blog No. 0087, and send to Alex Marbury at the above email address. I´ll forward the comments to the author, who is the sister of the offender.
    ---------------------------------


    My brother was accused of misconduct by his ex-wife in an acrimonious custody battle--AFTER the custody battle began. He was innocent but after an expensive two-year legal battle, he ran out of money and spirit. He eventually agreed to a no contest plea when the DA threatened him with a guaranteed prison sentence. He was frightened, broke, tired, vulnerable, and defeated.

    My brother was scheduled to be off-paper after 10 years S.O. registration. That is, until Ohio decided to retroactively extend SO sentences to a minimum 25 years as Level IIs. He is now looking at another 15 years minimum (which in his fragile mental state may exceed his life) and now as a Level II versus a Level I. And this Level II designation is now what he must carry to a new state. In his case, for a crime he didn't even commit.

    How is this legal? Had this been the no contest plea in the beginning, he would not have agreed. How can this be right? The court system told him one thing and then said, "No, we lied." And that's okay?

    We don't brand drunk drivers, murderers, assault with injury, thieves...no one EXCEPT 'sex offenders' like this.

    It smacks of everything this country wasn't founded on and every dark period we've ever experienced. We don't even tell murderers that we think they need another 15 years...¨just because.¨ It's misguided zealotry, hysteria, and madness. It's not right.

    I'm not a bleeding heart. I have strong feelings about predators of any type and rapists and serial offenders. I also believe in punishment. I'm not even anti-registration. But there needs to be shades of gray and legal due diligence and sentencing that is fair and finite. This current trend is anything but that. It's plain scary, bad law.


     

    How Many Are We? Change these laws NOW!
    By Chris and Linda <rsolnc@gmail.com>
    Posted on 04.12.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [086]
     
    These are two comments from NC contacts about the fact that in Georgia and some other states, ¨sex offenders¨ cannot attend college. Chris, the second commenter, makes the point that we need change NOW - in 2009, so people like himself and his family can begin to live their lives again!
    TO COMMENT, refer to Blog No. 086, and send to Chris and Linda at the above email address

    -----------------
    That is TOTALLY ridiculous! what is happening to the USA? restrictions of all sorts are flooding in (nc had some new ones that went into effect 12/2 but nothing that drastic) and in the end all SOs are going to be restricted to the point that they would have it easier being in prison!

    What's happening here that i notice is that the "laws" are being interpreted incorrectly. For example: our local sheriff's office says that the law saying you cannot be within 300 feet of a place meant for minors means you cannot even DRIVE BY IT. Now, come on! If the ice skating rink is in the mall and you have to drive by the mall to get to wherever you are going they are saying you cannot drive by the mall! ha! asinine, yes?

    They are also saying that the new law that states a Sexual Offender cannot be on any internet site that is strictly designed for minors means ANYTHING ON THE INTERNET.

    It is WHO interprets the law we need to fear: be really really afraid of the local police/sheriff who does that interpretation! i am just now analyzing the new NC laws; i got the letter about 6 weeks ago from my son and it looked like to me nothing too major UNTIL the newspaper/media get ahold of it and splashed their own opinions of said new laws!

    Maybe not all think like we do, but no education? how do they (the gov't) expect lives to be changed, made better, etc. without the access to education? i would definitely say that is an issue to FIGHT!

    Linda

    ------------------
    These lawmakers ruling from their high towers believe their actions to be a game where the sub-human S.O.'s are the pawns. They try to see who can most offend the offenders. It's preposterous, unconstitutional, and I'm pissed.

    Viva la Revolution whatever that equates to.

    I don't have time for these "baby steps" as my 3 children grow older and become less interested in holding their dad's hand as we walk to the park to play on the swings. The heart-wrenching truth you all know is I can't take my kids to the park! It's a heinous crime according to these well-concocted laws. Preventing me from being a father is the sickest form of punishment that one could ever bestow upon me.

    How many of us are there? What does it take to pull off a singular, overarching legal action against these laws as a whole so we can live again? I'm not talking about 5, 3, or even 2 years from now. I'm talking 2009. I'm through being robbed of my children's youth. Who do these lawmakers believe they are to be able to keep it from me? We need a heavy hitter.
     

    Flabergasted by S.O. Laws Lack of Integrity
    By Marian Cab uto <mcabuto@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 30.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [085]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0085 and be sent to the above, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    --------------------------------
    I am flabbergasted at the lack of integrity within our Federal Justice System concerning sex offender laws. Putting violent offenders in the same category as non violent offenders who would never and have never harmed a child makes my stomach turn. My stomach also turns at my finding that the system deems non violent offenders who chatted on the internet and never touched anyone a violent offender so they could instill fear in our society to get Federal Funding.

    My brother was taken to prison shortly after graduating with a degree in Psychology and was Cum Laude academically at the top of his class. He gave to the community and was an inspiring person to know. He has a heart of gold and would never harm a child. He never touched anyone inappropriately, nor would he ever. He was in a chat room sting and in the printed up chat was asked if he would ever meet anyone underage and he said NO.

    The fact that inappropriate material is even available on the internet disgusts me and my research shows me that, the availability of that is corrupt as well. Many are entrapped and fear is instilled in them that they must plea bargain with the government or they will get even more time. Right now, these deemed sex offenders (who are not) are being punished, but in the big picture, it is society who is being punished and we must reform these laws. In my brother's case, prosecution did all they could to convict a non violent, non threat to society young man who was an outstanding citizen with goals to greatly contribute to society.

    While I don't agree with him even going to prison, I could have maybe accepted such a sentence for his non violent mistake of viewing underage photos I believe he was coerced to view (not taking these type of pictures, but viewing what someone sent him on the internet),however, my eyes have been open to a lot of corruption and I am not so sure, I would even accept a prison sentence. I do not condone viewing such images, but circumstances on the internet for young men MUST be regulated and have warnings. But Sex offender for life for solely viewing pictures and having no other prior record or signs of being a predator is mind boggling to me.

    The other very disheartening issue is that the "hands on" sex offenders get a slap on the wrist in comparison to all of these non violent supposed sex offenders they are giving years of prison time to as well as the life sentence of sex offender for life. This site has allowed me to hear the stories of other family members who have endured such wrong doing by our justice system. I hope and pray we can reform these laws.

    Sincerely,
    A Concerned Sister, American Citizen and Human Rights Activist

     

    You Might Be a ¨Sex Offender,¨ If...
    By Derek Logue <derek@oncefallen.com>
    Posted on 27.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [084]
     
    NOTE: This copyrighted article appears on the creative website, oncefallen.com, which we hope soon to link to RSOL. Comments should be sent to Derek, the webmaster of that site, as well as to alexm60@fastmail.fm. Please contact Derek and check out his website.
    ------

    You Might Be a ¨Sex Offender¨ If…
    Derek “The Fallen One” Logue
    November 11, 2008 -- Last Update Nov. 25, 2008

    NOTE: IF YOU HAVE A STORY TO ADD TO THIS LIST PLEASE EMAIL ME THE LINK TO THE NEWS
    ARTICLE: derek@oncefallen.com [PS: Please read some of the articles, especially those featured on my front page announcements]

    One of the prevailing myths in society is that everyone on registries are all violent rapists or active ¨pedophiles¨who have had sex with children. However, landing on a sex offender registry (or even the prospect of landing on the registry) is a very real threat. Over the years, I have collected some very outlandish cases which have either landed someone on the registry or have at least made them potentially subject to placement on the registry. Some are sad, some are ludicrous, others leave you questioning the laws. However, it is important to keep in mind how easily one can be caught up in the registries. Think about that next time you look at a sex offender registry.

    Thus, in the tradition of another popular comedy skit, I present to you the following cases as “You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if…:” [Laugh Track NOT Included]


    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if… you ever paid for a prostitute in New York [unless, of course, your name is New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer]
    http://www.criminaljustice.state.ny.us/nsor/sortab1.htm -- Penal Code 230.4-6

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if… you use a stolen credit card to hire a stripper in New York
    http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/ethicalesq/2007/12/13/was-legal-news-1/

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if… You had sex with a teenager while you were a teen yourself [unless you happen to be Mark Lunsford's son] www.rickyslife.com
    http://sadlynormal.wordpress.com/2006/12/06/ut-teen-both-a-perpetrator-and-victim-of-sex-offense-presents-legal-puzzle/ (Pamela Mason, “Utah teen both a perpetrator and victim presents legal puzzle.” Salt Lake City Tribune, Dec. 12, 2006)

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if… you ever got drunk at a party and videotaped yourself having sex with your teenage girlfriend
    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10972703

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if… you have ever given your kids too much information when giving “the birds and the bees” speech
    http://www.courttv.com/news/2007/1112/smalley_ctv.html (Mallory Simon, “Woman prosecuted for giving her children too much information about sex.” Court TV, November 12, 2007)

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if… a topless woman has ever talked you into "unwrapping your whopper" in a public park
    http://current.com/items/88801861_cops_use_topless_woman_to_lure_men_in_police_sting (original story taken down: Marcus Baram, “Topless Woman Lured Perverts in Sex Sting.” ABC News.com)

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if… anyone has ever accused you of a sex crime in Ohio -- thanks to a “civil” registry, you don’t even need a criminal conviction, only a civil conviction [like O.J.]
    http://codes.ohio.gov/oac/109:5-4 - Ohio Chapter 109:5-4

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if… you ever participated in “slap butt day” in school
    http://www.590klbj.com/JeffWard/Story.aspx?ID=71743

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if… you allow your teenage daughter to have sex or don’t do enough to stop her from getting knocked up
    http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/2007/11/ga-editorial-registry-without-reason.html

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if… you touched the knees of another man over 60 years ago
    http://www.reason.com/news/show/30272.html

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if… you have ever taken a picture of your child playing in the bathtub, or if you have bathed a baby in your tub
    http://archive.salon.com/mwt/feature/2000/01/31/kincaid/index.html (James Kinkaid, “Is this child pornography?” salon.com, Jan. 30, 2000)

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if… you’ve ever simulated sex on the sidewalk
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/south_of_scotland/7079288.stm (“Man simulated sex act on pavement,” BBC News, Nov. 5, 2007)

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if… you had sex with a picnic table (note: why was the person who videotaped this person NOT charged with creating obscene material? Hm...)
    http://www.nbc24.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=150083

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if… you are a teen and you take pictures of yourself and send it to other teens
    http://abcnews.go.com/TheLaw/story?id=5995084&page=1 : Scott Michaels, “Teen Charged With Sending Nude Pics of Herself.” ABC News, Oct. 10, 2008
    http://sexoffenderresearch.blogspot.com/search/label/Sexting

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if... you have ever chatted with a teen online, even if you never planned to meet them [unless, of course, you're a senator and/or John Walsh's friend]
    www.changingthelaw.com

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if... you have oral sex with an intoxicated partner
    www.meganslaw.ca.gov/registration/offenses.aspx?lang=ENGLISH -- California Code 288A (I)

    -You might be ¨sex offender¨ if... you look at a child too long in Maine
    http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080406/NEWS/804060343/-
    1/NEWS01 -- Maine's "Visual Sexual Aggression" law

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if... you are caught urinating in public multiple times [courtesy of a blogger at Reddit]
    http://www.thebostonchannel.com/news/14238442/detail.html

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if... you grab the arm of a 14 year old girl to chastise her for stepping in front of your moving car (assist to Ian for this gem)
    http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=45104

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if... you flirt with a girl in Egypt
    http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24684272-912,00.html?from=public_rs

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if... you had sex with a bicycle, bringing new meaning to the brand name "HUFFY" [thanks to Colin for the link]
    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/26/bike_incident/ or
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7098116.stm

    -You might be a ¨sex offender¨ if... you are a school teacher at a school that forgot to pay for anti-virus software [ironically enough, she'd have faced less time for sleeping with one of her students]
    http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/11/proof-porn-pop.html?cid=140574368#comment-
    140574368

    ----The Following is not an actual case, but the author poses a REALLY good point here:
    -You might be CONFUSED FOR a ¨sex offender¨ if... you leave your lights off and don't pass out candy at Halloween!
    http://freestudents.blogspot.com/2008/10/we-are-all-sex-offenders-now-happy.html -- One can’t ignore the damn holiday without possibly getting accused of being an offender. For years I’ve safely ignored the holiday. Now, what will the neighbors think? Will they assume
    that the light is off because a sex offender lives here?
     

    No Registries for ANY Class of People!
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 24.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [083]
     
    Comments to this blog, specify the blog entry no. 0083, and send to Alex Marbury at the above email. I´ll forward to the person who wrote it.
    ---------
    I will not sugar coat my offense, or deny that it occurred, but I will say this, a one time lapse in judgement on my part with a promiscuous teenage girl does not make me a danger to society or some kind of monster, it makes me human and subject to all our frailties and indiscretions.

    After reading yet another story of a sex offender professing his innocence and complaining that he shouldn't have to register because he is not as bad as other sex offenders - this is about all I can take at this point!

    I am seriously considering giving up my efforts to help abolish these draconian laws, and make my hasty exit from this country. I
    have been considering this option for some time now, but thought I would stay and help to put out the fire. Well, as I see it, the fire is fear, and it is out of control, and the building it is consuming is our liberty, and at this point I believe it to be a lost cause unless we all stand together to abolish any type of registration, for any class of people.

    Without a united stand, I see no real future for myself in this country, and I strongly encourage others to follow my lead. It is only a matter of time before they come and drag us all off to special camps, innocent or not.

    I am amazed at how history repeats itself. I won't be a victim of another holocaust! Will you?
     

    Turn the Tables: Register Politicians!
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 19.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [082]
     
    Refer in your comment to Blog No. 0082, and send to Alex Marbury at the above email, and I´ll forward it to the person who sent it in.
    ---------------------
    TURN THE TABLES ON THE POLITICIANS!

    In my opinion, perhaps it is time to turn the tables! How about a registry related to so called politicians?

    I'm sure they would love to see their name splashed all over hell´s half acre. Why, well let it be for or against the laws that decimate our kids by means of the so called sex laws. This site could detail what this or that politician is doing or has done good or bad. The site would allow and provide electors information that could determine if one votes for this or that person.

    In my opinion it is time to use their tactics to inform others of just how "great: they are.

    The registry could be set up...not by law, but rather by people with an interest in ensuring our laws are indeed there to help protect our kids. I'm appalled that even streaking people have been targeted! In our day we just laughed and wrote the matter off... Today we have politicians and so called well intentioned lawyers bent on one thing: to tarnish whomever they can, and at the same time pocket monies by ensuring that someone has to pay a lawyer to defend them. List DA's on the registry too! We have to ensure ourselves they are doing their job! Numbers play the game.. Number of convictions, number of charges... Something to impress us and let us assume they are doing the job they were elected to do.

    It´s time, in my opinion, to play their game: expose them and allow others to see its just a farce with good bucks. It has little or nothing to do with ensuring the safety of the public. It´s rather to protect their phoney-baloney jobs!
     

    FIGHTING THE FEAR FACTOR
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 17.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [081]
     
    Refer to Blog No. 0081 in your comments, and send to Alex at the above email address. I´ll send them on to the person who wrote this blog.
    -----------------

    FIGHTING THE FEAR FACTOR

    What we have discovered is that our media and government, especially local sheriffs etc, have put that FEAR syndrome in people. Basically, people fear the "unknown." I cannot tell you how many times I have discussed in a general conversation about this topic only to have changed peoples' thinking.

    It normally happens like this:

    person 1: wow! it's about time they put up this sign at the park that says that sex offenders are not legally allowed here. guess that's a GOOD thing. i don't want MY kids being messed with!

    person 2 (me): Oh? what exactly is a sex offender in your mind?

    person 1: i don't know. it's someone who messes with young children. they should all be kept in prison. (some even tell me they should be castrated or killed!)

    person 2 (me): what about murderers? are you ok with them being in the park?

    person 1: LONG PAUSE: hmmmm, well, NO NOT REALLY! (another long pause)

    person 2 (me): so why is it ok to ban the sex offender?

    person 1: because they hurt children.

    person 2 (me): don't murderers hurt children and adults? do we need to ban the park from everyone who has ever been arrested? do you know that there are degrees of EVERY crime. sometimes a sex offender is simply someone at a computer who has never met, talked with or hurt a child.

    person 1: OH! well in that case maybe they can limit the park to just those who hurt kids? i didn't know there were levels.

    the conversation usually continues on but it is SO easy to show someone what they failed to see before or were told NOT to see it due to the FEAR FACTOR. (they are not so blind as they who will not see?) we don't need to get on a defensive road or we look like fools. if we talk softly and carry a big stick.....
     

    Familes & Employers Learn to Respect upfront offenders
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 17.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [080]
     
    Comments to this blog should refer to blog no. 0080 and be sent to Alex Marbury at the above email address.


    Thinking of several recent letters from you let me address the family reaction: I have been helping an old friend who became a registered sex offender thanks to a hateful wife who made accusations. He spent 6 years in prison and I put him in my rental house, gave him an old truck and then found him another place to stay when I had to sell the house. My four adult kids reacted over the phone with things like: Mother are you crazy? Don't bring him around us. Maybe we should have you committed. etc. After two years they have modified their reactions a bit. Only one of them has ever met him since they all live out of state.

    This friend of mine went to look for a job. He saw a sign out in the front window of a veterinary clinic. He walked in, approached the owner, a middle aged woman, and almost the first thing he said was, "I am a registered sex offender." She replied, "I don't care, it doesn't matter to me." He got the job, has happily worked there for over two years, does extra work for some of the vets, etc. One day a new girl, just employed came in waving a copy of his registration around the work place. The boss fired her, told her to leave immediately. So I think if SO's are upfront about their registration, not sneaking around about it, they might be surprised that the employer would recognize an honest person they would like to employ. Worth a try.
     

    Not Every S.O. is a ¨Predator¨!
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 17.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [079]
     
    RESPONSE TO 0077, Not Every S.O. a Predator!
    This was sent by the brother of an rso who has seen up close how these laws are so harmful to so many who are indeed not predators at all. Please send comments to me, Alex Marbury, at the above email address and refer to Blogs 0077 and 0079.

    ---------------------------------------------------
    Thank you so much for fighting these ridiculous restrictions
    placed on low-level ¨sex offenders.¨ Society and our legal system has
    labeled each and every one of them "Pedators". Now society thinks
    every person convicted of a sex offense is a predator. I have a brother who was convicted of a sex offense (Incest), served 7 years in prison, has been out for seven years without any trouble, and each time a new law is enacted , it lessens his ability to make a living. He is retired military and a spent two tours in Viet Nam. If it wasn't for his retirement pay, he would be homeless. Society has just simpy been deceived to think every ¨sex offender¨ is a predator, (and seems just to) to wans to do like Htler and extinguish them off the face of the earth, using the law to take away their means of survival. Again, thank you for what you are doing.
     

    Media Sensationalize S.O. Hysteria to push product
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 16.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [078]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog. No. 0078 and be sent to the email address listed above.
    --------
    This is a much needed organization. I believe our media has
    used sex offender sensationalization to sell their product and created an hysteria that is rolling over offenders civil rights.
     

    ¨Don´t downplay abuse.¨
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 14.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [077]
     
    Comments about this blog should refer to Blog No. 0077 and be sent to Alex Marbury at the above email address.
    NOTE: This comment came anonymously, without even an email address for us to respond to. Normally we don´t post these, but we do want to air all views. RSOL does not, however, downplay abuse of any kind, certainly not against children. Unfortunately, while the clinical definition of a ¨pedophile¨ relates to pre-pubescent children, many people have been called by that name, and charged with crimes against ´children´ whose alleged acts were with older teens - and in some cases, even those in their 20s. This is the ¨confusion¨ in a term that has come literally to be demoized.
    Furthermore, ¨pedophiles¨ may or may not actually have sex with children. The term refers to an orientation, not to acts. Many ¨pedophiles¨ work hard NOT to offend. We have edited this accordingly.

    A comment has been posted at the bottom of this blog.

    --------------------------
    Don´t Downplay the Abuse:
    An assault does not have to be violent to be destructive. No-one is confused about pedophilia. (Some) ¨Pedophiles¨ molest children. How "gently" they do it does not change the horror and emotional trauma they cause. These people didn't accidentally sneeze on someone, they molested children, quite often children who trusted them.

    Do they need treatment? Yes. Should children be protected from them? Absolutely. Don't downplay the abuse.
    --------------------------
    Comment from Joe:
    I also do not want to downplay 'abuse'. However, a couple of thoughts:

    First, we have to clearly define the parameters of 'abuse' because it is currently being used to define soooo many activities - including ones that do not include physical assault or contact - that it is impossible to distinguish just how serious a matter under discussion actually is. And when that happens, and you're in the habit of applying the massive powers of the government's police power and the Criminal (and to a lesser extent Civil) Law, then we\'re all going to wind up playing with dynamite while we\'re sitting in the probable blast-zone.

    Second, we have to clearly and accurately understand the consequences of various types and levels of abuse. This is a tough one because the good-intention of 'advocacy' which has deformed journalism into repeating without care for truth the most egregious inaccuracies (because it's all 'in a good cause') has also infected the 'professional' communities of scholarship and research. And this is made worse by the explosion of cottage-industry \'experts\' who are little more than witch-doctors telling their customers what they want to hear.

    Third, what is good practice in one arena does not automatically translate into good practice in all other arenas. So where in a group-therapy or 12-step setting it is good to provide an accepting atmosphere for a confessant by 'accepting' and 'believing' his/her 'story'without an yskeptical or probing questioning, you canNOT thereby make such a principle a Rule of Evidence for Criminal and Civil courts.

    Fourth, a national legal commitment to eradicate all 'pain' and all 'damage' is going to wind up like a war abroad to eliminate all 'terrorism': it will get you only a militaristic police-state that cannot ever achieve its stated (and impossible to reach) objective. If we try to deploy the awesome police and criminal power of the government to eradicate 'pain' and 'danger' from the lives of any group, children included (bless them all!), then that will be like bringin a battleship into the small lagoon to protect the villagers: you will wreck the ship and the blast of its guns, even in the villagers' defense, will wreck the village and kill the villagers.

    A government police power, especially in a Republic, will and can only do just so much. Beyond that, to try to use it for an impossible objective, will simply get you a cowed citizenry and a police-state government.

    There has to be a balance or there can be no Constitutional Republic. That is not in any way to 'approve of' or 'support' those who bring danger and pain into the lives of others (and don't we all, in some way, at some time in our lives?), but simply to accept that governments cannot be trusted (as the Founders saw clearly) to 'do it all'. Indeed, with that much power, they will wind up turning on their own citizens (as the Founders saw).

    So in all these sex-offender-law matters, there is so much at stake, beyond the 'pain' and the 'danger' - there is a larger danger that we are letting the entire Constitutional ethos get chopped away, although what what seems to be and is a 'good' intent. These are the hard decisions that adult citizens (and adult and mature and responsible legislators and judges) must make.
     

    Texas Voices Radio - tune in!
    By Mary Sue Molnar <marysueintx@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 12.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [076]
     
    NOTE - THIS IS AN URGENT ITEM - posted as both blog and action item.

    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
     

    Son put in ¨the hole¨ for cashing paycheck
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 12.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [075]
     
    Send comments, referring to Blog 0075, to the above email address and I will forward them to this mother and her son. Alex Marbury

    ---------------------------------
    This is actually addressed to all of the members of RSOL and concerning a little article I read from Margie Furlong. Basically saying that the PO's and/or officers really don't know what they are doing sometimes.

    My son is now on Work Release, but as I am sure all of you know there are so many restrictions that he has to follow to be allowed to do this. Anyway, where he is working right now, they direct deposit his pay checks directly into his checking account which he was allowed to open. He was not sure if he could even go into the bank to do anything he had to do. They do give you a form stating the things that you can and cannot do, but the form is not specific. Some of the things that he is not allowed to do, we all just take for granted. So he called his probation office and asked, "Am I allowed to go to my bank and do the transactions that I have to do?" The office response was, " Why are you calling and asking me that? My son's response, "Because I need to know what I can and cannot do". The office response was, "Yeah, go ahead and do what you have to do." End of conversation. My son took this as permission to go to the bank when he needed. How else would he get his money if his check is direct deposited? So about a week later, he went into the bank before going to work to withdraw some money for his daughter who is away at college. An off-duty officer saw him and reported him to the prison personnel.

    The next day, they came and got him and put him in what the call "the hole". Not knowing what was going on, my son was very upset. I had not heard from him in four days and he always calls me at least one time per day. So I called the prison. The only thing they would tell me was that he was somewhere he was not supposed to be and that was the end of the call. So I called his lawyer and asked him if he knew anything about this. He said "no", but would check into it. His lawyer did check into what was going on and the excuse was the probation office does not like inmates writing checks. But they don't mind getting their check from my son every week for $70 so he can have the priviledge of work release. Anyway, his lawyer took it to the judge, the judge immediately over-rode their decision and he was back to work the next day. Thank God the people at his work place liked him and held his job for him. But the kicker to this is that he got a huge write up in the prison and that may affect his parole. The prison told my son that if the probation office agreed that it was a miscommunication, then the write up would be dropped. However, the person that he talked to denied even having the conversation. I have dealt with this officer personally and he, just like the majority of them act like since they wear the uniform and the badge, it makes them God.

    My son is doing very well right now, but he is even afraid to stop and get gas now, wondering if the same thing won't happen. Anyway, I just wanted to share this with all of you. And also say that I am new to this group and I need any advice, any information that any of you can give me. Right now I am living in Maryland, but I will be moving to Pennsylvania within the next two months so my son will have an established place of residence when his parole comes up. I have been keeping up with all of the news, but when I get settled in PA, I will really start forming some kind of actions. Of course, that is if they don't make me give up my computer since my son will be living with me. SUCH A CROCK!!!!!!!!
    Peace to you all
    (name withheld - please send comments to alexm60@fastmail.fm, refer to Blog 0075)
     

    Thanks for signing the petition!
    By Renee Clevenger <reneeclevenger@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 12.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [074]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0074 and be sent to the above email address, with a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    -----------------------
    A heartfelt letter from the RSOL Illinois state contact to those who sign our petition to reform sex offender laws. We urge you to contact her and support her brave efforts!

    Thank you for signing the petition to reform sex offender laws. Thank you even more for writing to me about your feelings. I do not want these to be simply a website for statistics. I have never changed a law before but that is my intent. I want to be instrumental in changing these unfair, unconstitutional laws in the entire country, not just my state. My family is going through hell because of the blanket laws we are under. That was my first motivation behind this. My husband is on the sex offender registry serving a sentance for a crime he never committed. Once I started researching the laws and found out how much damage was being done to people all over the country I knew God was calling me to help more than just my family. I do not know exactly how this will get done or when but I will promise you that each signature will be seen by every person who holds office that will agree look at it. If you want to discuss this further you can contact me at this email address.

    With Much Hope,

    Renee
     

    Sex Offenders & Libraries in N.M.
    By alice <Madalleyreport@aol.com>
    Posted on 12.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [073]
     
    Comments to the email address above, refer to Blog no. 0073, and send a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm

    -------------------------------------------------------
    Letter to the editor, Albuquerque Journal, Nov. 11, 2008
    from Alice, the RSOL New Mexico state contact! Good going, Alice!

    DON'T BRAND SEX OFFENDERS
    I commend the ACLU for going to bat on the issue of sex offenders in our libraries... I know sex offenders who had one offense 10 years ago with a child, spent 10 years in prison, and now want to get their lives back together, go to college and of course do work in a library...

    A sex offense is the least repeated crime of all crimes. It is usually committed within the family or with acquaintances. There is absolutely no evidence that we are safer by listing these individuals on a registry. We should list serial pedophiles, mass killers, international drug dealers and perhaps our criminal leaning politicians who have taken millions from the public for their own enjoyment.

    We have branded sex offenders in such a way that they have to be
    segregated in our prisons to keep them from being brutalized. Our
    current treatment of sex offenders deserves to be considered a hate
    crime.

    Alice (name omitted on this site, but it´s in the paper!)
    Tijeras
     

    JUSTICE POLICY INSTITUTE REPORT
    By Mary Sue Molnar <marysueintx@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 11.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [072]
     
    Please refer comments to Blog #72, and send to Mary Sue at the above email address, with copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ------------------------------

    REGISTERING HARM -
    JUSTICE POLICY INSTITUTE Briefing Book

    This is an excellent briefing on unjust sex offender laws! We urge all RSOL folks to download and use it!

    http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/08-11_BRF_WalshActRegistries_JJ-PS.pdf
     

    A Late Halloween Rant - We are ALL S.O.s
    By Shelley L. <shelley_led@hotmail.com>
    Posted on 11.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [071]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog No. 0071, and be sent to the above email address, copies to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ---------------------

    Tuesday, October 28, 2008
    We are all sex offenders now -- Happy Halloween.
    The URL is -
    http://freestudents.blogspot.com/2008/10/we-are-all-sex-offenders-now-happy.html

    One can almost bet that a politician is, right this moment, concocting some new stupid piece of legislation. And he will crow if he manages to pass the new absurdity into law -- and the more absurd it is, the more likely it is that it will pass.

    Consider that we are now about to enter Halloween. It is not a holiday I have ever particularly enjoyed, not even as a child. And my general response has been to ignore it. I don’t wear a costume and I don't say “trick or treat” or hand out candy treats. Maybe I’m a spoil-sport but I don’t care for the day. So I’d usually turn off the lights and curl up in front of the television and watch a good movie, or maybe a not-so-good movie.

    Now I can’t. The morons who get elected to office seem intent on making it dangerous to ignore Halloween, perhaps even deadly. Let me explain how this happening.

    Politicians like to solve “problems” especially where there really is no problem after all. And Halloween gives them such an opportunity. In all the years of Halloween the scare stories are more scary than the real stories. In actuality one child has been abducted while going out trick or treating. That was 35 years ago. Only one case.

    But the politicians in their campaign to rile up the public about sex offenders (a label that is given out easily and for some very non-serious issues -- such as streaking, urinating at the side of the road, or sex between two teenagers) are intentionally fanning the flames of fear for their own personal profit.

    In South Carolina anyone deemed a sex offender is forbidden to give out candy on Halloween and is required to turn out the porch light -- to pretend they aren’t home. In New York an “offender” is forbidden to hand out candy, answer the door, possess candy or wear a costume on Halloween.

    In Missouri a judge judiciously put a halt to some of the bizarre regulations on sex offenders, such as forbidding them to engage in any Halloween activity with their own children. But they are still required to turn off the lights and pretend they aren’t home.

    And that pisses me off. I’ve been turning out my porch light and pretending I’m not home for years. And I’m no sex offender, registered or otherwise. So now my problem is what do I do this year? If I turn out the lights, and don’t answer the door, is that the same thing as advertising “sex offender here!!!!”?

    One can’t ignore the damn holiday without possibly getting accused of being an offender. For years I’ve safely ignored the holiday. Now, what will the neighbors think? Will they assume that the light is off because a sex offender lives here? Or will they just think an old grump who doesn’t care for being annoyed on Halloween is here? I don’t mind the old grump reputation -- I’ve earned it. But damn, that sex offender thing upsets me. The only offending thing about my sex life is that there is damn so little of it. And that doesn’t seem to bother other people much -- just me.

    Ever since the witchhunt hysterias of the days of McMartin and dozens of other such fake child molestation cases I have judiciously and cautiously avoided even the appearance of any involvement with someone underage. I don’t hang around where kids hang around -- actually that would be annoying to me. I don’t think I’ve ever been alone with a kid in years. I avoid even speaking to kids I don’t know. Being male in a dangerous thing and some asshole is quite likely to make up accusations, and just the accusations alone can ruin your life. So I’ve done my best to stay away from even the appearance of something like this.

    And one way I did that was just avoiding Halloween. (Quite honestly, I’ve always ignored the holiday but this was another reason for doing so, just not my original, primary reason.) Now ignoring Halloween is a sign that one is a sex offender, thanks to these laws.

    The other thing I know is that with the hysteria that the politicians have been feeding it is not safe to be a ¨sex offender.¨ Several people assumed to be offenders have been attacked, some have been killed. A podiatrist in the UK faced continual harassment because stupid individuals confused podiatrist with ¨pedophile.¨ Individuals who moved into homes previously occupied by registered sex offenders found their address was still listed on-line and they were harassed and attacked by vigilantes out to protect kiddies.

    So the mere whisper, or suspicion of being some sort of ¨sex offender,¨ is enough to cause you physical harm and all sorts of grief. Now ignoring Halloween is a sign of being a ¨sex offender.¨ All of this to address the “problem” of offenders attacking children on Halloween -- something that only happened once almost four decades ago. The odds that anyone is being protected by these relatively new laws is extremely small -- probably non-existent. But come Halloween, numerous states will be sending their cops out to make sure offenders have turned off their porch lights.

    The majority of offenses that qualify one as a ¨sex offender¨ have nothing to do with children anyway. So a man, who got drunk, fondled a woman against her will, and is a sex offender, is now considered a threat to children for eternity. Come Halloween the police will be making sure he isn’t wearing a costume, doesn’t own any candy and has his porch light off -- good time to be a criminal since the cops will be occupied.

    Sure, that sort of misallocation of police resources is upsetting. But what really has me pissed off is that I may have to hand out candy this year lest it be assumed that my disdain for the practice proves I’m something I’m not. Of course, this sort of bizarre absurdity can only be created when politicians get involved. In one of the Tremors sci-fi films the character Burt told two government agents: “Why don’t you guys go do what you do best. Take something simple and complicate it.” Well, that is what the politicians have done with Halloween. If I turn out my light, to have the evening to myself, I could be assumed to be a sex offender thanks to the politicians. But handing kiddies candy in the dark of night is supposedly a sign of a child molester -- hence the reason for the ban. Handing out candy is suspicious and not handing out candy is suspicious, perhaps we have reached the final outcome of this hysterical earlier than I thought -- we are all ¨sex offenders¨ now.
     

    Too Much Finger Pointing on RSOL
    By annonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 02.11.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [070]
     
    A "sex offender" sends in this suggestion - he feels that those who say "pedophiles" or "predators" should be on the registry, but not "false accusations" or teens, or nonvictim cases, need to think twice. For comments, refer to Blog 0070 and send to Alex Marbury at alexm60@fastmail.fm - I'll send the comments along to the person who sent this blog.
    -----------------------
    STOP FINGER POINTING
    I've been reading many opinions on this site, and frankly I'm still surprised at the finger pointing. It seems to me that everyone has their own agenda toward their own situation. I came to this site looking for rational thinkers.

    The point I'm trying to make is that as U.S. citizens we should stand up and fight against all injustice, no matter what class of people the injustice is directed. All types of registration of any persons, for any purpose is wrong!!! Look back at history and you will find, for example, how the Nazi's started their campaign against the Jews. Yes, it was fear, followed by registration. We all know where it went from there.

    Sex Offender laws are good for politicians, law enforcement, judicial system and the prison guard unions. All you need to do is follow the money.

    There is only one way to fight sex offender laws, and that is together, no matter what type of sex crime was committed. With every new law passed, no matter what it is for, we all lose a little more freedom. I have done my own research on crime in America, and the statistics that I have found are very easy to find and understand. DOJ crime statistics should be part of this site!
     

    Education: Key to Understanding & Peace of Mind
    By Sandy <sdk5460@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 20.10.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [069]
     
    Education: Key to Understanding and Peace of Mind
    by Sandy of MD RSOL

    Americans crave education. Once educated, Americans are no longer victims to the scare tactics used by officials of power. It is time for Americans to be educated on the subject no one wants to talk about: `Sex Offenders.`

    A colleague of mine recently had an encounter in a restaurant. The woman beside him started up a conversation concerning another man in the restaurant whom she recognized from the Sex Offender Registry. She asked a couple of questions: “I wonder what the re-offense rate of sex offenders is?” And “How many on the registry have been falsely convicted?” Long story short, when she found out the answers, she stated “I feel so stupid!” Like this woman, the facts will surprise you.

    This article will attempt to answer to answers those questions and more for you. A very helpful source for answers to questions about `sex offenders` is 10 Myths and the Facts, an RSOL edited version of which can be found on the reformsexoffenderlaws.org homepage - see the Discussion Items, and click on 10 Myths for the full version.

    Here is a summary of these Ten Myths About Sex Offenders

    MYTH No. 1: SEX OFFENDERS WILL ALWAYS KEEP OFFENDING

    Of all crimes, `sex offenders` are widely believed to have the highest level of recidivism. However, treatment professionals and criminologists have known for some time that once sex offenders are caught, only a small minority of them will commit another sex crime....Although some `pedophiles,` before they are caught, have many victims, most have a single victim in or about their own family. . In recent years social scientists and criminologists have combed through an immense accumulation of data from hundreds of studies, which have tracked tens of thousands of individual sex offenders for long periods of time, some even for decades. By 1994, 670 studies of sex offenders had been done and by the end of 2005 well over 700. Many of these studies have been systematized through a methodology called meta-analysis. The resulting data reveal that many common myths about sex offenders are simply false. We outline here some of them.

    MYTH #2: "TREATMENT DOESN'T MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE."

    The public has been told for years that treatment doesn't work, that "for sex offenders nothing works," but here too a myriad of major studies indicates otherwise: (See the complete article on the Discussion page).

    MYTH #3: "THE GREATEST THREAT TO OUR CHILDREN COMES FROM STRANGERS."

    According to the most recent major study by the Bureau of Justice Statistics (2004), where 9,700 sex offenders were tracked, only 7% of such crimes against children were perpetrated by strangers.
    (See the complete article on the Discussion Page)

    MYTH #4: "BANNING SEX OFFENDERS FROM PLACES WHERE CHILDREN CONGREGATE WILL SIGNIFICANTLY PROTECT OUR CHILDREN."

    To claim school yards, daycare centers and other places where children congregate need legislation or Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) geo-fence to keep sex offenders away may sound sensible, but again the facts do not fit the reality. (See discussion page)...

    MYTH #5: "TOUGHER LEGISLATION IS THE ONLY SOLUTION."

    In the U.S., our judges are learned and principled and render few decisions without due diligence. Very stiff punishments for child murderers are certainly called for, but punishment is just only when it is proportioned to the severity of the crime. Such judgments should remain in the courts, subject to very specific deliberations --they should not be rendered in the legislatures, where careful deliberation is impossible. (See the discussion page)....

    MYTH #6: "THE ONLY WAY TO DEAL WITH THEM IS PUT THEM BEHIND BARS."

    Today, with two and quarter million inmates, our country has more people in jails and prisons than it does in all our colleges and universities combined. When three-quarters of all offenders are going back to prison, just funding more prison cells isn't the answer. (See the Discussion page)....


    MYTH #7: "MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCES ARE EFFECTIVE AND WILL HELP PROTECT SOCIETY."

    Although the public may believe that extremely stiff, mandatory minimum sentences and lock'em up strategies send a message that deters crime, history tells another story. (See Discussion page)...


    MYTH #8: "SEX OFFENDER REGISTRIES ARE NECESSARY TO PROTECT SOCIETY."

    Posting names, addresses and photographs on a Sex Offender Registry is not only a risk to those on the list; it can also lead to unintended, inappropriate and destructive consequences for the whole community. (See Discussion Page)...


    MYTH #9: "TRACKING DEVICES ARE A PRACTICAL AND JUST MEANS FOR KEEPING SEX OFFENDERS UNDER SURVEILLANCE."

    If we want fewer victims of sexual offenses, the primary goal should be to reintegrate former offenders peacefully back into society as law-abiding citizens. This cannot be done if we keep them in fear and on the run. Tracking devices that have to be worn conspicuously only make targets of the people we are trying to reintegrate into society. (See discussion page....)

    MYTH #10: "THE EXPERTS SAY THAT STRONG, REPRESSIVE MEASURES ARE NECESSARY TO KEEP SEX OFFENDERS FROM RE-OFFENDING."

    Below are some revealing quotes from various experts and authors who have studied sex offender legislation and treatment.

    Tom Masters, Program Director, Correctional Treatment Services at Oregon State Hospital:

    Unfortunately a lot of crime legislation is a function of politics and does not lead to rehabilitation or community safety.

    Margaret Love, former Justice Department Pardon Attorney, writes:

    Mean spirited vengeful legislation is only an incitement to vigilante injustice masquerading as a responsible public safety measure.

    In the June 2006 issue of National Wildlife, Richard Law summarizes some studies on how we in America have become so overcome by fear. Here are some excerpts:

    Fear is felt nearly intensely in suburban Overland Park, Kansas, as it is in urban Philadelphia. One suburban father told me, "I want to know where my kid is 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I want to know where that kid is. Which hours. Which square foot. Which telephone number. (See Discussion page)....

    -------------------

    (Continuation of text by Sandy)

    As you can see, `sex offenders` are one of the least re-offenders. Surprising still, is the fact that it’s not strangers that we need to worry about harming our children, but someone you know and trust. Good to know around Halloween. And did you know, not even one sexual abuse has ever been committed during trick or treat.

    So why are they in the news all the time? For one, all though some but not all offenses are against children. This makes it a front page story and acts as a very powerful scare tactic. A better choice for parents and for women in general would be to teach and practice safety. Why s it just during Halloween do we print, educate, and encourage safety? These are rules that should be followed every day. Women, you need to take it one step further: 1) Always lock your doors to your car, your home and even your windows. 2) Ask for an escort if you leave work or the mall at night. 3) Take self defense classes and practice until it’s a reflex. Self defense classes teach more than how to physically protect yourself, they teach you to act smart and think safe. I had myself and my daughter is self defense classes not once but twice. Once when she was 8 years old and again when she was 14. And we practiced. From the time she was a toddler, I preached safety and educated on strangers. We had a password when she was in school and we have one now even though she is 24 years old. It is what you do as a parent that makes your child safer, not what is posted on the internet, or on the doors during Halloween.

    The other question to be discussed “How many sex offenders are falsely accused?”

    More than you realize. According to the Innocence Project, there have been 223 post conviction DNA exonerations in the United States alone. Common causes of the wrongful convictions were: poverty, racial issues, eye witness misidentification, corrupt scientist, corrupt police, corrupt FBI agents, corrupt prosecutors or inept defense counsel. Unfortunately for many, the Innocence Project only takes on cases where DNA can be tested. There are many innocent men and women, still being punished for a crime they did not commit. Why? Because they have been told that all the evidence collected when they were convicted in the 1970’s and 1980’s had been destroyed. So until we can find a way to help these people, we will never know the true number of innocent people who are paying for crimes they did not commit.

    I hope this article helps you make more educated and informed decisions in the future. I also hope it helps you to distinguish what is just a scare tactic and what is fact.

    If you need more answers, you may e-mail me at sdk5460@yahoo.com.

     

    American ``Injustice`` system is criminal
    By Shelly <shelly_led@hotmail.com>
    Posted on 15.10.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [068]
     
    NOTE: When we get internet site opinion pieces, we sometimes put them on as blogs. This one is quite old - 2006 - but we think it puts many of the issues about `sex offenders` into a larger criminal justice system context. The opinions are NOT those of RSOL, but we think they deserve a hearing. Let us know what YOU think. Comments should refer to Blog No. 0068 (very important, since if you don`t give us this, we won`t know what you`re commenting about!) and send to the email listed above, and a copy to alexm60@fastmail.fm

    ---------------------------------------------
    From the Libertarian blog site, lewrockwell.com
    America’s Injustice System Is Criminal
    by Paul Craig Roberts


    The United States has a large number of wrongfully convicted. There are many reasons for this. One is that the US has the largest percentage of its citizens imprisoned of all countries in the world, including China. One of every 32 US adults is behind bars, on probation or on parole. Given a wrongful conviction rate, the larger the percentage of citizens in jails, the greater the number of wrongfully convicted.

    According to the International Center for Prison Studies at King’s College in London, the US has 700,000 more of its citizens incarcerated than China, a country with a population four to five times larger than that of the US, and 1,330,000 more people in prison than crime-ridden Russia. The US has 5% of the world’s population and 25% of the world’s prisoners. The American incarceration rate is seven times higher than that of European countries. Either America is the land of criminals, or something is seriously wrong with the criminal justice (sic) system in "the land of the free."

    In the US the wrongful conviction rate is extremely high. One reason is that hardly any of the convicted have had a jury trial. No peers have heard the evidence against them and found them guilty. In the US criminal justice (sic) system, more than 95% of all felony cases are settled with a plea bargain.

    Before jumping to the conclusion that an innocent person would not admit guilt, be aware of how the process works. Any defendant who stands trial faces more severe penalties if found guilty than if he agrees to a plea bargain. Prosecutors don’t like trials because they are time consuming and a lot of work. To discourage trials, prosecutors offer defendants reduced charges and lighter sentences than would result from a jury conviction. In the event a defendant insists upon his innocence, prosecutors pile on charges until the defendant’s lawyer and family convince the defendant that a jury is likely to give the prosecutor a conviction on at least one of the many charges and that the penalty will be greater than a negotiated plea.

    The criminal justice (sic) system today consists of a process whereby a defendant is coerced into admitting to a crime in order to escape more severe punishment for maintaining his innocence. Many of the crimes for which people are imprisoned never occurred. They are made up crimes created by the process of negotiation to close a case.

    This takes most of the work out of the system and, thereby, suits police, prosecutors, and judges to a tee. Police do not have to be careful about evidence, because they know that no more than one case out of twenty will ever be tested in the courtroom.

    Prosecutors do not have to make decisions about which cases to prosecute or risk losing cases. By coercing pleas, prosecutors can prosecute every case and boast of extremely high conviction rates.

    When prosecutors had to decide which cases to prosecute, they had to examine the evidence and to investigate the defendant’s side of the story. No more. The evidence seldom comes into play. In place of a determination of innocence or guilt, prosecutors negotiate with lawyers the crimes to which a defendant will enter a plea.

    Prosecutors have lost sight of innocence and guilt. What we have today is a conveyor belt that convicts almost everyone who is charged. Every defense attorney knows that today prosecutors can purchase testimony against a defendant by paying a "witness" with money, dropped charges, or reduced time to testify against the defendant. Many prosecutors become highly annoyed at any disruption of the plea bargain conviction process. A defendant that incurs the prosecutor’s ire is certain to be framed on far more serious charges than a negotiated plea.

    Going to trial is no guarantee that an innocent person will be acquitted. Prosecutors routinely withhold exculpatory evidence and suborn perjury. Generally, jurors trust prosecutors and are unaware of their inventory of dirty tricks. Few jurors can tell the difference between bogus evidence and real evidence. For example, psychologists and criminologists have established beyond all doubt that eye-witnesses are wrong 50% of the time. Yet, jurors usually believe eye-witnesses unless they think the witness has it in for the defendant and is lying.

    Prosecutors – and there are still a few – who are meticulous about their cases and fair to defendants show poor results compared to the high convictions attained by prosecutors who run plea bargain mills and frame-up factories. Today’s criminal justice (sic) system is results orientated, not justice orientated.

    In the past judges could give light sentences to people they believed had been wrongfully convicted. But "law and order conservatives" have taken sentencing discretion away from judges. Today prosecutors hold all the cards.

    Many conservatives believe that prisons are full of hardened criminals who liberal judges are determined to release to prey upon society. In truth, the largest percentage of prisoners are drug users who are victims of the conservatives’ "war on drugs." Drug offenses account for 49 percent of federal prison population growth between 1995 and 2003. Many of these prisoners are mothers arrested for drug use. The greatest victims of the drug laws are the children whose mothers are incarcerated.

    As females become sexually active at younger and younger ages, state legislatures have stupidly raised the age at which it is legal to engage in sexual activity. Today, a significant percentage of new prisoners are young men imprisoned for engaging in sexual activity with teenage girls. In the US, criminal justice (sic) has more to do with ruining people than with punishing criminals.

    I have written often about wrongful convictions. We know that wrongful conviction is a serious problem when the advent of DNA evidence has led to the release of a significant number of innocent people who were convicted of murderer and rape, and when a number of law schools feel that it is necessary for them to operate innocence projects that work for the release of the wrongfully convicted.

    Prosecutors are like President Bush. They absolutely refuse to admit that they ever make a mistake and have to be forced to disgorge their innocent victims. Nothing makes a prosecutor more angry than to have to give back a wrongfully convicted person’s life.

    Lt. William Strong and Christophe Gaynor are two of the hundreds of thousands of wrongfully convicted Americans whose lives have been ruined by an irresponsible and corrupt criminal justice (sic) system.

    In Virginia, Lt. William Strong, the son of a military family, grew tired of his wife’s unfaithfulness and filed for divorce. The unfaithful wife retaliated by accusing Strong of marital rape. Neither police nor prosecutor investigated the charge. Instead, they proceeded to set Strong up for plea conviction. The arresting officer recommended Strong’s attorney, an incompetent who owed his cases to the police.

    Strong insisted on a trial, but the arresting officer and attorney convinced Strong’s parents that with a plea their son would be out in a year. No one told Strong or his parents the implications of a plea, and Virginia Judge Westbrook Parker, playing to feminist voters, gave Strong a life sentence of 60 years.

    The case has many unsavory appearances. If reports are true, the arresting officer paid numerous visits to Strong’s unfaithful wife, as did Strong’s attorney, and the arresting officer ended up separating from his wife and leaving the police force.

    The perk kit exists and Strong could be given a DNA test, but Virginia refuses on the grounds that Strong admitted his guilt. Strong says the semen, if any, is that of the wife’s boyfriend.

    Strong has been in prison for 15 years on the basis of zero evidence. He is in prison because he and his parents trusted the police officer and the criminal justice (sic) system.

    Another Virginia case is that of Christophe Gaynor. Gaynor was the coach of an adolescent skate board team, which he took to New York City for a competition. One of the adolescents expressed his intention to buy drugs. Gaynor forbade it and threatened to report the boy to his parents.

    The irresponsible kid retaliated by accusing Gaynor of sex abuse. There was no evidence. There was no investigation. Gaynor had never displayed any homosexual tendencies. The entire team knew the accusation was false. Gaynor went to trial. He was framed by the prosecutor with the help of the judge, who intimidated Gaynor’s witnesses by incarcerating one of the kids overnight without cause. Gaynor was sentenced to 32 years with no possibility of parole on the basis of no evidence, just an unproven accusation. His trial was full of irregularities, and the same judge who sentenced him denied Gaynor a new trial.

    Ten years later, this past summer Noah J. Seidenberg, who brought the unproven accusation against Gaynor, died apparently of drug overdose at the age of 24 years.

    There is no institution in America that is a greater failure than the criminal justice (sic) system. The system can do nothing but fail, because the search for truth and justice plays no part in the system. The prosecutor’s career depends on his conviction rate, not on discovering the guilt or innocence of the accused.

    Virginia’s governor could pardon Strong and Gaynor. But feminists and "child advocates" would scream and yell, as would prosecutors and "law and order conservatives." Nothing matters to these groups but their own single-issue, and justice is not part of it. In America justice cannot be done unless a governor is prepared to sacrifice his own political career in the interest of justice.

    What kind of people are we when we exercise no oversight over a criminal justice (sic) system that destroys the lives of innocent people with lies?

    December 12, 2006

    Paul Craig Roberts wrote the Kemp-Roth bill and was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. He is author or coauthor of eight books, including The Supply-Side Revolution (Harvard University Press).
     

    Republican `Sex Offender` Fetish?
    By Ken Camp <>
    Posted on 14.10.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [067]
     
    NOTE: This blog is obviously partisan, which RSOL is not. We think that the two parties have been equally responsible for the current hysteria. But we often publish blogs not in strict agreement with the RSOL position. Comments about this blog, refer to blog No. 0067 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ---------------
    Republicans' sex offender fetish
    by Ken Camp - NW Progressive Institute Advocate
    (website - http://www.nwprogressive.org)

    What is it with Republicans and sex offenders? It's getting so ridiculous that the Party (Republican Governor's Association included) is starting to look like former legislators Jim West and Richard Curtis posturing about gays. Methinks they doth protest too much.

    Back in 2006, House Minority Leader Richard DeBolt sent out ridiculous mailers into various districts claiming that the incumbent Democrats in that district were lenient on sex offenders.


    The postcards show a mug shot of a middle-age man with slicked-back hair. His eyes and his name are blacked out to shield his identity. The cards, shown in photocopies provided by Democrats, carry a bold headline that reads, "This violent predator lives in your community."

    They also describe sex crimes supposedly committed by the person, then mention the name of a Democratic lawmaker and claim the legislator "refused to impose life sentences for violent sex predators."


    The charges by the mailer were bogus, and voters summarily rejected the Republicans' claims by expanding the Democratic majority in both houses of the Legislature.

    Fast forward to 2008, and the Republicans are back at it with the sex offenders. This time Governor Chris Gregoire is the victim of a scurrilous mailer by the Republican Governors' Association.


    Year after year, the Republican party, particularly as seen in this mailer and the McCain-Palin campaign, plays to the lowest common denominator. It plays on hate and fear at every opportunity. In the 1980's Ronald Reagan warned us of nuclear armageddon, welfare queens and the commies. In 1988, a criminal named Willie Horton was the undoing of Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis' campaign. Congress under Newt Gingrich was all about family values and demonizing those that weren't like them (despite the irony that they didn't seem to have any family values). George W. Bush's administration has played on the fear of terrorism since September 11, 2001.


    More locally, its a common feature of Republican legislative campaigns to introduce sex offenders and the most violent, gruesome crime into the mix, and to blame the Democrat in the race for doing nothing to stop the crime or, more disgustingly, for enabling the perpetrators.

    The truth is that since becoming Governor, Chris Gregoire has strengthened laws that keep our communities safe and given more resources to law enforcement and prosecutors to keep sex offenders out of our neighborhoods. But don't take my word for it, read this letter from some prominent members of the law enforcement community.

    Fear and lies. It's all the Republicans have to run on.

    Posted by Ken Camp : 7:09 PM

     

    `Sex Offender` Laws are Insane!
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 14.10.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [066]
     
    Comments should refer to Blog no. 0066, and send them to alexm60@fastmail.fm - or go to the www.nolanchart.com website and leave comments there.

    _________________________________________________________
    Topic: Crime and Punishment
    The Sex Offender Registry
    by R.L. Davis
    Nolanchart.com (a Libertarian website)
    Oct. 9, 2008
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Why are we targeting the very people we are charged to protect?
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    by RS Davis
    (Libertarian)
    Thursday, October 9, 2008

    Our world is going absolutely insane. We've lost all sense of scope or perspective, and we've abandoned common sense and reason, seemingly content to just stay the course and push forward, oblivious to the absolute stupidity of our actions.

    No, I'm not talking about the Iraq War - I'm talking about our war against sex offenders. It's gone off the deep end - it's being taken to absurd ends - and no one seems to care. We're targeting the very innocence these laws are designed to protect.

    Case in point - police in Newark, Ohio picked up a fifteen year old girl last week and held her over the weekend on felony charges of child pornography and possession of criminal tools. Her crime? She took nude pictures of herself with her cell phone and sent them to friends.

    They're now debating on whether to charge the children to whom she sent the photos, as well.

    Not surprising in Ohio, who went fully nuts in 2006, when they passed a bill that made it so you didn't have to be even charged with a sex crime to be put on their "civil" sex offender list.

    Or there's Alex Phillips, the seventeen year-old boy who, after being dumped by his sixteen year-old girlfriend, uploaded to MySpace the nude photos she had sent him. Now he's facing charges of sexual exploitation of a child. I'm surprised she wasn't also arrested for producing child pornography.

    There's also the case of "Amber" and "Jeremy," a couple of Florida teens who took photos and videos of themselves engaged in sexual acts at Amber's house and then emailed them to Jeremy's computer. They have been convicted of "producing, directing or promoting a photograph featuring the sexual conduct of a child." Because they were sent to his computer, Jeremy was also convicted of possession of child pornography.

    The conviction was upheld on appeal, the majority opinion stating that the "Appellant was simply too young to make an intelligent decision about engaging in sexual conduct and memorializing it."

    If they were too young to make an intelligent decision, how can they then be held legally responsible for it? It's a bizarre paradox where they are too innocent to choose sex, but mature enough to choose be sex offenders. I mean, the courts didn't even release their real names, to protect them!

    The dissenting judge in the case rightly pointed out the obvious, that these laws were "designed to protect children from abuse by others, but it was used in this case to punish a child for her own mistake."

    This is what I'm on about. These kids are all going to be put on the sex offender registries, and their lives are never going to be the same. They will be ostracized and villified. They run the risk of having their future homes vandalized by angry neighbors. In many states, they will not be able to be within 2,500 feet of children, including their friends and siblings, not to mention the problems if they marry and have children. They may even be targets for murderers.

    The definition of sex offender has been expanded to the point of being so broad, its meaningless. When you look at your local registry, you don't know if your neighbor is a child-molesting pervert, or the eighteen year-old senior that got busted for consensual sex with his highschool sweetheart.

    This does nothing to promote justice or make our children any safer, and in fact, has the opposite effect. With so much bad information out there on these lists, its near impossible to find the real threats to your children.

    And in many cases, it is the State who is the real threat - branding our kids with their very own scarlet letters, sending innocent children out into the world with a metaphorical pervert tattoo on their foreheads.

    In the case of Amber and Jeremy, the court said that "if these pictures are ultimately released, future damage may be done to these minors' careers or personal lives."

    Yeah? And what's being on the sex offender registry going to do for their careers and personal lives?

     

    VIRGINIA CHANGED THE LAW AND DIDNT BOTHER TO TELL US!
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 12.10.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [065]
     
    VIRGINIA CHANGED THE LAW AND DIDNT BOTHER TO TELL US!

    From the wife of a `sex offender` in Virginia to the Virginia legislature. Please refer in comments to Blog No. 0065, and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm

    Dear Virginia Lawmakers,

    On October 9, 2008 the Virginia State Trooper Sex-Offender Task Force member assigned to my husband advised him that a sample of his DNA is required before he re-registers this month.

    So I checked his registrants profile and sure enough the state has added just above Palm Print: On File, DNA: Needed. I then checked more than twenty other profiles (most of them were violent offenders) and none of them had DNA even listed. I checked the web-sites list of required data for registered sex offenders and DNA was not listed anywhere as required data for the registry.

    I found an article on the Governor’s web-site that mentioned DNA for felony convictions, which John is not, his is a misdemeanor. I then e-mailed the trooper to ask why John’s DNA was being requested when most profiles did not have DNA listed; the trooper’s response did not address my question.

    After searching the Virginia General Assembly 2008 Session Passed Laws I found, HB-902. It states:

    `A person required to register shall register, and as part of the registration shall submit to be photographed, submit to have a sample of his blood, saliva, or tissue taken for DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) analysis to determine identification characteristics specific to the person, provide electronic mail address information, any instant message, chat or other Internet communication name or identity information that the person uses or intends to use, submit to have his fingerprints and palm prints taken, provide information regarding his place of employment, and provide motor vehicle registration information for all motor vehicles owned by him.` (and many more provisions)

    So, you all passed a law that requires all registrant’s to submit a DNA sample but yet this requirement is not listed on the State Police web-site nor did we receive a notice of this new law. Instead John is just told to submit his DNA to the state!

    How willing would you be to give your DNA to the state? Once you give it away, it’s out there forever.

    This is just another violation of our civil liberties and privacy that America has allowed because of the hysteria the politicians have created with the blanket statement ‘we need to protect the children”. John’s DNA sample isn’t going to protect anyone.

    I then decided to review ALL the 2008 laws that were passed in regards to registered sex-offenders.

    I came across SB-590.

    It states:

    `Removal of name and information from Registry.
    Any person required to register, other than a person who has been convicted of any (I) sexually violent offense, (ii) two or more offenses for which registration is required, (iii) a violation of former § 18.2-67.2:1, or (iv) murder, may petition the circuit court in which he was convicted or the circuit court in the jurisdiction where he then resides for removal of his name and all identifying information from the Registry. A petition may not be filed earlier than 10, 15 years, or 25 years for violations of § 18.2-64.1, § 18.2-374.1, subsection C of § 18.2-374.1:1, or subsection C, D, or E of § 18.2-374.3, after the date of initial registration nor earlier than 10 or 15 years, or 25 years for violations of § 18.2-64.1, § 18.2-374.1, subsection C of § 18.2-374.1:1, or subsection C, D, or E of § 18.2-374.3, from the date of his last conviction for (I) (a) a violation of § 18.2-472.1 or (ii) (B) any felony.` (And many more new provisions)

    So, instead of my husband being required to remain on the registry for a minimum of 10 years, you all increased it to 15 years before he can petition to be removed. This means we can NEVER move! In 15 years he will be 60 years old and nearing retirement. He can not change employers as long as you require him to remain on the list and we cannot leave our current neighbors as long as he is on this list.

    You have submitted us both to a life sentence here on the street where we now live!

    The worst part of this is that none of you care!

    Justice did not prevail here!

    In Virginia you are not innocent until proven guilty. You are guilty and you aren’t allowed to prove your innocence.

    There are 140 Virginia legislators and 2 of them represent my district. Out of the 13 responses I have received all but one has pushed me off onto “my” representatives.

    Well, “my” two representatives have NEVER contacted me regarding re-evaluating the current laws that I have requested. These laws affect every citizen in the Commonwealth of Virginia, not just me and my husband.

    Both my May and July e-mails were to point out the current laws that need to be re-evaluated:

    Innocent people are being convicted because of the current unjust Virginia statute that states an accusation is sufficient to convict. There needs to be evidence, a witness or specific times and dates. In a murder case there would be! The state of Virginia enters the accusation itself as evidence, which it is not.

    A sentence of life plus twenty years, that's beyond extreme.

    A county should not be able to threaten to schedule a trial where someone would be facing life in prison plus twenty years but then offers a plea deal where they'll accept his not guilty plea and his punishment is to become a registered sex-offender. But that's what happened with my husband. If the county thought he was guilty and should go to prison for life, why would they offer this deal? I truly believe it’s because they knew he was innocent but they prosecute every accusation no matter what.

    The Virginia law of twenty-one days for the “victim” to recant needs to be extended to at least five years if not longer. As I have said previously, "there should be no deadline for the truth". Once an accuser has matured and realizes what their lie has done, the state should listen and correct the previous unjust conviction.

    My husband and I live with a cloud of shame over our heads but we will not hide in shame. We will endure with our heads held high even if you all choose to ignore me. You are elected officials put into your positions by the citizens of this state and you have an obligation to create fair and just laws.

    From the 2008 session I counted 26 bills regarding sexual-assault, battery and registered sex-offenders. It’s a modern day witch hunt!
    The fear and loathing against registered sex-offenders begins with you, the lawmakers.

    These sex-offender registries are not protecting anyone. They are a means to humiliate, degrade, re-prosecute and destroy the lives of thousands of innocent citizens that are bucketed into the same registry of violent offenders.

    As Halloween approaches we have decided not to participate in distributing candy to our neighbors for the first time in nine years. We are concerned that someone who does not know there is a difference between a violent and a non-violent offender will call the police on us if we have our front light on. So we have decided to forego Halloween for as long as my husband is on the registry, which is now 15 years, thanks to the 2008 law.

    For the first time in eighteen months since the lie that ruined our lives surfaced, we will allow the cloud of shame to make us withdraw from our neighbors.

    I’ll be back outside among the neighbors the following morning with my head held high.

    Mary in Virginia

     

    Report on Vigilantism & other problems for `sex offender`
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 07.10.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [064]
     
    When commenting, refer to Blog Entry No. 0064 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm


    -----------------------------------
    VIGILANTISM AND OTHER PROBLEMS FOR `SEX OFFENDERS` - a US Justice Dept. Study

    --- The Basic Facts --- INTRODUCTION
    (Introduction not by DEPT OF JUSTICE)
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Legislatures have enacted the laws, sex offenders are challenging the laws, and courts must decide whether the challenges are valid.

    Legislatures find: sex offender registration and community notification are needed to protect the public from the high recidivism of sex offenders; and that, recidivism will be reduced by the watchful eye of an informed public. Legislatures DO NOT publish what statistics or other evidence they base their findings on! Often a legislature will simply say, such-and-such state found, therefore we find the same, without ever validating the underlying evidence. Further, the general public is not made privy to that evidence either.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Department of Justice
    Reports

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Sex Offender Community Notification, by Peter Finn, February 1997 (SOCN-1997)

    Sex Offender Community Notification: Assessing the Impact in Wisconsin, by Richard G. Zevitz and Mary Ann Farkas, December 2000 (SOCN-2000)
    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    -- Highlights --

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    SOCN-1997 highlights:
    1) There is no evidence that community notification reduces recidivism.(p2);

    2) Notification incites excessive community fear and anger, and creates a false sense of security.(p13);

    3) Notification makes it difficult for registrants to find housing.(p14);

    4) Notification makes it difficult for offenders to reintegrate into society, because of constant harassment and ostracism, which may cause psychological damage and maybe recidivism.(p14);

    5) Notification impairs the ability of registrants to find and hold jobs(p14)


    SOCN-2000 highlights:
    1) Registrants reported: 83% lost housing; 77% suffered threats or harassment; 67% were ostracized by acquaintances or neighbors; 67% of registrants family members suffered emotional harm; 57% lost jobs (chart p10);

    2) The majority of registrants felt notification would ultimately cause recidivism, resulting from the pressures of media and the community (p 10);

    3) Registrants, knowing public reaction when they will be released, felt inhibited in their therapy (p10);

    4) Registrants were concerned about pressures placed on family members.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Sex offenders claim: registration and community notification is further punishment; and that, they and their families are being subjected to vigilantism, harassment and denied privacy traditionally afforded to anyone convicted of crime. Further that, these laws have encroached into their personal lives to such an extent that they are being denied a meaningful society in which to rehabilitate, this also amounts to further punishment. In addition, offenders are being ostracized from society!

    Courts are holding: the purpose of registration and community notification is to protect the public and not to further punish the offenders; and that, claims of vigilantism and harassment is hypothetical, excepting in very rare cases, and would occur anyway as the result of the crime. Public safety outweighs privacy claims. These are the principle holdings in case after case.

    In recent US Supreme court cases, Smith et al. -v- Doe et al., and, Connecticut Dep't of Public Safety et al. -v- Doe, and others, lawyers do not present any substantial evidence, beyond mere assertions of their clients, to refute earlier court holdings.

    However, buried in the bowels of the Department of Justice archives are two reports which address these very issues, and to our knowledge, were never presented to the U.S. Supreme court, or anywhere else: These "Research in Action" reports were produced by the Department of Justice's research arm, the National Institute of Justice. We will reference them as SOCN-1997 and SOCN-2000. See sidebar for highlights and links to them.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    --- Harassment & Vigilantism ---

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Parole and Probation officers were asked about whether they had received reports of harassment from their sex offender clients (SOCN-1997 [p14]), to which they responded, very little. This is the last thing a person on probation or parole would want to tell their supervising officer, for it would mean a forced move because of community unrest.

    When sex offenders (registrants) were asked about harassment 77% suffered harassment and some received threats (SOCN-2000 [p10]). The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) confirmed that harassment and ostracism was occurring. (NCMEC-1998 and again in 2003). See also SOCN-2000 chart p10!
     

    Loss of Civil Rights in the 21st Centruy
    By Margie Furlong <snapper1964@hotmail.com>
    Posted on 06.10.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [063]
     
    To comment about this blog, please refer to blog item no.63, and send comments to snapper1964@hotmail.com
    ------------------------------------------------
    A Loss of Civil Rights in the 21st Century – Margie Furlong

    The concept that we have inalienable rights and liberties that cannot be violated by others or the state is commonly known as democracy. The first expression of democracy traces back to Ancient Greece. Socrates stated he would rather die than surrender his right to speak his mind to seek wisdom.

    The most prevalent loss of civil rights occurred within the black community. During the Reconstruction Period, blacks gained their right to vote in former Confederate States. However, many Southern legislatures repealed those rights. Additionally, the Supreme Court turned its back on racial equality and declared they could not intervene in private acts of discrimination.

    At the end of the Reconstruction Period, political control of the South was under a one party system of control. Thus, the voting rights of blacks were suppressed, segregation ensued and violence rapidly increased.

    In the 1950’s, the civil rights movement of black Amerca developed. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court rules on the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, KS. They unanimously agreed that segregation in schools is unconstitutional. In 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger. In response to her arrest, the black community in Montgomery boycotted bus service.

    More boycotts, sit-ins, protests, freedom rides and marches increased as blacks fought for the same rights as whites. Finally, in 1964, President Johnson signs the Civl Rights Act of 1964. This new bill prohibits discrimation of any kind based race, color, religion or national origin. It also provided the government with the power to enforce desegregation. During the remainder of the 1960’s and early 1970’s, blacks began to see their rights as Americans restored.

    When it comes to balancing rights of those convicted of sex crimes, you won’t find too many defending them. Society is all too willing to surrender their civil rights and liberties in what they deem is for their protection. Sex offenders stay under state control long after they have served their time. None of them can leave behind convictions that taint their past like other criminals can and get on with their lives.

    And, once again, the Supreme Court, for the most part, has turned its back declaring many of the laws and restrictions against sex offenders as constitutional. Many of these laws have been created from nothing more than hysteria, confusion, politics and the media.

    It’s time, America, for fact based laws that actually do protect communities and those persons deemed sex offenders. If we continue on this path, we will only have an overblown registry that will just continue to grow out of control.

    As Benjamin Franklin said "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."

     

    My fear to sign shows how bad things are
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 28.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [062]
     
    To respond to this, refer to blog # 0062
    -----
    I agree that even my fear now to sign this and make it public is telling of just how bad things have become. We need sweeping and radical change in these draconian sex offense laws immediately.
    This current course is akin to the 80's when the "witch hunt" was for all of the Satan worshippers in day care centers in the church basement!

    Oh! Right! There weren't any!
     

    "Sex Offender" supervisor disagrees
    By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 28.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [061]
     
    To respond to this blog, refer to item no. 0061 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    --------------------------
    I am a parole officer, supervising sex offenders for (a large state's) Department of Criminal Justice. Although I do not question the legitimacy of my profession or the need for public safety, I have seen individuals whose restrictions are inappropriate given the circumstances surrounding their crime.
     

    Scarlet Letter Again
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 28.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [060]
     
    To comment, refer to blog #0060 and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm

    ----------------------------
    As the laws stand, these "offenders" are being punished for life. It is like branding them with a scarlet letter. Very discriminatory and a violation of their civil liberties, aside from the fact that many are young men who were lied to by the teenager. They are NOT sexual or child predators! Yet by being put on a registry, it appears they are. Do we register murderers or drug dealers on the internet? Do we brand them for life? I see no justice or benefit by these laws.
     

    Response to Mom Arrested picking up son
    By Margie Furlong <snapper1964@hotmail.com>
    Posted on 22.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [059]
     
    From: snapper1964@hotmail.com
    To: letters@post-dispatch.com
    Subject: Sex Offender Mom
    Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2008 07:52:30 -0500

    I appreciate any town's efforts in protecting families and values. However, I find it important to voice my concerns.

    Why create new and tougher laws for sex offenders when the existing laws are unjust and counterproductive? Laws created from mass hysteria, panic, confusion and the media; do little or nothing to make the public any safer.

    The broad definition of the term 'sex offender' has devastated many individuals who are guilty of no more than a one time lapse of good judgment. Contrary to popular belief, many so-called 'sex offenders' are of no risk to the communities in which they live and work. The public disclosure of personal information is a violation of one’s rights and ability to re-integrate into society. The current public disclosure of all considered 'sex offenders' has severely hampered the ability of these individuals to secure employment.

    Countless history lessons, throughout our educational years, have focused on a group of individuals to persecute. They have included, but are not limited to, Lepers, Christians, Hebrews, Jews, Blacks – both in the form of slavery and as a segregated group in the 1950’s, American Indians, etc. Let’s not forget the so-called Witches of Salem. Laws were cast upon them that were unfounded and absurd today. In the 2000’s where we have much more technology and we’re ‘smarter’, we have begun the persecution of sex offenders. There are no programs, at least that I can find, that would assist former offenders with their re-integration into society.

    Please consider researching the facts. As the public becomes more educated concerning the unjust 'grouping' of all who have been deemed 'sex offenders', registry reform must follow. The laws, as currently structured, have created an over-blown registry that will continue to grow out of control.

    These laws which have been created by mass hysteria, confusion and the media, do nothing to protect you. You have no idea if someone on that registry is a teenager convicted of a crime for having consensual sex with his younger girlfriend or if it is actually a voilent sex offender. The registry makes no distinction between the two. Take a look at if for yourself and you tell me who is the 'John Couey' out there.

    It is time for fact-based laws that will benefit society as well as the offender. I will end my letter to you with a quote from one of our founding fathers:
    'Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both.'
    -- Benjamin Franklin

    Sincerely,
    Margaret A. Furlong

     

    America - Land of the Endless Possibilities?
    By Renate, Illinois <>
    Posted on 13.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [058]
     
    Please refer to Blog 0058, land of endless possibilities, and send comments to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ---------------------------------------------------

    America - The land of endless posibilities, the land of the free.....

    As a proud mother of a "sex offender, " would "disapointment"( i like being polite) at this promise cover it? I don't think so!

    When it is possible to be told by the lawyer, who is supposed to help to the best of his abilities, "Well, I did misrepresent your son"! When statements by a psychologist(court appointed) were not even looked at! When nobody cared! It was only for the prosecutor to have another mark on his belt (got another one!). Then one should wonder: is this the land of second chances? Does this land rather see its citizens as potential felons, rather then citizens who can contribute?

    Oops, wrong expression, "sex offenders" are not citizens, they can't travel,they have no rights, can't go to places like everybody else. But taxes they have to pay! I find there should be an exemption! How should I ask for this? Should I put it in the paper? Oh no, the newspapers only like to contribute to hype and hysteria, they don't like to bring up inconvienient subjects.

    I grew up in a different country (West Germany), and this one is slowly developing into the country I used to live next to, "East Germany." There, it was prohibited to think against the regime. Just thoughts and ¨maybes¨ were ground enough for arrest. One could even be arrested just for looking at someone too long. The goverment told everyone what to do. That was easy - no thinking required, convienient to that communistic land. In my country of Germany at a certain earlier time period(and one has to be very careful not to be politically incorrect), a selected few had to wear special signs on their clothes to be identified.

    After the war, the goverment of Germany said, ¨No more!¨ And respect was built towards each other, freedom was precious and the freedom to express oneself became most important. In my country, affection is not taboo, and nobody has to turn every word around in order not to offend someone. No political correctness needed! If some of these so called "I am so right people" from here go to the French Riveria, they would have their mouth open wide!

    No wonder I hear every day, Europe is great, so free, really free. I don't want to complain that I have come here. I don't regret it. It was my choice and I made it. But I´d like to say, America, watch out!If the goverment tells you how to wear your clothes, where to smoke, how to say and choose your words and if the law justifies that entrapment is legal; if it is okay to threaten, promise and lie in the name of the law, there is something severly wrong! If people, who have done wrong get different treatment, due to "connections", due to their standing in society, something is wrong. As long as newspapers, television and polititians are afraid to address subjects like unjust sex offender laws, and so long as society adresses sex offenders as "those people," you all are in trouble!

    Another thought I´d like to add: how come there are so many males as sex offenders listed? I keep thinking, they used to burn the females as witches, now america burns their men! Where are the civil rights lawyers, who brag that this is their calling - justice, civil rights for everyone according to the Constitution?

    It will keep getting worse and worse if nobody wakes up and stands up to this injustice! Hold your head up high, all of you, who have to deal with the hardships of everyday life (under these unjust laws) and all those family members,who support and fight for you! All of you are in my prayers and have my greatest respect!!

    Renate in Illinois
     

    Libraries off limits to ¨sex offenders¨
    By Alice Benson <>
    Posted on 13.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [057]
     
    To respond to this blog, refer to blog 0057, libraries, and send the comment to alexm60@fastmail.fm.
    -----
    Mayor Chavez of Albuquerque, NM has taken it upon himself to set himself up as king of this city by declaring public libraries off limits to registered sex offenders. Many of them already have library cards and are now being told they aren't welcome. Mayor Chavez has also told the Association of the Blind they can no longer put "junk food" in the city vending machines in order to make an income for their organization. Our dear mayor has not only taken on public morals but public nutrition. He has grandly ripped apart old landmark motels on Old Route 66 through town thereby insuring more homeless on the streets with winter coming on. Good luck, mayor, on your next election!
    Alice Benson
     

    Response to the ¨other side¨
    By Margie Furlong <snapper1964@hotmail.com>
    Posted on 13.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [056]
     
    In responding, refer to Blog 0056 (Response to the other side). Send responses you want to be published to alexm60@fastmail.fm

    -------
    The Other Side – Blog Entry 0053

    I was once the victim of brutal fiancee. I was raped, sodomized and beaten by this man. As far as being a victim, you are hurt, you are angry, you distance yourself from people, you feel violated and dirty. You are traumatized and scarred for the rest of your life. No one should be allowed to violate anyone's body in such a manner. We spend years searching within ourselves for the reason behind this person’s actions and we never find it.

    It is extremely important for any person who is involved in a rape – no matter how old - to seek professional counseling immediately. It is the only way you will heal and come to deal with what happened. You will realize this action was no fault of your own.

    Yes, I can certainly sympathesize with the victims of violent crime. It is true that you want the offender to suffer…suffer so much more than you or your loved one. That’s natural. We are human. We have the ability to hate just as much as we have the ability to love.

    However, on the flip side, current legislative decisions imposed by our lawmakers with regard to sexual offenses is doing very little, if nothing, to educate the public regarding abuse. Eventually, sex offenders will be released back into society. There are presently no programs to assist with their rehabilitation. During one of the most crucial time of their lives, sex offenders face housing restrictions, joblessness, poverty and many, too many, are taken away from their families.

    Current laws are only demonizing a particular group of human beings. Sex offender registries are not doing anything to protect the public. The registry makes no distinction between a teenager who had consensual sex with his younger girlfriend and who is actually the sexually violent person capable of rape.

    Please consider researching the facts. It’s only if communities work together to find a solution to these problems that we can put an end to sexual offenses and truly say “No more victims.”

    - Margie Furlong






    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Stay up
     

    ¨Sex Offender¨ Voting curtailed - what next?
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 12.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [055]
     
    These astounding and incredibly unjust conditions are being put on ¨sex offenders¨ around the country. These are from Illinois.
    To comment, refer to ¨Voting,¨ Blog Number 0055, and send to Alex Marbury, alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ------------------------
    SEX OFFENDERS - WHAT NEXT?

    My friend recently had to have a case conference with his parole agent over the weekend. The following restrictions were placed on those under his agent's watch for the Fall/Winter Season of 2008 - 2009:

    1.) No voting in public polling place on November 4th. All voting is to be done via absentee ballot. Isn't voting a right of citizenship? Many people fought and died for this right. Are sex offenders no longer citizens protected by the same Constitution that we all are?

    2.) Overtime for work cannot exceed four hours per week. This is truly absurd. Most sex offenders cannot obtain decent employement. Overtime pay is crucial to some to make ends meet - especially in today's economy.

    3.) No going into work early and leaving work late. This makes no sense. I guess it has to do with the overtime restriction.

    4.) Once you arrive home, you must go straight into the house...no stopping in the garage to grab heavy things, no putting garbage cans out. Upon your arrival, you need to call in to let the DOC know you are home. Another absurd restriction. Many offenders are on GPS units. I thought GPS advised the DOC the exact location of a sex offender at all times. I guess, by this statement alone, that they don't work. That's our hard earned tax dollars at work.

    5.) No stopping for anything, other than gas, during work movement. Your movement is from the place you reside to your work destination. I guess it's just another restriction to keep the public safer. Can't figure the reasoning behind this one.

    6.) No leaving your employer's premises while at work. Bring your lunch/dinner with you. Once again, most sex offenders are on GPS units. I'm guessing they're not very good with the new technology.

    7.) Only 2 days of personal time will be given during a month. These are for errands - grocery shopping, haircuts, oil changes, etc. I'm guessing this is another botched attempt at keeping the public safer.

    The agent stated, 'We are the DOC (Department of Correctiosn), gentlemen, and we can do what we want. Challenge us in court and you will lose.'

    The punishment continues long after the prison sentence is completed and is justified with keeping us safer.

    These are the people that the State entrusts to make certain the ¨sex offender¨ re-intregrates into society. We have the audacity to wonder why it has failed so many!

    Pissed off in Illinois
     

    A Victory in PA on Residency - It IS possible!
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 12.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [054]
     
    It´s important to know that we can win cases when we are right! Keep on trying! To respond to this blog, refer to blog entry 0054, and send to me, Alex Marbury, alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ------
    ACQUITTED IN PENNSYLVANIA
    I was acquitted yesterday on a megan law violation here in PA. Our defense Strategy was that PA state law defines residence as a domicile, or location where one has or intends to reside for more than thirty days in a year. This is important because the PA version of Megan´s law says that an individual having to register has 48 hrs to register his new residence, or residences. So it is possible to be found not guilty of a Megan's law violation if you have been arrested after having lived some where less than 30 days, and you can "prove" that you didn't intend to stay there 30 days.
     

    The Other Side: Victims Speak Out
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 12.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [053]
     
    TWO VERY ANGRY PEOPLE ATTACK THOSE WHO ¨RAPE¨ CHILDREN
    Here are two anonymous entries - we don´t get many like these. They did not give us email addresses, so we cannot engage them in further discussion. They also did not refer to specific blogs or tales, so it´s hard to know what they are responding to. But THEY ARE ANGRY, and I think we need to listen to their anger and ponder it deeply, even as we continue to support the rights of all ¨sex offenders,¨ even those who did indeed commit offenses. This is NOT an easy struggle! Alex Marbury

    TO respond to these, please refer to ¨The Other Side,¨ Blog entry 0053, and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    -----



    1. Perhaps this is a little offensive to you; but, you really should have thought about the consequences before you put your hands on a child. As a parent of a molested child I feel that the animal who raped her as no rights at all and I don't think he should ever even be released from prison. Do you have any idea of the damage you did??? Do you even care? My daughter still has nightmares and startle reponses, 8 years later and she still has trust issues. People who molest and/or rape kids are no different then animals with rabies... they need to be isolated to protect society.

    2. i do believe that the law of sex offenders should follow through to a certain exstents. but if they were 18 and dating a 16 year old for a long time and a family member just up and decides that they want to press charges on this them..... i dont think that should be.... that is just an example. but if a violent crime against a little girl/boy is committed, then no lie those people should be shot in the head straight up! but i do fight with those who were wrongly convicted..
     

    Against Int. Megan´s Law in Virginia
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 10.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [052]
     
    THis was sent by a brave Virginia woman to her U.S. Senators and Representatives. To comment, please refer to blog 0052 and email to alexm60@fastmail.fm

    ----------------------------------------------------------
    Re: International Megan’s Law Bill - HR5722

    September 7, 2008

    Dear U.S. Representatives and Senators,

    I understand that an International Megan’s Law Bill is being
    proposed. This law would require any registered sex-offender to seek
    permission and approval for any travel outside the U.S. This law is a violation of Americans constitutional right to travel.

    The current Megan’s Law and Adam Walsh Law have already ruined
    thousands of innocent people’s lives as well as their families. The
    hysteria that politicians have created by telling Americans “we want to protect your children” and then passing these laws and mandating states to create sex-offender registries where vigilantes can map to the register’s front door or contact their employer to harass the employer to release the registered person is a blatant violation of their civil liberties and privacy.
    >
    Do you know what qualifies someone as a sex-offender today?
    Public urination or, “mooning” - too bad if it’s a high school prank, your life is ruined forever with today’s laws. How about an 18 year old having consensual sex with their 17, 16 or 15 year
    old partner, are they a sex-offender? According to you lawmakers they
    are, in most states today the eighteen year old is charged with statutory rape, sentenced to prison and spends a minimum of ten years as a registered sex-offender. That should include Alaska’s Governor Palin’s future son-in-law, I wonder if Alaska’s Attorney General will pursue that.
    >
    Let’s not forget about the absurd restrictions that are ever changing for the “registered” to follow. Where they can and can't live, how often they must register, be photographed and re-fingerprinted, banned from parks and libraries, can't decorate or participate in Halloween and can expect multiple surprise visits at home and at work from sex-offender task force members.
    >
    These sex-offender registries are not protecting anyone. They are a means to humiliate, degrade, re-prosecute and destroy the lives of thousands of innocent citizens. These registries are away for politicians to look like heroes to concerned parents. You have created a modern day witch hunt.
    >
    People that are not child-molesters, pedophile's and perverts have all been bucketed into one massive registry and must endure a lifetime of shame. Forcing registered sex-offenders to ask for permission to vacation, visit family or attend business functions serves no positive public purpose.
    >
    You can stop spreading fear and loathing across our country and
    now across the oceans.

    Do not pass this bill!

    (Signed in her own name, but here anonymous)
     

    Int. ´Megan´s Law´ violates Int. Bill of Human Rights
    By David Dyess <time4change08@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 07.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [051]
     
    (Note: This was a response to blogs by Margie Furlong, comparing current ¨sex offender¨ laws in the U.S. to slavery or to Nazi practices... Alex.)

    Whether it's slavery or Nazis oppression, people are starting to relate the sex offender registry to these other horrible times in history. I am optimistic that the public may actually be thinking about the issues and changing their opinions about what is happening.

    I had a thought this morning concerning the new push for the
    International Megan's Law. The USA may be cutting it's own throat
    with this one on a humanitarian basis. Many other countries of the world have signed and agreed to the International Bill of Human Rights. The Int. Megans Law will be a direct violation of the doctrine. The United States refuses to sign the Human Rights law and by pushing countries to ignore or change their laws to abide by ours is only going to bring charges against the U.S. of human rights violations on an international scale. In the world's eyes, it will just reinforce how arrogant our government really is. I am not sure who we could contact on the international scale to start opposition movements against the passing of this bill. I've got a link on the Tennessee website under resources to the Int. Human Rights doctrine along with commentaries.. If you haven't done so, check it out. (See the Affiliated State Group page for the Tennessee group´s website). It's sad that our country is first to condemn others for Human Rights violations but refuses to acknowledge the blatant violations on our own soul. Sadly, that is a big part of why the world views us as bigots and hypocrites.....
     

    Brainwashing as ¨Treatment¨
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 07.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [050]
     
    TO comment on this blog, refer to blog no. 0050 and send it to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ------
    There really is no rhyme or reason to the laws and from what I read and hear from others, the so-called "treatment" should be considered a terrorist brainwashing tactic. The treatment is designed to bring you to the lowest point in your life, instill that you are a perverted monster, promote your worthlessness to society, and upon your release have you convinced that you should be on a registry for the rest of your life to protect the public.(sounds like brainwashing to me).
     

    Pray for Missouri! SO laws overturned for now!
    By Dave Dyess <time4change08@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 07.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [049]
     
    We will fight this thing (sex offender law injustice).......AND WIN !!!!

    In the meantime, pray for Missouri !!! They are in the middle of a huge battle over the sex offender registry and from what I am hearing, there was a ruling to remove all registrants whose offenses were before 1995, when Missouri's laws went into effect. The battle is over the State's Constitution and the legalities of making the registration retroactive. There are also battles over residency requirements. The way it looks, the senate has passed laws to reinstate the registration but the House has refused to act on the bill for the last two sessions. If we can get one state to stand up and say that they will no longer violate their constitution then I feel that many more will follow. Here is a little of the information I've found.

    The most successful challenges to sex offender registration in the United States have been in Missouri, due to a unique provision in that state's constitution which prohibits "laws retrospective in operation." In Doe v. Phillips, 194 S.W.3d 837 (Mo. banc 2006), the Supreme Court of Missouri in Jefferson City held that it violated the Constitution of Missouri's unique bar on retrospective laws to apply Missouri's sex offender registry to anyone who had been convicted or pleaded guilty to a registrable offense before the sex offender registration law was passed in 1995. The Court ruled that any potential registrant who pleaded guilty or was convicted before January 1, 1995, did not have to register, and remanded the case for further consideration in light of that holding.

    On remand, the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri entered an injunction ordering that the applicable individuals be removed from the published sex offender list. The Missouri State Highway Patrol appealed that order to the Missouri Court of Appeals in Kansas City, which affirmed the injunction on April 1, 2008. The Highway Patrol indicated that it may attempt to appeal to the Supreme Court of Missouri.

    The 2006 Doe ruling prompted a flurry of similar lawsuits throughout Missouri. In July of 2007, in Doe v. Blunt, 225 S.W.3d 421 (Mo. banc 2007) the Supreme Court of Missouri held that the 2006 ruling applied to potential registrants whose offenses did not become registrable (via amendment into the Sex Offender Registration Act) until after they pleaded guilty or were convicted, and thus could not be required to register. On February 19, 2008, the Supreme Court of Missouri held that the Missouri Constitution's bar on retrospective laws also prohibited enforcement of a requirement that a registered sex offender move from his home located within 1000 feet of a school when he lived in that home prior to the enactment of the law requiring that he move.

    In response to these rulings, in 2007, several State Senators in the Missouri General Assembly proposed an amendment to the Missouri Constitution which would exempt sex offender registration laws from the state constitution's unique prohibition on retrospective civil laws. (Alex´s note, see my recent article on Giovani Agamben´s ¨State of Exception¨ where whole classes of citizens are exempted from rights.)

    The proposed amendment passed the Missouri State Senate unanimously, but was not passed by the House of Representatives before the end of the 2007 legislative session. If the House of Representatives had passed the measure, it would have had to be approved by voters in the 2008 general election in order to be ratified. Because the House did not pass it in time, however, the end of the legislative session terminated consideration of the proposed constitutional amendment. The same constitutional amendment was proposed in and passed by the Missouri Senate again in 2008, but also was not passed by the House of Representatives by the end of the 2008 legislative session.
    As a result, the decisions of the Supreme Court of Missouri and the Missouri Court of Appeals prohibiting the retrospective application of sex offender laws remain intact.

    David Dyess
    ---------------------------------------
    Alex´s note: A major political victory in the Missouri House - a first time that such an important and unjust ¨sex offender¨ law was completely stymied by a state legislature! Warning: There´s always next year. Missouri RSOL participants get started to lobby against this Constitutional amendment.-
     

    Sex Offender Laws - The Third Reich of the 21st Century?
    By Margie Furlong <snapper1964@hotmail.com>
    Posted on 07.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [048]
     
    Sex Offender Laws - The Third Reich of the 21st Century?

    Let’s take a walk through history. The year is 1933 and Adolf Hitler is now the dictator of Germany.

    On April 1, 1933, one week after Adolf Hitler became dictator of Germany, a boycott of shops, banks, offices and department stores owned by the Jewish community was ordered. Although unsuccessful, it was followed by a rapid series of laws robbing them of many rights.

    Six days later, on April 7th, ‘The Law of the Restoration of the Civil Service' was introduced. This law made ‘Aryanism’ a requirement to hold a civil service postion. All considered to be non-Aryan and holding a civil service position were dismissed or forced to retire.

    On April 22nd, another law passed prohibiting Non-Aryans from serving as patent lawyers and serving as doctors in instutions utilizing state-run insurance.

    Four days later on April 25th, laws were passed with regard to the overcrowding of German schools. Obviously, this restriction limited education benefits to many innocent young people.

    On May 6, the Civil Service law was amended to close any loopholes to keep out honorary university professors, lecturers and notaries.

    On June 2nd, another law prohibiting Non-Aryan dentists and technicians was passed that banned them from working with state run insurance institutions.

    On September 28, anyone that was non-Aryan was prohibited from employment with the government.

    On September 29, Non-Aryans were banned from all cultural and entertainment activities including literature, art, film and theater.

    In early October, Non-Aryans were prohibited from being journalists and all newspapers were placed under Nazi control.

    And it continued and continued and continued…. Eventually, as we all learned from countless history lessons, many innocent people were sent to concentration camps. Many were forced into labor and many more died. Why? Because of hatred from ONE man. He fueled that hatred across Germany with his lies. He blamed those he considered to be Non-Aryan for poverty, joblessness, whatever he could think of. He was the master manipulator of his time. So many people believed him even though he had no concrete evidence to back up his information.


    -----------------------------------------------------
    Let us propel forward to 1989. A young boy from Minnesota, Jacob Wetterling, was kidnapped from his hometown. His whereabouts are still unknown. In 1994, the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act was passed. It is simply known as the Jacob Wetterling Act. It was the first law to introduce a sex offender registry. It has been amended several times and most famously with Megan’s Law in 1996.

    Megan’s Law, passed in honor of Megan Kanka, a curious seven year old who was lured into the home of a violent sex offender in hopes of seeing a new puppy, required law enforcement officials to publicly make information available as to the whereabouts of sex offenders within the communities where they reside. This law has been amended several times. Mrs. Kanka claims the reason she rallied for such legislation is because if she knew that such a violent person lived across the street, she would have warned Megan to stay away from him. It appears, however, that neighbors knew of this person.

    Let’s not forget Jessica’s law. Jessica Lunsford died a violent death at the hands of John Couey. Although not passed in every state, Jesse’s law is derived from a Florida law. Jesse’s law would mandate GPS monitoring systems around ankles of sex offenders for 5 years following release from prison and lifetime monitoring for those offenders that are considered predators. States would also be required to mail sex offender registry forms twice per year. If the registration is not received within 10 days, the offender is considered non-compliant.

    Most recently, President Bush signed the Adam Walsh Act of 2006. It will expand the sex offender registry, stengthen federal penalties for crimes against children, introduces a new internet task force and require couples who want to adopt or become foster parents to have background checks.

    And it continues on and on and on…. The current laws restrict reformed sex offenders from re-integrating into society. Residency restrictions are in place anywhere from 500 feet to 2000 feet from anywhere children may gather – schools, parks, day care centers, etc. Background checks make it virtually impossible for them to gain decent employment. Movement is restricted even to everyday chores such as taking out the garbage or running everyday errands.

    Why? Because the public is fueled with hatred. Many believe that all the people on the registry are pedophiles when they have absolutely no idea what the word pedophile means. But someone with authority, similar to that of Adolf Hitler, said it so it must be correct. Our lawmakers wouldn’t propose tougher legislation on sex offenders to get votes now, would they?

    Wake up, America! These laws do nothing to protect you. You have no idea if someone on that registry is a teenager convicted of a crime for having consensual sex with his younger girlfriend or if it is actually a voilent sex offender. The registry makes no distinction between the two. Take a look at if for yourself and you tell me who is the ‘John Couey’ out there. It’s time for fact based laws that protect the public and establish re-integration into society for an offender.

    --Margie Furlong, Illinois Residents for Common Sense Laws

     

    Another Letter about Gov Palin & her family
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 07.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [047]
     
    This is another excellent letter sent by an RSOL activist to several newspapers and tv stations. It was sent anonymously, and in our experience, anonymous letters are not usually published. Hopefully hers will be. We urge RSOL folks to send your own letters - use this one and the great one on a previous blog by Margie Furlong for ideas! If you want to comment, refer to Blog 0047, and send it to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ----------------------------------------------------

    To the Editors:

    Everyone is tip-toeing around the issue of Alaska Governor Palin’s 17 year old daughter Bristol becoming pregnant by her 18 year old boyfriend. We are being told “it’s a family matter that shouldn't be in the press and that the couple plans to be married”. Well let me bring this issue to the fore front.

    The majority of states in America today have laws / statues where consensual sex with a minor results in a statutory rape conviction, usually by that state´s Attorney General. A conviction is followed by a minimum of ten years living as a registered sex offender.

    Is this not the law in Alaska? If so, how has Alaska avoided making it so? If it is in fact the law in Alaska then why hasn't the Alaska Attorney General filed charges against Bristol’s boyfriend? Perhaps, it’s because it’s the governor’s daughter who’s pregnant?

    I'll ask the same question in regards to Britney Spears´ little sister, Jamie Lynn Spears. Why was her boyfriend not charged with rape resulting in prison time and the requirement that he register as a sex-offender for the next ten years?

    What is this double standard that celebrities and political families get special legal treatment but regular Americans are being stigmatized and persecuted for the rest of their lives for the very same acts?

    Americans need to take a close look at the current sex-offender qualifications. Should an 18 year old who has consensual sex with their 17, 16 or 15 year old partner face the stigma of being a registered sex-offender? In America the majority of people believe if you are a registered sex-offender then you are a child molester and pedophile. There are thousands of innocent people who are being forced to become a registered sex-offender everyday. Public urination and “mooning” are both convictions that will also land you on the registry for a minimum of ten years

    When you are a registered sex-offender, you struggle to find and keep housing, employment and your family because of the stress and humiliation that the registry creates within yourself, your neighbors, your co-workers and vigilantes looking for justice for a victim they don't even know.

    In some states like Virginia the accusation of being “touched” is sufficient for prosecution with a sentence of life plus 20 years in prison. The state does not require physical evidence, a witness or that the accuser be mentally evaluated and it doesn't matter if the accuser has a history of lying, that’s “ inadmissible” Virginia even enters the “accusation” as evidence in court! In Virginia, they prosecute every accusation which means a conviction every time and jail time is highly likely unless you plead “guilty”.

    I am not supporting these current laws, statues or the existence of the sex-offender registry, I want all Americans to know what laws are in existence today, how unfair and appalling they are and stand up and say “No more”.

    Maybe if a few celebrities and political families have to endure the demonization of being a registered sex-offender, these ridiculous laws would be eliminated.

    Anonymous
     

    ¨Sex Offender¨ Wives Support Group
    By DEE <http://supportforwivesofsexoffenders.blogspot.com>
    Posted on 05.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [046]
     
    NOTE: This is from a ¨sex offender´s¨ wife in Maryland. She has started her own support group - asking wives to tell each other their stories and support each other. She and her husband are members of a Christian church, so RSOL wants to point out that as such they are not affiliated direclty with rsol - since we do not affiliate with religious groups or political parties. However, these are good people, so take a look at her site! Alex. Respond with comments, reference Blog No. 0046, and send to alexm60@fastmail.fm.

    ------------------------------------------------------
    Support for wives of sex offenders

    Yes, I am the wife of a sex offender. I know there are others out there and I was hoping to get in touch with them...I know that maybe, someone would like a place to unload their fears, thoughts, struggles, just like I would.

    Let's get to know each other:

    I met my husband in Oct 2006. By our second date, he told me his story. But the man I met, did not fit the description of the man he was accused of being. Plus, I feel everyone deserves second chances. So, we had a whirlwind relationship. Didn't take me long to figure out that this man was the man of my dreams. Have you ever made a list of "your perfect" husband? I had. Right after my divorce from my first husband of 24 years. It was amazing how many markers, that this convicted sex offender possessed. He is my soul mate, the man of my dreams. By Dec 2006, we were engaged.

    Yes, I know it was quick...but sometimes you just know! In August 2007, we were married, A big wedding too because he had never been married. (After all, you can't meet a wife when you're serving 20 years in a Federal prison.) We had a different but fantastic honeymoon. Course we were limited by where we could go, after all...had to be within the state...a stipulation by his parole officer. So we honeymooned in a tent in a camp ground in the mountains. Did I mention that we took along our son? A big 110 pound Belgium Shepherd. It rained for the first 3 days....but we had a great time. You learn if your marriage is going to survive or break when spending 3 days in a tent with the man you promised to love for life and a 110 pound dog. We laughed, played scrabble, we talked, and even sat out in the rain drinking coronas and just talk. This August 2008, we celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary. I wish I could say we had a glorious 1st year...but it would have been if not for the issues with the sex offenders laws and restrictions from his parole officer.

    You see, my husband was convicted over 28 years ago for a crime he did not commit. (yes, I know, that\'s what they all say!) but he has proof. Evidence was covered up, expert witnesses made unavailable ...etc. I've seen it, read it. And if you knew my husband, you'd believe it too. Plus...would a guilty man turn down a plea bargain that would have him serve only 7 years and available for parole after 24 hours for the crime of rape and murder? My husband turned it down, not once but 3 times. It was not his nature to say he was guilty of a crime he did not commit. He was hoping that justice would prevail. He just didn't know at the time, that evidence would be covered up. Evidence that could prove his innocence.

    Recently, my husband had to register as a Sex offender. Why? Since the laws do not apply to him in our state. Because his PO lied and said that a judge had ordered it. I went to the Sheriff's office with him, the day he had to register. It is a humiliating process. Made even more so with the posting on the Internet and in our daily newspapers. But we hold our heads up.

    Our lives our consumed with legal fighting for justice. I've picked up where his mother left off...using every resource to get his story told. But guess what...no one wants to do anything about a 28 yo injustice. Its so frustrating. I needed an outlet. although, I could talk to my husband, I don't want to add more worries than he already has. Plus, I felt, by creating this blog site, we, (the wives, significant others) could help one another...just by lending an ear (or key stroke as the case may be).

    So that's just a little about my story. Won\'t you share yours?



    DEE

    from Maryland

    http://supportforwivesofsexoffenders.blogspot.com
     

    They Think They are God!
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 04.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [045]
     
    ¨They Think They Are God!¨
    from an anonymous mother - to send your comment, please refer to Blog #0045, and email it to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    --------------------------------

    My daughter was falsely accused and was not defended by her lawyer and his law firm. (See her story in the Tales From The Registry.) She was fired from her job - this is the 2nd one. She has sent out thousands of resumes and doesn't seem to get anywhere because of the registry.

    I am frightened, frustrated, and angered because of this hysteria perpetuated by the legislators, law enforcement, attorneys, politicians, media and the general public. It is almost unbelievable that they have decided that they are GOD and deserve the right to execute further "punishment" on a class of citizens who made a mistake as well as those who have been falsely accused and who have paid and are paying dearly for it. Something has got to be done - this hatefulness has to stop. I want to help.
     

    Under Fire in NH, It Never Stops!
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 04.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [044]
     
    If you wish to respond to this blog, please refer to Blog #0044, and send your comment to alexm60@fastmail.fm. Remember, blogs are the opinions of the bloggers and do not necessarily represent the opinons of the RSOL admin team.

    ----------------
    Have you ever made a mistake in your life that you wish you could take back, but can't? And no matter what you do to redeem yourself there is someone out there who will do everything possible to knock you back down and remind you of your mistakes. The harder you try to move forward, the harder they knock you back.

    When I was twenty years old I met a girl, and a few days after my twenty-first birthday I had an affair with her. I was married, and realized the mistake shortly after making it. I cut all contact with her in the days that followed and thought that would be the end of it. But in the weeks that followed she told friends and associates that I had raped her. Worse yet, she was only fifteen years old.

    I tell my story with as little embellishment as possible. The simple truth is that I made a mistake and paid a hefty price for that mistake. I am not defending my actions or making excuses for them. They cost me my marriage, my friends, and my freedom. I don't condone my actions; just wish I had had the foresight to realize the mess I had gotten into.

    Facing ten years in prison I plead No Contest to aggravated sexual assault in return for a forty-month sentence. I was released from prison in 1999 and spent the past nine years rebuilding my life. As a convicted sex offender I have registered annually: Name, Address, Employer, Fingerprints, etc. All my information kept on file by the local police and state for the past nine years.

    A few months ago everything changed. The laws in New Hampshire were revamped and without any notification I was published in New Hampshire's public list of sex offenders against children. It was a neighbor who informed me, curious about my situation. Those who know the circumstances of my conviction judge me by how I've lived my life since, but the simple truth is that the charges make me out to be a monster.

    A few days ago an anonymous caller called my employer and threatened to pull his company's business if they continued to employ me. He then contacted a professional association, and accused my employer of employing a known child rapist. I have no idea who this person was, or why they have decided target me. But he has threatened to go public with this information if I am still employed there in two weeks. The deadline is September 9th, 2008.

    In the seven years I have worked with my current employer I have never once betrayed their trust and have an established an exemplary record. I take great pride in my job, coworkers, and the company. I don't want to lose my job, but no one has any other options.

    It astounds me that someone has the power to do this. Even more so that there is nothing anyone can do to stop them. Whatever I may have done in the past, the fact remains that aside from a few speeding tickets I have lived my life in accordance to the law and as a productive member of society for over a decade.

    It is hard to know what to do in this situation. This individual, or group, is using blackmailing to attack me. He doesn't care that I support a family of four. That my wife is disabled and can not work. Or that my children are ages two and six and rely on me as their provider. Without my job we cannot afford to pay our mortgage or bills. Without health insurance we cannot afford my wife's prescriptions which cost over $400 a month.

    This anonymous caller has just put my family's livelihood and wellbeing at risk for a mistake I made back in 1995. I can't take it back though I wish I could. I served the sentence the law mandated and continue to suffer the stigma of my crime. But now I am being targeted and it is my family that will suffer for it. My children will suffer for it. We are barely making ends meet and this will cripple us financially. How is this legal? How is this just?
     

    Register All US Taxpayers who fund war to kill children?
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 04.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [043]
     
    This is a very strong comment sent by an RSOL participant. If you want to comment, refer to Blog 0043, and send it in an email to alexm60@fastmail.fm. Remember that blog items are the opinion of the blogger, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the RSOL admin team. Alex.

    -------------------------------------------------------------

    You are still leaving out 3 important items that those accusing victimless sex offenders don't seem to pay attention to: (there are more, but I will only mention 3 now)

    1) Bill Clinton raped a woman (a real victim), did he go to prison? is he a registered sex offender? is he restricted to travel? is he hated by all? Why should he be let loose because Hillary paid his rape victim to shut up? Bill is still a sex offender (with a real victim). Ask his rape victim, what should be his punishment?

    2) Child killers (as well as murderers of innocent women and men): The USA military led by Bush (ordered to kill children by Bush for oil).

    There are facts that prove children were killed by the US military and weapons of mass destruction (any weapon that can produce high kill statistics). This makes everyone in the US military a child murderer. What is the punishment for killing a child?

    What is the punishment for conspiring to kill someone?
    and what is the punishment for ordering the murder of children?
    This line of questioning goes on and on. What was the punishment for a victimless crime? (again)

    3) End users: those at the end of a crime (being punished like they actually did the crime)

    Any one who paid the US taxes is an end user to child murder and more war crimes, whereas they pay for some one to do the crimes and have the benefit of it. How many people drive cars that use gasoline from Iraq (brought to you by killing children that were in the wrong place at the wrong time)? How many people who paid taxes for someone else to destructively and murderously acquire control of petroleum that is not theirs for petroleum products for their daily use? These are all end users who should be punished just as if they committed the horrendous crimes.

    Let's lock them up too and make them register for child murder and all of the other said crimes involved.

    4) Conspiracy: I wont even start on this one, but any one who believes that if one was shot in the back of the head, the back of the brain will blow out (as opposed to the front) is part of the problem.

    PS: George Washington was an insurgent! If living today he would be in Guantanamo. Imagine all of the indictments Jesus would have. They would kill him too, as the Romans did. (look what happened to them).

    Makes you wonder why they celebrate the birth of the two persons mentioned above, when - if living - they would be major criminals and condemned to death or life in prison!
     

    A strong stand on the Republican VP Issue!
    By Margie Furlong <thesnappy1@gmail.com>
    Posted on 04.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [042]
     
    From: snapper1964@hotmail.com
    To: letters@suntimes.com
    Subject: GOp Vice President Nominee Sarah Palin
    Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2008 07:05:03 -0500

    I appreciate the fact that the Republican party is standing behind Governor Palin and her pregnant 17 year old daughter, Bristol. I also think it's great that Presidential Nominee, Barack Obama, advised the media that it's none of the public's business. However, there are some concerns surrounding this story.

    Please consider researching the facts as to what could have happened to this couple elsewhere. Take the state of Arizona, for example. Under these same circumstances, Bristol Palin's husband-to-be could have been arrested and charged with a sex crime. This would be considered a felony and would be sufficient enough to require him become a registered sex offender. Fortunately, for them, I am assuming the consummation took place in Alaska.

    Such is the abnormality of the law in some states. The reality is teenagers are having consensual sex. There is no stopping it. The tragedy is that many states consider this a crime with the possibility of the older teen facing lifelong punishment under current sex offender laws.

    Does anyone think that would be a good thing for Ms. Palin, her baby and her husband-to-be? Her husband-to-be certainly is not a pedophile. This is a simple case of 'Romeo and Juliet.' But how does the government make this situation better by turning someone else in the same situation into a sex felon?

    As the public becomes more educated concerning the unjust 'grouping' of all who have been deemed 'sex offenders,' registry reform must follow. The laws, as they are currently structured, have created an overblown registry that will continue to grow out of control. This does nothing to protect the public from those offenders that actually are deemed violent or dangerous.

    Is someone like Bristol Palin's husband-to-be a threat to society when we know the facts? Of course he isn't. However, place him on a sex offender registry and he's scarred for life.

    Regards --

    Margie Furlong
     

    Republican VP Choice - If it were anyone else....
    By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 03.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [041]
     
    REPUBLIC CHOICE FOR VP - HER DAUGHTER´S PREGNANCY is OUR ISSUE, TOO

    Several people have written RSOL to suggest that in many states, a 17 year old (and was she 17 when she started having sex?) getting pregnant from an 18 year old or older. might result in the male partner´s arrest and conviction, and then placement on the sex offender registry in that state! No one has mentioned this in the case of Governor Palin or her daughter, Bristol. I suggest that RSOL folks around the country write letters to the editor pointing out that this is a major double standard - and urge the Republicans to consider amending ¨sex offender¨ laws to stop criminalizing consensual relations among teens or between teens and those only a few years older than they. Let us know your views.
    email me at alexm60@fastmail.fm, and refer to Blog No. 0042.
    Alex
     

    Another Reponse to the ´misguided´ therapist
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 02.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [040]
     
    Please send any comment, attention blog #0040, to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ------
    In response to the therapist who sees all sex offenders' supporters as enabling repeat offenses. My son fastened a child onto a carnival ride. In order to ensure the child's safety, the locking mechanism needed to be checked. With some children, this occasionally resulted in a touch in the vicinity of the buttocks. Unfortunately for my son, admitting that he had probably touched a child on the buttocks while checking the locking mechanism was admitting that he had committed a sex offense against a child below the age of 14, a level 3 sex offense in that state. He did not understand that admitting to checking on the safety of a child was admitting to a sex offense.
    Why should such a thing be true? Because of the hysteria which has run rampant in this society, fed by ignorance and reinforced by the media, some therapists, and law makers.
     

    Keep Kids Away from the Internet
    By Anonymous <>
    Posted on 02.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [039]
     
    NOTE: RSOL does not necessarily agree with blog comments. These are strictly the opinions of those who send them in. If you wish to refer to this blog or make a comment, refer to blog entry 0039, and send the comment to alexm60@fastmail.fm
    ------------------
    I have been wondering why there are laws that are being made to keep me a register sex offender from having internet service and / or limiting the internet and my computer use to searches and Government spying . When I am a adult I pay for my service and I buy my computer and all the parts and services thereof.

    Children should be the ones kept from the internet. Children should not have access to things like face book , my space or any other forms of web communities along with you tube and all such! Why is it that there is this hot button to keep me from enjoying life and things that I pay for ? Why are there laws being made that limit my liberties and freedoms when I am an adult ? Children are the ones that should not have any access to the internet and things that any adult has access to ! After all if you really and truly want to keep your kid safe then they need to keep off of things adults pay for adults use and adults enjoy ! It is easier for them to do t
    his as well .

    If you have a computer in your home the internet service provider asks you if you have children if you do then the ISP limits your internet services to only age appropriate sites and services ! When you go to buy a cell phone a child can not have a cell phone with a camera or internet service or text messaging capabilities . Thus eliminating any unsafe things and keeping kids safe at all times ! if the parents say they have no kids and they find out they have them or a child has a cell phone that has a camera internet or text messaging then the adult parents should be charged just like they are when they give kids smokes or alcohol ! Contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

    This would keep kids safe and let adults have liberties and freedom! Why do I have to pay for that 12 year old girl that plays like an 18 year old women ? Why are children allowed to have cell phones with texting internet and video capabilities when CLEARLY they not only abuse this but they break the laws as well !

    This is what we should be doing not reversing this so KIDS have every thing ! This is an adult world and we need to keep it that way. The way we are going children have all the freedoms rights and liberties and adults have nothing and RSO's have even less. NO! We need to take action! Children should not have internet service. Children should not have cell phones ! Children should not have computers ! This stuff is for mature adults who have jobs that can pay for such things not children ! NO! the laws are backward and upside down ! WE need to take control! AND NOW ! Take the internet and computers and cell phones out of the hands of the children who are clearly abusing these forms of technologies till they are adults and have the jobs and money to support such a thing as well as the maturity to cope with the mature nature of the technology ! For the safety of children this is what needs to be done ! Not the other way around !

     

    ¨Sex Offenders¨ STILL held after sentences completed
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 02.09.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [038]
     
    If you want to respond or comment, please note the blog no. 0038 and send the comment to me, alexm60@fastmail.fm
    -----
    ¨SEX OFFENDERS¨ STILL HELD LONG AFTER SENTENCES COMPLETED
    Many spend months awaiting classification!

    ¨SEX OFFENDERS¨ ARE being detained! I know civil commitment is detaining (we've done this for hundreds of years, since the beginning with mentally ill and involuntary commitment), however there is another detention before the civil commitment. In NY, many are being warehoused at correctional facilities awaiting their sex offender civil commitment proceedings.. These are taking in excess of several months, sometimes close to a year, to work through the system, while the State gets it's act together on how to proceed under newly passed and vaguely defined laws.

    In most states there must be a finding of a 'mental abnormality' to commit. Originally the target of that was ¨pedophila,¨ with several known victims. However the abuses of the requirement criteria are growing daily. The manual From DSM IV - TR (Revised) indicates this list of sexual and gender identity disorders:

    --Sexual and Gender Identity Disorders
    [These are divided in DSM into (1) Sexual Dysfunctions (2) Paraphilias (3) Gender Identity Disorders and (4) Sexual Disorder Not Otherwise Specified. Pedophilia is classed as a Paraphilia, of which DSM says: "The Paraphilias are characterized by recurrent, intense, sexual urges, fantasies, or behaviors that involve unusual objects, activities, or situations and cause clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning. The Paraphilias include Exhibitionism, Fetishism, Frotteurism, Pedophilia, Sexual Masochism, Sexual Sadism, Transvestic Fetishism, Voyeurism, and Paraphilia Not Otherwise Specified."]

    When someone cannot be 'diagnosed' with any of the 'disorders' (I don't believe all of those are disorders) above, they are give the trash bucket term of "paraphilia not otherwise specified" and alas, they are ready for civil commitment in some states! It's shocking and it's happening and these people are truly the voiceless. I am aware of a man, detained almost a year after his release from prison in NY, who has still not been civilly committed, though the state intends to do so. The state psychologist gave him the 'trash bucket' term for a diagnosis. His crime? Being 18 yrs old back in the early 80's and having his 17 yr old ex girlfiend and her 16 yr old friend accuse him of rape. He has always maintained the allegations were malicious and false. Whether or not an actual rape occurred, we will never truly know in cases of he said she said. There is no physical evidence to prove or disprove anyone's claim in his situation. He served several decades behind bars, was released in 2007, only to be detained for civil commitment for a crime that I believe was never intended for such proceedings.

    The broad brush has come through and swept again...

     

    ¨Sex Offenders¨ - New Form of Slavery in US?
    By Margie Furlong <snapper1964@hotmail.com>
    Posted on 31.08.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [037]
     
    Sex offenders – A new form of slavery in the United States

    Doesn’t our national anthem end with the phrase “The land of the free and the home of the brave?”

    Today’s sex offenders have lost their rights, their families, their pride, their homes, their jobs…the list is endless.

    My friend, who is still on parole, cannot live with his family nor have any contact with his children. Didn’t our young nation already do that? Yes, they did. They pulled families apart in slavery.

    Slaves were forced into labor. They were not accepted in the communities in which they lived, lynched, murdered and treated like a lower form of a human being. They couldn’t go off their slave owner’s property without permission. They, too, were forced to move when they were sold and families were separated. They were forced to do what they were told – no questions asked, no rights to speak up against the injustice of their treatment. They couldn’t bring their injustices to any court of law. No one would believe them…no one would listen.

    With today’s technology, a sex offender’s personal information is on the internet for all to see. They are not accepted in the communities in which they live. They are continually forced to move all because our lawmakers pass new laws restricting where they can live. They are treated like a lower form of a human being; they cannot go out (even to work) without permission; forced to do what they are told – no questions asked, no right rights to speak up against the injustice of their treatment; they can’t bring their injustices to any court. Once again, no one will believe them…no one will listen.

    The broad definition of the term "sex offender" has devastated many individuals who are guilty of no more than a one time lapse of good judgment. Contrary to popular belief, many so-called "sex offenders" are of no risk to the communities in which they live and work. The public disclosure of personal information is a violation of one’s rights and the ability to re-integrate into society. The current public disclosure of all considered "sex offenders" has severely hampered the ability of these individuals to secure employment.

    Does anyone see a pattern here? Is history repeating itself?

    It is time for fact-based laws that will benefit society as well as the offender.

    Regards –

    Margaret A. Furlong
    Norridge, IL.
     

    Even Murderers Are Treated Better
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 25.08.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [036]
     
    Here´s a short, clear statement that is the feeling of thousands of you out there: (for comments, indicate blog 0036, and email to alexm60@fastmail.fm)
    ----
    I do agree that children need to be protected but I disagree on the way the judicial system handles sex offenders. In any other crime including murder, the person does their time and then is free to live their lives. With sex offenders there is no distinction and they are never given the chance to do their time and then get on with their lives.
     

    Mother sends urgent letter to Illinois governor!
    By Margie Furlong <snapper1964@hotmail.com>
    Posted on 22.08.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [035]
     
    August 22, 2008

    Governor Rod Blagojevich
    Office of the Governor
    207 State House
    Springfield, IL. 62706

    Dear Governor Blagojevich,

    I appreciate your efforts in protecting families and values. However, I find it important to voice my concerns.

    Why create new and tougher laws for sex offenders when the existing laws are unjust and counterproductive? Laws created from mass hysteria, panic, confusion and the media; do little or nothing to make the public any safer.

    The broad definition of the term "sex offender" has devastated many individuals who are guilty of no more than a one time lapse of good judgment. Contrary to popular belief, many so-called "sex offenders" are of no risk to the communities in which they live and work. The public disclosure of personal information is a violation of one’s rights and the ability to re-integrate into society. The current public disclosure of all considered "sex offenders" has severely hampered the ability of these individuals to secure employment.

    Countless history lessons, throughout our educational years, have focused on a group of individuals to persecute. They have included, but are not limited to, Lepers, Christians, Hebrews, Jews, Blacks – both in the form of slavery and as a segregated group in the 1950’s, American Indians, etc. Let’s not forget the so-called Witches of Salem. Laws were cast upon them that were unfounded and absurd today. In the 2000’s where we have much more technology and we’re ‘smarter’, we have begun the persecution of sex offenders. There are no programs, at least that I can find, that would assist former offenders with their re-integration into society.

    Please consider researching the facts. As the public becomes more educated concerning the unjust "grouping" of all who have been deemed "sex offenders", registry reform must follow. The laws, as currently structured, have created an over-blown registry that will continue to grow out of control. It is time for fact-based laws that will benefit society as well as the offender.

    I will end my letter to you with a quote from one of our founding fathers:

    "Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both."
       -- Benjamin Franklin

    Sincerely,


    Margaret A. Furlong
    4125 N. Oketo Avenue
    Norridge, IL. 60706


    cc: Attorney General of Illinois, Lisa Madigan
     

    More Responses to Uninformed Therapist
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 15.08.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [034]
     
    Here is another response to the anonymous therapist who challenged mothers who support their sons who are accused as ¨sex offenders.¨ Read the previous blog item to see the therapist´s original comment.
    Send me your further comments - alex marbury, alexm60@fastmail.fm
    -----
    With all due respect, we are defending our sons because they
    are victims of a very broken and corrupt system. You should educate
    yourself as to the misuse of these laws. Prosecutors use them to coerce young men into accepting plea bargains after being intimidated and frightened with threats of years in prison. Seldom are they told they will live in "prison" even after they are released. It is unimaginable that you have any contact with registered sex offenders in the capicity of a therapist. With your beliefs I am sure you do more harm than good.

    ----
    And here is yet another from one very angry mother:

    -----

    This is exactly how wannabe therapists treat the offenders entrusted to their care. As a matter of fact, I had to attend a session
    as part of a support network. I felt like I was an absolute criminal
    for offering my support and opening up my home to a human being. After the session, which lasted an ENTIRE hour and a half, the therapist deemed me 'manipulative, controlling and one who has unhealthy thinking.'

    First of all, this woman is not a professional psychiatrist. She is a state authorized counselor. She said in our session and I quote: 'With the swipe of my pen, I can send ----- back to prison.' And these are the people that the state has entrusted to treat ¨sex offenders¨? And we wonder why the system has failed so many?
     

    Mother of so responds to therapist on pleas
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 14.08.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [033]
     
    Here is a comment from a therapist - who did not have the courage to give his or her email address so we could respond back. His or her comment was in response to ¨tales¨ from parents who support their ¨sex offender¨ sons. Following the therapist´s comment, is a response from one of RSOL´s mothers and state contacts. Please send your own comments to me, Alex Marbury, alexm60@fastmail.fm
    PLEASE ALSO SEE FURTHER COMMENTS BELOW!
    -------

    Therapist´s Comment: I hear your frustrations of being a parent of a sex offender. I am a sex offender therapist for a correctional facility, and acknowledge that sex offenders do not have any easy road ahead of them, but your son\'s road will not get any easier if you keep making excuses for him, and blaming the system for perceived wrongs. Remember your son committed a crime, a crime that has a victim, he needs to accept responsibility, and if you continue to make excuses for him, it will be harder for him to be accountable for the choices he has made.


    RSOL state contact´s response:
    This therapist would be right if all convicted sex offenders were the same and were really guilty. He/she does not understand plea bargains or any of the other ways innocent or harmless people find themselves convicted of crimes. In his/her profession, there is a moral obligation:

    1) to understand how accused young men are intimidated or coerced into bearing false witness against themselves.

    2) to understand all the complicated emotions and character weaknesses that cause females to lie about being raped.

    For starters, I would politely encourage the commentator to learn more by directing him/her to the Frontline program on Plea Bargains, to the CA Mercury Sun web site on Tainted Justice, to the Glenn Sacks article - here's the link to it:
    http://www.glennsacks.com/blog/?page_id=1334

    FURTHER COMMENTS:
    Remember that not all ¨sex offenders¨ are men - there are women falsely accused as well.

    (From an another ¨sex offender:¨) I haven't read your entire site yet, so you might have already covered this elsewhere, but people who have little understanding of our (alleged) justice system should be aware that the term "rape" doesn't necessarily mean what we commonly think it does. The touching, no matter how repugnant, of a your girl's clitoris, by an older man is, in many jurisdictions, referred to as "Rape of a Child" and carries a minimum penalty of 30 years. I met a man in prison who had been charged with fondling his granddaughter. The little girl allegedly told the person questioning her that her granddad touched her "a bunch of times" and so this man was charged with over 25 counts of rape of a child. Rather than risking 750+ years in prison, he pled to aggravated sexual battery and received "only" 20 years. He committed suicide (early release) a couple weeks after I was released.
     
    NameComment
    anonymousComments are added to the text above

    Cop a plea & throw out the Constitution
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 14.08.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [032]
     
    From a sex offender who copped a plea and now lives with the result for life! Send your responses to me, alex marbury, at alexm60@fastmail.fm. Please refer to ¨Cop a Plea¨ blog item.
    alex

    I copped a plea to an attempted charge, did my time, and expected a certain amount of hassles upon my release. I think it important for the average person to understand the reason a person takes a plea. I took an Alford Plea because I believe that what I did was not really a crime. I used no force to accomplish any social, political or personal goal (to borrow from the libertarian mantra) and didn't intend anyone any harm. But the charges against me were so unbelievably harsh and my circumstances (my profession, my non-white wife, my station in life compared with those who would serve on my jury, and my looks and brash demeanor, and most especially the charges against me) made me a poor candidate for a not guilty verdict. I took out a "verdict insurance policy" (which is what some lawyers call plea bargains! Alex´s note) and it was quite expensive. But it got me 5 years instead of 120+. (at least that´s what lawyers say - note from Alex) I maintain my innocence, but nonetheless I pled guilty. Those who haven't walked in my shoes (and those who accuse me of having no sense of empathy toward my "victim") haughtily proclaim that they'd never plead guilty to something they didn't do! but given the "chance" I'd wager they'd make a similar choice.

    BUT! I didn't expect the Constitution to be revoked, nor the glee with which the people supported such revocation.
    And now, with the latest abomination, the "International Megan's Law" bill which will no doubt make its way smoothly through the halls of Congress and be happily signed by whichever President happens to fill that seat, the new Holocaust begins.

    I'm not a writer, but if I were, I'd notice that some of my fellows have stated, "NEVER AGAIN!" yet here, now, today, in the city of the future, it is indeed happening again, and barely a whisper can be heard from the ¨activists¨ or ¨radical¨ sector of the population.

    These new laws are a precursor to and a model for the complete removal of all our unalienable rights once guaranteed by the Constitution. Once we collectively and tacitly agree that it's quite alright to deny some Americans the protections of the laws, we allow government to dream up any (and every) excuse for removing these protections from all Americans.

    Many who find themselves in the hell of public humiliation, think of leaving the USA for good.(Alex´s note. But now, with HR 5711 http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-h5722/text
    and all the ramifications therein, my ability to no longer be harassed and molested by my government seems to be a pipe dream.

    This bill states:
    "Declaration of Purposes- The purposes of this Act and the amendments made by this Act are to prevent the international travel of sex traffickers and other sex offenders who intend to commit a sexual offense by--..." (Alex´s note: the bill defines ¨sex offender¨ as anyone so designated by the US or state governments, or those who admit to any of the acts designated!)

    I don't suppose they care that my intent doesn't include an effort to commit a sexual offense.... Funny how my intent doesn't much matter, but when it comes to their ex post facto laws, their alleged intent to not further punish me vacates and voids any notion that these new rules are, in fact, ex post facto because of the aforementioned lack of intent to punish!
     

    Canada Fairer than U.S.?
    By Tom Brewer <surge@sasktel.net>
    Posted on 11.08.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [031]
     
    Canada is not perfect however I feel we are a lot better than what I see and read about in the USA.

    We have a Young Offenders Act. Names of young offenders are not posted or seen in the paper.

    Young Offenders are sentenced if found guilty to Youth facilities.

    One large problems however is some youths are so involved in crime the Police do not get a chance to complete the paperwork and the youth has been re-arrested.

    I find it appalling where in the USA it is suggested one is not guilty until guilt is proven in a Court of Law. What a farce… it should be stated “guilty until you prove innocence.” In my opinion the people via legislatures have targeted youth as persona-non-grata. We might as well give a child handcuffs at birth, as surely the child will err and - given the mentality of the populace - will end up with a record and likely jail time.

    Where have we erred? In my opinion we as the older supposedly thinking populace checked our brain at the door. We no longer have the ability to discipline our children. Oh yes I guess it is much better to toss the kid in a cell than really using the discipline we had to deal with as we grew up.

    Yup a jail cell beats the norms we put up with. Yah right! If parents could discipline their children I believe we would not have the problems we do. It is unthinkable a girl can lie her way thru life and we bless her actions by coming down like a ton of bricks on young men.

    I guess I missed that part where girls are perfect angels. We know some of them are not and their actions belie the fact. Imagine lying about your age. This lying poses more problems for young men than we care to think about. It is time for us to take off the blinders and come to terms with what is going on.

    No-one wants to see a woman abused. Strange as it seems when a young woman lies about her age and finds herself in a situation she does not want to be in… her lying is forgotten about as we deal with the young man as if the problem is solely of his making. Get a life people... If she had morals she wouldn't have lied and would not have found herself in a (such a) situation....
    Tom Brewer
    Regina SK.


     

    Are sex offenders no longer US citizens?
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 11.08.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [030]
     
    From an angry observer in Illinois!

    Over the weekend, I was picking up a prescription at a new pharmacy. Before they could release my prescription, I had to sign a privacy act form. From what I know of the law, no agency can disclose any personal information about me unless I give authorization to do so.

    Ergo, keeping that in mind, why are the names, photos and residency information of registered sex offenders not held private? Are they no longer citizens of the United States? Are they longer human beings that deserve the same treatment and respect that many young men and women are fighting for each day?

    If registered sex offenders have to have their personal information posted on a website, why don\'t other criminals? Why don\'t we everything about murderers, thieves, pimps and drug dealers? Are sex offenders the only group that pose a threat to our children? Absolutely not!

    The lawmakers that pass these rules and regulations are no better than those that cast laws during the Salem Witch Trials. Next we\'ll be burning sex offenders at the stake.
     

    First the lepers, then Blacks, then homosexuals, now sex offenders
    By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 08.08.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [029]
     
    This is from Alice Benson, a pastor´s widow in Texas, working with a sex offender who was once a youth director in her church. They have founded Titus House, which works with sex offenders and gives them support.
    You may contact me if you want to reach her.
    Alex

    After being recognized as a sex offender, most people we know have to
    "reach up to touch bottom." I feel very strongly about doing away with the registration. Years ago it was the lepers of the Bible, then the blacks of the '50's, then the homosexuals and
    now sex offenders. Why does our society have to have someone to hate? I believe it violates civil rights. If a person is guilty, does his time in prison, why do we have to continue to judge and punish him? As a Christian I firmly believe God can and does change people. Alice Benson
     

    Like crying wolf too many times!
    By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 08.08.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [028]
     
    From New Jersey - nobody wins when they cry wolf too often!

    I am currently working on my B.S. in psychology with two areas of interest sex offenders and domestic violence. I was sexually assaulted by my uncles and grandfather when I was under the age of 14 on separate occasions. No one believed me and nothing ever came of it. 24 years later I have moved on and gotten my life together, and do not like the way the government is handling this situation. It is going to blow up in their faces. Kind of like the little boy who cried wolf. After the first couple of false alarms no one believed him when there was an actual alarm.
     

    Great site, terrible witchhunt
    By a physician in New Mexico <>
    Posted on 08.08.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [027]
     
    From a prominent orthopedic physician in New Mexico, comes this support:

    ¨This is a great website for a terrible "witchhunt" that destroys the lives of productive members of our society. Thank you.¨
     

    SO Laws Way Out of Proportion
    By Anonymous in Florida <>
    Posted on 05.08.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [026]
     
    This contribution is sent from a woman in Florida:
    Frankly, these laws are damaging the lives of young people because the way they are being interpreted by the Judges are way out of proportion, and, therefore need to be reformed. Some of the people affected by the new laws are being punished in ways as if they had committed murder or even worse crimes. I am sure that there are cases that need this type of punishment, but in general, all the so called "sex offenders" should be put on parole, community services and perhaps professional help. What I cannot understand is that a Judge sends a person to prision for many years because he/she considers the person unsafe for a community while they let other serious offenders get away with murder - so to speak. I really thought that the Judicial system of this country was fair, but now I realize that I was completely wrong.
     

    Violation of an Unperson
    By Darrin <darrinswait@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 02.08.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [025]
     
    Title: The Violation of an Un-person

    I have been an RSO for the past six years now. Over that
    time I have had the opportunity to consider my situation once or twice at least. There have been instances where my rights have been violated by uneducated police and district attorneys. There have also been times where I stood up for myself and put a stop to the abuse in our county court.

    In reference to my offense, I was charged with attempting to have sex
    with an imaginary, sexually active girl. This girl was, of course, merely the creation of a friendly law enforcement task force. Whether my intent was to actually have sex with this girl or not is apparently not the point. However, my question is this: if it is our right to cross-examine and question our \"victim\" in court, how then am I able to do so if this girl did not exist? I am in fact guilty of a non-person crime. I understand that impossibility is not an acceptable defense, but is it then acceptable when it comes to questioning the offended party? How am I able to question this person if she does not exist?

    If anyone has an answer to my question/scenario, I\'d sure love to hear it.

    Thanks, Darrin
     

    Forced to pose as a predator!
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 01.08.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [024]
     
    So many people in so much pain! This woman supports her brother, forced to ¨pose as a predator.¨
    alex

    I am a sister of a "sexual predator". Well that is what he is labeled. I am very furious with what happened to my brother and would like to help with trying to change these generic laws as I feel they are. He is not a sexual predator!!!!!!!!! He was framed. And has to pose as one in order to stay in compliance of his parole.
    Please add me to your list of people who strongly want the sex offenders laws changed! I would like to help!!!!
     

    New book helps prisoners seek parole
    By anonymous review (book by Larry Phillips) <>
    Posted on 27.07.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [023]
     
    A Powerful New Tool for Families and Prisoners Seeking Parole.

    NOTE: This is sent to rsol by a Florida activist who has been in touch with Larry during his ordeal while held at the terrible Florida commitment center for ¨sex offenders.¨ Mr. Phillips has completed his book while in detention. RSOL does NOT endorse book sales officially, so you must do this at your own initiative, (and we cannot guarantee delivery, etc.) but we do think Mr. Phillips book will be helpful and that he deserves our support.
    Alex Marbury

    REVIEW BY FLORIDA RSOL MEMBER (anonymous): A legal author, Larry Phillips is offering his book, a Complete Guide To Winning Parole, for under fifty dollars. It´s packed with effective, cutting-edge methods that terrifically enhance a prisoner´s chances to win a parole hearing. There´s a chapter just on winning the support of the judge and prosecutor, and another on victim support. He teaches how to create a personal ´Dream Team´ to approach the board with or without an attorney. The author even includes a sample written parole presentation for use as a guide to creating your own. This book is for anyone intent on winning a parole case.

    The author is offering his book directly to families, friends and
    attorneys for just $49.95 plus $5 dollars postage ($54.95 total).
    A special reduced price of $29.95 plus 5 dollars postage
    ($34.95 total) is offered for copies mailed directly to prisoners at
    a correctional facility address.

    Payment may be made by money order, personal check or cash. Prisoners ordering directly may remit either an institutional check
    or 100 new first-class postage stamps as payment.

    Please enclose with prisoner orders any required forms or
    special mailing instructions (no staples, prior approval, etc).

    Mail orders to:
    Larry Phillips
    6064 Casti Court
    Sarasota, Florida 34231
     

    It can happen to your family, too!
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 27.07.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [022]
     
    I hope something like this this never happens in your family, but if it did, you would see just how unfair these laws are. I am not talking about ¨pedophiles¨, I am talking about your son or daughter becoming sexually active while under 18 and having to register for life or wear a GPS for life to comply with the Adam Walsh Law. If you don't think it can happen to you or your family, you are in for a big surprise.
     

    Important Ex Post Facto Ruling in Alaska
    By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 27.07.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [021]
     
    IMPORTANT ALASKA DECISION ON EX POST FACTO VIOLATIONS
    A fantastic ruling supporting the rights of at least some ¨sex offenders.¨

    The Alaska Supreme Court ruled July 25 (John Doe v. State of Alaska) that the Alaska ¨sex offender¨ registration requirements for persons arrested and convicted before the law was passed (1994) violate the State protection from ex post facto laws. Alaska discussed the U.S. Supreme Court´s ruling on a similar case in Connecticut (Doe v. Smith) where the SC said ¨sex offender¨ registration was NOT punitive and thus did not violate ex post facto in the U.S. Constitution. Alaska ruled that such registration, while not intended to be punitive, is indeed very punitive, siting U.S.Supreme Court Justice Ginsburg´s dissenting opinion in the Smith case, that public registration on the internet caused ¨proffound humiliation and community wide ostracism.¨ Alaska´s ruling in sum is that
    those requiring public sex offender registry for one ¨who committed a crime and was convicted and sentenced before the Alaska Sex Offender Regstration Act was passed violated ex post facto provisions of the Alaska state Constitution. We conclude it does so, because it imposes burdens that have the effect of adding punishment beyond what could have been imposed when the crime was committed.¨ The Alaska court, in a footnote, quoted Anatole France´s famous saying about the fallacy of a ¨majestic equality of the law which allws the rich and the poor alike to be punished equally for sleeping under a bridge¨..., but that ¨We cannot allow the mere appearance of equal freedom to obscure the reality.¨ Alaska said, essentially, that the appearance of equal freedom in the registry laws, not technically punitive, but in reality horribly so, could not be allowed to stand. Alaska went on to say it would be one thing, for instance, to require periodic registry (with appeals for removal) in order to keep offenders from taking jobs or housing that might endanger children or others, but that Alaska´s current, unappealable, and often lifetime registry, could easily prevent offenders from getting ANY jobs or housing.¨ Alaska also pointed to instances of suicide and vigilante actions against ¨sex offenders´ in other states as evidence of the actually punitive nature of requiring registration which placed people´s identity and address on the internet - ¨for the whole world to see.¨

    Other states: In Maine, a similar challenge to retroactive registry is still underway, though the state court has ruled that a plaintiff has the right to challenge the law as violating ex post facto. Missouri has similarly banned retroactive registration requirements for those convicted in 1995 or before.

    (Thanks to Laurie Peterson for sending all this information along. Apologies to her and to lawyers for the non-legal nature of this article - but we think RSOL people ought to know about this quickly, to challenge similar laws in their own states.)
     

    Response to Lubbock TV 11 Witchhunt
    By anonymous <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 26.07.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [020]
     
    This is one of our members EMails to Lubbock Channel 11. GREAT WORK OF JOURNALISM!!!
    ***
    Response to Lubbock News Channel 11

    Watching Lubbock News Channel 11's reports on "sex offenders" is akin to watching the big dog from down the block tear mercilessly into the helpless little neighbor dog next door. For a while you're struck by the horror, and you want to spring into action. Then you realize how big the dog is, and how you have nothing except yourself to fight it off with...and what would stop a monster like this from turning its bloody jaws on you instead?

    This canine vigilante.

    Ultimately, after trying but failing to see an ounce of compassion in the attacker, you must decide to either stay and watch until the carnage has concluded, or just turn away.

    The little neighbor dog never stops fighting until it's physically impossible. After that, you turn your back, plug your ears and try to hum so you can't hear the crunch of bones. The dog's high-pitched whine. It's final plea for mercy enough to enjoy life a little longer. To escape the pain. You hum a little louder. You turn away so that you won't feel responsible anymore.

    So you don't have to feel the guilt. Your own pet is fine, safe in your house.

    I realize you continue to pump fear into your audience as an attempt to boost your ratings. I'm sure Cecelia Jones takes immense pleasure in "exposing" these horrible "sex offenders" – even though Ms. Jones already knows that 95% of new sex crimes are first-time offenders - not on "The List." That the percentage of guys on "The List" that will re-offend is only 6% (according to a recent Harvard study) – far less than most other crimes. Far less than deadly youthful crimes like DUIs, even.

    But that wouldn't play nearly as well to your audience, would it?

    You and your kind feign support and understanding behind closed doors – to their faces. The faces of those who mourn over the senseless lifetime humiliation and shame for themselves, their children, their families. You proclaim your understanding of the fear that "sex offenders" have of exposure. Their preference to hide from vigilantes.

    Like you.

    No, it's more fun to play on the grotesque – the unfounded fears of the public based on the wild "sex offender" mythology you've been immersing us in for years. Just give your audience a little jerk here and a subtle twist there and you've got them in hysterics, calling for you to draw blood and thanking you for it. Praising you for it.

    Paying you for it.

    Who, exactly, is responsible for the continued torment that a "sex offender" receives, long after the courts have dropped the gavel and doled out their punishment? Why, it's you, of course. The vigilantes in tailored suits and ties, your sporty reporter jumpsuits, your faux looks of concern.

    You've discovered that it's got more "zaz" when you let officers and politicians ramble baseless facts and unsupported claims about the reality of "sex offenders." More "zaz" than calling them on their game. More "zaz" than asking them to support their claims with facts. Studies. Statistics. Truth.

    Think of the children!*

    (*Not the children of "sex offender" dads and moms.)

    You fail to challenge the purpose behind this "registration." The validity of it. The need for it. The usefulness of it. The ways it has ever been used to prevent a crime.

    You fail to ask why "sex offenders" who are not behind bars should be publicly identified and humiliated more than the spouse abusers. The tax evaders. The arsonists. The bar brawlers. The murderers. The drunk drivers. (Those more likely to re-offend.)

    You suggest that pictures of "sex offenders" should be posted near where they live. Where they try to earn a living. Where they take their own children to play. Where they shop for groceries. You forget to tell parents that pictures of all the people who are likely to abuse their children are already hanging right where they can see them.

    They're called family portraits.. Vacation shots. Backyard BBQ cell phone pics. Desktop wallpaper.

    The dog from down the block attacks again and again, but eventually, someone won't turn away. Someone will rally assistance. Someone will call the authorities. Other neighbors will watch from their sidewalks - watch the men loading this pathetic bully of a mongrel into a rusty cage in the back of a truck. They'll not suppress their smiles when they see the beast struggle against its restraints, snapping, confused, terrified. They'll enjoy watching him fall, bound, furious his rampage must come to an end.

    Once they see their unfounded fears embodied – exposed for the mindless, shallow, frothing bully it is – they'll wonder who was to blame. They'll want to know who should have been holding the leash all this time.

    Because the public loves seeing blood. You've trained them to.

    Then what?
     

    She lied about her age, lives ruined!
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 21.07.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [019]
     
    This from Texas says it all about so many cases:

    Long Story Short...son in prison because she lied about her age. Let's punish the ones who really deserve it.
     

    SOR requirements violate constituion
    By unknown <>
    Posted on 18.07.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [018]
     
    TYPICAL COMMENT FROM ¨out there¨ in America!
    we are in the process of transitioning from prison. the requirements of probationary period are extremely expensive and place a hardship on our lives. our country guarantees life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. the sex offender laws violate the constitution daily.
     

    Americans Forget Constitution
    By Tom Brewer <surge@sasktel.net>
    Posted on 17.07.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [017]
     
    I am sorry to say it seems as if the various governments in the USA want everyone to have a "record". It seems one can´t even jay-walk these days without all hell coming down. I'm appalled. As I see it,
    the people have lost control and, while most are disgusted with the
    increase in crime, many are not prepared to act to protect their rights. God help them when one of their own is affected by things that do not bother them now. I guess when it does affect them we should just come running to their aid, right? NO... we should be acting NOW to ensure rights are not lost in all of this. Right now we can forget the idea one is not guilty until proven guilty in a court of law. Strange how the authorities make a big deal when some are arrested. Could it be we assume because one is arrested they must be guilty? It has been far past the time for ordinary citizens to get off their backsides and protect their rights.
     

    Jews in former USSR & Sex Offenders in USA today
    By Fima Estrin <estrinyefim@gmail.com>
    Posted on 15.07.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [016]
     
    NOTE: RSOL does not endorse blog articles, but we believe they provide interesting insight for discussion among rsol participants.
    Alex Marbury
    -----
    JEWS IN THE FORMER USSSR AND SEX OFFENDERS IN USA TODAY
    by Fima Estrin

    A comparison between the living conditions of Soviet Jews and Sex
    offenders in the USA

    (Fima Estrin is a former Soviet Jew and Political and Human Rights refugee, and is now a sex offender registrant in Minnesota.)

    As a former Soviet citizen and Soviet Jew, I experienced a huge
    discrimination in the USSR. All Soviet citizens had passports with a record of nationality in them. Some people had Russian nationality, some Ukranian nationality, and some, like me, had a Jewish record on the first page. We needed to show a passport when applying for jobs, getting housing, or entering University. And when you had a Jewish record it was like being a registered sex offender in the US today.

    Jews were pariahs in the USSR. You should not tell anybody you were a Jew. Some Russian people would beat you. Silently, the Soviet government supported this. When I was a child, some neighbors knew we were Jews, so they sent their kids to fight with me. I was beaten many times, just because of the Jewish Scarlett Letter. The Soviet Police were responsible for maintaining the passport system, and
    putting the Scarlett Jewish ID there. This looks just like the situation for sex offenders in many states today. When their neighbors learn a sex offender family has moved next door, the sex offenders and their families are hassled, possibly their houses attacked, and some sex offenders have even been killed.

    After graduating from high school I was going to Leningrad University. A University worker asked for my passport. He made a note about nationality, and told me there are too many
    Jews here. As a result I got an F on my first test, and could not enter University. I was an A+ student in high school. When I tried to go to a technical college, they again noted my Jewish record.
    As a result I got C's and B's on tests, but they allowed me in. I was
    all A student in college. Jewish people were not allowed to go for PhD, so after graduation I was going to try to work in a Military Industry plant. When I came to Human Resources, the first thing they asked me was, 'Are you a Jew?' And then they did not want to give me a job, but finally had to give me the worst position. Each time I was looking for job, HR asked for a passport, and looked for the Jewish record.

    This is very similar to the employment situation for sex offenders
    in the USA. Human Resources will look for a sex offender record, and then you will not be hired, or you will be kicked out if you already have been hired. Last year I got a a low level job repairing some hardware. I worked just one day and then was kicked out when HR got the background investigation result.

    What is the difference between my past Jewish pariah status and now my sex offender pariah status? I am unemployed for 6 years, since 2002.

    In 1996 I thought I had enough in the former USSR. I had relatives in the US, and sent them an application for entering the US. The US embassy invited my family for an interview in Moscow. I explained to
    them all the discrimination I had experienced. I remembered that one of the US officers interviwing me asked me if I could practice my religion. My answer was: ¨Synagogue¨ here is a very bad, illegal word, so what are you talking about?'

    I got refugee status based on human rights´ violations in the former USSR. My family moved to the US. But in the US I did not escape the Scarlet Letter, I got another one! I was branded ¨sex offender.¨ There are many articles about how this happened to me. You can find all of them here

    http://estrinyefim.newsvine.com/_news/2007/06/23/798199-internet-porn-hysteria

    As you can see from this article, the situation for Jews in the USSR was exactly the same as the situation for sex offenders in the year 2008 in the USA!

    All govenments in all ages need enemies! They try to create a class of pariahs to blame for everything, and divert people´s attention from the real problems.

    I consider my situation in the democratic USA much worse and even more dangerous than my situation had been in the former USSR. More dangerous, because, although I suffered discrimination, the Soviet government never used their Criminal Justice system as an instrument of repression against me.

    Fima Estrin
     

    How Stupid We´ve Become
    By unknown <info@reformsexoffenderlaws.org>
    Posted on 15.07.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [015]
     
    Update July 15, 2008: Actual author of this article is unknown.

    NOTE: RSOL does not endorse the content of blog articles, but we believe they are important as inspiration for discussion!
    Alex

    HOW STUPID WE´VE BECOME
    by unknown

    READER: SCHOOL -- 1957 vs. 2007

    Scenario: Jack goes quail hunting before school, pulls into school parking lot with shotgun in gun rack.
    1957 - Vice Principal comes over, looks at Jack 's shotgun, goes to his car and gets his shotgun to show Jack .
    2007 - School goes into lock down, FBI called, Jack hauled off to jail and never sees his truck or gun again. Counsellors called in for traumatized students and teachers.

    Scenario: Johnny and Mark get into a fist-fight after school.
    1957 - Crowd gathers. Mark wins. Johnny and Mark shake hands and end up buddies.
    2007 - Police called, SWAT team arrives, arrests Johnny and Mark . Charge them with assault, both expelled even though Johnny started it.

    Scenario: Jeffrey won't be still in class, disrupts other students.
    1957 - Jeffrey sent to office and given a good paddling by the Principal. Returns to class, sits still and does not disrupt class again.
    2007 - Jeffrey given huge doses of Ritalin. Becomes a zombie. Tested for ADD. School gets extra money from State because Jeffrey has a disability.

    Scenario: Billy breaks a window in his neighbour's car and his Dad gives him a whipping with his belt.
    1957 - Billy is more careful next time, grows up normal, goes to college, and becomes a successful businessman.
    2007 -. Billy 's dad is arrested for child abuse. Billy removed to foster care and joins a gang. State psychologist tells Billy 's sister that she remembers being abused herself and their dad goes to prison. Billy 's mom has affair with psychologist

    Scenario: Mark gets a headache and takes some aspirin to school.
    1957 - Mark shares aspirin with Principal out on the smoking dock.
    2007 - Police called, Mark expelled from school for drug violations. Car searched for drugs and weapons.

    Scenario: Pedro fails high school English.
    1957 - Pedro goes to summer school, passes English, goes to college.
    2007 - Pedro 's cause is taken up by state. Newspaper articles appear nationally explaining that teaching English as a requirement for graduation is racist. ACLU files class action lawsuit against State school system and Pedro’s English teacher. English banned from core curriculum. Pedro given diploma anyway but ends up mowing lawns for a living because he cannot speak English.

    Scenario: Johnny takes apart leftover firecrackers from 4th of July, puts them in a model airplane paint bottle, blows up a red ant bed.
    1957 - Ants die.
    2007 - BATF, Homeland Security, FBI called. Johnny charged with domestic terrorism, FBI investigates parents, siblings removed from home, computers confiscated, Johnny 's Dad goes on a terror watch list and is never allowed to fly again.

    Scenario: Johnny falls while running during recess and scrapes his knee. He is found crying by his teacher, Mary . Mary hugs him to comfort him.
    1957 - In a short time, Johnny feels better and goes on playing.
    2007 - Mary is accused of being a sexual predator and loses her job. She faces 3 years in State Prison. Johnny undergoes 5 years of therapy.

    This should hit every e-mail to show how STUPID we have become !!!
     

    Retroactive Registration UnConstitutional
    By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 14.07.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [014]
     
    RSOL gets many well-thought-out comments about the unConstitutional aspects of retroactive registry laws. In fact, such requirements are in fact punishment and also ex-post-facto. Any reasonable court should see that - why have so few done so? (There have been courts at the local level in Maine and Ohio and some other states that have agreed.) We welcome others to join this discussion:
    ----------------
    (From an RSOL participant)
    I am writng concerning the sex offender retroactive law. It has been
    determined (incorrectly) that the registration law is not punishiment. If that is the case than there should be no registration on conviction or it is punishment. For the law not to be punishment the convicted person must be charged with the registration law after being convicted and then rules of evidence and all other defendent safeguards are applicable including self incrimination. NO person shall be compelled to testify against himself: therefore for a person to admit to being a sex
    offender is being required to testify against himself (an
    unconstitutional law if a person is required to testify against himself).

    Point two relating to ex post facto:
    "laws that makes an action done before the passing of the law, and which was innocent when done, criminal; and punishes such action, is an ex post facto law." Well if the action being done was walking around without having to register and innocent and now they pass a law that says walking around without registering is criminal and is to be punished then that is an ex post facto law.
     

    Some Good News about AWA in NH
    By Laurie Peterson <cursor@eprci.com>
    Posted on 11.07.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [013]
     
    Lauire Peterson, organizer of the New Hampshire Affilated State Group for RSOL, sends this important information. It shows how careful local lobby efforts can make a difference. That doesn´t mean the new law is perfect, but less unjust than it would have been had the New Hampshire activists not worked to revise it!

    GOOD NEWS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE

    Please feel free to share with anyone else that needs the good news:

    NH's version of the Adam Walsh Act was officially signed in June of 2008 by the Governor. Myself and many others fought hard to get sensible legislation passed, to keep out harmful things and to include positive things. Here is a summary of our victories:

    1) NH has expanded the convicting laws for Felonious Sexual Assault (our version of Statutory Rape) to a 4 year age difference, in which the conviction would now be a misdemeanor without sex offender registration. Previously, there was a 3 year age gap that differentiated between misdemeanor and felonies.

    2) NH has extended the privilege of removal from the public list for those who fall within 4 years (and were previously convicted as felons requiring registration) to be removed after 5 years from the date of release/custody. In addition, there will be no psychological evaluation for this group required by law! Unfortunately, they will still be required to register on a private list (but this is something for us to work on next year).

    3) NH has extended the privilege of removal from the 'public list' to tier 2 offenders after 15 years post release under certain circumstances. There must be no other convictions on the record of the offender that are class A misdemeanors or felonies, there must be a psychological exam paid for by the offender and the court must find that it is in the best interest of the offender. You can re-petition if denied once every 5 years. You are otherwise registered for life. (We do hope to work on full removal after 25 years, as outlined by the Adam Walsh Act in the coming years).

    4) We were successful in convincing our legislature to keep employer addressess OFF the public list. Thousands of jobless and unemployable offenders will NOT increase the public safety and our legislature agreed with us!

    Here is a link to the final legislation:

    http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/legislation/2008/HB1640.html

    I'd be happy to answer questions if anyone has them!

    Laurie Peterson, cursor@eprici.com
     

    Hysteria about children helps no-one
    By Mary Sue Molnar (TEXAS RSOL) <marysueintx@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 30.05.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [012]
     
    Published by The Dallas Morning News - May, 29, 2008

    Sex offender hysteria
    Re: "Free-range children" Really, it's OK for kids to go outside and
    play unsupervised, says Rosa Brooks," Saturday Viewpoints.
    Ms. Brooks' column on New York mother Lenore Skenazy was a powerful
    reminder of the good ol' days. Political and media fear-mongering have thrown our nation into hysteria concerning those individuals labeled as sex offenders. Facts and common sense have been replaced by feel-good laws.

    The national sex offender registry, originally intended for dangerous, violent offenders, is overblown with thousands who are of no risk to children or society. Unfortunately, the general public believes that anyone labeled as a sex offender is to be feared. How sad for our nation, and how sad for our children.
    Mary Molnar, San Antonio
     

    My life destroyed by the state of Virginia
    By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 27.05.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [011]
     
    A courageous wife in Virginia wants to share this: (and no, Virginia is not even the worst! but it's up there.) By the way, she suggests a state by state comparison of the laws for sex offender registration and residency, etc. We'd like to do that, buat lack the information - we urge everyone to send in a summary of the main requirements in your state.
    -----
    Thank you for creating this web-site. It gives the accused a place to speak and know they are not alone. Over the past year I have wondered what the laws in other states are when it comes to the investigation, prosecution and registration of sex offenders.

    Is Virginia one of the worst or did my husband avoid what others can not avoid. On May 7 2008 I finally decided to write to every Virginian Legislator, Senator and Congressmen as the one year anniversary of my life being destroyed by the state of Virginia approached. On May 19 I wrote the ACLU, on May 21, I wrote the Governor of Virginia on May 25, I wrote the Attorney General of Virginia and on May 26. I wrote the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia and a large number of U.S. Senators. I told them our entire experience and that the current laws are wrong and need to be changed.

    As of today I have heard back from one Legislator and one Virginia
    Senator. Your site mentioned future additions, I'd like to suggest a state by state comparison of laws and regulations to become one of those additions. As well as links to U.S. Legislators web-sites that promote this fear of predators in America. That way the families can easily write to them.
     

    Nevada Passes more bad laws
    By Brian <lakeshore80@yahoo.com>
    Posted on 24.05.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [010]
     
    Original Author: Brian

    Original Source: Nevada Legislature

    Original Link:

    Contribution: The Nevada Legislature has once again changed the sex offender registration system, forcing most offenders that have been registering as a Tier 1 (low-risk) to begin registering as Tier 2(medium-risk) based solely on the amount of time they spent in prison (one year or more). This legislation takes effect regardless of the former offenders’ good behavior or even though the crime committed was non-violent! This decision was hastily made without proper review, like most of these decisions.

    This is an outrage! These over-reaching laws do not make communities safer, in fact, they make them less safe. Many former sex offenders have families who are also affected by these unjust laws. Plus, the majority of sex offenders have committed non-violent crimes such as viewing a few nude teen images on the Net or urinating in public! These people are hardly the demonic molesters hiding in shadows waiting to strike as the corrupted news media would have us believe. Sure these are crimes, but not major ones, and they and their families should not be subject to eternal damnation by career-minded politicians and sensationalistic journalists.

    The current laws in a number of states overpunish these non-violent people based on little or no facts. Factually, the majority of sex offenders do not re-offend based on a study by the Department of Justice. This is likely because most are not “sexual predators”.

    The sex offender web registry should be reserved only for those offenders scientifically evaluated to be a high-risk. Police are overburdened with the SOR and have a difficult time keeping up with all offenders, thus allowing the truly dangerous offenders in the minority a chance to re-offend. It is time to reform the SOR in every state, especially Nevada, based on rational judgment instead of hysterical conclusions.

    Again, these non-violent offenders should not even be listed on a web database, let alone “bumped” up a Tier level for doing nothing to deserve it! This runaway legislation must be reformed! It is counter-productive, defaming, hysterical, and dangerous! Do you realize that now even children are on the SOR? Plus, many children related to former sex offenders are being harassed thanks to the online database? So how does this system keep kids safe? It doesn’t. Ripping a child away from his or her father simply because he once viewed a few indecent images on the web or sunbathed in the nude is a huge injustice to everyone involved!

    What is the solution? I believe it’s pretty clear, drop all the sex offenders who have non-violent offenses and who haven’t re-offended from the registry while keeping the truly high-risk offenders. This will make it much easier for law-enforcement to track those who really do pose a threat to the public. But also make it a felony for anyone to harass them or their families and offer them effective treatment until they are no longer considered a high risk, determined by mental health professionals and judges. Sex offenders can be rehabilitated given the proper treatment as many mental health and family psychiatrists will tell you and the apparently low recidivism rate.

    Families everywhere are devastated by these far-reaching laws. So, if you ever do a website search for local sex offenders living in your Nevada neighborhood, think about who you are judging and research facts before you rush to any conclusions about this person. Most of the listings will be non-violent offenders who have not re-offended, thanks to the new laws.

    This legislation needs to change and if you also support reforming this unjust decision by the Nevada Legislature, phone, write or e-mail them as soon as possible.
     

    Think outside the box about rsos!
    By Alex Marbury <alexm60@fastmail.fm>
    Posted on 17.05.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [009]
     
    Comment sent from angry North Carolina residents - Can anyone help us think outside the box to get Americans angary about this outrageous treatment of citizens who have completed their sentences?

    ¨i am ticked off! i read in the statesville record and landmark tonite that the city of hickory, north carolina is planning on putting into a law that SO cannot visit local parks!

    what i want to know is this: after a sentence has been given and served and probation is completed aren't SO supposedly regular citizens? so why are they being so mistreated??? how do we change the public's opinion? someone in the marketing/advertising field needs to help with this and think OUTSIDE the box to come up with some positive spin to allow folk to see that SO are not all bad people. and, to reiterate what a lot of people have said: i'd
    rather have a SO living next door to me than i would have a murderer!¨
     

    Denton County judge's son, 18, indicted in sexual assault
    By Donna Fielder, Denton Record-Chronicle <>
    Posted on 15.04.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [008]
     
    Another romeo-and-juliette story, but this time with a twist: they're gay teens. Note how consensual sex is termed sexual assault by the police. Whatever happened to the word statutory rape? While RSOL disagrees whole heartedly with laws that criminalize teenaged sexual behavior, statutory rape has at least the quality of being a fair description of the supposed crime. It's against the law, but not against the person.

    A grand jury on Thursday indicted Robert Wyatt Evans, 18, of Sanger on a charge of sexual assault and a charge of indecency with a child. Mr. Evans, the son of state District Judge Lee Gabriel, is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy.

    Texas law states that if a teenager who is at least three years older than a child under the age of 17 has a sexual relationship with the younger teen, the older teen can be charged with sexual assault even if the two parties said the sex was consensual. Mr. Evans' attorney has said his client is three years and 12 days older than the boy.

    Mr. Evans was an all-state band member ranked eighth academically in a class of 131 at Sanger High School at the time the allegations came to light in late 2007. He enrolled in a private school after the case began.

    Both charges are second-degree felonies and carry penalties of two to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

    Donna Fielder, Denton Record-Chronicle

    Link: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/032908dnmetassault.d40da07.html

     

    NY Gov. Spitzer Implicated in Sex Ring [Updated]
    By RSOL Team <info@reformsexoffenderlaws.org>
    Posted on 10.03.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [007]
     
    While SOHopeful comes to grips with the challenges facing them after the indictment of their co-founder, Jim Freeman, we note New York Governer Elliot Spitzer has his own hands full, having been linked publicly today to a high-class prostitution ring. Spitzer used sex offender panic to rule New York. He made it his mission to get civil committment legislation passed. In his 2008 address he made the following statement:

    We enacted tough new ethics laws. We protected New Yorkers from repeat sexual offenders and human traffickers
    Now he is facing possible prosecution and registration as a sex offender.

    http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/0310082spitzer1.html
    http://www.ny.gov/governor/keydocs/2008sos_speech.html

    [Update]: Spitzer to be charged with "structuring"

    Spitzer, who made his name by bringing high-profile cases against many of New York's financial giants, is likely to be prosecuted under a relatively obscure statute called "structuring," according to a Justice Department official.

    Structuring involves creating a series of financial movements designed to obscure the true purpose of the payments.
    Sound fair to you?

    http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=4424507&page=1
     

    Is Ricky Really a Sex Offender?
    By Hanna Ingber Win <>
    Posted on 02.03.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [006]
     
    California's registry for life may soon include promiscuous kids

    When Ricky was 16, he went to a teen club and met a girl named Amanda, who said she was the same age. They hit it off and were eventually having sex. At the time Ricky thought it was a pretty normal high school romance.

    Two years later, Ricky is a registered sex offender, and his life is destroyed.

    Amanda turned out to be 13. Ricky was arrested, tried as an adult, and pleaded guilty to the charge of lascivious acts with a child, which is a class D felony in Iowa. It is not disputed that the sex was consensual, but intercourse with a 13-year-old is illegal in Iowa.

    Ricky was sentenced to two years probation and 10 years on the Iowa online sex offender registry. Ricky and his family have since moved to Oklahoma, where he will remain on the state's public registry for life.

    Being labeled a sex offender has completely changed Ricky's life, leading him to be kicked out of high school, thrown out of parks, taunted by neighbors, harassed by strangers, and unable to live within 2,000 feet of a school, day-care center or park. He is prohibited from going to the movies or mall with friends because it would require crossing state borders, which he cannot do without permission from his probation officer. One of Ricky's neighbors called the cops on him, yelled and cursed at him, and videotaped him every time he stepped outside, Ricky said.

    See the rest of the article:

    Link: http://www.lacitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/is_ricky_really_a_sex_offender/6726/

     
    NameComment
    MaryI am Ricky's mom Mary and just like to thank people for posting Ricky's story here and across the web. It is important people take the L.A. Beat article written by Hanna Ingber Win and print it and send to radio stations, news stations, legislators as well as educate their children and parents of other children. So many say they want to help Ricky well then please push his story post it everywhere ask folks to write my legislators Gus Blackwell, John Auffet and Jim Wilson of Oklahoma and Keith Kreiman of Iowa...Its important we continue to breathe fire into Ricky's story as it may save his young life and thousands of boys across this country.

    Thank you a desperate mom
    Mary
    BrianThat is shocking! I really feel for Ricky and his family. I sincerely hope he will recover from this big miscarriage of justice. He is certainly NOT a child molester and does not deserve to be treated like he is some sort of monster. These laws are way out of control. I wish you and Ricky all my best in getting your lives back on track.

    Sex-offender law ignores real harm
    By Sarah Tofte, Human Rights Watch <hrwnyc@hrw.org>
    Posted on 02.03.2008
    Link to this blog entry: [005]
     
    State lawmakers will need to decide whether to comply with the federal Adam Walsh Act on sex offenders or lose federal money for law enforcement. The choice for states is to dramatically increase their registration and community-notification requirements for convicted sex offenders by 2009 or lose significant federal law enforcement grant money.

    It doesn't seem like a difficult choice. Who wouldn't want to support laws targeting convicted sex offenders and be paid for it? Yet legislatures from Arizona to Illinois to Rhode Island are leaning against implementing the law. Because once you get past the painful emotions and look hard at the problem of child sexual abuse, it turns out that sex-offender registration and community-notification laws might not actually prevent sexual violence.

    Sex-offender laws are based on two popular myths about child abuse: that children have most to fear from strangers, and that sex offenders will repeat their crimes. In fact, more than 90 percent of child sexual abuse is committed by someone the child knows. And authoritative studies show that three out of four sex offenders do not re-offend within 15 years of release from prison. In fact, 87 percent of sex crimes are committed by people with no previous sex-offense convictions.

    The Adam Walsh Act doesn't tackle the real dangers to children, and contains disturbing provisions. It requires states to register and identify online children 14 and older who commit sex offenses. Many states treat juvenile sex offenders differently from adults, exempting them from community notification. They understand that young sex offenders respond well to treatment and have an excellent chance of rehabilitation - and that crimes they committed as children should not haunt the rest of their lives. Thus the Illinois legislature, knowing it was acting in conflict with the Adam Walsh Act, recently overrode the governor's veto of a law exempting child offenders from online registration.

    In the past, federal law required only that states register sexually violent offenders for 15 years. The new act requires states to register virtually anyone convicted of a sex offense. This would force some states to significantly expand their registries. While it may seem a good idea to place all convicted sex offenders on a registry, law enforcement officials and child-safety advocates say that expanding the registry to include all offenders reduces its usefulness in helping law enforcement to identify and monitor individuals considered a real risk to the community.

    The Adam Walsh Act also extends from 15 years to 25 years or life the time someone is on a registry and subject to community notification, without the possibility of petitioning to be removed. If Congress had consulted experts on sexual violence, it would have found that the longer a convicted sex offender lives offense-free in the community, the less likely he is to re-offend, which is why experts often advocate giving convicted sex offenders an opportunity to be released from registry requirements upon a showing of rehabilitation.

    Implementing the changes required by the act will cost states a lot of money. At a legislative hearing in Arizona, witnesses testified that the state would lose between $700,000 and $800,000 in federal law enforcement grants if it didn't comply with the law - but that it would cost millions of dollars to expand the state's sex-offender laws to comply with the Adam Walsh Act.

    Unnecessarily expansive community-notification laws may drive more offenders underground, away from supportive services like treatment, and away from the supervision and monitoring of law enforcement. Harsh enduring consequences also provide little incentive for former offenders to live without re-offending: as one registrant told Human Rights Watch, "No one believes I can change, so why even try?"

    Sarah Tofte is a U.S. researcher for Human Rights Watch and the author of "No Easy Answers: Sex Offender Laws in the U.S." E-mail her through HRW at hrwnyc@hrw.org.
     

    Judge Tosses Out Residency Restrictions In Ohio Ruling
    By The Reform Sex Offender Laws Group <info@ReformSexOffenderLaws.Org>
    Posted on 22.09.2007
    Link to this blog entry: [004]
     
    Remember those men forced to live under a bridge in Florida? Residency restrictions are among the most draconian measures leveled at 'sex offenders', making it nearly impossible for those who have served their time to reintegrate into society, to find and retain employment, and involve themselves in a community. Depressingly, these laws are spreading all over America.

    It is therefore good news to learn that a federal judge in Ohio has ruled unconstitutional the retroactive aspect of these restrictions. Those convicted before the passing of the law, July 31, 2003, and residing in the 40 counties in this federal jurisdiction, will no longer be subject to residency restrictions. The limitation of this ruling is obvious: anyone convicted after that date will continue to live under the restrictions. Here are a handful of stories on the matter.

    1. Part of Ohio Sex Offender Law Stuck Down
    CLEVELAND (AP) — A federal judge struck down part of a law barring convicted sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school, saying offenders can remain in their homes if their crimes were committed before the law went into effect.

    In a decision Tuesday, Judge James S. Gwin in Akron ruled that the law cannot be applied to anyone who committed a crime before July 31, 2003, the effective date of the Ohio Legislature's ban. ...
    2. Judge: Sex offender living near school can't be evicted
    CLEVELAND - Authorities cannot evict a convicted rapist whose home is near a school, a federal judge in Akron ordered Tuesday, ruling that the state's law limiting where sex offenders live is unconstitutional if applied to crimes committed before the law went into effect.

    Lane Mikaloff, who served 16 years in prison for raping a woman, received an eviction notice in 2005 from the Summit County Sheriff's Office because of his home's proximity to McEbright Elementary School in Akron. ...
    3. Sexual predator ruling gets officials' attention
    A recent decision by a federal judge in Akron could provide legal precedent allowing certain convicted sex offenders in northwest Ohio to reside close to schools.

    Judge James Gwin of the U.S. District Court in Akron decided last week that the state law prohibiting sex offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school is unconstitutional when applied to those who committed their crimes before the law took effect.

    More than 7,000 registered sex offenders in Ohio committed their crime before the law was initiated on July 31, 2003. ...
    4. Ruling affects sex-offender restrictions
    CLEVELAND — Thousands of convicted sex offenders could be affected by a federal court ruling striking down a portion of an Ohio law which barred them from living within 1,000 feet of a school.

    The decision affects offenders living in the jurisdiction of the U.S. District Court Northern District of Ohio, covering 40 counties, said David Singleton, executive director of the Cincinnati-based Ohio Justice and Policy Center.

    In a decision Tuesday, Judge James S. Gwin in Akron ruled that the law cannot be applied to anyone who committed a crime before July 31, 2003, the effective date of the Ohio Legislature’s ban on offenders living within 1,000 feet of school property. ...
     

    Does America Really Need Its Own Holocaust?
    By anonymous <>
    Posted on 22.09.2007
    Link to this blog entry: [003]
     
    The following lett