Letter to President Obama - 2010_001

December 30, 2010

Dear President Obama

  I have heard you praising the Eagles owner for hiring Michael Vick and giving him a second chance and that you believe everyone deserves a second chance. I agree, many people make many mistakes in life due to immaturity, irresponsibility, and being just plain stupid.  Like you, I believe these people should get a second chance at life. 

  Unfortunately for many felons, especially sex offenders, they never get a chance at a normal life. Life is hard enough on a person convicted of a felony; they have lost many rights of citizenship. However,  the mugger, thief, drug dealer, or even murderer do not lose all of their rights and upon release and the completion of any parole or probation they return to regular society and no one has to know about their past. Why is this? The answer is because they have paid their debt to society.

  Yes those who commit crimes may be restricted from certain jobs, but it is the business that determines that, not the government. Upon release they face no other restrictions on their lives. A murderer is not restricted from living in and among other people, even though they took the life of someone. A home invasion is a violent and scary thought, but many people are in fact living next door to someone who was once convicted of that type of crime. Drug dealers can and do sell drugs to kids, but after they have completed their time, where are the restrictions on where they live?  A bank robber is not restricted from having a bank account when they have completed their sentence, why not?

  Yet under the justification of "protecting children" we as a society and our own government have decided that any sex related crime should have the offender labeled for life. No second chance for them. We as a society have hung a scarlet letter around their necks deemed them unfit for society…ever! The scarlet letter analogy seems like an exaggeration? Anyone in Florida who commits any crime that is labeled a sex related crime is given this moniker and their drivers licenses are given a special code so when they show it to police, a Human Resources hiring official, a potential landlord or anyone who has visited the states sex offender web page can determine that the person handing them the ID is a convicted sex offender. What company wants to hire a convicted sex offender? How fair will the treatment from the police be, even on a minor traffic violation when they realize the person they have stopped is a convicted sex offender? The worse one is that these people are put on a sex offender registry that is viewed by all and then in many locals notices go out warning residents of the locations of sex offenders. These persons are ostracized by society, they are open targets for vigilantes, and many commit suicide due to the added pressures of being labeled a sex offender. Depending on the state they live in they are generally on the registry for at least 20 years to life.  How can these men and women get a second chance at life when everything is getting taken away from them? They cannot live close to schools, bus stops, parks, etc.  They cannot get loans for businesses, school, etc.  There is legislation for these people to restrict them from working in any place that children may go to at any time.  It seems like every time you turn around the rules and restrictions get more invasive and restrictive. What about second chances for them? They have none.

  Who is a sex offender? This is where the biggest problem lies. A sex offender is anyone convicted of a crime that has anything to do with sex. In the 1970's it was a popular thing to strip naked and go "streaking". Well, today that same act could get you labeled a sex offender. A young man picks up a girl in a club and later her parents go to the police because she was under age, he goes to jail and is labeled a sex offender. A 19 year old whose 17 year old girl friend sends him a nude picture of herself also can go to jail and is labeled a sex offender because he had it on his phone. These people have their lives ruined and are treated the same as a 50 year old man who abducts a young child and rapes them. Society doesn't hear the details of the crime; they only hear the term "sex offender". 

  I am a mother of a “sex offender” who is in prison right now because while he was looking for and for downloading legal pornography from share-ware programs on the internet he also saw and downloaded all sorts of strange stuff. Being young and curious and like the person that can't seem to look away from a car accident he without understanding and realizing the seriousness of the crime downloaded files that were "child porn". He had cyber walked into a zone the police had been monitoring and as such his apartment was raided and his computer seized. My son cooperated and told the police that he wasn't using discretion on selecting files to download; he merely selected everything on a page and went to his job. Upon returning from work he would look to see what he had downloaded and separate the legal porn from the questionable stuff.   He was honest.  He never meant to do anything bad and did not realize that it was so wrong and it was just a mistake.  My son was then sent to a psychiatrist that the state prosecutor uses to convict cases of sex offenders and he confirmed my son was not a pedophile and that he is not a threat to children. Facing the unknown and uncertainty my son struggled with his desire to take the case to trial but in the end took the plea deal offered because of the potential for a much greater sentence if convicted by a jury. At the official sentencing the judge having reviewed the case accepted his plea and then went on to state officially for the record that he believed the psychiatrist and that in his case he should not be labeled a "sex offender" but that it was not in his control. My son was 20 when this happened and just recently celebrated his 22^nd birthday in prison. Even in prison he is an outcast, he is not allowed to help people study for their GED, he cannot help the prison chaplain, he cannot be on a work team, and that is all because of his charge.

  My son had already earned an Associate's degree in Auto Mechanics and was in the middle of getting his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration when he went to prison.  He worked two full time jobs and was a full time student.  He is a certified mechanic and wanted to open up his own business by the time he was 30, but one mistake he made will be the end of that dream for him. This has been financially and mentally hard on our family.  Everyone has had to suffer for a stupid mistake an immature kid made.  Unfortunately these laws are not protecting anyone; they are just labeling a segment of society. My son was an asset to this country.  His life is gone for making an immature, irresponsible mistake.  I ask you, what person in the United States has never made a mistake.  We have congressman, senators, governors; etc. that have made mistakes but they do not have to pay this high of a price when they are much older and they know better.  I hear it on the news all the time.  It sometimes seems that money and power can buy your freedom.  Unfortunately my family has been tapped out of funds from the first lawyer who did nothing and now we are using a public defender for his appeal. I am just praying that he helps my son win.

  It saddens me to know what my son is facing when he leaves prison where he has been for the last 7 months of his 18 month sentence.  I am also scared for his life and the vigilantes out there that may hurt him just because he will be on the registry. He never meant to do anything wrong, it was all unintentional.  But the law and police do not care.  They just want an arrest so they are out there hunting these young people down. It’s like a witch hunt from the middle ages.   When you don’t even give these men a second chance and they are labeled for the rest of their lives how can they ever succeed. They are shunned by all in society.  What are they supposed to do with their lives?  It would be better if they committed another crime to be put back in prison because in prison they would have a better life than the cruel treatment from society. It is like a Scarlet Letter on their chest.  If these men cannot get a job, a home, loans, etc., they will never have that second chance and with them on this ridiculous registry they have no chance of a real life.  They will be a burden on society.  I would love to have grandchildren one day from my son.  He would like to get married one day when he is successful.  But with this registry hanging over his head how would he be able to do that.  No matter if he meets a woman she may or may not want to deal with all the heartache this brings to my son and she may not be able to deal with it as me and my husband have had to deal with the scrutiny.  My son is hurting, he is sorry for what he did.  He even wrote a letter to the judge telling him how sorry he is and he would do something good with his life after this to help others know the dangers of thee share-ware programs.  He is so sincere and he is very honest and that is why he is in prison.  He freely admitted to the police that he was indiscriminate in his downloading. He didn't realize that merely downloading the files, regardless of whether he looked at them or not was illegal. He could have blamed it on his roommates but he did not.  He never thought it would put him behind bars for 18 months. It was poor judgment on his part and he should never have been so indiscriminate in his search for porn. He shouldn't have been looking for porn in the first place but then that is a seductive draw for a young man. In the end when he realized he had stuff clearly not legal he should have done something different like reporting the website to the police but again he didn't realize the seriousness of what he had done.

  To be honest, before this I thought all sex offenders were these evil, cruel men that hurt children, but since my son was convicted of his crime I don’t believe that anymore. I now know that many of the people on these registries are on there for minor infractions or bad judgment. Now when I hear it on the news about a sex offender I don't automatically believe it, I cannot, I have witnessed firsthand what the press does, they did it for 3 days straight on the nightly news, tarring and feathering my son. If I didn't know all the details I would have thought my son was this evil man stalking children, that is how they made him out to be on the news. They made my son out to be a monster and he is not. They make no difference between someone that actually molests a child or commits rape and someone that is curious and clicks on the wrong pictures or urinates in a park after drinking at a bar, has consensual sex with someone younger than 18. In this hypersexual world we live in today, sexuality is flaunted by glorified. It is amazing how many of the sex offenders who are in for cyber crimes are young adults.  A

  All other felons lose their voting rights and gun rights which I think is unfair as well. I believe that when your time is complete it should be complete.  I believe everyone has a right to vote, it is our Constitutional right. I believe if a felon does not commit a crime within 5 years after being let out of prison they should get all those rights back. 

 

  Unfortunately sex offenders will always be on the registry. This is like segregating black, gays, women, and other minorities because of who they are and society has stood up to this discrimination.  You cannot label anyone.  Again, it’s against their Constitutional right of due process, and the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We have as a society regressed back to the days of the Salem witch trials when women were forced to wear labels identifying them as adulterers.

  The Constitution provides protection for people of the United States except the ones deemed sex offenders for any reason.  Every group in the United States wants special protection like the:”hate crime” laws for blacks, gays, other ethnic backgrounds, etc.  But we all have equal protection under the law.  What about these men on the registry?  They honestly have no protection and this honestly scares me for all these men. 

  We chastise other countries for the inhumane way they treat their citizens.  The UN gives countries like these, sanctions.  But we are doing this to our own people of this country and that should be stopped.  People that are on the registry are treated just as inhumane as many of these countries treat their people who we chastised publicly. How can we point our fingers at Iran for its repressive treatment of its citizens when we engage in it ourselves?

  We are all to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the United States.  What about these men?

5^thNo person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

8^thExcessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

14^thAll persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdictionthereof, 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.

I am sure there are a few more but I am also not a constitutional scholar.

  I know there are a lot of statistics out there on sex offenders and what constitutes one but no matter what they ALL deserve a second chance especially the ones that do not hurt children. I don’t know about you but when I was younger guys and girls were always together.  My mother-in-law was married at the age of 13.  People did get married very young.  My friend got married at 17.  I had a child at 16.  Hormones are stirring up in kids as young as 12.  I am not saying that it is right for them to have sex, but it is the reality that some are having sex and a lot of them look much older than they are. Girls lie to the guys to be with an older man.  It is the society we live in now.  It is not much different than when we were younger but everyone thinks it is. 

  I am begging you to help me in this matter and the many other moms and dads out there that are afraid for their children that are doomed for the rest of their lives for a mistake they made.  Can no one ever make a mistake anymore and not have it haunt them for the rest of their lives. I am asking you to please research these laws and see where the mistakes are and how many of these young men made a mistake and they all deserve a second chance. The answer can be as simple as not allowing a person to be segregated after completion of probation or parole. This should also be doing away with the “sex offender” registry.

  I understand it is a lot of work and I will be happy to send you information on the laws. It is heartbreaking for me knowing that when my son gets out of prison he is going to be confined to a small space and may not be able to live with me where he can be supported. Please help my son and the many others like him get the second chance they deserve.

  I know this is asking too much but I would love for you to put a face with this letter and the many moms I am in contact with that are going through the same thing.  All we want for our children is to get a second chance at their lives after making a mistake.

I appreciate you taking the time to read this.  It is very important to me and the many other moms and dads out there with a son in the similar circumstance.

Sincerely

Christine (mother of a sex offender)

Here are some websites that I have given you to take a look at the myths and the facts.

http://www.uncomfortabletruth.org/

http://www.floridajusticetransitions.com/

http://onetoseechange.blogspot.com/

www.spreadthewordflorida.com

www.derekoftexas.blogspot.com

www.letbillygo.com

www.freebrandon.org

www.arctalkradio.com

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/40400607.html

http://www.pbnation.com/showthread.php?t=1484956

http://hubpages.com/hub/Interviews-with-four-convicted-sexual-predators

http://hubpages.com/hub/Interviews-with-four-convicted-sexual-predators-Part-II

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQROtWK_5bc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j472yDKyPMw

This story is about the father of Jessica Lunsford’s son who was caught with a 14 year old girl at a skating rink.  Mr. Lunsford has been pushing very hard to punish sex offenders even more for all crimes they committed while his own son gets away with being off the registry and he actually touched a 14 year old girl.  Please tell me where the justice is in this, Mr. Obama?

As reported by WHIOTV, Joshua Lunsford-the brother of the Florida 9-year-old rape and murder victim Jessica Lunsford-faced charges in a Clark County, Ohio courtroom, Friday, May 25, 2007.

Lunsford, 18, pleaded not guilty to charges of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor. The charges stem from an alleged incident that occurred in March with a 14-year-old girl outside the Upper Valley Mall. The incident stems from a complaint filed by the mother of Joshua Lunsford's young girlfriend. He has pleaded not guilty. The mother says in a police report that Joshua Lunsford fondled the girl at a skating rink and outside a shopping mall on March 30 and 31 while the two were kissing. Although the mother says the girl was a willing participant, Ohio law prohibits anyone 18 or older from having sexual contact with anyone younger than 16. Lunsford turned 18 in February.

Mark Lunsford-father of the accused-has been a leading advocate of the Jessica Lunsford Act, legislation that imposes

Joshua Lunsford faced a judge in Springfield Monday and was charged with sexual misconduct with a minor, police said.
Jessica Lunsford was murdered in Florida by a sexual predator. Joshua Lunsford is free on bond and will be sentenced later this month.
Defendant: LUNSFORDJOSHUA D
Criminal Case.

 June 11, Mr. Lunsford no longer has a public defender.
A motion was filed and granted to redact information from the Internet.
The case has been reassigned to the docket.

 http://nlsngrc.blogspot.com/2007/07/joshua-lunsford-gets-slap-in-wrist.html

 Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Joshua Lunsford gets a slap in the wrist

Citrus County Chronicle Online:

Mark Lunsford's son will spend the next 10 days in jail, but will not be registered as a sex offender after being sentenced Monday for having unlawful sexual contact with a 14-year-old girl.