California Proposition 83: Sex Offenders (“Jessica’s Law”) is an example of a terrible law that will pass because of good framing (who on earth is in favor of sex offenders?). I don’t believe that i can stop it from passing, but i want to beg anyone who can listen to please please please Vote NO on 83. Please continue on to read why; it’s really important.
On the outset, the law seems like a good thing. It would increase the length and severity of penalties for specified sex offenses, eliminate early releases, and extend parole. Here’s where things get tricky.. It would also require GPS devices for registered sex offenders (per Meghan’s Law) for the rest of their lives. It would also limit sex offenders from living within 2000 feet of any school or park. Again, these might not seem so bad, but here are some reasons for which they are:
- Not all sex offenders are child molesters. Included on the list of registered sex offenders are: adults who rape adults (including domestic rape), people who commit sodomy (often used to go after gay men), people who engage in oral sex (including consensual oral sex and oral sex while in jail), and people who commit statutory rape. While rape is horrific, this punishment does nothing to prevent it from happening, but it punishes many in the process.
- Schwarzenegger recently signed laws that expand the penalty for child rape and calls for the electronic tracking of high-risk sex offenders (i.e. child rapists) while on parole. The new laws even ban sex offenders from loitering around schools and parks which is much more effective than banning them from living close to a school. In other words, the meat of this bill has been signed in and the bill only expands it for all sex offenders over all time (even if they have done nothing wrong in 20 years). (see OC Register)
- All of San Francisco is within 2000 feet of a school or park; most of Los Angeles is. This means that sex offenders cannot live in major metropolitan regions. This exports the problem to rural regions where there are less resources to handle cases. This also means that offenders will have a much harder time getting jobs and homes which means they are likely to commit violent acts again (remember: rape is not about sex; it’s about power). Syphoning perverts to suburban and rural regions (where most children live) does not do anything to help children. (see: CALCASA)
- Residency restrictions do nothing to stop the 80-90% of cases where children are raped in their own homes. Furthermore, it reduces the likelihood that they will be reported. (see CJCJ)
- The vast majority of rapists are known to their victims; this reduces the likelihood that domestic rape will be reported.
- 86% of sex offenders are never reported; this will make sure that even more go unreported. (see: CALCASA)
- Very few child molesters pick their victims from schools/parks and of those who do, it is almost never what they do the second time. Furthermore, keeping them from living near parks/schools has never actually stopped those that do.
- A very common tactic of predators is that they marry single mothers to go after their children. This does absolutely nothing to stop this (nor would banning marriage).
- This will cost the State upwards of $100M a year; this money could be better spent on prosecuting sick fucks who are found out (only a small fraction are actually prosecuted due to lack of funds).
- GPS companies are rallying for it – they will make millions.
- GPS does not work in BART. It does not work in parking garages. It doesn’t even work reliably in malls. There are other location-based technologies that could do the same job with more accuracy and reliability (such as mobile phone positioning), but Prop 83 only specifies GPS. (Tx Liz)
- Those who want to get out of these devices will have an easy time – they can pound them, cut them, destroy them. They cost $3500 a piece and must be replaced every 6 months because they break so easily.
- Many towns have laws regarding sex offenders that make sense for their towns; this overrides them in a one-size-fits all way that is not helpful for anyone and it takes agency away from local neighborhoods to deal with risks in their area.
This law does not make people safer; it only makes them feel safer.
I’m all in favor of doing things to stop crimes against children, but let’s use our money and efforts to do something that will actually prevent crimes rather than something that will make us feel like something is being done. Let’s make sure we prosecute these men (and jail them for a long long time); let’s make sure we educate young people to come forward. Let’s separate high risk (likely to repeat) sex offenders from one-time sex offenders.
Don’t get me wrong – i’m not in favor of child molesters and i’m all too familiar with the experience of rape. I’ve spent a good chunk of my life trying to stop violence against women and girls; i want to see real action, not politics when it comes to this issue. This is a terrible terrible terrible law that will not prevent crimes, but will cost the State money that could be used to really address this problem. The problem is that it’s passing 7:1. Please, if there’s any chance in hell of stopping this, please help me do so.
More Information:
For a fantastic panel discussion on Prop 83, please listen to NPR’s The Forum.
Many organizations are opposed to Prop 83, including the California Coalition on Sex Offending, Progressive Christians Uniting, Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice, California Attorneys for Criminal Justice, various queer organizations, the ACLU, the Criminal Legal Justice Foundation, the Santa Cruz Commission to Prevent Violence Against Women, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register, and the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA). Check out CALCASA’s blog
Great post.
You might want to change the wording on the first bullet point though. “While all of these crimes are horrific” probably only refers to the rape and statutory rape, and not the oral sex and sodomy.
Nice CAPTCHA, BTW. Would never have thought of that.
I think it’s important to point out the bit about statutory rape. In many cases, this is just high school kids having consensual (though underage) sex. There are many kids who just got caught doing some heavy petting who are now branded forever as a “sex offender”.
Also, here in Georgia, there was a TV news item on the sex offender registry recently. One of the exception cases they highlighted was a woman who was on the sex offender list as some sort of “accessory”, because she had her 15 year old daughter put on birth control pills.
The main problem with tougher sex offender laws is seeing how broad the term “sex offender” can be, if you aren’t careful. The only suggestion I have is that it might be useful to have different classification levels for different offenses. Minor offenses might include the aforementioned ‘consensual’ cases (mutually consensual underage sex, ‘sodomy’, maybe certain low-level public exposure cases (passed out drunk with your pants down?)). Then more major offenses would include violent sex crimes, child molestation, etc. The sticking point there would be the age-old “where do you draw the line” problem.
*I* certainly wouldn’t want to be the one who had to decide the exact definitions for what separated the different levels.
To be honest, I am conflicted. While I want to do all logical things possible to prevent children from being raped and molested, I am not sure how far is too far. My immediate reaction would be to say that there is no “too far”, but my rational side knows there is. A lot of your points make sense once you explain them; the high costs, practically forcing this problem into rural settings, all of which are true and problematic for innocent citizens. Your point about statuatory rape, I do not agree with. This isn’t children having sex with children, an 11 year and another 11 year can legally have sex. This is an 18 year old and a 16 year old, some cases, 13, 12, 11 even. That’s not consensual, even if she does say yes. More so, regarding the costs, if my child were raped, and I could pay 3500 to always know where her/his attacker was, I must say that would seemingly large sum would become pocket change.
I think the real problem that needs to be addressed is not this law, but more so, the politics around normative sex.
Who’s to say an 18 year old and a 16 year old can’t have consensual sex?!
The law says an 18 year old and a 16 year old can’t have sex in some places. While I agree with you that that is problematic, I also feel like an 18 year old is a lot more mature than most 16 years old, and the laws are created in the interest of most. Also, there is a line between childhood and adulthood. That line is 18. You can make your own medical decisions, buy birth control, live on your own… at 18. That’s the line. That line needs to be universal. To be tried as an adult, you should have to be 18. To have consensual sex, both parties should have to be both under or over 18. To buy cigarettes, hell even alcohol, one should only have to be 18. Especially in a time with a war, if you can fight for this country, you’re an adult, in all terms.
I favor doing something to protect victims of improper sexual behavior, as all rational people do. However, GPS will never PREVENT a crime, it will only make catching the perpetrator easier. In reality, a sex offender could kidnap, rape and kill a victim with the GPS strapped on and functioning perfectly! Do people really believe GPS will make them one iota safer? It might make us all FEEL safer, but its a false feeling of security, not worth the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars annually.
Sure, GPD aids after-the-fact apprehension of the perpetrator, but we already have something that does that for far, far less money – DNA Tests.
I’m getting tired of bad ideas from our politicians. Prop 83 is a BAD IDEA.
i agree that some sex offenders should be punished more than others, but putting a tracking system on their rist where everyone can see them is WRONG. this is going to cause a lot more problems for our state than our current laws do. yes i agree we need to protect our children, but this is NOT the way to do it. California is trying to stick tracking divises on people who have made honest mistakes years ago, and have since then lives as law abiding people. this is WRONG. i happen to know two so called “sex offenders” and these two people i do not see hurting a single soul. they were in the wrong place at the wrong time. in other words set up, and now California is trying to screw them over. yeah nice state we live in right? i believe we should keep the laws we currently have, but make a few improvements. such as: catagorize the different crimes. these people who are on “megans list” are all being catagorized as the same people, for instince, a man who just had consencual sex with a 16 or 17 year old girl is ranked thesame as some man who melested, raped, and tortured a girl she died died. this to me is sickning.
thanks
Did I tell you they tried to pass a law in Georgia that said that sex offenders couldn’t live within 2000 feet of a school bus stop? Which meant that the owners of one particular derelict factory in Fulton county could make a killing having apartments for sex offenders, because they wouldn’t be able to live anywhere else within an hour’s driving radius of metropolitan Atlanta.
I think this is another way for the government to go over that limit which has been long over due they were bound to try to do this at one time or another and what better way to try and take our rights from us than to use our children to scare us.Our children are sacred to us and they want to use the fear of them being harmed to track a persons every move even if they are not deserving of it!!! not everyone is a child molester and there are families with realtives who have made mistakes and know what I am speaking about. It is our right to be were we want when we want and they should not be able to track us… never the less who will pay for the equipment? TAXPAYERS AND OUR CHILDREN. FUNDING for schools did not pass but they want to track all registered sex offenders even if it was undeer lude acts ( consentual) or not that is descrimination and deception at its worst. What I would like to know is why then do they not run an add saying that sex offenders have less than a 50% REARREST RATE AND WHY DONT THEY DIFFERENTIATE BETWEEN VIOLENT OFFENDERS AND LUDE ACTS OR CONSETUTAL STAGITORY. What is the majority of the prison population? MINORITIES.So they have found a way to slowly move them out make more money for themselves and charge us for it and still not protect our children from the predators because more than half the children that are violated are done so by a relative or some one close to them. What about the children of the families they would like to confine to specific living areas? those children would have no choice in schooling or community participation. They in turn would be put in danger since the difference beteen offences will not be addressed they will be forced to live in a community were there are violent predators lurking and waiting. How again is this supposed to help our childres, or state?
I believe this is another attempt at “Society” and GOVERNMENT trying to play “BIG BROTHER” !
WE THE PEOPLE know our mothers and fathers had sexual relations at a much earlier age than we did, and to further this our “FOUR FATHERS” (a time when a 30 year old man could wed a 12 year old girl) was the norm, and was FORCED UPON BY MEMBERS OF SECTARIAN RELIGIOUS GROUPS”
WE must remember that children are growing intellectually faster than we could ever imagined, and they know whets “RIGHT & WRONG” at ages 7 to 12, as if there growing up to fast and knowing to much about Being an adult!
I BELIEVE THE PROBLEMS ARE WITH FAMILY VALUES, AND NOT FOR SOCIETY OR (BIG BROTHER) OUR GOVERNMENT TO DECIDE!
PS. If you think I am being to nice on sexual predators….. wait till one of your close family members is accused of such a FUCKIN NASTY CRIME!
Also remember all the THE PUBLIC SERVICE members who are being ACCUSED OF SUCH CRIMES!… THEY ARE THE ONES WHO SHOULD SERVE LIFE IN PRISON!!!!!!!
THEY ARE OUR TRUSTED PEOPLE, WHOM WE TRUST WITH OUR LAW’S. OUR CHILDREN, THERE ARE THE ONES WHOM WE SHOULD INCARCERATE FOR LIFE!!!!!!
I agree with
Betty Hernandez at November 8, 2006 12:29 PM
Do you realy think these “female” school teachers
with there pretty blond hair and perfect lips deserve a break????
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
WOW IM NOT AMUSED at our justice system taking a pretty women “WHO RAPED A 15 YEAR OLD BOY” and letting her go “WITHOUT ANY PRISON TIME” as she was someone special!!!!
HANG THAT BITCH CHILD MOLESTER, JUST LIKE YOU WOULD A MALE TEACHER WHOM RAPED YOUR 13 YEAR OLD DAUGHTER ON PROM NIGHT!!!!!
WTF ARE YOU (MEMBERS OF SOCIETY, AND OUR ELECTED JUDGES) THINKING?????
THIS BITCH (ANY MANY MORE) MOLESTED A BOY AT AGE 15!!!
all i can say is WAKE THE FUCK UP! and take control of houshold/family, TEACH YOUR KIDS!
ITS NOT THE GOVERNMETS JOB!!!!!!
The propaganda geared to support prop 83 was deceiving to the public which would ultimately have devastating consequences to all Californians. Prop 83 doesn’t protect our children; it will create chaos resulting in more crime, waste of tax payers? money. This evil law is punitive and definitely unconstitutional. The public is so gullible to the lies regarding the fear tactics used by the politicians, law enforcement and the media in regards to special interest. We all want to protect our children and family, but we can?t believe them every time they cry wolf. The children this law is supposed to protect will ultimately fall victim to this evil law
REPEAL ALL US SEX CRIME LAW! RADICALS INSIST WE SURRENDER OUR RIGHTS IN ORDER FOR BIDG SISTER CAN FIGHT “SEX CRIMES”. SOON THEY’LL TRY TO CLASSIFY ALL HETEROSEXUALITY IS RAPE AND USE THIS TO JUSTIFY DESTROYING ALL OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS. FEMINIST ANTI-SEX LAW IS TOTALITARIAN TYRANNY!!!!
not all sexual preditors molest children but we have to stop them mefore they start molesting them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
not all sexual preditors molest children but we have to stop them before they start molesting them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
“Our slogan is: you can talk when you need!Thare is no problem what we can not
solve.game”
in response to Lawhater/rose who wrote :
“not all sexual preditors molest children but we have to stop them mefore they start molesting them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
So basically you believe in punishing “pre-crime” like in the movie Minority Report? So the woman who mooned somebody while she was in college and is now on the sex offenders registry list should have a GPS tracking devise on her person because she might molest a child? Or the 18 y/o guy who had consensual sex w/his 17 y/o girlfriend and ended up on the sex offender list must secretly want to rape a kid? Regardless of the fact that some “sex offenders” didn’t have any involvement w/a child but they were convicted of a crime involving sex then you assume that they must want to molest children?
This is the same fear that some people have about gay people wanting to molest boy scouts. Yeah, and you might kill somebody in a car accident someday and commit manslaughter….should you still be allowed to drive because you MIGHT do that? If you ever lied to your parents when you were younger, or maybe stole a pack of gum from the store….should you be on a list of people w/the potential of robbing a bank or stealing cars? Why not? You obviously have it “in you” to do something like that. Why do you deserve the opportunity to change or PROVE to society that you want to remain a productive person and live your life?
Someone who is on the S/O registry has served their time and is going to serve it for the rest of their life. GPS tracking is just the first step for Big Brother to remove our rights. They won’t stop there.
Kill all sex offenders let GOD sort them out.
Regarding the last post of Kill all sex offenders and let God sort them out – did you read the posts or did you just want to put in your two cents’ worth?
Having a family member who is listed on Megan’s List, and having done much research on this issue, I speak from a bit of knowledge and experience. Parts of this proposition are unconstitutional and parts are just downright silly and designed to create a society I don’t think any of us want to live in.
The unconstitutional part is the residency exclusion. Because California has been keeping these registries since 1947 (it put them on the internet in 2005), there are over 104,000 people on it, with something like 62K pictured. Most of these people are not child molesters, yet the way the media and politicians portray it, they are. Nothing could be further from the truth. The state puts their names on the registries, because under the Jacob Wetterling Act, it gets paid by the federal government each time more names are added. The unconstitutional part comes into play when one considers that banning individuals and by extension their families from entire cities cannot in any measure be deemed an administrative manner. (That’s how the US Supreme Court deemed Megan’s List to be lawful in 2003; it called it administrative in nature and not punishment, thereby getting around the ex post facto ban on punishment in the US Constitution.) But telling registrants and their families that they are forbidden from living in large swarths of the state is clearly punitive and subject to the ex post facto clause in the constitution. That is why the federal judge ruled as she did on November 8th and that is why the other judge was so shocked when Bill Lockyer appeared to change his mind regarding residentcy restrictions. Bear in mind, this ban will apply to all registered sex offenders in the state, pictured or not, and their families. We will be talking upwards of 300,000 people I would imagine. Further, the law states that cities and counties may propose their own restrictions and one Central Valley legislator has already vowed to do just that if the state says registered sex offenders cannot live in the cities. Can you imagine the spectre of 300,000 men, women and children being uprooted from their communities and forced to move? Then perhaps finding out their location is too close to something a rural city has deemed should have a circle drawn around it? It will create a situation much like Georgia, in which 10,000 registered sex offenders are fighting for their right to even live in the state. This would like tne Japanese American forced internment or even dwarf it.
The silly part of the proposition is GPS. Since Proposition 83 was approved, there have been a number of articles highlighting the extreme cost and ridiculousness of GPS. It’s not footproof; it doesn’t work everywhere; it only works to catch someone, not prevent an attack; etc. But what is truly scary about GPS is that using it on felony registered sex offenders, no matter how long ago their offense was and how clean their record is since, is that it will be used as a test case. If it is successful and the public supports it, it will be used on more and more people: drunk drivers, petty thieves, arsonists, de frauders, and other criminals. Then society will know what it is like to live with Big Brother and then we won’t be a free society any longer.
February 6, 2007
The following is what our son, our family, his in-laws, extended family and friends have gone through because of a mistake in judgment and a lack of financial resources to correctly resolve the problem. It is a prime example of receiving the best justice money can buy.
Our son got married in September of 2000 and shortly after started having physical problems that didn�t allow him to work. This caused a great deal of stress on the marriage the culmination of which led to his being unfaithful with his wife. The woman involved turned out to be 2 months short of her 18th birthday and there was alcohol involved.
The young lady had second thoughts about being involved with our son and this incident started our nightmare. An acquaintance convinced her to report the incident to the Sacramento County Sheriff who, after an initial investigation, arrested our son. During the next few months through the investigative reports of both his attorney and the sheriff�s department the following facts came to light:
1) The young lady was living on her own and with no parental supervision. Her parent/guardian was living in another residence and had no direct influence on her living conditions other than to pay the cost of the housing.
2) A fabricated California ID card was found in her name purporting an age significantly older than her actual age.
3) Marijuana was found hidden in the house.
4) This was not the first time she had claimed to have been coerced by an older man.
During the investigation the woman made contradicting statements to the district attorney, the sheriff, and our son�s attorney.
Our son, to his credit, took responsibility for his actions. He didn�t make excuses for being unfaithful to his wife and was honest with family, friends and authorities concerning his actions. This should have been the beginning of the resolution to the issue. Unfortunately it was the beginning of what has been nearly 6 years of dealing with a corrupt legal system where you�re only innocent until proven guilty if you have enough money.
Our son and daughter-in-law started shopping for an attorney and a family friend recommended a local attorney who had experience with this type of case. It turns out that he did not have enough experience because the advice given to our son proved to be inadequate in most cases and ultimately completely
wrong in the one thing that counted.
Although the attorney thoroughly investigated the charges and evidence he failed to advise our son to plead to the correct charge being brought against him. Because of the way the plea was entered none of the facts that came to light during the investigation were ever heard by the judge. By pleading guilty to the charge he did, our son was then required to register as a sex offender. We did not find out until after the fact that the attorney handled the whole case incorrectly and by that time it was too late for our son to do anything about it. He was determined to do his time and then serve his probation as quietly and correctly as possible.
To her credit our daughter-in-law supported and more than once defended our son. She remained married to him and they sought counseling through their church. Her parents were supportive both emotionally and financially.
Upon his release, in October of 2001, from Sacramento County Jail he began his probation and by all accounts was doing all that he was responsible for doing.
As a registered sex offender he was required to provide a DNA sample to the State of California. The sample was placed in a statewide data base for the use of all law enforcement agencies both state and federal.
In February of 2003 our son started receiving phone calls from a detective from the Sacramento County Sheriff�s Department wanting to question him concerning an open case from 1999. Our son informed the detective that he would speak with her only with an attorney present as was his constitutional right. He contacted a family friend who was an attorney, although not a practicing criminal attorney, and who could advise him of his rights during the questioning by the detective. The detective was provided with the attorney�s contact information and was asked to forward any requests for questioning to the attorney.
The detective continued to contact our son directly and our son continued to decline questioning without his attorney present. The detective finally obtained a warrant for his arrest and on Mother�s Day 2003 our son was taken in to custody and held for questioning. During this time he was repeatedly questioned without an attorney present. He continued to assert his right to legal representation.
Our son had been arrested and charged with forcible rape and burglary in a case from 1999. The charges stemmed from a cold DNA identification by the crime lab for Sacramento County.
Our son, with the financial help of his immediate family and his in-laws, hired an attorney who had extensive criminal and DNA trial experience. He retained the private attorney for as long as he could financially afford to do so hoping that the evidence would lead to the charges being dropped. Unfortunately the Assistant District Attorney found a sympathetic judge who allowed the case to move to trial and our son had to make use of a county public defender due to lack of financial resources.
The use of the public defender was a disaster from the very beginning. Because of his unique employment status (he�s paid by the District Attorney�s Office) he couldn�t be as aggressive in his pursuit to have the questionable evidence excluded. He was told by the judge that the credentials and qualifications of the lab employee, the labs certifications, and the procedures used in the lab would not be questioned in his court room. The judge would not allow a private lab to retest the sample evidence.
It was also discovered that the judge attended the same church as my son and he did not remove himself from the case.
For all of our apprehension over the use of the public defender the following items were found during his investigation:
1) The woman making the criminal complaint could not identify our son and in fact claimed never to have seen him before he was presented in court.
2) Our son could not be placed at the bar the night the incident took place.
3) The point of entry to the house purported by the detective provided no actual evidence of entry. The counter, sink, and window sill around the window were covered with dirty dishes and knick-knacks and had not been moved. In addition the window was too small for a full grown man to enter through. There was a police photograph clearly showing all of this in the court record. A secondary point of entry proposed by the same detective showed no signs of entry either.
4) The DNA evidence that linked our son to the case had been unaccounted for several months. No chain of custody existed.
5) The woman involved made statements to medical personnel on the day after the incident that she had showered and otherwise cleaned up prior to reporting the alleged rape. This was also repeated in statements made to the detective investigating the incident.
6) The lab technician had never before had a cold DNA match and could not, during the preliminary hearing, prove her expertise in this kind of case.
7) There was evidence of more than one male�s DNA in the sample evidence.
8) There were more mismatches than matches to our Son�s DNA in the sample evidence.
In March of 2004, the jury hung on all charges. The ADA couldn�t prove to the entire jury that our son was guilty. The ADA indicated that she would re-file the charges and bring it back to court.
This is where things get rather strange. We do not know what, for sure, was said to the Public Defender to cause him to do a total about face concerning our son�s case but just before the second trial commenced he recommended to my son that he plead guilty to the charges because he couldn�t guarantee that he could be found innocent and that if found guilty he would be facing significantly more prison time than what was being offered by the ADA in a plea bargain. We believe that his job may have been threatened but can�t prove anything one way or another.
In April 2004, against our wishes and for reasons which have never been totally clear to us, our son pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 3 years in the State Prison System. He was paroled in January 2006 after approximately 18 months.
We were led to believe that he would be paroled to Sacramento County where he had family, friends, and employment resources. At the last minute he was told he was being paroled to Merced, California. It is not clear who was requesting the change in parole location. We have never been provided with the paperwork that caused this to happen. With our help he made the best of the situation. He acquired housing and employment. Met his obligations to the parole agent and tried to live as quietly and anonymously as possible.
During his last several months of incarceration his wife finally began to falter in her support for him and the marriage. She would eventually file for bankruptcy and divorce. The divorce was final in August of 2006.
Early one morning this past September he was cited for littering. As required by his parole agreement he reported this to his Parole Agent. He was told to pay the fine and was released by his agent. Late in the evening three days later he was arrested from his home on suspicion of involvement with two open cases in the area where he received the ticket for littering.
We came to town two days after this and were met by the Parole Agent who provided us with what he said were the details of the incident and what we could expect. Everything he told us including the time frames for certain things to happen, the disposition of personal items, and the contents of the reports he was providing to the local authorities was a lie. Our son was transferred to a state facility on a parole violation and never charged on the outstanding local cases.
He was held without legal representation until a parole hearing nearly a month after the arrest. The parole agent was found to have provided misleading information and fabricated reports concerning our sons conduct during his time on parole. We do not know and have been unable to find out if the agent was reprimanded or punished in any way for these actions. The parole revocation board was told by the local authorities in Merced that he had resisted arrest. He didn�t open the door fast enough for them because he was just getting out of the shower. He had to get dressed and find out who was pounding on his door that late at night. The door was kicked in and left that way when the police left with him. The parole board sentenced him to 120 days on the charge.
During our son�s current incarceration the voters in California passed Proposition 83. A �Jessica Law� based on the law passed in Florida. It took effect in November 2006. Our son�s parole date was stated as 18 January 2007. When we arrived to pick him up we were told that he had been placed on administrative hold due to a paperwork mix up and that he would be released the following day. We then were told that he would be held an additional two working days to complete the paperwork.
These dates have all come to pass without his release. We finally found that he was being held under the �Jessica law� for up to an additional 45 working days to allow for psychiatric evaluation to determine his suitability for release. We also found out that his parole status had been changed without his being informed and that this had added additional days to his sentence.
The final straw came when were informed that under the �Jessica Law� he had to have as many as three evaluations and that he could be sent to a state run psychiatric facility for up to two years if found unsuitable for release into the community on parole. That�s up to 45 days hold after each evaluation or a total of 135 extra days on hold without any credit towards his sentence or parole. If it�s determined that he must be retained at a psychiatric facility for two years he could still be made to go back out on supervised probation or parole. This brings his three year sentence to over 5 years and he�s still not clear of the system that apparently believes he�s some kind of threat to society without any evidence to prove him such.
As of the 9th of February he has not completed the evaluation process and has not been informed as to when he could expect this process to finish. He is being held to a standard both punitive and after the fact. We feel that because the local authorities were not able to connect him with the crimes they were trying to associate him with that they are trying to keep him off the streets and out of the community in any way they can. We realize that this sounds something like a conspiracy theory but we have received so much contradicting information and been told so many fabrications by the various authorities involve we can�t help but believe that he is being singled out for some unknown reason.
The last somewhat minor item that has come about is that material taken from our son�s apartment during the investigation that resulted in his being charged with resisting arrest has not been returned. We contacted the Merced Police and were told that we�d have to sue them to get the material back as they had no intention of returning it to us and that it would or had already been destroyed.
To date we have contacted several attorneys none of whom are willing to fight with the Department of Corrections or want so much money to do so that it borders on ridiculous. The smallest retainer quoted us so far is $6000 against $325 per hour. We have contacted a person who was identified to us as our son�s counselor. She at first refused to even talk to us and then provided only cursory and contradictory information. In addition to this she has refused to see our son even though he has requested a meeting with her. We have not heard back from the ACLU or any of the so called prisoner/parolee rights organizations that we contacted. We have not had any kind of a response from the Governor�s office either.
Our questions to date are as follows:
1) Why is a law being applied retroactively?
2) Why is the same law being applied even though the offense our son has been incarcerated for has nothing to with that law?
3) Why is the Department of Corrections so secretive? What do they have to hide?
4) Why can State agencies ignore basic prisoner/parolee Constitutional Rights?
5) What will it take to make the CDC accountable for their actions?
6) What will it take for Parole Agents to be held accountable for their actions?
According to articles in various media outlets the �Jessica Law� can not be applied retroactively based on a ruling by a judge hearing a lawsuit brought by three former convicts required to register under the states existing laws.
To close, we believe that our son has been railroaded by an inherently corrupt �Justice� system in the state of California in an overly zealous attempt to get a �criminal� off the street, to protect the public and to close cases that the authorities couldn�t otherwise solve due to laziness or ineptitude on their part. He has received bad advice both private citizens and public employees and has been held accountable to higher standard than the general public. His Constitutional rights have been trampled.
We thought that once you paid for your mistakes you were given a second chance to turn your life around and that you were given resources to allow you that chance. Apparently the State of California believes that our son isn�t worth the time or effort.
concernedparents1227@yahoo.com
Well, my post may draw a lot of criticism, but I will give my opinion about this subject. 33 years ago, I made a horrible mistake. I was in the military at the time, heavy into drugs and alcohol. In a plea deal, I pled no contest (didn’t say guilty or not guilty) and received 7 months in jail and 3 years probation because only one family member was involved and it was an isolated incident (not that it should have ever happened) However, I was required to register as a sex offender. I have always been given a level 1 (the lowest level on the scale, the least likely to reoffend). I was never ordered to any drug or alcohol treatment (but went on my own anyway), never ordered to any counseling (did that on my own as well because I just had to know what caused me to do this to begin with).
At the time, my requirement to register where I live ended 10 years after my discharge from probation. In 1987, I thought my life would get back to normal and I could finally put my past behind me. In 33 years, no such incident has ever occurred again and no thought has ever crossed my mind. In fact, the thought of it disgusts me. I have grand daughter and it scares me to think something could happen. But that’s part of my point. The government has everyone so scared that we start to overlook the problem and because of those fears, they want to pass a law that will only focus on punishment and our fears tell us to pass that law. But the punishment never gets enforced anyway, so what have we gained?
93% of all sex crimes occur in the home of the victim. Out of all registered sex offenders nationwide, only 27% are for sex abuse towards children. 1 out of 6 of those are likely to reoffend. So the other five are grouped into that category and are unable to find gainful employment, adequate housing, where ever they move, everyone in the neighborhood is notified so they can never make new friends. So who do you think those five that were not likely to reoffend might turn to for company and friendship?
Where I moved to 12 years ago, I was not required by law to register and it gave me a chance to show everyone who I am as a person. I got the chance to know many people and many of them were police officers (I think they knew of my record, but also seen how long ago it took place and let it be.), local government officials, high members of the community, etc. They got to know me as who I am now and not who I was 33 years ago. I felt good because I was able to gain their respect and gain their trust in me. I would do nothing to ruin that because it felt great.
A police officer left the department (actually, he was terminated for failing to do his job on numerous occasions) and he decided to release all information about me to the one person that is highly known to spread anything and everything they hear about anyone. Why? Because I was the one that caught him asleep in his patrol car behind Denny’s restaurant the last time and that was the final straw that got him fired. He posted it on the internet and I did get the web host to close his site down, so he moved it to another host, got shut down and moved it again. He made sure that as many people as possible would see it and would make calls to tell people to pass along his web address. He worded it in such a way that no one knew my offense happened 33 years ago and made it appear as if it happened just recently.
For the past 8 1/2 years, I have been caring for my invalid wife. She had a car accident which paralyzed her and she needs 24 hour care. She has a home nurse that comes in to check on her needs once a week and has two caregivers that work in shifts to help out around our home. Since my information from 33 years ago was released, we have received death threats and someone has called a number of times claiming he will firebomb our home if we do not move away. In the event of fire, it would have been very hard to get my wife out rapidly so we moved. It didn’t matter because all of the people that knew me were suddenly afraid to have me around.
It just never goes away. I wanted to go to nursing school so I can take care of my wife with more knowledge. She needs so much medical care that I thought I could help her more if I knew just how I could help her. Because of my lifelong label, I am unable to get state licensed and because of this, I can not even get into a nursing school even if just to learn. My oldest son has wanted me to go duck hunting and turkey hunting with him and I always have to make an excuse as to why I can’t go. Because of my lifelong label, I can not use, own or possess a firearm. Even though my crime never had any weapon of any sort.
GPS tracking will not solve the problem. It only takes hold AFTER the problem and normally does not involve the person that truly does need this sort of action taken upon them. 18 years ago, I watched a man shoot and kill a child on a bike because he rode through his yard. I testified in court against him and his claim was he thought this kid was a robber. He received 9 months for this. Does this man wear a tracking device? No. Why not? He proved he is capable of killing a child and there is a couple that no longer have a son because of him. (BTW: The man that shot that boy on the bike? He is allowed to own firearms)
I guess my point is this. What we do need is a better way of adjusting the non reoffenders back into society. Branding them for life hinders them from doing so many things in life and that only increases the chance they may reoffend. Those offenders that do repeat, quit letting them out after 6 months or a year in jail! Once may have been something stupid that never should have happened. Twice, you show that you are prone to doing these crimes and you go to jail for a very long time. The courts are lenient on the ones that reoffend and those are the ones that are causing the law to crack down on everyone. Because the system failed to protect Megan or Jacob, (which both were committed by reoffenders), they come up with a law to ease the families pain from losing their child. But those laws are not working still. By saying that everyone will reoffend and we should track them for life, make every sex offender register for life, alert the community when they move near them is not working. It only hurts those that are not likely to reoffend.
I know because I am constantly getting kicked back down because of my mistake over and over and over again. Yet, a man in Idaho with several convictions in many states was released on a small bail in South Dakota for a sex crime against a minor and stole a truck, went to Idaho, killed three people and kidnapped a boy and girl. He killed the boy and was caught before he could kill the girl. They are now learning that he killed children in several states and even California has learned he killed there as well. He should not have been out of prison to begin with having so many repeat offenses. Had he been given No Bail or at least not a $10,000.00 bail in South Dakota because of his priors (He was also still on parole for a previous sex crime and was not held for violating that), there would be four people alive and a girl that is not reliving her nightmare over and over.
California’s governor was accused of sex crimes against women in 2003 (http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200310/03/eng20031003_125326.shtml). Under the laws, he should be labeled for life as a sex offender. He apologized for the way he treated those women and that was that. He has several incidents and nothing. I have one that happened 33 years ago and I relive it for the rest of my life.
You should all look up http://nojessicaslaw.org and http://runjamesrun2007.homestead.com/
The hell with all child molesters and any body who defends them if the inocent have to suffer to save children , Ill be the first to sign up.
The only people on this site is mostly white people( who are allmost all the ones doing the molesting and serial killings)no disrespect white people make the laws crack dealers who get caught with to rocks of crack do 20 years in prison , and white people who molest little kids to several month average 36 month.
its time they have more severe laws for all the perverted white people the world will be safer if they were all forced to carry a tracking device.
Everyone seems to think that the new law is a terrible thing. It has flaws, such as the GPS tracking devices. It is very easy for a sex offender to move to another state and assume a new identity, as it happens all the time. A GPS system would not be one hundred percent effective on that basis alone. There is also the cost of the technology the plan would require. But in today’s world nothing comes at a low price but what exactly would you as a citizen want the money to be spent on? The same tax dollars that are collected from property, wages, and other things go towards fixing roads, paying for children to have free lunch, paying for public schools, paying for children that were placed in foster care, and that doesn’t even begin to cover a list of things citizens pay for. So far of what I have read everyone is opposed to the cost. I understand the concerns but I cannot see how using GPS systems will stop people from committing sex crimes.
I would not personally approve of the cost of millions of dollars, which is what it would take make this sort of program effective but I am all for protecting kids. Now another heated topic is how teenagers who have sex or are even so much as dating take the risk of becoming sex offenders. I do not think that kids anywhere from the ages of eleven year olds to even so much as seventeen year olds should be having sex in the first place. They are merely children and do not fully understand the consequences of having sex, and do not give me a bullshit line about how mature they are. If they are not adults I do not think they should rush into that sort of behavior. They date each other for three months, it seems like forever and they confuse lust with love. They have sex, they break up a week later and one accuses the other of rape. Like I said, they are often children who do not understand how serious their actions really are.
Another thing I think is important to point out is that teens should also take into consideration of their age differences. Just last week I was talking with one of my friends who is seventeen and dating a fourteen year old. He does not try to touch her in a sexual manner but enjoys being with her. Just because you are dating does not automatically mean you are having sex. What is important to note about this is that the age difference is not an actual issue in teen relationships unless the parents’ have a conflict with it. Many parents allow their teens to date other teens that are several years older than they are. It’s the thought of their children engaging in sexual activity that it becomes a problem. If the children cannot reason with the parents then it usually becomes a legal problem. If you love or care about the person than the logical thing to do in those situations would be to abstain from sex at least until it would not be a legal issue. Besides, waiting will allow teens to know if they are committed to being together, and nine times out of ten they are not and move onto the next relationship. Teens need to think with their minds and not their hormones.
As for sex offenders, I do not take into consideration teen relationships. What I consider to be a sex offender is someone who forces children to engage in sexual activity. For all the cynical idiots who are opposed to this before they even read it, I’ll give you several examples. I grew up in the foster care system and in my second foster home there was a two year old girl there. This little girl was so sweet, but here is the horrible things that happened to have her placed in foster care. When she was about twelve months her mom’s boyfriend took the little girl, molested her and attempted to have intercourse with her, placed her in a garbage bag, put the bag into the back of the Jeep and left her to die. She was found with bruises all over her body, marks on her neck which indicated he had tried to strangle her and covered in her own blood. The man went to prison for this for a total of three years. You think that is justice? I think he should be shot because my tax dollars should not have to pay for him to eat, sleep, and live in prison. I think it is also difficult to prove a child molesting case based on the lack of evidence in many of the cases that are reported. Then take example the Jessica Lunsford case. This happened fifty miles from my home and five years after the two men who molested me were let go without even so much as a conviction. She was taken from her home, raped, and buried alive. All of this happened less than 150 yards from her home. She was nine years old and murdered by a registered sex offender who was not staying at the address he was registered with. Predators have comfort zones, and they watch their victims for a long time before they commit the crime.
Many people confuse sex offenders with predators. A sex offender is someone who commits the act perhaps once. A predator does it time and time again. Predators go out and hunt their victims, they watch them, live in their neighborhoods, interact with them, fantasize about them, become obsessed with the victim and finally harm the victim. I do not think predators should be released from prison. I would prefer for them to be killed to be perfectly honest but too many people oppose the death penalty these days, oh I cannot stand those Jesus meets JFK activists. But back to the point anyone who commits a heinous crime against a child should not be allowed to live anywhere near schools, parks, or major metropolitan areas. I say that because in a large city it is far too easy to drive down a street and see either a daycare, school, park, or somewhere where there might be children. I think we should protect the children first and foremost. Sex offenders and predators should be pointed out, as there is the identity problem.
I think if you are going to commit a sex crime you should be punished. If that means you go through the rest of your life known as one then so be it. If you don’t like it then you should consider moving to another country. Harming children crosses lines even prisoners have honor codes for. Many people who commit sex crimes do not go to prison and not get their ass kicked or killed for it. Bottom line, no one should harm a child. If you think I am wrong I do not care. It would be clear you have never been a victim of a sex crime and therefore you should shut the hell up unless you know what you are talking about.
I also take into consideration that not all reported sex crimes are true. The legal system is not perfect, so what do you expect? Go preach to the people who were convicted and put on death row or to the graves of the same people who were actually killed before they were proven to be innocent. Nothing is perfect and without flaws so if it has happened to you then you should fight it. I was falsely accused of a crime and I fought back against the system. It took years to prove I was innocent and that I did not do what I was accused of doing. That left a bitterness in me for a long time but you learn to move on and help others who are going through similar situations.
I am glad there are stricter laws when it comes to sex offenders and predators. I just think it is a shame a little girl had to die before law makers stepped up to protect our kids. If you still think I am wrong watch the show Dateline NBC on how to catch sex offenders and predators. Watch how many people show up to the house and listen to the things they write online. It will sicken you but it gets a point across. If you still want to sympathize with a sex offender then I will see you in hell, hopefully after you straightened out your priorities.
You would think intelligent law enforcement officials, the courts,the news media,would handle the problems of sex crimes in an intelligent forward manner. Instead we have the dark ages of a witch hunt or another german persecution of the jews during their political times. With all our computers you would think this great nation of ours would target the problems with the facts in the right context and not create mass hysteria and needless stigma on all classifications of the sex crimes. It is a shame that legislation has to bundle everything in a nice neat package at the expense of tax payers dollars and political votes with so many details that have not been worked out. It is my oppinion that high paying officials probably get bored with the issues over the long run and that the money will always be there to solve the details with other professional managements in the related fields. In the course of this event, most of us feel we are educated to do the right thing by forcing the issue in a political game of sudden realization and immediacy. This is taking off in wild directions and eventually we will have our next furer like hitler. This is a frenzy of mass proportion. All someone has to do is, with a little intelligence look up the information for themselves on their own personal computer and think of words like proposition 83 to get all the facts and the arguments against it by various organisations. Words to find the Bureau of Justice Statistics all at our disposal is at our finger tips. Instead , we run to the cops to find horrific stories at every turn. By God! What are we going to do about this? It’s a shame that society has degenerated to the point of hating disadvantaged second class citizens that obviously are not all repeat offenders. But it is so convenient to label everyone because those professionals know that publicity of the gullibles means extraordinary sums of cash in their pockets. Hundreds of millions in fact. Is the public really too lazy to do its own findings? Maybe it is just the fact that someone out there trust everything they read and they cannot be wrong! I hear these stories of intelligent public oppinions and after awhile, I just realize someone has just sold to the public another case of something very similar,SPAM! I’m ashamed of the public lack of disseminating knowledge in an objective manner. It goes to show the results of our education in what should be in this basic endeavor. I find it just as discomforting that the innocent nonrepeat offenders are affected along with their families including their own children. Can anyone accept a judgement in error? Let me just say, as long as sex offenders in particular are hindered by psycho therapists from saying anything that sounds like: Blaming, Minimizing, Rationalizing, Being overly religious, and using Self Defense Mechanism, there will always be a tight reign over their mouth to effectively say anything without jeopardizing there progress in therapy. Which means they cannot obtain their Certificate of Relief to show a prospective employers. This has an overall negative effect on the analysis report that is supposedly confidential. There are many other biased influences by these professionals. Why is it so hard to believe? This is destruction of the soul at the very least. They destroy themselves from within with someone that imposes this unconscionable act. Leaving out pertinent information all for the sake of taking full responsibility. This also has political consequences and a very negative impact in the public view. Someone should study this case,but it is already known that most sex offender drop out because it is designed to keep them locked up forever. Study the case with Judge Hurd. Do some homework with the state correctional facility. Then base your oppinions.
You would think intelligent law enforcement officials, the courts,the news media,would handle the problems of sex crimes in an intelligent forward manner. Instead we have the dark ages of a witch hunt or another german persecution of the jews during their political times. With all our computers you would think this great nation of ours would target the problems with the facts in the right context and not create mass hysteria and needless stigma on all classifications of the sex crimes. It is a shame that legislation has to bundle everything in a nice neat package at the expense of tax payers dollars and political votes with so many details that have not been worked out. It is my oppinion that high paying officials probably get bored with the issues over the long run and that the money will always be there to solve the details with other professional managements in the related fields. In the course of this event, most of us feel we are educated to do the right thing by forcing the issue in a political game of sudden realization and immediacy. This is taking off in wild directions and eventually we will have our next furer like hitler. This is a frenzy of mass proportion. All someone has to do is, with a little intelligence look up the information for themselves on their own personal computer and think of words like proposition 83 to get all the facts and the arguments against it by various organisations. Words to find the Bureau of Justice Statistics all at our disposal is at our finger tips. Instead , we run to the cops to find horrific stories at every turn. By God! What are we going to do about this? It’s a shame that society has degenerated to the point of hating disadvantaged second class citizens that obviously are not all repeat offenders. But it is so convenient to label everyone because those professionals know that publicity of the gullibles means extraordinary sums of cash in their pockets. Hundreds of millions in fact. Is the public really too lazy to do its own findings? Maybe it is just the fact that someone out there trust everything they read and they cannot be wrong! I hear these stories of intelligent public oppinions and after awhile, I just realize someone has just sold to the public another case of something very similar,SPAM! I’m ashamed of the public lack of disseminating knowledge in an objective manner. It goes to show the results of our education in what should be in this basic endeavor. I find it just as discomforting that the innocent nonrepeat offenders are affected along with their families including their own children. Can anyone accept a judgement in error? Let me just say, as long as sex offenders in particular are hindered by psycho therapists from saying anything that sounds like: Blaming, Minimizing, Rationalizing, Being overly religious, and using Self Defense Mechanism, there will always be a tight reign over their mouth to effectively say anything without jeopardizing there progress in therapy. Which means they cannot obtain their Certificate of Relief to show a prospective employers. This has an overall negative effect on the analysis report that is supposedly confidential. There are many other biased influences by these professionals. Why is it so hard to believe? This is destruction of the soul at the very least. They destroy themselves from within with someone that imposes this unconscionable act. Leaving out pertinent information all for the sake of taking full responsibility. This also has political consequences and a very negative impact in the public view. Someone should study this case,but it is already known that most sex offender drop out because it is designed to keep them locked up forever. Study the case with Judge Hurd. Do some homework with the state correctional facility. Then base your oppinions.
I had written an article, June 18,2007 and I was somewhat disappointed that there was virtually no response. At the least,I expected to catch hell for my oppinion on some issues. Maybe there was some truth that couldn’t be denied. In which case, I will continue with some additions on more of what I stated. Basically, the professional institutions have a job to do and that is gathering information and making some decisions that could have an adverse effect on an individual’s capacity to function in society. If these decisions are made, it is usually meted out by those in power to exact punishment. The system, we all know isn’t always fair or even perfect. But have you noticed how more and more of our rights and privacy is being done away with. It doesn’t ever get fully restored even after having served the sentenced or fulfilled the punishment.
It becomes very obvious with sex offenses despite whether or not it was a domestic issue. The process of categorizing than begins and becomes all inclusive. Experimentation on subjects of deviant crimes using chemicals and/or surgeries just about leave this person as nothing more than an animal. All done in the very legal sense to appease public hysteria. Essentially, creating a frankenstein. What ever happened to our basic human rights under the constitution? When even the subject of representing these individuals is shun away with by respectable lawers. It is so very easy not to have effective counseling and unknowingly get involuntarily put into the frankenstein mode. Yet the public reads the real frankenstein novel and doesn’t see the picture. This situation arises when even a fairly intelligent plaintiff in the case has no idea how to deal with the situation, to appeal his case,in a prison population where this sort of thing just isn’t mentioned.
To: Publishers of these articles
I have written some comments on June 18,2007 and July 5, 2007 and realized afterwards that,I left my self exposed to the possible scrutiny of potential employers I have been trying to work for with all the discriminations. I forget at times, that I am not in a position to speak my mind although I feel strongly about some issues that I feel the public should know. Its a losing proposition and our voices will not be heard because of the legalism. In any event, I request that my name and my comments stated be removed from this posting. My survival hinges on this and would appreciate any assistance to fulfill my request at this time. Thank you .
Is it possible that prophecy is being fulfilled. When you think about it, the scripture says, judge not and you will not be judged. This nation of ours is falling into its own victimization.
Need proof? The implants are underway by a company based in Delmar,Florida. VeriChip Corp has successfully provided implants to alzheimers patients and night club goers in the Florida areas.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved its use in October of 2004. 7000 units has been sold around the world. 200 or more in the U.S. alone. Priests have been arrested with billions of dollars in lawsuits against the catholic church. It won’t be long before you or anyone reads,’First catholic priest to receive implants for pedophilia,’ in the national news. What’s next, the president wearing it to assure the public. Basically, information will be a dangerous commodity for anyone who has access to a computer. The price to pay for ownership of computers and the like. Information brokers will have a field day along with their expertise in computer hacking. The signs are there. Not long in coming. We are in a media hungry society with all kinds of delusions. Saying no to Proposition 83 could not stem the tide. Remember, you can not buy food or property without the mark( chip implant by hypodermic needle). Woe to the drug addicts, alcoholics, smokers and financial worriers. I don’t mean to sound like a doomsday prophet. I have only been on the internet a few months and I have already picked up on all this. This would be our greatest travesty because it involves our very souls. It only takes one good reason to get those implants out there. Our nation is riped with all the news hype and national disasters. But we can all certainly agree that our privacy is in turmoil in this computer age.
I agree with the above. The problem I am currently facing with the State of California though is that for one thing, my fiance was wrongly accused and convicted of a sex offense against a child. He was interogated while under the influence of a perscription drug known to have side effects ranging from halucinations to a very blurred sense of reality and more. Then 2 years after serving his parole part of his sentence he was violated because he was involved in an altercation where he stopped someone from drinking and driving. Although the DA found no grounds to arrest him, Parole sent him back to prison for 11 months. Then just when we were getting ready to have a baby and accept that we’d have to separate for 2 months until his parole was up, the state decided to add on 2 more years parole because of a law that passed back in 2000 but went into effect January of this year. Due to this, we are not allowed any contact whatsoever and I am now a single parent. The Dept of Corrections wronged him again. He does not fall under the guidelines for this new extension and yet is serving more time. According to the supervisor at his parole unit, he was convicted of a violent crime even though there was no violence. Explain that one to me. I’d like to know when the governor is going to do the right thing and make sure the habitual offenders and real child preditors are put away and know the difference between cases that are bogus and are without doubt. This state seems to have gone to “innocent until proven guilty” to “guilty until proven innocent” and my family is getting the brunt of all this. The new law that passed was supposed to be primarily for sex offenders on parole that are either lifers on parole or habitual or repeat offenders. Something needs to be done to filter out who is who.
Very well written, but I must voice myself on some very important details.
For one, you forget to mention people on the list, Like my own Husband, who are convicted for having Kissed, Made out with, or had consentual sex with a minor AS a Minor themselves. Children who are convicted as sex offenders and labled as such are in iminent danger, as are thier children and spouses. Also you forget to mention those who are Also on the sex offender registries who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, Such as one mad who simply parked on a highway shoulder to Urinate in a bush and was “glimpsed” by a passerby and reported, and later convicted and has to register for LIFE as a sex offender. For these cases it is borderline Extortion. People who are truly good people, and innocent with families they Struggle to support, are Forced to register or face being arrested. they are Forced to pay money every year so thier own justice system can paste thier photos with adults who violate CHILDREN, when thier own stories are Nothing of that nature.
Also for the fact that more and more are being saught after using the Public registries for people who think they Know all the facts, can go to thier homes… Not even being threatened by said offenders, and Murder them in cold blood without a speck of remorse.
Put that in my situation and what do you get? Someone finds my husbands information.. > Break into our home with intent to KILL my husband but no.. They stumble into our 2 year olds room, Or our 7 year olds room.. Or run into me. WE die because of the Stupidity of our own justice system. This is Not Justice, this is Not protecting ANYONE. It was Supposedly put in place to protect Children, by giving the parents a way to track them, Yet it is putting MY children at risk because thier daddy Kissed me when we were teenagers and My daddy got mad.
No one should be trying to add anything to these rediculous Laws. These laws need to be FIXED! In ALL states, before anymore harmful tactics are added to it.
Furthermore, If I can look at my own neighborhood and see my own Husband, who I know was a Victim of the System. How can I be 100% Sure, the next offender over wasn’t persecuted the Same Way??
The list doesn’t work. Fix it.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/reform-sex-offender-laws.html
Don’t just hope it changes. Make it change.