Friday, July 29, 2011

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Repost - New Bill in Congress: Federal Record Expungements ...Trickery

eAdvocate - Bills in Congress: New Bill in Congress: Federal Record Expungements ...: "7-20-2011 National: HR 2449 ' Fresh Start Act of 2011 ' which was introduced by Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] on 7/7/2011 and referred to the H..."

Reform Sex Offender Laws in Wisconsin: What's Next? Who's Next?

Reform Sex Offender Laws in Wisconsin: What's Next? Who's Next?: "As Criminal Laws Proliferate, More Are Ensnared By GARY FIELDS and JOHN R. EMSHWILLER Eddie Lero..."

Sex Offender Issues: CA - Lawyer (Chance Xcaliber Oberstein) loses bid ...

Sex Offender Issues: CA - Lawyer (Chance Xcaliber Oberstein) loses bid ...: "Original Article 07/28/2011 By GREG HARDESTY Appellate court affirms OC judge’s rejection of attempt by former L.A. public defender t..."

Operation focuses on sex offender compliance

http://www.newarkpostonline.com/articles/2011/07/28/news/doc4e3052b6d9b5f869392800.txt

"Sex offenders are predators that have lost the right to disappear back into society,” said Attorney General Beau Biden, who worked to create Delaware's Child Predator Task Force in 2007 and last year announced that Delaware was the second state in the nation to implement the Federal Adam Walsh Act.

Wow--"Sex offenders are predators"--those are pretty ignorant words  for an Attorney General, but I've known some that said things out of pure stupidity. Beau surely needs to be education on the matter. Great job, B.B....

 

Salisbury News: Police Issue Homeless Sex Offender Notification

26 inmates headed back to DN

http://www.triplicate.com/20110727112623/News/Local-News/26-inmates-headed-back-to-DN

"This includes people who have committed non-violent, non-serious and non-sex crimes — known as “the nons.” 

District prepares for busing changes

OR - Neighbors Say Fence is No Protection



Teen Sex Offenders New Jersey

5 years later, states struggle to comply with federal sex offender law

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/CRIME/07/28/sex.offender.adam.walsh.act/index.html

Interesting page for Mark Lunsford

http://www.cfcamerica.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3141&Itemid=493

Citizen's For Change, America - Overview

newsletter1
Tennessee Gestapos Beat a Naked Man
{youtube width="640" height="390"}wELa9-uwRmA{/youtube} HOLY JEEZ! Tennessee Police Strip And Beat Unarmed Man (PHOTOS x VIDEO)   Four police officers allegedly stripped an unarmed man naked, handcuffed him then viciously beat him as he lay screaming and ...
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Top judge arrested on rape charges 'after victim secretly filmed him carrying out attack'
A senior judge has been arrested on rape charges after his alleged victim secretly filmed him carrying out the attack.
Judge Albert Murdoch was also allegedly caught on the hidden tape boasting that he was above the law and would use his police contacts to make any charges go away.
His arrest has led to authorities in New Mexico to look into many of the cases he presided over during a 25-year career.
Accused: Judge
Albert Murdoch, a criminal judge for the Second Judicial District Court in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, was arrested on rape charges
Accused: Judge Albert Murdoch, a criminal judge for the Second Judicial District Court in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, was arrested on rape charges

A history of political sex scandals-Our Lawmakers Caught With their Pants Down
A history of political sex scandals Will Rep. Anthony Weiner's career survive? A guide to some of the more notable public embarrassments over the last four decades and how individual politicians weathered the storm: ...
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Lynn professor refutes claim of 100,000 missing sex offenders in new study
Adam Walsh Act deadline is tomorrow; researchers call for a more data-driven national sex offender policy
Jill Levenson, B.A., M.S.W., Ph.D.Jill Levenson, associate professor of psychology and human services in Lynn University’s College of Liberal Education, has co-authored a new study which refutes the common claim that 100,000 sex offenders are missing. The authors call for a more data-driven national sex offender policy.
The study, “100,000 Sex Offenders Missing... or Are They? Deconstruction of an Urban Legend” was published this month in the Criminal Justice Policy Review.
Tomorrow, July 27, marks the deadline for states to comply with federal sex offender registration requirements set forth in the 2006 Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. As of July 18, only eight states had been deemed to have substantially implemented these requirements, and many have called for Congress to revisit key provisions in the law. The “100,000 missing” figure was repeatedly cited in the debates leading to the law’s passage and in its subsequent re-authorization hearings earlier this year.
The study, co-authored by Levenson and Andrew Harris, a criminal justice professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, traces the origins and evolution of the “100,000 missing” figure and identifies multiple fallacies that have surrounded the statistic.
Rates of registration noncompliance among registrants living in the community varied greatly, ranging from about 1 percent in some states (e.g. Florida, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, Vermont and West Virginia) to about 13 percent (California, Hawaii and Oklahoma). Nationally, the median rate of noncompliance is about 2.7 percent.
“Differences in how state systems define and capture data make it very difficult to know exactly how many sex offenders have truly gone missing,” said Levenson, “but even using the most inclusive definitions, our data suggest that the 100,000 figure is highly inflated. That figure is three to four times what the number probably is.”
This new analysis is part of a multi-phase research initiative to provide state and federal lawmakers with data to inform policies concerning the nation’s sex offender registries. “Considering how much attention Congress has paid to reforming the nation’s sex offender registries, one would expect that we’d be basing decisions on solid data,” said Harris. “But the fact is that many important policy decisions are occurring in an information vacuum. We shouldn’t be crafting national policy based on sound-bite statistics.”
Read more about Levenson and Harris’ most recent study on the University of Massachusetts Lowell website, or download the full report online.

Sex Offenders: Society's Modern Leper Colony
by Stan Moody
http://stanmoody.com
In my talks to groups about the burgeoning corrections industry in Maine, the least receptive to change is often the one community that claims a divine calling to right the wrongs of human injustice - the church. Invariably white and dominated by the trappings of worldly success, churches seem almost to have become havens of denial of the sin from which they offer deliverance. 
A case in point is the attitude toward sex offenders. Redemption, it seems, is available to all except the vilest of sinners - those who take advantage of children. On that score, it is impossible to imagine more destructive effects on children than that of physical abuse, divorce and addiction, three cultural cesspools to which the church historically is not immune. 
In the case of Sheldon Weinstein, a brilliant sex offender whose life was casually cut short on April 24, 2009 by the complicity of staff at Maine State Prison, the unexpressed echo in the sanctuary reflects the more audible sentiment of both prison staff and their wards, "He deserved to die." That may well be true of us all at some esoteric level, but there was nothing in Weinstein's sentencing that imposed the death penalty. 
Unless and until the church begins to view itself as a hospital for sinners, it will continue to promote the popularly-rejected assumption that its members are a cut above reproach. 

To protect and serve...Effects of Registration Laws in America
Most supporters of the sex offender registries are uninformed to the consequences to the innocent. My daughter was offended upon by her father in an event that involved no skin to skin contact. My daughter has been unable to move on and heal because of the registry. Each time she joins a club or begins new employment, it is only a matter of time before someone is able to associate her with her father on the Internet.
About the time she is getting past the pain, the scab gets pulled off with the "buzz" and the label of "the one who was abused". My son is a Jr. Recently, he received a newspaper clipping stapled to his pay stub accusing him of being a sex offender.
At least once a month, he is confronted and accused of being a sex offender. I in no way justify or minimize what my husband did ten years ago; however, he voluntarily turned himself in to the police 9 years ago and has submitted himself to 6 years of therapy. My daughter and son have forgiven him and have learned to love him. My children hearts are pulled out every day when they see the father they love lumped into the same category as a rapist and treated a worthless scum of society. The registry has made my life and children's life a living hell. We have chosen a path of grace and healing and the social condemnation and demonization caused by the registry prevents us from on.-
A comment to a post from a reader.

Sex Offender Registries should be discontinued.
Sexual offender registries: the lists of sexual offenders that are available online. These lists include people with a wide diversity of offenses: from streaking to rape. These lists are FOR LIFE. The local police stations furnish the information for these registries.
Discontinued: Abolished, removed, stopped. Police stations will providing these lists of offenders.
Advocates of these lists argue that such lists help safeguard local societies from the offenders. I will argue that the harms of these lists far outweigh any benefits.

My arguments:

1) Dehumanization and self-fulfilling prophesy
These lists dehumanize the offenders. People who read the list, fearful and ignorant, ostracize the offenders, mock them, drive them away. Society shuns the offenders and hurts them emotionally. Their offense becomes a scar FOR LIFE. Employers fire them, however excellently they perform. Apart from the emotional, psychological and professional suffering that offenders undergo, they also succumb to a self-fulfilling prophesy, as they fail to reintegrate into society. They are more likely to repeat their sexual offenses, because everyone expects them to. More children are molested, more women raped.
2) Unfair punishment:
For no other crime in the USA does there exist a similar registry of offenders. Thieves lack an online registry; so do murderers! Our justice system becomes unfair when we infringe on the civil rights of offenders when there is no parallel procedure in other crimes. Law should be consistent.
3) Promotes vigilantism:
Often individuals take it upon themselves to eradicate these offenders. There are numerous cases where sexual offenders, even years after their crime, get murdered by their neighbors because they saw the offender's name in an online registry.
Apart from refuting the above arguments, I will place one additional burden on Con:
(a) Provide evidence that such registries WORK and are NEEDED. That they decrease recidivism, or succeed in protecting the community. Only 5% of sexual offenders repeat their crime within the next 3 years. Do registries achieve anything here?

REFERENCES:

Ohio Supreme Court Strikes Down Part of Their Adam Walsh Act
Recently, a highly talented group of lawyers managed to get the Ohio Supreme Court to declare its Adam Walsh Act unconstitutional. State v Williams, 2011 Ohio 3374. This group includes some unlikely friends. Several rape crisis centers filed a Friend of the Court brief supporting the Defendant. Both the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center and the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault filed a brief supporting the Defendant. They noted that the Adam Walsh Law was a law spread by fear and did not help any valid public purpose. Their brief is a wealth of information about why these laws don't work and people need to read it. Less surprisingly, the Ohio ACLU Fund filed a friend of the court brief arguing the matter under ex post facto principles.
While I have focused on the amicus, the Office of the Ohio Public Defender also filed an excellent brief arguing why an offense driven classification scheme is punitive. The OOPD argued that the more rigid the classification system is, the more punitive it is. The Williams Court agreed. While Ohio Courts have upheld predecessor laws, the Court found that the new law passed the boundaries in becoming punitive.
The Court, however, based its decision on a provision contained in the Ohio Constitution (Ohio Const Art II, Sec. 28) which bars the passage of retroactive laws.
That provision provides:
"The general assembly shall have no power to pass retroactive laws, or laws impairing the obligation of contracts; but may, by general laws, authorize courts to carry into effect, upon such terms as shall be just and equitable, the manifest intention of parties, and officers, by curing omissions, defects, and errors, in instruments and proceedings, arising out of their want of conformity with the laws of this state."
The Court noted that the new law extended the duration of registration obligations, imposed a duty on an individual to register with multiple law enforcement agencies, and removed the ability to judicially challenge registration obligations. Because the Ohio Supreme Court based the ruling on the Ohio Constitution, there should be no further appeals in this matter.

Nude photos or murder, which is worse?
If you have watched the news lately you have seen a story where a mother walked accross a street improperly with her children and some guy driving under the infuance of alcohol ran over and killed her little 4 year old son.... he served 6 months in p...
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Fact Sheets Examine Impact of Sex Offender Registries
Impact of Sex Offender Registries Cost of Implementing the Adam Walsh Act Far Exceeds any Federal Grant Money
AvailableFactsheet: Youth Who Commit Sex Offenses 9/2/2008
Author(s): Justice Policy Institute
Topic(s): Juvenile Justice, Public Safety

Factsheet: The Negative Impact of Registries on Youth
9/2/2008
Read more...

High School Sweethearts -- or Sex Offenders?
Frank Rodriguez is family man, a husband and father of four daughters. He is also a convicted sex offender. As such, Frank, 34, is prohibited from coaching his children's soccer teams. Neighbors and employers can find him on the sex-offender registry, alongside pedophiles and child pornographers. An iPhone app directs people to his home. MySpace has delisted him. If he moves out of state, he must promptly register with the local police as a sex offender.
All this, for the crime of having slept with his high school sweetheart 15 years ago.
Back then, Frank was 19 years old, a recent high school graduate in the small town of Caldwell, Texas. That's when he first had sex with his girlfriend and future wife, Nikki Prescott. The two had been dating for nearly a year; the sex was consensual. However, the age of consent in Texas is 17, and Nikki was just shy of 16. Frank got arrested. And with that, he became a registered sex offender.
Over the years, Frank and Nikki married each other, and had their four daughters. Still, Frank remained on the registry, his crime listed as "sexual assault of a child."
Frank and Nikki are not alone. Across the country, high school students are increasingly finding themselves caught in the nation's complicated web of sex-offender laws. Teenagers end up on the registry for having consensual sex with an underage partner, as well as for stunts such as streaking or urinating in public, or for sexting -- sending racy self-portraits, which can be considered child pornography.

Did Mark Lunsford Recently get a New Harley Davidson Donated to Him?
38214 1418668901506 1076152563 30988157 6952058 nIn a recent interview with by a person who suppor...
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Nebraska gets sued over new unconstitutional law
{youtube width="640" height="390"}3rlvbWE4WUw{/youtube}

OMAHA - The state of Nebraska is being sued over its sex offender registry. The lawsuit comes after the Legislature changed the sex offender laws in the state last year.
As it stands now, anyone convicted of a crime with a sexual element is on the Internet-based registry for everyone to see.
Those who have filed suit say the changes in the law have made them targets of harassment, vandalism and worse.
The plaintiffs include three men of different ages and different walks of life. They agreed to be interviewed if their identities are concealed.
One of the men was convicted of ordering illegal pornography.
"I used to have a porn addiction in the early '90s," said Plaintiff No. 1.
Another was convicted of downloading an illegal video clip.
"I was charged with 76 files, because a person can be charged for each frame (of video)," said Plaintiff No. 2.
The third was found guilty of illegal touching.
"I plead guilty to touching a girl," said Plaintiff No. 3.
In fact, all three men pleaded guilty to their crimes. The state originally labeled each as a low-risk to commit another sex crime.
"Dec. 21, 2009, I was a level one (sex offender). I was not on the public registry," said Plaintiff No. 3. "On Jan. 1, 2010, according to the state of Nebraska, I was suddenly a predator."
His change of status came as the result of the Nebraska Legislature passing LB 285 (PDF), which changed the rules for the sex offender registry. It used to be risk-based, meaning if an offender was deemed low-risk, his or her name wouldn't be made public. Those who were likely to reoffend were placed on the registry.
The change in the law made the registry crime-based, which means anyone convicted, regardless of his or her risk to reoffend, is now added to the registry.
- Just the usual  ex post facto punishment. 
For the three plaintiffs, the fallout has been substantial.
Plaintiff No. 1 said he's had people call his boss.
"They were trying to get me fired in hopes of making me homeless," he said.
He also said his wife has been harassed. People have asked her how she could be married to a sexual predator. He said his daughter has also been the target of verbal abuse.
Plaintiff No. 2 said he's lost his job.

In re DUSTIN A. On Habeas Corpus.
IN RE DUSTIN A.
In re DUSTIN A. On Habeas Corpus.
No. F060297.
Court of Appeals of California, Fifth District.

Filed July 6, 2011.
Phillip J. Cline, District Attorney, Don H. Gallian and Shani D. Jenkins, Assistant District Attorneys, Barbara J. Greaver and John F. Sliney, Deputy District Attorneys, for Appellant.
Heather J. MacKay, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Respondent.

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS
WISEMAN, Acting P.J.
In 2009, Dustin A. was paroled after serving a prison term for a drug possession offense he committed while an adult. In 1995, when he was 16, Dustin was committed to the California Youth Authority (now the Division of Juvenile Facilities1) for several offenses, including a misdemeanor violation of Penal Code section 647.6, annoying or molesting a minor. Because juveniles who have been committed to DJF for violating section 647.6 are required to register as sex offenders, Dustin fell within Policy No. 07-36 of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), which requires parolees who must register as sex offenders to comply, as a condition of their parole, with Penal Code section 3003.5, subdivision (b). That statute, which was adopted by the voters in 2006 as part of Proposition 83, known as Jessica's Law, prohibits those who are required to register as sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or a park where children regularly gather. Dustin was also told his parole was conditioned on his not being in the presence of minors, including the child he was expecting with his fiancée.
Dustin filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in propria persona, arguing that these parole conditions were unreasonable and that, as applied to him, Penal Code section 3003.5 was an ex post facto law and violated the anti-retroactivity provision of Penal Code section 3. Shortly afterward, the Supreme Court issued its decision in In re E.J. (2010) 47 Cal.4th 1258, which rejected similar ex post facto and Penal Code section 3 claims and remanded for decisions on similar unreasonable-condition-of-parole claims.

Isolation, indeterminate sentences used to extract confessions at California supermax prisons
by Jeff Kaye
A prisoner in the Pelican Bay SHU must remove all his clothing, spread his toes and buttocks and be handcuffed through the food tray slot without physically touching the guard before he can see the prison dentist. – Photo: sfbappa.org
Adding to Kevin Gosztola’s recent coverage of the hunger strike at Pelican Bay prison — which has spreadto at least six other prisons, including Corcoran California Correctional Institution and Valley State Prison for Women — I want to look more closely at one of the prisoner’s demands, in particular their call for the abolition of the “debriefing process.”
The conditions at Security Housing Units (SHU) at Pelican Bay Prison and other supermax prisons clearly constitute torture and/or cruel, inhumane treatment of prisoners. They rely on the use of severe isolation or solitary confinement, the effects of which I’ve written about before in the context of the Bradley Manning case — see here and here
At Pelican Bay, the prisoners in “administrative segregation” are locked in a gray, concrete 8 by 10 foot cell, 22 1/2 hours per day. The rest of the time is spent alone in a tiny concrete yard, if that privilege is granted. There is no human physical contact, no work and no communal activities. If the prisoner has enough money, he can purchase a TV or radio. Meals are pushed through a slot in the metal door.
An end to solitary confinement, and in particular to long-term solitary confinement of an indeterminate nature, is one of five “core” demands of the hunger strikers.
Another key demand concerns the onerous and sinister “debriefing” process. The prisoners are asking the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to “A) cease the use of innocuous association to deny an active status, B) cease the use of informant/debriefer allegations of illegal gang activity to deny inactive status unless such allegations are also supported by factual corroborating evidence, in which case CDCR-PBSP staff shall and must follow the regulations by issuing a rule violation report and affording the inmate his due process required by law.”
Dr. Corey Weinstein elaborated on the “debriefing process” in an article on Prison Legal News:
“More than 50 percent of the men in SHU are assigned indeterminate terms there because of alleged gang membership or activity. The only program that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) offers to them is to debrief. The single way offered to earn their way out of SHU is to tell departmental gang investigators everything they know about gang membership and activities, including describing crimes that they have committed. The department calls it debriefing. The prisoners call it ‘snitch, parole or die.’ The only ways out are to snitch, finish the prison term or die. The protection against self-incrimination has collapsed in the service of anti-gang investigation.”

Pains, Punishment & Congressional Limits
Before the Bills of Rights were introduced to the Congress, the founding fathers were already starting to limit the power of the federal government, which they thought would then limit the power of the federal government. Boy would they be surprised. Lawmaking, or legislative power, was initially intended to be vested in the Congress. This was long before agencies like the EPA were given their own rule making authority. That issue will be the topic of a future piece. The U.S. Constitution is comprised of seven Articles. Article One covers our federal legislature, the Congress; and Article One, Section Nine has eight clauses intended to restrict or prohibit Congressional authority and types of legislation.
The first restriction is legislation affecting the importation of slaves, and since a direct reference to slaves or slavery would reflect poorly in our governing document, poetic license was employed and the slave trade was referred to as "The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit." Congress was forbidden from passing any prohibition on the slave trade prior to 1808, although a tax could be levied up to ten dollars per slave.

Revolutionary new approach to sex offender therapy
Son of Mark Lunsford, Joshua
Lunsford in OhioIf all 50 states would put to death all child molesters and rapists.. how much money would tax p...
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National Police Misconduct Statistics Released
Conviction Rate
  • 68% of civilians charged are ultimately convicted
  • 31% of police officers charged are ultimately convicted
Probation Sentence Rate
  • 28% of convicted citizens are sentenced to probation.
  • 38% of convicted police officers are sentenced to probation
Sentence Length
  • 37 months – average civilian prison sentence length
  • 14 months – average police officer sentence length

READ THE FULL REPORT CLICK READ MORE BELOW


While your son is in prison or homeless,Joshua Lunsford is Living it up!
JOSH_LUNSFORD2Child Molester? Joshua Lunsford was caught doing what a lot of American Youth do.. sexually touching a younger girl. But ...
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The Accidental Sex Offender
Sarah WilsonIt was a classic teenage love story. He was a football star, and she was a cheerleader. They met, they fell in love, they started having sex. And then the cops got involved. Fifteen years later, they're still paying the price.
By Abigail Pesta

When Horseplay Becomes a Life Sentence
Published: Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 10:22 AM Updated: Wednesday, July 20, 2011, 12:33 PM
By Brian Campbell/NJ Voices
I have read newspapers my entire life. It's a hazardous occupation, with the negative and the stupid and the tragic far outweighing the uplifting elements of society. But I have never felt like this – sick to my stomach and full of anger. Jurisprudence in this country has died with this decision.
In Somerset County, two young boys became branded as lifelong sex offenders for, well, being boys. As fourteen year olds, they roughhoused and in a disgusting act, sat on the face of a fell student with their bare buttocks.   As my grandmother once said, it is boys being boys, an unexplainable phenomenon left over from the cavemen days. I certainly do not condone it. I have never done it myself nor had it done to me. Among friends it is known to be a funny, but disgusting form of horseplay. Among those that are not friends, it is the most vile and embarrassing form of bullying and should be punished with significant amounts of suspension, community service, and counseling.

Megan’s Law: Assessing the Practical and Monetary Efficacy
SAMPLE OF THIS REPORT BELOW:

Ongoing costs consist of expenses such as staff salaries, internet registry maintenance, equipment maintenance/supplies, and other/miscellaneous expenses (e.g. mailings, printings, software updates, etc.). Survey questions concerning on-going expenses pertained to costs accumulated during the calendar year ending 2006. In addition, a section concerning percentage of time allotted to job tasks (i.e. itemized according to staff title) was included and was to be completed for all staff working within each county’s Megan’s Law unit. For example, if an investigator was included under personnel, a percentage breakdown of time allotted to specific job functions such as risk assessment, door to door notifications, training, etc. was required. Of the 21 counties that were surveyed, 15 surveys were completed and received by the research unit, for a total response rate of 71.4 percent. Upon receipt, researchers scanned survey responses for possible misreading/interpretation issues related to specific survey items. For additional clarification, researchers called county prosecutor offices to confirm questionable survey item responses and made any changes accordingly. After survey responses were finalized, an Excel database of cost assessment variables was created for analysis. 

Frank Rodriguez Today Show Sex Offender Father

Today Show Results

http://today.newsvine.com/_news/2011/07/27/7177959-should-man-who-slept-with-wife-when-she-was-underage-be-labeled-a-sex-offender

You are still able to vote here.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Once Fallen Editorial - We need to pass a law to ban named laws (or "Curling Legislation")

http://once-fallen.blogspot.com/2011/07/we-need-to-pass-law-to-ban-named-laws.html#comment-form

Sex Offender Issues: Who Isn’t A Sex-Offender These Days?

Sex Offender Issues: Who Isn’t A Sex-Offender These Days?: "Original Article See more insanity here 07/26/2011 By Amy Alkon Don't be taking pictures of your daughter figure-skating in Troy, New..."

Sex Offenders: Murdered: Man shot to death outside home near Exeter

Sex Offenders: Murdered: Man shot to death outside home near Exeter: "7-26-2011 California: A man was shot to death Monday morning while waiting for a ride to work outside his home northeast of Exeter. Ne..."

Gordon Skene jailed for raping teenager in Bathgate

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-14277645

"The 23-year-old, from Bathgate, claimed the sex was consensual and still maintains his innocence.

But his victim said she had told Skene she did not want to have sex with him, and that he persisted against her will.

Passing sentence, Lord Tyre said he had to reflect society's abhorrence of the crime."

Brian Dickerson: Nonviolent sex offenders ensnared in state's red tape


Sentence cut for child sex offender after 'vigilante' attacks

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/sentence-cut-for-child-sex-offender-after-vigilante-attacks-20110726-1hy6y.html

Sex Offender Issues: SORNA's Approaching Deadlines by Dr. Levenson a Gu...

Sex Offender Issues: SORNA's Approaching Deadlines by Dr. Levenson a Gu...: "Dr. Jill Levenson Original Article 07/21/2011 Dr. Levenson was a Guest Blogger over at ' Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatm..."

Should Sex Offenders Be Allowed To List City Parks As Residences?

Monday, July 25, 2011

Nebraska sued over retroactive law

Pelosi seeks ethics probe of Oregon Democrat Wu

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/25/us-usa-politics-wu-idUSTRE76O0DV20110725

14-Year-Olds Now Lifetime “Sex Offenders” Due to Playground Nonsense

Prince Andrew drops trade envoy role after row over US sex offender | News

Prince Andrew drops trade envoy role after row over US sex offender | News

Hagerstown City Council works to narrow its priorities for lobbying agenda - herald-mail.com

Hagerstown City Council works to narrow its priorities for lobbying agenda - herald-mail.com

Downtown Anchorage Homeless Protestor Arrested, Posts Bail - ktuu.com

Downtown Anchorage Homeless Protestor Arrested, Posts Bail - ktuu.com

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Call to Action: United States Sentencing Commission - child pornography guidelines for United States Courts

The United States Sentencing Commission is asking for public comment on child pornography guidelines, please take this opportunity to contact them and review the request for public comment. Until May 2012, everyone is encouraged to include a personal stories of how these laws have impacted you and your family. Everyone is urged to have both family and friends do the same in order to see change.


BAC2210-40
UNITED STATES SENTENCING COMMISSION
Sentencing Guidelines for United States Courts
 
AGENCY: United States Sentencing Commission.
 
ACTION: Notice of proposed priorities. Request for public comment.
 
SUMMARY: As part of its statutory authority and responsibility to analyze sentencing issues, including operation of the federal sentencing guidelines, and in accordance with Rule 5.2 of its Rules of Practice and Procedure, the United States Sentencing Commission is seeking comment on possible priority policy issues for the amendment cycle ending May 1, 2012.
 
DATE: Public comment should be received on or before [30 days after date of publication of notice].
 
ADDRESS: Send comments to: United States Sentencing Commission, One Columbus Circle, NE, Suite 2-500, South Lobby, Washington, DC 20002-8002, Attention: Public Affairs - Priorities Comment.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jeanne Doherty, Office of Legislative and Public Affairs, 202-502-4502.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The United States Sentencing Commission is an
independent agency in the judicial branch of the United States Government. The Commission
promulgates sentencing guidelines and policy statements for federal sentencing courts pursuant to 28 U.S.C. ' 994(a). The Commission also periodically reviews and revises previously promulgated guidelines pursuant to 28 U.S.C. ' 994(o) and submits guideline amendments to the Congress not later than the first day of May each year pursuant to 28 U.S.C. ' 994(p).
 
The Commission provides this notice to identify tentative priorities for the amendment cycle ending May 1, 2012. The Commission recognizes, however, that other factors, such as the enactment of any legislation requiring Commission action, may affect the Commission=s ability to complete work on any or all of its identified priorities by the statutory deadline of May 1, 2012. Accordingly, it may be necessary to continue work on any or all of these issues beyond the amendment cycle ending on May 1, 2012.
 
As so prefaced, the Commission has identified the following tentative priorities:
 
(1) Continuation of its work on statutory mandatory minimum penalties, including (A) its study of and, pursuant to the directive in section 4713 of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009, Pub. L. 111B84, report to Congress on statutory mandatory minimum penalties, including a review of the operation of the "safety valve" provision at 18 U.S.C. ' 3553(e); and (B) its study of and, pursuant to the directive in section 107(b) of the Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act of 2010, Pub. L. 111B195, report to Congress regarding violations of section 5(a) of the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 (22 U.S.C. ' 287c(a)), sections 38, 39, and 40 of the Arms Export Control Act (22 U.S.C. '' 2778, 2779, and 2780), and the Trading with the Enemy Act (50 U.S.C. App. 1 et seq.).
 
(2) Continuation of its work on implementation of the directives in section 1079A of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Pub. L. 111B203, regarding securities fraud offenses and fraud offenses relating to financial institutions or federally related mortgage loans; and implementation of any other crime legislation enacted during the 111th or 112th Congress warranting a Commission response.
 
(3) Continuation of its work with the congressional, executive, and judicial branches of government, and other interested parties, to study the manner in which United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220 (2005), and subsequent Supreme Court decisions have affected federal sentencing practices, the appellate review of those practices, and the role of the federal sentencing guidelines. The Commission anticipates that it will issue a report with respect to its findings, possibly including (A) an evaluation of the impact of those decisions on the federal sentencing guideline system; (B) development of recommendations for legislation regarding federal sentencing policy; (C) an evaluation of the appellate standard of review applicable to post-Booker federal sentencing decisions; and (D) possible consideration of amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines.
 
(4) Continuation of its multi-year review of '2D1.1 (Unlawful Manufacturing, Importing, Exporting, or Trafficking (Including Possession with Intent to Commit These Offenses); Attempt or Conspiracy) and possible consideration of amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines for drug offenses.
 
(5) Continuation of its review of child pornography offenses and report to Congress as a result of such review. It is anticipated that any such report would include 
(A) a review of the incidence of, and reasons for, departures and variances from the guideline sentence; 
(B) a compilation of studies on, and analysis of, recidivism by child pornography offenders; and 
(C) possible recommendations to Congress on any statutory changes that may be appropriate.
 
(6) Continuation of its multi-year study of the statutory and guideline definitions of “crime of violence”, “aggravated felony”, “violent felony”, and “drug trafficking offense”, including (A) possible consideration of an amendment to specify the types of documents to be considered under the "categorical approach", see Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575 (1990); Shepard v. United States, 544 U.S. 13 (2005), for determining the applicability of guideline enhancements; (B) an examination of relevant circuit conflicts regarding whether any offense is categorically a "crime of violence", "aggravated felony", "violent felony", or "drug trafficking offense" for purposes of triggering an enhanced sentence under certain federal statutes
and guidelines; and (C) possible report to Congress making recommendations on any statutory changes that may be appropriate to relevant statutes, such as 8 U.S.C. ' 1326.
 
(7) Continuation of its review of departures within the guidelines, including provisions in Parts H and K of Chapter Five of the Guidelines Manual, and the extent to which pertinent statutory provisions prohibit, discourage, or encourage certain factors as forming the basis for departure from the guideline sentence.
 
(8) Continuation of its multi-year review of the guidelines and their application to human rights offenses, including genocide under 18 U.S.C. ' 1091, war crimes under 18 U.S.C. ' 2441, torture and maiming to commit torture under 18 U.S.C. '' 2340A and 114, respectively, and child soldier offenses under 18 U.S.C. ' 2442, and possible promulgation of guidelines or guideline amendments with respect to these offenses.
 
(9) Resolution of circuit conflicts, pursuant to the Commission=s continuing authority and responsibility, under 28 U.S.C. ' 991(b)(1)(B) and Braxton v. United States, 500 U.S. 344 (1991), to resolve conflicting interpretations of the guidelines by the federal courts.
 
(10) Consideration of (A) '5K2.19 (Post-Sentencing Rehabilitative Efforts) (Policy Statement) in light of Pepper v. United States, 131 S.Ct. 1229 (March 2, 2011); (B) whether to provide a specific reference for N-Benzylpiperazine (BZP) in the Drug Quantity Table in '2D1.1; and (C) any other miscellaneous guideline application issues coming to the Commission=s attention from case law and other sources.
 
The Commission hereby gives notice that it is seeking comment on these tentative priorities and on any other issues that interested persons believe the Commission should address during the amendment cycle ending May 1, 2012. To the extent practicable, public comment should include the following: 
(1) a statement of the issue, including, where appropriate, the scope and manner of study, particular problem areas and possible solutions, and any other matters relevant to a proposed priority; 
(2) citations to applicable sentencing guidelines, statutes, case law, and constitutional provisions; and 
(3) a direct and concise statement of why the Commission should make the issue a priority.

AUTHORITY: 28 U.S.C. ' 994(a), (o); USSC Rules of Practice and Procedure 5.2.
Patti B. Saris
Chair

Sharon Osbourne of "THE TALK" thinks cutting off a man's penis is funny?

Challenge.gov: What is this?

Friday, July 22, 2011

CT - Former Police Capt. Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Charges

Hundreds of new Arizona laws take effect this week

Hundreds of new Arizona laws take effect this week

Local News | Grandfather struggles to keep sex offender out of jail | Seattle Times Newspaper

Local News | Grandfather struggles to keep sex offender out of jail | Seattle Times Newspaper

WHO IS GONNA SNAP NEXT!



"SAN DIEGO CA. IS THE ONLY CITY ON THE ENTIRE WEST COAST WHERE A SEX OFFENDER IS DENIED ENTRY INTO HOMELESS SHELTERS! WWW.LAWSUIT.TK"

eAdvocate - Bills in Congress: New Bill in Congress: Federal Record Expungements ...

eAdvocate - Bills in Congress: New Bill in Congress: Federal Record Expungements ...: "7-20-2011 National: HR 2449 ' Fresh Start Act of 2011 ' which was introduced by Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] on 7/7/2011 and referred to the H..."

Sex Offender Issues: MN - Entire Town Goes Vigilante at Notification Me...

Sex Offender Issues: MN - Entire Town Goes Vigilante at Notification Me...: "Original Article 07/21/2011 By Mark Fischenich NICOLLET — The nearly 170 people attending a Level 3 sex offender notification meeting..."

The False Rape Society: Coming this Autumn

The False Rape Society: Coming this Autumn: "FRS is going to be implementing sweeping changes this coming fall in a significant push to give the community of the wrongly accused a more ..."

Pennsylvania doesn't expect Megan's Law fine

http://sexoffenderresearch.blogspot.com/2011/07/pennsylvania-doesnt-expect-megans-law.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SexOffenderNewsIssuesResearchAndRecidivism+%28Sex+Offender+News%2C+Issues%2C+Research+and+Recidivism%29

Brian Dickerson: Nonviolent sex offenders ensnared in state

Brian Dickerson: Nonviolent sex offenders ensnared in state

SORNA's Approaching Deadlines by Dr. Levenson a Guest Blogger at SAJRT

SORNA

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Would this consider her a sex offender?

Who: Fergie

What: A secret fling in 1996

The Black Eyed Peas star recently confessed to Australia's Courier Mail that when she was in girl group Wild Orchid (with fellow "Kids Incorporated" alum Renee Sands) she became the first pop star to have a relationship with Timberlake. It was some solid May-December action, as he was 16 and she was 23. 

Yes it does, accept that depending on the state/country 16 years old is the age of legal consent!

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Comments on the article "Federal Sex Offender Registration"


Comments below:

Quick assessment of this article's "talking points."

1. Attorney General Eric Holder should refuse to grant jurisdictions any more extensions in implementing the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

COMMENTS: I agree. Why prolong the fact that most states have absolutely no desire to pass this abominable law? The feds cannot force compliance.

2. The Act is not an unfunded mandate that penalizes jurisdictions. Rather, it is resourced and funded, even if jurisdictions chose to forgo some federal grant money. Many jurisdictions have already proven that SORNA is not inflexible or unachievable, and courts have noted that the Act is constitutional.

COMMENTS: What's this guy smoking? Ohio has repeatedly struck down attempts to apply the law retroactively, at an untold cost of millions to reclassify thousands of registrants. He is right, the law is not technically "unfunded," The FY 2010 Consolidated Appropriations Act included $1.1 TRILLION in reckless spending, but the clincher is giving $353.5 MILLION to the Adam Walsh Act! Of course, that $353 million million must be divided between 50 states, several territories and Indian tribes ("over 100 jurisdictions" according to this article), in addition to the US Marshals, the NCMEC, and the myriad of programs BESIDES the SORNA provisions. All of a sudden, 353 Million bucks does not seem like a lot. When a bill explicitly states refusal to implement the law (duh, its right in section 125), it is pretty obvious there is a penalty to failure to comply. Ohio is still facing battles over classification. Other states like Texas has raised issues with the law's provisions, including the call to register teens as young as 14 on the registry. I guess the guy who wrote this crap fast forwarded past the SORNA hearing to the parts i his favor. There are plenty of rejections of AWA provisions on this AWA fact page:

http://www.oncefallen.com/AdamWalshAct.html

3. The old patchwork quilt of sex offender laws around the country is obsolete and ineffective—a reality made tangible by tragedies like the murder of Sarah Haley Foxwell. SORNA, when fully realized, will protect this nation by giving citizens and law enforcement more accurate knowledge and information about convicted sex offenders’ identities and locations.

Actually, it will give them no more info than what one would find in the NCIC. He is relying on an appeal to emotion. I'd say the AWA failed to save Esme Kenney, who was killed by a Tier 3 offender in Cincinnati in 2009, nor did the AWA stopped Anthony Sewell. The old "If only this law was on place" argument has outlived its usefulness. The registry has been proven to have no impact on sex crime prevention, and may even increase sex crime laws. This slanted article never considers the effectiveness of this law, nor acknowledge the true nature of sex crimes, i.e., most occur with a trusted person who is likely not on the registry. States have found changing their state sex offender sentencing scheme to match AWA has not been very streamlined as this guy would have you believe.

4. Congress passed SORNA to establish a minimum standard for sex offender registration nationwide. Now it is time for jurisdictions to stop making excuses and implement this legislation.

States have not made "excuses," but informed decisions using the precedent established by the few states that are currently "substantially compliant." It is interesting to note this guy relies on the 100,000 missing sex offender myth."
 ________________________
"The appropriate response, for the most part, will be to show the erroneous nature of his assertions, rather than to accept his assertions, and show correct statistics to refute what he shows.

What he is trying to do is create a FACTOID (something said so many times that folks will believe it), this has been the way of the opposition for years.

Given where he is writing from, I am very surprised at this article."
 __________________


Although I truly appreciate some intellectual input, I have to say these are  my two favorite comment though:

"This is a  horrible article, it is riddled with misinformation and outright lies."

"I thought that was a horrible article and the writer is an idiot" 

Ditto for me, guys!

Monitoring Sex Offenders

'Lost' actor Doug Anthony Hutchinson and teen bride Courtney Stodden tal...

Anonymous Insiders plans to destroy America

Off-topic: nevertheless very interesting!

CA - New state audit reveals troubling deficiency in sex offender evalua...

PA - Sex Offender Lives In Tent Near River

Tories announce plans to track sex offenders

Tories announce plans to track sex offenders

OR - Former Albany cop (Rick Hawley) goes on trial for sex abuse

Corporatism is killing democracy in US



Wow, can possibly be the truth...especially knowing the lobbyists that are pushing past and present laws regarding GPS Devices and other things!

MSM mad about Casey Anthony, misses real issues



Media-media-media!

Does SWAT serve its purpose?

MSM Focuses on Royal Fairy Tale



What is wrong with America that we build this up anothers live and not to one's that actually need help.



Smarter???

A Murder, 7 Convictions And Many Question Marks

Progress or political theatre with US budgetary woes?

Bringing Adam Home - The Abduction that Changed America



READ MORE: http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/2011/07/bringing-adam-home-abduction-th...

BOOK: http://astore.amazon.com/sexoffiss-20/detail/006198390X

NOTE: This is not related for false accusers, but the channel is able to upload videos longer than 15 minutes.

OH - Ohio Supreme Court Declares Adam Walsh Acts Classification Scheme P...

Ripple Effect - When prosecutors convict the wrong person, it impacts th...

LA - Judge puts sex offender ordinance on hold due to extortion fees

WI - Rise is sex offenders not reporting where they live?

MI - Former Wayne State Officer Gregory Gladden Headed to Trial in Sex A...

Walk of shame: DSK vs MSM

FL - CyberCrime Unit no longer looking for Sexual Predators

America's bloodlust leads to financial woes



Revenge, retribution...seeing that person pay for his crime. That is America's present mentality. Why is society seeing that is costs more to monitor a sex offender/execute a criminal than help them. Spend the money on our children so they can grow up differently and make something of themselves.

Pennsylvania doesn't expect Megan's Law fine

By Chuck Biedka, VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
Monday, July 18, 2011

Read more: Pennsylvania doesn't expect Megan's Law fine - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleynewsdispatch/lifestyles/s_747232.html#ixzz1SYapDGvf

Pennsylvania won't meet a July deadline to modify its sex offender laws, but state officials are confident they will be exempted from a fine.

The federal government is threatening to withhold 10 percent of some Department of Justice (DOJ) grants for states that miss the July 27 deadline to comply with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.

That could amount to almost $2 million for Pennsylvania based on the average allocated to the state in recent years.

So far, Pennsylvania is among 40 states that haven't won final approval of sex-offender laws from the federal office that supervises the federal program.

States must reapply to get the withheld money returned to implement sex offender law changes, but there is no guarantee that they will get the money back.

Gov. Tom Corbett's chief spokesman Kevin Harley said the state "substantially complies" with the act and is formally asking the DOJ to waive the potential fine.

"We haven't received an official submission from Pennsylvania. Until we do and have issued a decision to the state, we cannot comment or speculate on any penalty or compliance issues.," said Scott G. Matson, a senior policy advisor for the federal oversight office.

Harley said state officials are confident the exemption will be granted because the state has taken numerous steps, including updating the state police sexual offender's web site.

Two offender-reporting loopholes have been closed by Pennsylvania lawmakers.

In addition, an overall corrective bill is in the Senate Judiciary committee awaiting action when the General Assembly is back in session in September, Harley said.

SB1130 is sponsored by Sen. Jane Orie, R-McCandless, and cosponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Stewart R. Greenleaf, R-Bucks, Montgomery, and many others.

The measure strengthens reporting requirements for sexual offenders and better protects the welfare of victims, Orie said.

The bill also calls for, in some cases, using the names of juvenile sex offenders on the Megan's Law web site. Juvenile offenders wouldn't be designated as lifetime offenders unless they were convicted as adults, she said.

"I don't anticipate losing the federal money," she said.

State Sen. Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, said the bill has been revised by Senate and House staffers as well as the governor's staff.

"It's my understanding that the administration is working to do whatever it can to apply for an exemption" to the fine, Costa said.

"We're making sure it meets the Justice Department criteria," said Steve Miskin, an aide for House Speaker Samuel Smith, a Republican who represents Jefferson County and parts of Armstrong and Indiana counties.

Miskin said legislative leaders and the Corbett administration are "keen to get this done."

Read more: Pennsylvania doesn't expect Megan's Law fine - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/valleynewsdispatch/lifestyles/s_747232.html#ixzz1SYaw9dUX

One To See Change Past Posts

One to See Change Blog List

"When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in the sun, the wide and rising plains, the great mountains, and the sea. He means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom lives and in which a man can draw the breath of self-respect."
~Adlia Stevenson U.S. Vice President (1893–1897) and Congressman (1879–1881)

On a Personal Note

Thanks for the opportunity to express my thoughts regarding the issue of citizens’ rights, particularly addressing certain sex offenders’ crimes that do not fit the devastating, inequitable and endless punishment given.


As you know, many young men and women lives across the nation are being destroyed by incarceration, life-time registry and restrictive laws that do more harm than good. For those individuals, there is no second chance.

Below is a personal letter to President Obama:
* * * *
“Dear President Obama,

I truly agree with your sentiments that individuals, such as ex-felons, should be able to receive a second chance at life. Since we all know that one can veer off that path of life and travel along rough, rocky terrain, sometimes running off and ending up in some ditch. We all have made our fill of mistakes and sometimes those held a costly consequence that changed life forever. So we lived through it, trying harder to make things right with family, friends and those around us, but what about those who aren’t able to make things right even if they tried…because they’re labeled as too dirty, a leper, a person who is rejected from society and home.


But what if they’re a seventeen year old and had sex with a fifteen year old, consensual at that? Or they’re a teen that had gotten so enraged after a breakup that he sent out naked pictures of his girlfriend on his cell phone or email? Or an individual urinates where someone just happens to see them?


All are wrong and a travesty but do they deserve the life of no second chance with a registry that ends all. They are labeled, no jobs, no where to live…they have been deemed a menace to society, a plague. These certain circumstances, and many other situations similar to these, I believe still deserve a second change.

Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution


Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.


After my son’s early release and two years of prison, I thought I had handled that fact graciously knowing after serving his time he would be able to get that fresh start, that second chance. He was an exemplary inmate, GED, college courses and vocational classes. Little did I know that a second chance on the outside was the farthest from the truth? He now struggles and lives in a trailer park sharing a trailer with another and surrounded by others in the same rocking boat, one to float endlessly in shark infested waters. I see him little because of probation requirements (he couldn’t live with us because we were 800 feet near a school). My family is afraid of what would happen to them if he lived with them…vigilantism. My son has no other place to stay since others condemn him of his crime that is screamed from the highest rooftop. Sex offender, sex offender!

Not all sex offenders are pedophiles or predators but some are simply young kids that make one stupid and rash decision that eventually changes everything, and they have no idea what they’ve done until their life is never their own. Exactly, where is that second chance for those sex-offenders who are lumped together with pedophiles and predators? Now, it makes me sick to think of my son’s future and many like him that are on the registry and many with no second chance…ever. I am asking you as a mother and as another concerned citizen of the United States that these laws are looked at again and taken into serious consideration in what they are doing to the Constitution of the United States, not for sex offenders in general but the future rights of every citizen, before anymore are put into effect. They unjustly strip an offender of their rights and place them in a guillotine that can be easily set off by anyone and at anytime. Where is the second chance for ex-sex offenders in the present, pending and future laws?”
* * * *
What truly saddens me is the weakness and deterioration of what the sex offense issue is doing to our once, great nation. Across Europe, others are seeing the injustice and disregard of rights, but we ignore this problem and it makes me wonder where humanity is heading….

We have become a hysterical society in which our latest witch-hunt is a sex offender--no matter his/her crime.

Below is a email sent from a foreign advocate to a father of a sex offender:
* * * *
“The tragic story of your son's death is just so sad that it's difficult to explain how. It was very hard to read your letters. It seems almost unbelievable that this can take place in a democracy! From our point of view, there is no justice in this. Not in any way: not for you, your son, the former girl friend – or even the state.

It is an abusive legal system. It seems barbaric. And we are so very sorry that this takes place. That's why it's so important for us to try to neutralize the debate with this…, hopefully making some changes. ….. to show the every day life of the sex offenders, trying to show how they keep on being punished, even after served prison time…..But we will for sure tell the story of the injustice that your son has been exposed to.”
* * * *
I appreciate everyone's commitment and backing to protect everyone's civil rights, plainly as noted in the Constitution of the United States and is presupposed, giving ALL men are “life, liberty and pursuit of happiness.”