tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37135443011312407332024-03-06T12:02:42.733-08:00With Justice for Allshellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.comBlogger131125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-83267711588040877792018-03-01T11:37:00.000-08:002018-03-01T11:37:23.594-08:00Let's get the biggest bang for our sexual offense prevention dollar<a href="http://wncn.com/2018/02/28/tracking-sex-offenders-is-a-large-task-that-falls-to-a-handful-of-people/" target="_blank">From North Carolina comes this all-too-familiar story</a>: Law enforcement is patting itself on the back for "tracking" those on the sex offender registry. In the typical it's-a-dirty-job-but-somebody's-got-to-do-it style of reporting, the journalist lauds Investigator J. Moore and the other two in the sex offender unit for spending all of their working hours verifying that Wake County's 800 registered sex offenders are where they are supposed to be. I guess when they finish with them all, they start over.<br />
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Congratulations, Mr. Moore, et al: it would appear that you are truly doing your share to keep people safe, but let's just look at the science: A Dept. of Justice study of all released sexual offenders in 1994, almost 10,000 persons, shows that 96.5% did not recidivate. 3.5% were convicted for committing another sexual crime.<br />
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Since child victims are normally the greatest concern with this issue, I have tried to find a study giving some indication of what percentage of sexually molested children were victims of repeat offenders. It appears those studies haven't been done. Instead, I find statements by law enforcement personnel that in years of dealing with child sexual abuse cases, not one, or maybe one or two out of hundreds, was committed by a repeat offender.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYoOqUgxIpxBey0VXMnwrZvvVl3Lc6ddNJ1JqKDO4OPBoTQ1nbTNNQQ6s6Z0NnR0N_xBXbE_vumbUGmLhSwm0X35wEF52IGM2dUAqSdU_MV2b6s3q_0OtW8YHs2SlUr27ye89tPFMxDarl/s1600/who_are_the_offenders.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="982" data-original-width="1600" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYoOqUgxIpxBey0VXMnwrZvvVl3Lc6ddNJ1JqKDO4OPBoTQ1nbTNNQQ6s6Z0NnR0N_xBXbE_vumbUGmLhSwm0X35wEF52IGM2dUAqSdU_MV2b6s3q_0OtW8YHs2SlUr27ye89tPFMxDarl/s400/who_are_the_offenders.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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What I find are studies showing that virtually all of those who sexually abuse children, as high as over 98% for young children, are those close to the children in their everyday lives and people highly unlikely to be on a sex offender registry. And what I find is that, as horrible as it is, sexual abuse of children accounts for only 7.6% of the abuse that children suffer, almost always at the hands of those who claim to love them.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_7feHaVywQqaKp_vkxZk3-40YW3dpwmvn9d0IzBx5bzzHSYggBfKgB6kjUvgLdT-thRAIUXyjYFslppHogEA9tvHdOBM_cd4T-SNeY-yx0-5cDEXCdDAnkbIlpaq4h7Idbd2oZZkAIIX/s1600/Page_0.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="519" data-original-width="318" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir_7feHaVywQqaKp_vkxZk3-40YW3dpwmvn9d0IzBx5bzzHSYggBfKgB6kjUvgLdT-thRAIUXyjYFslppHogEA9tvHdOBM_cd4T-SNeY-yx0-5cDEXCdDAnkbIlpaq4h7Idbd2oZZkAIIX/s400/Page_0.jpg" width="245" /></a>It would appear that, no matter how you slice it, the resources expended in “tracking” this specific category of individual, even if it actually prevented crime, are only addressing the tiniest percentage of the problem. How much is being expended on fact-based education and prevention initiatives that are shown to actually reduce the other 98-or-higher-percentage of child sexual abuse? How much is being expended on effective rehabilitative and re-entry initiatives for former offenders, things shown to bring down the already extremely low re-offense rate? How much is being expended on initiatives to reduce the other 92.4% of non-sexual violence and abuse of children as well as that of vulnerable adults? </div>
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I wonder if the answer would show a concern for public protection that is in concert with the facts, or if it would show a topic that captures the public's imagination and earns public officials kudos for keeping children safe even though it falls far, far short of that noble goal.<br />
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<b>Source image 1</b>: Pub. 2003; "Recidivism of sex offenders released from prison in 1994" (NCJ198281)</div>
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<b>Source image 2</b>: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Statistical Briefing Book 2008</div>
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<b>Source image 3</b>: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Administration on Children, Youth and Families,Children’s Bureau.(2010).Child Maltreatment 2009. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/index.htm#can</div>
shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-51553754001594459872018-02-01T15:36:00.000-08:002018-02-01T15:38:18.909-08:00Facts, not fear-mongering, work best for preventing child abuseNews bulletin: <a href="http://fox13now.com/2018/01/31/sex-offender-arrested-trying-to-pick-up-children-at-heber-school/" target="_blank">Sex offender arrested for violating his conditions and going to a school.</a> The original header for this -- and what search engines "hit" on -- is "Sex offender arrested after trying to pick up children at Heber School."<br />
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The facts: A guy on the sex offender registry in Utah went with his girlfriend and her daughter to the girl's school to see her teacher and turn in some homework.<br />
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Now, this guy had done this previously, allegedly twice, and had been warned, so -- is he the brightest bulb in the box? Probably not.<br />
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However, this being treated like a potential child abduction by the more sensationalist-inclined media outlets is just nonsense. Encouraging parents to feel their children were at risk of harm is beyond nonsense; it is irresponsible. It feeds into the myth that individuals on a sex offender registry are roaming the streets and the halls of academia ready to snatch whoever crosses their paths, and it obscures the facts about actual child molestation.<br />
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After learning of the non-incident, one mother of two students at the school said she "felt sick" and credited the office staff as heroes for recognizing the man and saving the children. And an officer with the Heber City Police Department, bless his little heart, agreed. “The school staff around here, all of them are absolute rockstars at keeping our children safe,” he said.<br />
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The fact of the matter is that incidents of former sex offenders abducting children from schools are rare as hen's teeth. In fact, when I did a search for "sex offender abducts child from school," I got five hits of actual incidents spanning from 2007 to 2017, and only one of them occurred inside a school or even, as far as I could tell, on school property, and that was a situation in 2007 where a youthful-looking man actually enrolled in a school as a student. In none of the situations were children actually abducted or molested.<br />
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Are children molested in schools? Yes, we all know they are, and we all know who the perpetrators are. As sad as it is true, those who use the school setting to sexually abuse or manipulate students are those to whom their parents entrust with their care and safety.<br />
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There are fact-based prevention programs that teach children what to do if they are being molested or abused by adults that they trust. These are what the media needs to focus on.shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-7674577143445097792018-01-17T07:01:00.000-08:002018-01-17T07:01:08.039-08:00What's "unusual" is removal from the sex offender registry<br />
Kaitlin Durbin has written a touching story about a young man, David, who has been on the Colorado sex offender registry for over a decade for consensual teenage sex with his girlfriend. She tells, briefly, some of the difficulties that public registration posed for him in his attempts to live a normal life, and she shares his relief and joy that he has now successfully been removed.<br />
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The title given the piece -- and writers and journalists seldom select their own titles -- is "<a href="http://gazette.com/colorado-springs-man-removed-from-sex-offender-registry-in-unusual-case/article/1619069" target="_blank">Colorado Springs man removed from sex offender registry in 'unusual' case</a>." Several times in the article the fact that this case was so rare was referenced. The attorney spoke of the case as having no precedent.<br />
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From what I could tell -- and my legal acumen is somewhere down there with what I know about building rocket ships -- the only thing "unusual" is the fact that he was actually removed.<br />
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Young men being on the sex offender registry for consensual sexual involvement with a partner under the age of consent is quite common. David was 17 and his girlfriend turned 14 during their relationship.<br />
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Young men being on the registry for a decade, over a decade, and in some states for life, for such activity is common. Young men having their futures ruined due to such registration is common.<br />
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Often couples such as this remain together in a committed relationship or marry. <a href="http://www.marieclaire.com/culture/news/a6294/teen-sex-offender/" target="_blank">One such couple in Texas has also had their share of media attention.</a> In spite of marrying and raising a family, he will be on the Texas public sex offender registry for life for "sexual assault of a child." He was a high school senior and football star; she was a sophomore and a cheerleader when they started dating. Many years later, he couldn't coach his girls' soccer games. He couldn't take his family on an out-of-state vacation without the permission of law enforcement.<br />
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These two couples are representative of countless thousands. No one "wants" teenagers to have sex, but turning them into criminals because they do and making it difficult for them to go to college, be hired at meaningful employment, and exercise the rights of the productive citizens that they most likely would otherwise be is, of all possible "punishments," the most extreme and least productive imaginable.<br />
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No, teenagers having sex is not unusual. The boys ending up on the sex offender registry due to it is not unusual. Being removed from the registry -- now <i><b>that</b></i> is unusual.<br />
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And that needs to change.shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-86321065342726430202017-12-29T07:03:00.000-08:002017-12-29T07:03:01.276-08:00We can't afford showy but ineffective sex offender policies<div class="MsoNormal">
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This was a recent headline in the <i>Daily Democrat</i> in Yolo, California, recently: " <a href="http://www.dailydemocrat.com/article/NI/20171216/NEWS/171219907" target="_blank">'OperationVigilance’ targets Yolo County sex offenders.”</a> </div>
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“Yolo County law enforcement conducted surprise compliance checks on over 300 sex offenders earlier this week…”</div>
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“While many of the sex offenders investigated were in compliance, two sex offenders contacted were arrested for a variety of weapons, pornography and other violations. An additional 18 of these offenders are the subject of further investigation to determine whether or not they are in compliance.”</div>
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“Over 60 law enforcement personnel from seven local, state, and federal agencies participated in this joint operation from 15 agencies…” </div>
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I suggest we look at this from a slightly different perspective. </div>
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An unknown number of law enforcement man hours and an unknown amount of taxpayer dollars were expended in Yolo County recently when more than 60 law enforcement officers from 15 local, state, and federal agencies visited over 300 persons on California’s sex offender registry who were all living exactly where they were registered as living. Two of the 300 + persons were arrested. One or both of the two were in possession of weapons, illegal for all felons, and one or both were in possession of pornography. Whether or not the pornography consisted of legal or illegal images is not stated, but if they were on parole or probation, viewing even legal pornography is forbidden.</div>
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An additional 18 of the registrants are being further investigated for some sort of possible minor registration or probation compliance violation such as driving a family member’s car not listed on the registration form or being in a location that was, unknown to the registrant, inside an exclusionary zone too close to something like a day care facility or a park. </div>
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Almost 300 registrants are indisputably in compliance. None of them, in fact none of the over 300 with the possible exception of the one or two in possession of pornography, has been arrested for a sexual re-offense. </div>
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Questions need to be asked. </div>
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How many have been on the registry 0-5 years? 6-15 years? 16-30 years? With California’s policy of lifetime registration for all, an enormous and growing number are still required to register decades after the commission of a single, possibly misdemeanor, offense. </div>
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Does the expenditure of resources accomplish the stated goal? Do these checks by law enforcement prevent or even discourage future offense? It seems highly improbable that it could. Knowing where a person lives places no restraints on what he does when he is away from home or, indeed, even when he is at home. <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/09/01/california.garrido.monitoring/index.html" target="_blank">Lawenforcement regularly visited Philip Garrido</a>, a registered sex offender, for all of the 18 years that he was holding and raping kidnapped Jaycee Dugard in backyard outbuildings. </div>
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Is the expenditure of funds and other resources effective in preventing child sexual abuse? <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/12-confronting-statistics-on-child-sexual-abuse_us_587dab01e4b0740488c3de49" target="_blank">Empirical evidence says no</a>. Those who are not on the registry but rather in the victims’ lives as trusted family members, peers, or authority figures commit, on average, 95% of all child sexual abuse; the younger the child, the higher the percentage. </div>
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And of the up to 5% who are strangers or barely-known acquaintances, only an extremely small percentage are on the registry for a previous sexual offense. </div>
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Are such visits to registrants disruptive to their lives to the point of interfering with successful rehabilitation? Do they negatively influence community opinions to the point of making successful re-entry extremely difficult? </div>
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That one can be answered with another question: How could they not? </div>
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Rehabilitation is a criminal justice goal equal to if not surpassing punishment in importance. Smart policing furthers that goal. <a href="https://forensicpsychologist.blogspot.com/2013/11/static-99-developers-embrace-redemption.html" target="_blank">Studies show</a> that the longer a person with a previous sexual offense, for which he was convicted and punished, lives in the community with no further offense, the less of a risk he is to re-offend going forward. </div>
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<a href="http://www.casomb.org/docs/Tiering%20Background%20Paper%20FINAL%20FINAL%204-2-14.pdf" target="_blank">California’s own Sex Offender Management Board</a> supports this position, stating (page 2) “The longer a sex offender remains offense free in the community, the less likely he is to reoffend.” </div>
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Public resources are limited and must be expended as suggested by empirical evidence. We can no longer continue practices that may earn the approval of the public but do not further the goal of protecting the community, especially those that fail in the goal of protecting our children from harm.</div>
shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-71885275799017330412017-12-15T05:21:00.000-08:002017-12-15T05:29:05.921-08:00When will "Me too" become "Everybody too"?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Jan, a junior executive
for a large company, was seeking approval for a new project. She was learning
how essential it was to have the friendship and support of the more senior and
influential company executives. Therefore, when Ted, one of those important and
influential persons, made teasing comments to her about her physical attributes
and flirted and joked about a sexual assignation with her, she took it in
stride, smiled, and even flirted back a little.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia";"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">That was twenty years ago.
Jan is no longer with that company, but Ted is, now even more senior. Jan has
realized, along with countless other persons, primarily women, that Ted’s
comments and behavior were inappropriate and actually amounted to sexual
harassment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Swept along with the
backlash against harassment by those in positions of power, she reported Ted’s
past behavior to his company and in the media. She was applauded for her
courage in “coming forward” and “speaking out.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">No criminal charges were
expected, of course. Ted hadn’t broken any laws, and even if he had, the
statute of limitations had expired. He had just been a bit of a chauvinist pig.
He wasn’t even sure that he remembered Jan or his behavior with her.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">None of that mattered to
the company. The board of directors fired him almost immediately.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">A very familiar story, it
is repeating itself over and over. The basic elements don’t vary: a man (almost
always) in a position of power; a woman (almost always) hoping to do well in
the company or the profession; many years later accusations of inappropriate
sexual behavior on his part and helplessness on hers; his very quick
firing/removal/canceling of contract by the company.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">So what’s the problem?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Was he actually guilty?
Only he and she know. Why did she wait so long to speak up? It doesn’t matter.
He isn’t being charged with a crime. There are a few people here and there
raising a stink about due process and innocent until proven guilty, but no one
seems to be paying attention. One writer said that innocent until proven guilty
is a legal concept, not a societal one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia";">The fact that it is a
constitutional one seems irrelevant. But if we are willing to change the rules
in the absence of legal action, how soon will we be willing to change them
within the legal context? This may be the very definition of the slippery slope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Will this run its course,
causing enough concern for enough people that some actual pushback occurs?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">Or will others,
emboldened, see the perfect way to get rid of unpleasant co-workers, grumpy and
demanding supervisors, or others they just don’t like?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">What could be easier? Make
a few accusations to top management, go public if necessary, and problem
solved. How can he prove he didn’t say that to you over the water cooler? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "georgia";">What’s important is that
you don’t have to prove he did.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-18883492387857757672017-12-02T07:44:00.000-08:002017-12-02T14:20:45.090-08:00Sex offenders need not apply<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How many times, when reading about virtually anything, has
the phrase, “No one with a conviction for a sex offense is eligible,” or “No
registered sex offenders allowed,” been part of the narrative?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In everything from voting in some states to being eligible
for many government and criminal justice programs to seeking shelter in
emergency situations, those who are called sex offenders by virtue of being on
the registry are excluded.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4-qGTAKSUyWcZJPNVOuMsb1O3EEmU_Hyfi2_kPHbQUGs46ZnbhgQduC3wKcGbkPgSJhE6mWqFUXibl_S2zNCGW67cByWJHY831SzmA0puboIn5c9fLe160VAwWoiIxie2aNWtpDVpAOr/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL4-qGTAKSUyWcZJPNVOuMsb1O3EEmU_Hyfi2_kPHbQUGs46ZnbhgQduC3wKcGbkPgSJhE6mWqFUXibl_S2zNCGW67cByWJHY831SzmA0puboIn5c9fLe160VAwWoiIxie2aNWtpDVpAOr/s1600/images.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The latest to cross my desk is this, “<a href="http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2017/dec/01/vcu-offers-chance-jail-inmates-write-way-out/" target="_blank">VCU offers chance for
jail inmates to ‘write way </a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2017/dec/01/vcu-offers-chance-jail-inmates-write-way-out/" target="_blank">out</a>,’ ” about a program being offered by Virginia
Commonwealth University. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The program sounds great. Its goal? "To help offenders
'figure out a way to live a better life, a life that keeps them out of the
criminal justice system, a life in which they’re proud of what they’re doing,
where they’ve discovered a new life purpose or just kind of figured out those
self-sabotaging behaviors that create a lot of pain in their own life and in
the lives of others.' ”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Wow.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A secondary outcome is that those in the class, inmate and
non-inmate alike, learn “how to respect
one another in their very diverse struggles.”</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The program offers something that is not normally found in
the more traditional crime to conviction to punishment path: introspection and
hope. To be eligible, applicants must be able to read and write and want to
break the cycle of criminal offending. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Oh, and they cannot be incarcerated for a sex offense – any
sexual offense – or a violent felony or burglary.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Why is this program not available to those who have
committed non-violent sexual offenses?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Would sexual offenders benefit from figuring out a better
way to live? From figuring out self-sabotaging behaviors? From understanding
the pain they have created for themselves and for their victims? It sounds like
a page out of a sex-offender therapy manual, one of the actually good ones.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Do those who have committed sexual offenses need to learn
how to respect themselves and others? Do they need introspection and hope? Can
they read and write? </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What are we saying when we close off these sorts of
opportunities to those who may need it most of all? What message do we send? We
don’t want you to figure out a better way to live? We don’t want you to
understand how your behavior caused pain? We don’t want you to have self-respect or respect for others
or hope?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Everything about being on the registry says those things
already, and the registry is not working, has never worked, and will never work
in any positive way, not for those on it nor for society in general.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If having understanding of one’s own behavior and having
self-respect and having hope are desirable goals, why do we withhold this opportunity from
those on the sex offender registry JUST because they are on the sex offender registry?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-20919112567098963552017-11-25T07:20:00.001-08:002017-11-25T08:58:48.185-08:00Do sentenced sex offenders deserve special mistreatment in prison?<div class="MsoNormal">
Closing our eyes to prisoner abuse must stop</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Prisons are not supposed to be fun or pleasant. They are
designed for restrictions and punishment intended to bring about
rehabilitation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They are not intended to facilitate, even encourage,
vigilante activities against those whom other prisoners choose to mistreat.</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6DpSSvvyAtaD0dQrAd0rKb50aiSqgbnuFd3APvtw0GJM1NMuZL0rHj-hZnB7sryK4S8FchcTdZuq_tc8aGCaAp7Pmj6MCOgIh6mN8qCtjqUOlWiihbBGRL3G3nN4R9Vcw8Xv-td7V_4Q/s1600/download.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhl6DpSSvvyAtaD0dQrAd0rKb50aiSqgbnuFd3APvtw0GJM1NMuZL0rHj-hZnB7sryK4S8FchcTdZuq_tc8aGCaAp7Pmj6MCOgIh6mN8qCtjqUOlWiihbBGRL3G3nN4R9Vcw8Xv-td7V_4Q/s1600/download.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Men in prison for convictions involving sexual offenses are
often considered “fair game” for mistreatment and violence, and all too often
prison personnel appear to turn a blind eye to this.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://deathrattlesports.com/aca-reporter-ben-mccormacks-worst-nightmare-if-sent-to-prison/177071" target="_blank">Speculation is already dominating the reports</a> of Ben
McCormick’s conviction for child pornography and what will await him if he ends
up behind bars. The irony in the situation is that, while a reporter for <i>A
Current Affair</i>, McCormick was instrumental in exposing sit-com star Robert
Hughes and for Hughes’ subsequent trial, conviction, and incarceration for child
sexual abuse. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Reports of the mistreatment visited upon Hughes are only
exceeded by the speculation that the same fate or worse awaits McCormick if he
is imprisoned. Reporters euphemistically speak of the “prison welcome” given to
Hughes, a welcome in which inmates hurled at him their own feces and urine that they
had saved up in milk cartons the first time he entered the prison yard.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Were there guards and other prison personnel who knew the
inmates were hoarding their bodily wastes for this purpose? No one is even
asking the question. And while this treatment is mild compared to the sexual
violence, rapes, and murders that those convicted of sexual crimes fall victim
to behind bars, no one is asking those questions either.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There are no statistics. No one knows how many instances of
sexual violence prisoners are subjected to. It is not a horror that is visited
only upon those convicted of sexual crimes, but they are without a doubt
singled out especially for such treatment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And what of beatings, of maimings, of murders? Prison is a
violent place. People in prison are violent people. These things are bound to
happen. As far as those who commit sexual crimes receiving more than their
“fair share” of such treatment, it is “jail-house justice.” Even other
criminals won’t “tolerate” those who sexually abuse children. It’s bound to
happen.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But it should not happen because those who should and could
prevent it are closing their eyes and tacitly enabling it to happen.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
Those who harm others should be punished. The punishment should not put them in positions where others who are also being punished feel free to turn a prison sentence into a sentence of torture or a sentence of death. Those who do that are proving their criminality yet again.<br />
<br />
And also earning the title of criminals are the prison officials who shut their eyes. Their refusal to see does not excuse them from their culpability. We must demand that they be held accountable.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-80870554000876818682017-11-22T08:15:00.000-08:002017-11-22T08:45:02.360-08:00The cruelest cut of allI started this blog as a means by which to comment on and question a segment of our criminal justice system, that which deals with crimes of a sexual nature. I saw then and see even more clearly today how far from reality these laws and practices are, how far from fact-based, how damaging rather than rehabilitating, how life-destroying rather than healing.<br />
<br />
I have not previously used this forum to discuss or deal with any personal involvement in the issue. It is said that for every "not ever," there is an exception. This is mine.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVJkiWAL-MgLA1aPRHQ9wd1AfsyaARHZnNr_Bf0dKagSLXJHlPA-AA-36FUmiF9f6IeLcHAig7SmLRp3yNp9qc2vs0ubBG9HdcTbjf88piWyap9XrMiZOuEj6-mO0ImX9germBMOpihGWB/s1600/PsychologistSupportGroup.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="209" data-original-width="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVJkiWAL-MgLA1aPRHQ9wd1AfsyaARHZnNr_Bf0dKagSLXJHlPA-AA-36FUmiF9f6IeLcHAig7SmLRp3yNp9qc2vs0ubBG9HdcTbjf88piWyap9XrMiZOuEj6-mO0ImX9germBMOpihGWB/s1600/PsychologistSupportGroup.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
A person close to me, a person I will call Lee, was adjudicated for a sexual crime, inappropriate sexual behavior, almost nine years ago. The victim was an older teenager and Lee was in a position of authority. The victim was sexually aggressive and coercive. Lee was the adult, knew better, and was wrong. It was a one-time situation, and they were caught.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
Lee's probationary conditions are standard for one-size-fits-all sex offender management.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
Ten years of probation.<br />
No contact with anyone under the age of 18, not even young family members.<br />
No internet access except for job searches and for work itself.<br />
No going out of the county, not even just across the county line for a family gathering following Lee's sister's funeral. Lee was allowed to attend the funeral; it was in the county Lee is confined to.<br />
Mandated sex offender "therapy" sessions once a week, every week, for ten years.<br />
<br />
Lee has and has always had mental health issues: medically diagnosed depression and anxiety; poor decision making and coping skills; very little self-confidence in spite of a great deal of talent and ability. Lee is on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum.<br />
<br />
Lee has always had difficulty establishing and maintaining relationships. The publicity surrounding the sexual offense destroyed hopes of having a normal social life. Career in ruins, other attempts at jobs were futile. One was denied by probation because it was on the same block as a building that served as a children's theater.<br />
<br />
Family gatherings were denied because Lee's siblings had young children, infants and toddlers--nieces and nephews to whom Lee had been close.<br />
<br />
Church was denied until Lee disclosed the crime to the congregational leader, something Lee was too ashamed to do.<br />
<br />
Lee's only outlet was and is the weekly "therapy" session.<br />
<br />
I cannot use the word "therapy" in context with this treatment without enclosing it in quotation marks. Whatever definition the word "therapy" conveys does not exist among the state-sanctioned, mandated sex offender treatment models in the state where Lee lives. Every single session focuses on the vileness and the guilt of the attendees. One assignment required Lee to list 40 people who were affected by Lee's offense and to write an essay for each of the 40 detailing all of the ways that person was or <i>could have been </i>harmed by the offense. If the group leader felt the account was not thorough enough, it had to be redone with Lee imagining even more ways the offense might <i>possibly</i> have hurt the person.<br />
<br />
Lee's mental health has declined not just significantly but dramatically. Any attempts to seek outside therapy, even autism-specific therapy, were denied by the treatment group on the grounds that it might "un-do" the work they were doing.<br />
<br />
Any attempts to be released early from probation were shot down by the judge who yelled at Lee from the bench that sex offenders didn't get early release in her court.<br />
<br />
Any appeals to the probation officer resulted in an automatic repetition of what the treatment provider had said.<br />
<br />
Over the years Lee has become more and more isolated, desperate, and suicidal. The end of the year, with Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and family gatherings that cannot be attended, exacerbates Lee's depression and isolation.<br />
<br />
The "therapy" group, the one place where sharing of negative feelings and the offering of positive support should be a given, is the opposite. Lee knows that such sharing of negative feelings and fears invites the reinforcement of them: one who has committed a sexual crime should be depressed.<br />
<br />
The thing that should be helpful is the most hurtful. And that is surely, to paraphrase Shakespeare, the cruelest cut of all.<br />
<br />shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-35133820455733614872017-11-20T09:54:00.000-08:002017-11-21T04:28:03.618-08:00It's time to stop and think about accusations from years gone bySomething is happening in this nation that should cause serious concern to every American.<br />
<br />
It is being praised by many as being an incredible break-through, something whose time has finally come; and it bestows on those who are speaking out the status of brave heros – or heroines – for opening the floodgates.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsrZEdO-txO8-mB2jMuy1iekKc88WJAUOKPRZMYXgKj7lDdZt-PLH4oZ1EjAus6yp8BhIkk9oyiRqNTkJgo0EDqLIRFo4AznuAdNzmB-0OKtYe5a7GY-3TzwOWlviwAfgZ6GjXRRg9O7Z6/s1600/images.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="225" data-original-width="225" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsrZEdO-txO8-mB2jMuy1iekKc88WJAUOKPRZMYXgKj7lDdZt-PLH4oZ1EjAus6yp8BhIkk9oyiRqNTkJgo0EDqLIRFo4AznuAdNzmB-0OKtYe5a7GY-3TzwOWlviwAfgZ6GjXRRg9O7Z6/s200/images.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
And those who have serious reservations aren’t saying much of anything. Why not?<br />
<br />
They know all too well the fate that awaits them if they do, the sneers, the looks, the accusations, the hateful comments. Rape apologist. Aiding and abetting the enemy. Victim-blamer.<br />
<br />
And there’s something else. Deep in the heart of everyone who is thinking, “Wait a minute; slow down; this has the potential to destroy so many innocent,” there is the knowledge that some of it is true. People in power have, without doubt, used that power to extract sexual favors from those with less power. It is an abhorrent and vile truth.<br />
<br />
But does that justify jumping on every bandwagon that leaves the starting gate and assuming the worst about every person, celebrity or not, about whom an accusation is made?<br />
<br />
Accusations of this sort are the most insidious of all. Accuse an innocent man of stealing company funds, and when the true culprit is caught, he is exonerated; his reputation and life are not destroyed. Someone made a mistake in accusing him, and that mistake was righted.<br />
<br />
Accuse an innocent man of making improper sexual advances, of molestation, of rape, and there is no exoneration. He is judged guilty even if the charges are never proved, even if there is never a conviction. He just got away with it. Those in power cover up for their friends. He's got money; he bought his way out. Where there is smoke, there is fire. When two or five or ten women accuse the same man, it has to be true.<br />
<br />
Does it?<br />
<br />
There is something about this that reminds me of the psychology of mob mentality.<br />
<br />
Men who are celebrities are, by definition, high profile targets. Saying something happened fifteen or thirty or forty years ago is such as easy thing to do. If someone else has already said it, it is even easier. It spreads like wildfire.<br />
<br />
So what should we do? Should we just close our eyes and allow real abuse to continue? No. But should we slow down and have a conversation about how easy it would be, how easy it is, to destroy someone who is innocent? Should we recognize that this is a bandwagon that people are being encouraged to jump on? Should we at least talk about the part that is played by the emergence of the “social justice warrior” movement and the new feminism, a feminism that appears to seek not fairness and equality but domination and even revenge?<br />
<br />
Should we recognize that, with this issue, a highly cherished constitutional protection is disappearing right before our eyes? The burden of proof has always been on the accuser, on the state. That is shifting and morphing more every day, with every accusation. Each person accused feels the burden to prove he did not do such a thing. That has terrifying implications, not only for those accused of crimes of a sexual nature but for those accused of any crime.<br />
<br />
And in attempting to prove innocence, is anyone talking about the sheer impossibility of proving a negative, especially one alleged to have occurred decades ago? Or for those not so innocent, the impossibility of mounting a legal defense when the accusations are from another lifetime ago?<br />
<br />
No one is having these conversations, but should we?<br />
<br />
We must. Otherwise, who is safe? Not your father, not your husband, not your son, not your friend.<br />
<br />
Not you.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-5101718146615246352017-11-20T08:55:00.002-08:002017-11-20T08:55:53.061-08:00I'm BaaackDue to other demands on my time and my talents, such as they are, I have severely neglected this blog. I have recently been admonished for doing so by a dear colleague whose thoughts I value highly, and I was easily persuaded to return . So, for what it's worth, posts by Shelly Stow will again be going forth. I hope that there remain at least a few readers who will help me put this back together, and I thank them in advance.<br />
<br />
And here we go.....shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-59145819966093498902017-03-23T08:45:00.000-07:002017-03-23T14:19:23.326-07:00Truth in sex offender headlines? Really?According to <a href="http://cbs12.com/news/local/21-sex-offenders" target="_blank">this article</a> posted March 22, 46 registered sex offenders in Florida cannot be located by law enforcement. The headline, “21 sex offenders unaccounted for in Palm Beach County,” is designed as click-bait with the point being that almost half of the “absconded” registrants in the state are in one county.<br />
<br />
I propose a new headline, one that would possibly not attract the same readership but one that would be more accurate and factual.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlzdC8RveQjrtC4BQNqAxfRFDKIVA182i9toTxb-hWYkYVcxGrC0iAfcr35ttTluiiFIm7nCfELBkMRkfxcIUvLLg1x2RFqU2bG-bpMstSpHhvxoZpJCMEU6nyaCtb6OlVG9JmLBPdVWLk/s1600/good+news.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlzdC8RveQjrtC4BQNqAxfRFDKIVA182i9toTxb-hWYkYVcxGrC0iAfcr35ttTluiiFIm7nCfELBkMRkfxcIUvLLg1x2RFqU2bG-bpMstSpHhvxoZpJCMEU6nyaCtb6OlVG9JmLBPdVWLk/s1600/good+news.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
According to the Sexual Predator Unit for the state of Florida, as of 3/23/2017, Florida had 69,842 persons registered on its sex offender registry.*<br />
<br />
The headline I propose is, “In Florida, 69,796* registered sex offenders are exactly where they are supposed to be and doing what they are supposed to be doing.”<br />
<br />
Of course, with Florida’s harsh “scorched earth” policy resulting in <a href="http://www.tbo.com/news/crime/sex-offender-had-only-one-place-to-live-a-parking-lot-20150214/" target="_blank">residency restrictions </a>that leave thousands of the state’s registrants living under bridges, in the woods, and in parking lots, where they are “supposed to be” and what they are “supposed to be doing” is living in conditions to which we do not subject our pets.<br />
<br />
But I digress.<br />
<br />
Think how much better it would be if our headlines reflected the positive rather than the negative, or even just included the full facts. Rather than “Deschutes County issues alert for missing sex offender,” how about, “Deschutes County issues alert for missing sex offender and thanks the other 239 for being in compliance.” Instead of “Two registered sex offenders in nursing homes committed new assaults,” we read, “9,000 [estimated] registered sex offenders in nursing homes are model patients.”<br />
<br />
Will that ever happen? Nah.<br />
But it’s nice to dream, isn’t it?<br />
<br />
* <i>Original numbers edited after I heard back from the state of Florida.</i><br />
<br />
<br />shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-8432501077525112122017-01-24T07:23:00.000-08:002017-01-24T07:23:28.728-08:00No validity for keeping those on sex offender registry from state parks<div class="yiv4378435715msonormal" style="background: white; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
"What is the point in doing everything right for years when it counts for nothing? Where is the incentive? What I did was wrong, but that was 15 years ago. I'm not the same person I was when I was 19...My oldest is 9, and I've had to explain it to her -- why we can't go to a lake, why there's no point in our getting a boat. She understands as well as she can at her age."<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNgL8aO4m2TdcWTHX9TtvV6SJurnbnLGwxuvp3gNNXDMMxmnjs9qDSibpbSOxSiWJpICZV2Qour2if7CoDV12G1mkTw_bGlITW6KzzsXApyrYYfJKA9D4qPaqrpHrCWimhFXJljL_R5Giv/s1600/park.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="147" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNgL8aO4m2TdcWTHX9TtvV6SJurnbnLGwxuvp3gNNXDMMxmnjs9qDSibpbSOxSiWJpICZV2Qour2if7CoDV12G1mkTw_bGlITW6KzzsXApyrYYfJKA9D4qPaqrpHrCWimhFXJljL_R5Giv/s200/park.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
Shawna is a mother of three. She is on the public registry in Oklahoma for life for a one-time sexual encounter on her 19th birthday with a 14-year-old boy. Her court-ordered punishment was a jail sentence, which she served, and lifetime probation and sex offender treatment. She is also serving an additional life sentence on the public sex offender registry, one whose requirements can shift and change depending on the whims of legislators and new laws. Since it is not considered punishment, applying conditions retroactively is apparently not a problem.<br />
<br />
<div>
Oklahoma, where Shawna, her husband, and their three children live, is one of only three states <a href="https://www.ok.gov/doc/documents/020307b.pdf" target="_blank">defining “parks” to include public state parks</a> and with a state-wide law forbidding park usage, access, or loitering to some or all who are required to be on a sex offender registry. The other two are Louisiana and Illinois. A fourth, Tennessee, couches its language ambiguously, saying that such access is prohibited “…when the offender has reason to believe children under eighteen (18) years of age are present…”</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Oklahoma extends the definition of “park” far beyond
children’s playgrounds, parks, and areas whose primary use is intended to be by
children, the definition adhered to by other states with presence restrictions
and by all individual counties and cities with similar ordinances. In Oklahoma,
Illinois, and Louisiana, a park is a park is a park, and state parks are included. All
access to lakes, beaches, and waterways are state parks.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Oklahoma passed its law in 2014, twelve years after Shawna
was ordered to register on the Megan’s Law registry as a level 3 offender, an
automatic designation when the victim, even a statutory one, is under 16.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Another Oklahoma registrant, writing a comment on a <a href="http://with-justiceforall.blogspot.com/2016/12/sex-offenders-and-ymca_30.html#comment-form" target="_blank"><i>With Justice for All</i> blog</a>, said, “I was surprised that here in
Oklahoma, I cannot go to a park. A park does not mean a place with swings and
playground equipment... it means ANY park, State Park included. I really wanted
to buy a boat, and I can, but I would have no place in Oklahoma to use it.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The state of criminal justice reform as it applies to those
required to register as sex offenders is very much in flux. While some
jurisdictions and states recognize that no evidence supports residency and
presence restriction as effective and either eschew or overturn such
requirements, others are rushing to implement them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">In North Carolina such and other restrictions have become so
onerous that National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL) and
NC-RSOL have <a href="http://nationalrsol.org/narsol-ncrsol-file-suit-challenging-north-carolinas-sex-offender-registry/" target="_blank">filed a suit</a> against the state on constitutional grounds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgsExcnASqm3kD87B4BFu-UDnT9lOLFSpvvecVGLwPNzvLaKiusTcFXUyJJbjusj0iV5ifO024nfay9d2lJivKZsI-hW78CAv9n8-DzweOzpu9XPvhlZ3sGlAfQkw7IrHaV7ck5Id1PoUx/s1600/trooper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgsExcnASqm3kD87B4BFu-UDnT9lOLFSpvvecVGLwPNzvLaKiusTcFXUyJJbjusj0iV5ifO024nfay9d2lJivKZsI-hW78CAv9n8-DzweOzpu9XPvhlZ3sGlAfQkw7IrHaV7ck5Id1PoUx/s200/trooper.jpg" width="96" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A fourth of the states follow what research clearly shows as
the most beneficial to public safety, </span>making serious efforts to integrate
law-abiding former sex offenders into their communities by placing no
restrictions on where they may live, work, or go with their families. The
majority of the other states range widely in the restrictions and requirements
they place on their registered citizens.</div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 11pt;">Only three – Oklahoma, Illinois, and Louisiana – have taken
steps to assure that children with a parent on the sex offender registry will
not enjoy, as a family, the wonders and beauty that their state’s national
parks offer to all citizens and the educational value of their state’s
historical monuments – all, that is, except those who are punished beyond
reason and with no safety justification all the days of their lives for crimes
committed far in their pasts. Those like Shawna.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoBodyText2">
.</div>
shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-5506957607632416142016-12-30T08:17:00.000-08:002016-12-30T08:21:47.358-08:00Sex offenders and the YMCA<br />
I will from time to time receive columns or op-eds written by others with requests to print them on my blog. I have complied a time or two, but generally I do not. This one can be added to the times I complied.<br />
<br />
I received an email from someone requesting anonymity. He explained that he was a registrant in New Jersey. He included <a href="https://www.tapinto.net/towns/west-essex/articles/letters-from-the-leaders-a-message-from-the-west-1" target="_blank">this link</a>, which led to a message to “the community” in the form of an open letter from the executive director of the West Essex YMCA, which is in Livingston, New Jersey. It is the standard public relations fare put out by businesses in order to familiarize communities with their products and services.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYn_KvHcghhGiClK9UovGXHSfkfqmRhGNOL8PxEZAFfW5QypT99tRonYEnY8ON2HS1moec12lvbPEtwnq8U1FcnbwKIAJ166t0ovNCmGpWOEpLdyHjYnESDaHfoVDY2_w6iEZNWp5Iv_0n/s1600/YMCA-cartoon-logo.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYn_KvHcghhGiClK9UovGXHSfkfqmRhGNOL8PxEZAFfW5QypT99tRonYEnY8ON2HS1moec12lvbPEtwnq8U1FcnbwKIAJ166t0ovNCmGpWOEpLdyHjYnESDaHfoVDY2_w6iEZNWp5Iv_0n/s200/YMCA-cartoon-logo.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
My anonymous correspondent included his own open letter with a request that I try to have it printed in the same online neighborhood newsletter that printed the one from the YMCA. I found the request valid, and I zipped it off to the editor the same day. After several days of no response, I emailed her again telling her that if she would not be using it, I would be printing it elsewhere and asking for an acknowledgment. I received none, and therefore I am printing his letter to the ED of the West Essex YMCA.<br />
<br />
Ms. Helen Flores<br />
Executive Director, West Essex YMCA<br />
<br />
Dear Ms. Flores,<br />
<br />
My family and I have recently moved to your community. I was pleased to see your letter to the community about what your facility offers. My wife and I have three children, and we have been recently discussing the value of the many programs that YMCAs offer. In fact, we had reached the conclusion that a family membership would be a good investment, and then I read something that stopped me in my tracks.<br />
<br />
Apparently you have installed a program that screens for sex offenders for the purpose of preventing their entry into the Y and, I presume, preventing their becoming members.<br />
<br />
Since the vast majority of those who are currently engaged in sexual offending, especially against children, have never been identified or charged, this confused me. How could your system alert on them? And then I realized that you mean those who are required to register on a sex offender registry, almost none of whom are still sex offenders.<br />
<br />
Let me tell you my story. When I was a high school senior, 18 for a portion of my senior year, my girlfriend was a sophomore and 15. We became sexually active and became pregnant with our first child. I was charged with sexual crimes against a child and required to register as a sexual offender.<br />
<br />
Sadly, we lost that child in a miscarriage. Her parents moved away, taking her with them, to prevent our seeing each other. Of course we communicated, and after she graduated from high school and I from college, we dated again and then married. Today we have a wonderful marriage and three great children. It took a while, but her parents forgave our bad beginning. I, however, am required to register as a sex offender for life.<br />
<br />
Everyone where we lived knew our story, and we were fortunate to suffer only minimal collateral consequences from being registered. Our wonderful family more than made it worthwhile.<br />
<br />
My work has now brought me here, and we have had some rocky patches. I am sure though that we will work through them. We cleared a big hurdle recently when we finally found a church who would accept us as a family.<br />
<br />
If my wife or I applies for a family membership at your YMCA, what will the outcome be? Will you accept our application? Will you exclude me? If so, will I be allowed to enter to pick up the children on those occasions where my wife’s business takes her out of town and one of our children may have an activity at the Y?<br />
<br />
I would very much like to know. I don’t want to put my children in the position of facing embarrassment or ridicule if their father is treated like a criminal and refused entry.<br />
<br />
Thank you for your time.<br />
<br />
A very concerned father who is NOT a sexual offender.<br />
<br />
<i>Shelly here – I have nothing to add.</i>shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-66194714081900811102016-12-05T14:31:00.000-08:002016-12-05T14:31:19.904-08:00What does it take to activate a vigilante?<div class="MsoNormal">
Obviously, not much. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/05/us/pizzagate-comet-ping-pong-edgar-maddison-welch.html" target="_blank">Start with a totally made-up story</a>, make sure it involves
child sexual abuse and troops of pedophiles trading and selling kids in
Washington, D.C., and mix in enough of one of the major presidential candidates
to guarantee that approximately half of the population are predisposed to
believe it. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Stir in one self-proclaimed “protector of children” with a
gun or guns – reports are mixed – and the willingness to “protect children” by
shooting off said gun into a crowd of them eating pizza.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj476Wxi_viMlIfEQYf7kEaI8_UPIr2tiWu3gWZ5eS6fF9OiZ-AgV3dsiSyAN5lCUgR5cVyL17W_mdKCHsczoLxWfQjRsICQtQSDNp3juMH3WKwRBGuokXD1E6v-jiyP-aWl84_sutN4QG4/s1600/rifle.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="103" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj476Wxi_viMlIfEQYf7kEaI8_UPIr2tiWu3gWZ5eS6fF9OiZ-AgV3dsiSyAN5lCUgR5cVyL17W_mdKCHsczoLxWfQjRsICQtQSDNp3juMH3WKwRBGuokXD1E6v-jiyP-aWl84_sutN4QG4/s200/rifle.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
Edgar Welch drove from North Carolina, gun or guns at the
ready, and marched into his target, a popular D.C. pizza restaurant, Sunday,
December 4, in order to, in his words, “self-investigate” the pedophile
activity. The fact that the false rumors about the pizzeria have been debunked and found to be totally unsupported did not serve as a deterrent to him at all. After all, where sex and children are used in the same sentence, how could it not be true?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
How that evolved to his shooting off his rifle is anybody’s
guess.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Thank God no one was hurt and the gunman was captured.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
False news is apparently one of the negative consequences
that we just have to put up with in this age of social media and electronic
information where anybody can say anything online with the assurance that
somebody will believe him. But given
what it has led to in this specific instance, we need, more and more, to
remember that responsibility must accompany the exercise of rights and freedoms.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">We must remember that freedom of speech does not grant
the right to yell “Fire” in a crowded theater. And the ability to make up a story and disseminate it far and wide via Twitter and Facebook does not grant the sense to know when not to do so.</span>shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-30368390907515255812016-09-19T05:11:00.000-07:002016-09-19T13:33:42.792-07:00What drives Ron Book?<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<!--[if !supportEmptyParas]--> I watched the film <i>Untouchable</i> through live streaming
as it was shown at the RSOL National Conference that has just concluded in
Atlanta, Georgia.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This film could well have been named, “Portrait of a bitter,
angry man.”</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-39rwOd6LxXMl_8SSu9m8DgKcPyKqmTJTYmreWFP9k5-J1xudMw4l9jEa7InCLNkBsaKmNg8w29xyV-1F8Fimec8hkXsyTp4n5zUqpnbk-mgeGk1_kQw0US9i19apCOTcm0jHD9BzmV2P/s1600/images+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-39rwOd6LxXMl_8SSu9m8DgKcPyKqmTJTYmreWFP9k5-J1xudMw4l9jEa7InCLNkBsaKmNg8w29xyV-1F8Fimec8hkXsyTp4n5zUqpnbk-mgeGk1_kQw0US9i19apCOTcm0jHD9BzmV2P/s1600/images+%25281%2529.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ron Book’s daughter Lauren was sexually assaulted by a nanny the
family had hired for Lauren. The abuse went on for many years. She kept Lauren
from revealing the truth to her parents through threats and intimidation.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course he was angry to learn the truth – devastated,
actually. Any parent would be. Of course he is bitter that his little girl
suffered pain and horror for so many years.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Rob Book, as an outlet for his anger and his bitterness, has
made himself a juggernaut whose purpose is to destroy every sex offender in the
state. Involved even then in Florida’s political scene, he has become arguably
one of the most powerful men in the state.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He is responsible for legislation that created the Julia
Tuttle Bridge scandal. He is almost single-handedly responsible for law after
law whose sole purposes are to punish everyone on the Florida sex offer
registry to the furthest degree possible. He openly and proudly announced that
Florida was </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDYkyWSdroR3YCKKY9G20rKAUF8A6Hk08B67X-jZWywNugUZcofqSdQ_Amvb4NsHdUn9Kxil4m8Y5Qh2EDU4gkeL9XlCNHbkYHdyfelb4NEbh34rnn_K9Y-bJsZbLEMGUDGZw9ck4kysPy/s1600/images+%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDYkyWSdroR3YCKKY9G20rKAUF8A6Hk08B67X-jZWywNugUZcofqSdQ_Amvb4NsHdUn9Kxil4m8Y5Qh2EDU4gkeL9XlCNHbkYHdyfelb4NEbh34rnn_K9Y-bJsZbLEMGUDGZw9ck4kysPy/s1600/images+%25282%2529.jpg" /></a></div>
“scorched earth” to any registered sex offender.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He revealed that he is closely watching the progress of
Lauren’s abuser toward a release date and that he will be there to hound her
every second he can.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He cites unrealistically high sexual recidivism rates and
makes outlandish statements about the surety of registrants to commit new crimes
and their extreme danger to society. When questioned about research study after
research study all showing the opposite of everything he has said, he brushes
it aside like an annoying gnat. All lies, he said, trumped up figures,
nonsense.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is not until the last few minutes of the film that
another motive for all of his actions, all of his hatred, emerges. He is seated
behind his desk, and an off-camera interviewer asks him which, if any, of all
the laws on Florida’s books today, laws whose existence he is responsible for,
would have, had they existed years ago, saved Lauren.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He stumbles only a little when he says no, most likely none
of them would have made a difference. None would have protected Lauren from her
abuser. And then he says something remarkable.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
He says, stumbling a bit more, that the only thing that
would have saved her is if he and her mother had, when she was young, educated
her about what to do in such a situation. Told her that she could tell them
anything. Told her that secrets are not forever. Told her what to say to them,
her parents, if anyone hurt her or scared her. He said that she might not have
told them the first time it happened, or maybe not even the second, but that he
is sure she would have told them soon -- if only they had taught her that she
could.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And with those words, the truth about what motivates Ron
Book was revealed. Yes, he is angry. And bitter. And vengeful. But that is not
what drives him.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What drives him is guilt.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-12567238492643377102016-09-09T09:27:00.000-07:002016-09-09T09:29:29.762-07:00Picketing and threats for Brock: Is there a better way?<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11.0pt;">In the wake of Brock Turner’s stint in jail and subsequent
release, America has not behaved very well. Like the cluster of schoolboys
ganging up to neutralize the playground bully, their actions are understandable
but not helpful to the ultimate goal of ending the violence.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpEHw9ftymorA15V1QNzlmZOXqZSTudqX7FyCd_5Sy6u3q-iEfn4_O6lENDoZt_K4ierqopswXtby-hWV-sley6hrqXHqhcj1YlVIe_0JcXAysHDMWM6JT6eK8Bh-YXfL_rfHkEVf4BfGL/s1600/images+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpEHw9ftymorA15V1QNzlmZOXqZSTudqX7FyCd_5Sy6u3q-iEfn4_O6lENDoZt_K4ierqopswXtby-hWV-sley6hrqXHqhcj1YlVIe_0JcXAysHDMWM6JT6eK8Bh-YXfL_rfHkEVf4BfGL/s1600/images+%25281%2529.jpg" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11.0pt;">What is the ultimate goal in regard to Brock Turner? Surely
it is that he has learned his lesson and will not commit another sexual
offense.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11.0pt;">What is the broader goal in regard to the community and
society? Surely it is that public safety is enhanced.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Groups of armed vigilantes outside his home and hate
messages scrawled on his sidewalk fall far short of contributing to either
goal, and many of those not close enough to strap on their weapons and descend
on the Turner home are cheering on those who are. Additionally, some media
reports all but encourage and applaud such behavior. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11.0pt;">What will contribute to both goals? Culling from studies and experts who have worked for years toward these goals, who have made
the choice to be part of the solution, it is this: successfully integrating the
offender back into the community. And what works toward this? That is best
answered by looking at what destroys it: isolation; shaming; rejection;
ostracization; hatred; vilification.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11.0pt;">Neighbors with guns, reminiscent of lynch mobs several
decades ago.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Brock’s neighbors are not expected to welcome him with apple
pies and invitations to backyard </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px;">barbecues</span><span style="font-size: 11pt;"> – at least not now.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11.0pt;">But if they too want to be part of the solution rather than
part of the problem, they will leave him and his family alone. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 11.0pt;">They will look within themselves and find the grace to
consider the greater good of society rather than reacting out of a media-whipped,
frenzied belief that he wasn’t punished enough – a judgment call that was not
theirs to make in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-60422826657174196112016-08-13T14:25:00.000-07:002016-08-13T14:28:55.509-07:00Dealing with monsters -- uh -- sex offendersIf things really come in threes, then I have a monster story yet to come my way.<br />
<br />
The first one was when an editor wrote <a href="http://www.journalscene.com/20160805/160809856/editors-notes-pokemon-luring-players-to-nearby-sex-offenders" target="_blank">a "Pokemon warning"</a> to his readers and chose to call registrants living in the area "the real monsters." I took exception to that verbiage and, after contacting him, sent <a href="http://www.journalscene.com/20160810/160819963/letter-who-are-the-real-monsters" target="_blank">my rebuttal</a>, which he, in decency, printed.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgACL3eJ5YqbDmsPcRG286MkAm7goRpx_eppSFLJcxCbCJoZwICpMkXwYRMtQtPhJd5WGRUMnPqyGk7EGJsbeUJLv7DrVQUNyxYxaLtlfPgBmZnRDTUdH5Ogl0-cgxyCEYl1_YyE7uKUoI3/s1600/monster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgACL3eJ5YqbDmsPcRG286MkAm7goRpx_eppSFLJcxCbCJoZwICpMkXwYRMtQtPhJd5WGRUMnPqyGk7EGJsbeUJLv7DrVQUNyxYxaLtlfPgBmZnRDTUdH5Ogl0-cgxyCEYl1_YyE7uKUoI3/s200/monster.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THIS IS A MONSTER</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Now, this morning, when I opened my usual collection of daily alerts, one shouted at me, "Monsters among us site provides digital vigilance to help you keep track of sexual predators..." The thing turned out to be nothing more than <a href="http://thetimes-tribune.com/lifestyles/monsters-among-us-site-provides-digital-vigilance-to-help-you-keep-track-of-sexual-predators-in-your-neighborhood-1.2077710" target="_blank">an advertisement for Family Watchdog</a> masquerading as a site review, but my initial reaction was, again, my radar going on high alert at the word "monsters" being used to describe those on the registry.<br />
<br />
At the end of the piece was a request for readers to share their favorite sites for him to review. I took him up on it, sending him the following. Time will tell if I get a response.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dear Mr. O'Neill,</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Thank you for the invitation to share a favorite site. The one I would like to share is <a href="http://www.nationalrsol.org./">www.nationalrsol.org.</a> It is the site of National Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc., and it is dedicated to the advocacy of laws and policies based on facts and evidence that support <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTl67ExZI43lHCKJlfejW_2fsHB_AB79j1DR0zrF9fCWzVf50i3vp2he6XdxNJ-LHHg1Atns2kWJdz0shvcn2bbcjl_dF69oCCzU0L_3PhErrqnpUjEWrUQ_GhPbtfJToNQ50tX_S0b105/s1600/man.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTl67ExZI43lHCKJlfejW_2fsHB_AB79j1DR0zrF9fCWzVf50i3vp2he6XdxNJ-LHHg1Atns2kWJdz0shvcn2bbcjl_dF69oCCzU0L_3PhErrqnpUjEWrUQ_GhPbtfJToNQ50tX_S0b105/s200/man.jpg" width="167" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">THIS IS NOT A MONSTER</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
the successful rehabilitation and reintegration of law abiding, former sex offenders into society. This is our goal because this is what research shows will help create a safer society.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Unlike the site you most recently recommended, we do not call people "monsters." Research indicates that pejorative language of that type is counter-productive in furthering the rehabilitation initiatives approved by our criminal justice system.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Additionally, we find the type of site touted in your article "Monsters among us site..." contradictory to empirical evidence, and we find companies such as Family Watchdog extremely unethical as they are using deceit to play on the fears of parents. An exhaustive look at the research and scholarly literature on the subject will reveal that evidence does not support the use of public notification such as public sex offender registries. These popular but wasteful schemes do not further public safety, reduce sexual re-offending, nor offer any protection to children or other potential victims. They are predicated on misconceptions and myths and are denounced by academics and scientists alike.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I will be happy to dialogue with you further on this subject. Thank you for considering the site I have recommended for your column.</blockquote>
shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-23012050301145409322016-07-21T14:31:00.000-07:002016-07-21T14:46:51.124-07:00But you can't do that -- I'm not a sex offender<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2016/07/21/rowlett-couple-harassed-after-mistaken-sex-offender-notice/#.V5CvsOAG97I.twitter" target="_blank">Source </a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A horrible thing has been happening in a town in Texas. A
family has, for the past month or so, been subject to a barrage of harassment.
Strangers have been driving slowly past their home in this Dallas suburb and
yelling horrible things at them. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbms5a9WLxIiWYSeFROvEcf32_F9vEcxHZrJY6necQvErhGuZric75eP7Rui9QXwHUTiP_57ehmuppwor455a3wwwGVuWU0fqFAlH92Sa83FtbM5bbu5Ry2ngCR0aOvyio34MAjTQstMhV/s1600/24908494-furious-driver-leaning-out-of-window-making-threatening-gestures-he-is-driving-in-the-black-car-pain.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbms5a9WLxIiWYSeFROvEcf32_F9vEcxHZrJY6necQvErhGuZric75eP7Rui9QXwHUTiP_57ehmuppwor455a3wwwGVuWU0fqFAlH92Sa83FtbM5bbu5Ry2ngCR0aOvyio34MAjTQstMhV/s200/24908494-furious-driver-leaning-out-of-window-making-threatening-gestures-he-is-driving-in-the-black-car-pain.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<!--[endif]--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
The family has expressed fear for their lives, and of course
the police are taking this very seriously. They got to the root of the problem
quickly and are taking action to rectify it.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Apparently a month or so ago, the DPS mailed postcards to
each home in the community within four blocks in every direction from this
family’s home. The post cards gave the address where the family resides along
with the information that a registered sex offender lives there. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Except he doesn’t.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was a mistake. The registrant in question once lived
there but then moved away. Apparently his moving back into the area triggered
the postcards to be mailed and gave his prior address, thus marking this
family, who have no registrants living with them and no connection to the registrant, to be targeted as sex offenders
and subjected them to a taste of the harassment, vandalism, and physical
assault that hundreds of thousands of registrants, along with their children
and family members, are subject to as a matter of course.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The police in the area are trying to determine how to better
assure that registered citizens are living where they should be.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A better task would be for them to determine how to prevent
vigilantes from using the public registry as a hit list.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
If the registrant had been living in the house, is there any
reason at all to believe that the same incidents would not have occurred? No,
none.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And if they had, and he notified police and asked for
protection, is there any reason to believe that the story would have made
headlines in the local media, spurred law enforcement to immediate action, and produced 18 hits when entered into an online search
engine? No, none. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The message is clear: Incidents like this one, so shocking and urgent when they affect "normal" people, are acceptable in the eyes of law enforcement and
the public when carried out upon those on the registry. They are everyday occurrences; they create scarcely a ripple in the fabric of society.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In spite of the ordeal the innocent family has suffered,
they can at least be thankful there is no one living in their area of the mind
set and inclinations as Jeremy and Christine Moody of South Carolina.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
They can also be thankful their ordeal is over. They need no
longer fear for their lives. That cannot be said for the several million
American citizens whose addresses are listed on public
sex offense registries throughout the United States.</div>
shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-18996137362139628422016-07-16T07:00:00.000-07:002016-07-16T11:57:24.402-07:00This week in the sex offender world<b>Re the current Pokemon Go craze and concern this could put children and youth in "proximity" to registrants:</b><br />
<br />
This is shaping up to be the new "Halloween boogie-man" scare. Now that enough people have said often enough and loudly enough that there is no statistical increased sexual risk to children in connection with Halloween and trick-or-treat activities, along comes Pokemon Go to keep the fear-pot boiling. And of course the sensationalism-creators and fear-mongers can point to an actual <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCgo8Z7FnP62YE2a3mE-JW-236EPTRCd_Z9mSmn1NdBQb7AvyXRjAJopenLOb9-6MqYoNSasdIQOZb425rC3pD6kAPDFscviumDpHKB3f9HtDDzbtsHKteQnh3vUYvfqvZzjnU9hotgnyv/s1600/poke+go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCgo8Z7FnP62YE2a3mE-JW-236EPTRCd_Z9mSmn1NdBQb7AvyXRjAJopenLOb9-6MqYoNSasdIQOZb425rC3pD6kAPDFscviumDpHKB3f9HtDDzbtsHKteQnh3vUYvfqvZzjnU9hotgnyv/s200/poke+go.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
incident: a registered citizen was "caught" playing Pokemon with a 16 year old teenager--outside of a downtown courthouse, a location that probably boasts as many law enforcement officers per square foot as any other in town. Television anchors, a-la-weather map style, are displaying maps of local areas with Pokemon stops marked in one color and the homes of registered citizens marked in another and pointing out, with horrified faces but barely concealed glee, the places where one is within proximity to the other. Well, that does it! Put a kid on the same block with someone on the registry, and Katie, bar the door. I wonder what the statistical risk of harm is to a minor while playing Pokemon Go within shouting distance of where a registrant lives?<br />
<br />
<b>Re online "stings" and <a href="http://www.nwcn.com/news/local/2-on-your-side/child-sex-sting-arrests-terrifying-to-local-parents/270572738" target="_blank">headlines shouting</a> that parents are terrified over the potential risk of harm to their children:</b><br />
<br />
Of course parents are terrified; that is the purpose; terrify the parents and assure future funding for continued stings and special forces. It has very little to do with actually protecting children. There were no children. Those men were idiots as well as potential criminals. Virtually everyone arrested for being online child predators are arrested in these kinds of made-up situations. Where are the cases <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEXKsKhgjJp5l4ecVpDjLWM5_dCCyAGogihcm65QXSkVmLLrfGfnE8DXlr5t7IkrgNs0SdhMdsdHqEXTW_4cyKY8vTnxv15wvQfHygMHXTizvAI6W5PqKKvf02BRWm2NvmpVhXY_FbwVaS/s1600/online.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="152" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEXKsKhgjJp5l4ecVpDjLWM5_dCCyAGogihcm65QXSkVmLLrfGfnE8DXlr5t7IkrgNs0SdhMdsdHqEXTW_4cyKY8vTnxv15wvQfHygMHXTizvAI6W5PqKKvf02BRWm2NvmpVhXY_FbwVaS/s200/online.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
of real children being lured from their homes by some stranger online? Surely there are police reports...parents whose children have just disappeared? Where are the real ads from parents offering up their children like items on a menu? If this were the problem that law enforcement and the media make it out to be, there would be enough real cases to keep law enforcement busy. There would be no need to resort to entrapment and 50 year old cops pretending to be 12 year old kids.<br />
<br />
<b>Re the necessity of residency restrictions for protection of property values among other reasons:</b><br />
<br />
Many millions in public resources are spent in the U.S. on keeping and maintaining a public registry. Research has shown little to no public safety value in public notification and most definitely no reduction in child molestation. Little to nothing in public resources is spent on education, <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJakuzwJa8pzhKn33cxnuF2dkZQhaHY-1jbEn9ijgdUho4z1Y4w4Hs635hcCLwTaF3hVK4LXQyBdGwp1kCfK4nA_eVHqZwbzqtxX3EI-Ab0DiL7uQ1rF-pqRYB7sQgoYgH6zokqZErjBfx/s1600/images+%252821%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJakuzwJa8pzhKn33cxnuF2dkZQhaHY-1jbEn9ijgdUho4z1Y4w4Hs635hcCLwTaF3hVK4LXQyBdGwp1kCfK4nA_eVHqZwbzqtxX3EI-Ab0DiL7uQ1rF-pqRYB7sQgoYgH6zokqZErjBfx/s200/images+%252821%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
prevention, victim services, and meaningful reentry initiatives for former offenders. Research shows that all of these enhance public safety and work toward reduction of child molestation. Property values, which do not come close to importance in comparison with child molestation and general public safety, are reduced only due to public notification. If no one knew that the guy next door who committed a crime 20 years ago, has led an exemplary life since, is raising his kids and supporting his family, had committed a <i>sexual </i>crime, there would be no increased risk to anyone and no loss of surrounding property value. If his crime had been murder or arson or armed robbery or killing someone while driving intoxicated or any other offense, all with higher reoffense rates than sexual crimes, no one would know. As far as the disproportionate number of registrants "clustering" in areas without restrictions, registrants of necessity live where they are allowed rather than where they are not. If there were no residency restrictions anywhere--and nothing is so devoid of any proof of effectiveness or public safety value as residency restrictions--the disbursement would be even-handed, driven primarily by what the individuals could afford. Nothing supports the efficacy of a public registry. The many millions would be much better spent on the things are are shown to work. A law-enforcement only registry under the conditions supported by empirical data is the only logical answer.<br />
<br />
<br />shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-69510958580705965232016-06-07T07:20:00.000-07:002016-06-07T07:23:53.278-07:00A good man's life ruined due to the public sex offender registryMy readers know that I do not often use someone else's words in my posts. I seem to have too many of my own bubbling over to need borrowed ones.<br />
<br />
However, I recently read a comment on the RSOL website that will not get out of my head. I could never write what this man has written, for I have not had his life's experiences, and after obtaining RSOL's permission to use it, I hope I can do it justice.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3mWZkd5SCdeo6_KwrLjqnXvLR82_569sFKcGM30v5n08LD5HQLeoh-ZW42kd0DE-kL9JB4PE43Wk2Wdg1QXCVv5huuLiyingILR0fs3YdPfRvZcgXhOX21fuvha4UVuFH5BEDNjWikRV/s1600/answering+questions.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR3mWZkd5SCdeo6_KwrLjqnXvLR82_569sFKcGM30v5n08LD5HQLeoh-ZW42kd0DE-kL9JB4PE43Wk2Wdg1QXCVv5huuLiyingILR0fs3YdPfRvZcgXhOX21fuvha4UVuFH5BEDNjWikRV/s200/answering+questions.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<br />
John had written a comment to Steve Yoder's article "What’s the Real Rate of Sex-Crime Recidivism?" that was <a href="http://nationalrsol.org/blog/2016/05/31/a-single-supreme-court-justices-stupidity-ruins-thousands-of-lives-families/" target="_blank">posted on the website blog</a>. Another reader replied to him with a commiseration and comment about the waste of taxpayer money to track someone who doesn't seem to have been a threat to re-offend for thirty years.<br />
<br />
This was John's response.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Commit another sex crime? Absolutely not!</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I finished my probation in Jan. 1991. Between 1991 and 2007, I was called to jury service 4 times and actually sat on a trial, even though I told the judge and both the plaintiff and defense attorneys of my conviction. I have been to 8 other countries, including Can., Mex., and the UK. I traveled all over the US, worked for the government on military bases that required security clearances, and handled some of the most expensive military defense systems in the world. I’ve been invited to a Presidential Fund Raiser; I have met US senators, a couple of state governors, and one state supreme court justice.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
There have been a countless number of laws passed after the dragnet of SORNA pulled me in. Those laws not only had a stifling affect on me but also on my wife, my children, and my grandchildren; we all have been affected in negative ways.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I took advantage of the break I received from the justice system and turned my life around. I raised well behaved, career oriented, college educated, civic-minded children. But then came the destruction of SORNA. Anything that I had done that was good, right, or proper had become irrelevant. In fact, I just read the other day that I won’t be able to be buried in a National Cemetery because my Registered Sex Offender status has cancelled out my Vietnam War Military Service.</blockquote>
He then asked questions that I would like to have answered.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
My question is this. If after my conviction, it was okay for me to do the things that I mentioned earlier, than why can’t I now do some of the little things in life? Such as, attend my granddaughter's school function and not have her be embarrassed because I need to be escorted?</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Why is it illegal to go to a family reunion just because of playground equipment in the park?</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Why did I have to report to the CLEO and have my mother's home address listed on an on-line sex offender registry because I was in her home for more than 3 nights in one year while she was in hospice care?</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Why is it that I can bob for apples at a Halloween party with my grandchildren on Oct. 30th or Nov. 1st, but I will be arrested and sent to jail if I do that on Oct 31st between 5 pm and 8 pm? (That one proves legislatures are imbeciles, and because the police actually drive around to RSO’s homes to enforce it, they look like the Keystone Cops.)</blockquote>
He ends with reminding us that he is not the exception and hearkens back to Mr. Yoder's explanation of how this got started.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I’m sure 850,000 RSO’s could fill volumes of books with questions of why. But as of today we learned that Justice Kennedy may have violated a common rule of interpretation: “A text, out of context, is a pretext." Due to this misinterpretation, from the kid in the back seat mooning the car behind the school bus to the most dangerous re-offender, there is no difference between them. He assigned that pretext to all. </blockquote>
For once, I have nothing to add.shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-47724532429820874892016-05-25T08:27:00.000-07:002016-05-26T14:04:47.909-07:00Punishment does not equal prevention<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 193.0pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">How
wonderful that Mr. Gary Greenburg, a wealthy New York businessman, is concerned
about the young victims of child sexual abuse and wants to help. <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/n-y-bizman-spend-100g-child-sex-abuse-victims-article-1.2637180" target="_blank">He has offered $100, 000 dollars toward that end. </a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">That
is a lot of money.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwfbAWDmukWu10oNyh2U6AFzn2izxxSXMEHN3E3KQCFBwOIyg7hSS44xfo13tSr2pLlCLRjC3Zl6E1NbVURvkogTJMxRSurm2WbLcgwOYeqqFi1kYPFOoLuoYvVk8k4vVMJmZ-2J6O-Co/s1600/money.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwfbAWDmukWu10oNyh2U6AFzn2izxxSXMEHN3E3KQCFBwOIyg7hSS44xfo13tSr2pLlCLRjC3Zl6E1NbVURvkogTJMxRSurm2WbLcgwOYeqqFi1kYPFOoLuoYvVk8k4vVMJmZ-2J6O-Co/s1600/money.jpg" /></a></div>
<o:p></o:p><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">The
first thing that comes to mind when reading this is an appeal made many months
ago by a coalition that includes sexual assault prevention and victims’ groups.
<a href="http://www.preventtogether.org/Resources/Documents/PreventionCoalitionPillarsFinal2015.pdf" target="_blank">The National Coalition to Prevent Child Abuse and Exploitation </a>called for the creation of </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">a stable funding stream dedicated to preventing child sexual
abuse and exploitation. The group asked for that funding to equal at least one
percent of the millions currently spent on “after-the-fact” responses like sex
registries and civil commitment. As far as I know, the group is still waiting
for a response. Mr. Greenburg’s pledge would surely be a healthy beginning
toward that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">A second real possibility is using the money to help
establish a Circles of Support and Accountability program in New York. First
begun in Canada in 1994 in the Mennonite community, these programs have gained
great credibility in England and in parts of the United States. <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/crime/community-plays-a-role-in-helping-ex-prisoners-b99718342z1-379536211.html" target="_blank">The most recent success story comes from Vermont</a>, where preliminary results of a Circles
program begun there in 2005 is seeing a reduction of 86% in the recidivism of
convicted sex offenders. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">While
the Circles programs are invaluable in aiding the rehabilitation and reentry of
former offenders, which also serves public safety, to actually make inroads
against child sexual abuse requires addressing the problem where it is
occurring.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">The
research is very clear on this subject. First time offenders, not those already
registered for a previous offense, commit the vast majority of all sexual
crime. This is even truer for the sexual abuse of children and minors. Except
for a tiny percentage – and an even more minute percentage are repeat offenders
-- they are victimized by those in their lives, i.e., their family members,
their peers, and their authority figures. Any attempts to effect a change in
this scenario with a focus on those who have already committed offenses will
fail; indeed, it is failing every day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Dedicated
and comprehensive programs of education and prevention are a large part of the
answer. <a href="http://erinslaw.org/about/what-is-erins-law/" target="_blank">A bill called Erin’s Law </a>is one such program that holds promise. Begun
by a young woman, Erin Merryn, who, like Mr. Greenburg, was sexually abused as
a child, the bill requires an age appropriate curriculum in public schools for both faculty and students. Its focus is recognizing child sexual abuse and the appropriate measures to be taken. It has already been adopted in 26 states. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Other
valuable programs, such as <a href="http://www.stopitnow.org/" target="_blank">Stop It Now </a>and <a href="http://www.saeninc.org/" target="_blank">SAEN – Sexual Abuse Ends Now </a>-- focus on utilizing what research and science tell us about sexual offending to
confront the problem of child sexual abuse.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Mr.
Greenburg’s many dollars would almost certainly be welcomed by any of these
programs and would certainly meet his goal of helping child sexual assault
victims and preventing new ones.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">What
will not help is his intended campaign against legislators in New York who are
questioning the efficacy of harsher and stricter laws and punishments against
those who commit sexual offenses. Recent years have seen ever-increasing
harshness in penalties and sentencing. Children are still being molested. While
sentences appropriate to the crime committed are necessary, we should not fool
ourselves. These do very little to deter the continuing sexual abuse of
children committed overwhelmingly by those never arrested or charged with a sex
crime. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";">Punishment
is not prevention, and overly harsh punishment is not focused on victims or
prevention but rather on vengeance.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Like Mr. Greenburg, all
decent people want an end to the sexual abuse of children. To attain that goal,
we must focus on the children and the situations in which they are being
abused. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoBodyText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-4719253817122329982016-05-20T14:43:00.001-07:002016-05-20T14:43:42.068-07:00Why the public sex offender registry?<div class="MsoNormal">
We had <i>Untouchable.</i> And now we have <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/20/movies/pervert-park-review.html?_r=0" target="_blank"><i>Pervert Park</i>.</a>
These films are important. They are heartbreaking and poignant and very, very
worthwhile. They open doors to conversations and to realizations and to minds.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But they are not the reality of most of America’s registered
citizens.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkbGinMm8XXoK93vOFJ1varu4KA_-KhwCB12TlaTtVU-Jr1ydjJvkEqrtQiooYUbj16mwxgBLES0x4L-zp7RiLZ8nzG97E285m5y0VXh7I3ZHzDP9MnVIVJQIRiREkuAmmUlX40LG1ppK/s1600/images+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJkbGinMm8XXoK93vOFJ1varu4KA_-KhwCB12TlaTtVU-Jr1ydjJvkEqrtQiooYUbj16mwxgBLES0x4L-zp7RiLZ8nzG97E285m5y0VXh7I3ZHzDP9MnVIVJQIRiREkuAmmUlX40LG1ppK/s320/images+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a>The majority of registrants living in communities across
America are living lives that much more closely resemble the lives of
non-registered citizens than they do the registrants living in Pervert Park.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Once no longer on community supervision, many registrants
are in places where there are no restrictions on where they live. They live in
mobile home parks and apartments and houses just like their neighbors. Many
have children and are raising their families just like their neighbors. Were it
not for their listing on a public sex offender registry and the fallout from
that, their neighbors would not know they bore the distinctive title of “sex
offender.” Many do deal with extensive fallout from the public registry
listing. Many have gone through turmoil to get where they are. But they are
there.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For those who live under the burden of residency
restrictions, finding a home is more challenging, more difficult, and probably
less conveniently located to needed services and things like schools for their
children. However, most of them manage, and they too raise their families and
live their lives much like their neighbors – except for everyone knowing that
it is a “sex offender” house or apartment or mobile home and the rest of the
consequences – the fallout -- of being listed publicly as a sex criminal.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The income and socio-economic level of America’s registered
citizens varies widely, just as does that of America’s non-registered citizens.
Some are dependent on government assistance to feed themselves and their
families. Most are making it to varying degrees. Some are well-off, and a few
are wealthy. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just as with all Americans, the standard of living tends to
be higher commensurate with the level of education attained. Many are finding that
going into business for oneself eliminates many of the barriers to earning a
decent living. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And some, just like their neighbors, regardless of their
circumstances, cannot and do not deal with it. They are broken and destroyed.
They end their lives.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
For a few registrants, in a few places, life is
unimaginable, and stories, documentaries, and even fictionalized accounts put a
public face on the private horrors that to these registered citizens are their
lives.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But for most, once the sentence is served completely, the
only thing setting them apart from their neighbors, from the other members of
their community, is the public sex offender registry – and the fallout from it.
Were there no public listing, they would be the same people, continuing to live
their lives in their communities, just like everybody else.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And so once again, the question must be asked. </div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The public sex offender registry -- what purpose does it
serve?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-5216713735653956292016-05-09T08:55:00.000-07:002016-05-09T10:25:32.937-07:00Sex offenders, transgender folk, and public toiletsI thought I was through writing about this transgender/bathroom issue when I wrote <a href="http://nationalrsol.org/blog/2016/04/28/is-targets-bathroom-policy-an-open-door-to-sex-offenders/" target="_blank">“Is Target’s bathroom policy an open door to sex offenders?”</a> I’m really sick of the whole silly thing. The expression “tempest in a teapot” surely was penned for situations such as this. However, two recurring themes in pieces written on the issue are driving me to the keyboard again.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvoyfugWCMIRH5cffiy0oJt8ryiNTFqQAvApYOLNy5bbj5MAt_sSVyNZ69rMY8wfsEsX-ixmuaCC4D5wrz_s35At-UjAX08pP_yASYLj_UWefX-Zn87oUo5kuP9eMvUvWbrCBKKZjAEdhC/s1600/danger+don%2527t+enter.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvoyfugWCMIRH5cffiy0oJt8ryiNTFqQAvApYOLNy5bbj5MAt_sSVyNZ69rMY8wfsEsX-ixmuaCC4D5wrz_s35At-UjAX08pP_yASYLj_UWefX-Zn87oUo5kuP9eMvUvWbrCBKKZjAEdhC/s200/danger+don%2527t+enter.jpeg" width="200" /></a>One is the identification of many who are protesting the loudest about the matter as “devout Christians” or “fundamentalist Christians.” I myself am a devout Christian, by some standards meeting the criteria for the fundamentalist label, and I am almost embarrassed to admit it in light of the ignorance, vitriol, and downright silliness displayed by these protesters.<br />
<br />
My strongest ire, however, centers around <a href="http://www.christianpost.com/news/parents-protest-target-stores-nationwide-over-transgender-bathroom-policy-163581/" target="_blank">statements such as this one</a> from – what else – the <i>Christian Post</i>:<br />
<br />
“…with one of the protesters, a mother of four, warning that there are as many as 209 registered sex offenders within a 5 mile radius of that particular [Target] store. ‘With Target's new policy, it's unverifiable. You cannot verify a person's intent, so these sexual predators will use these policies to gain access into the women's restroom, making it a dangerous place for women and children,’ said Carrie Peterson.”<br />
<br />
Where do I begin? I guess first with this woman’s belief that all on the registry -- regardless of the offense committed, discounting that a few of them were wrongly accused and convicted, ignoring that the vast majority have been in the community, many for years, without committing a second sexual offense – are predators.<br />
<br />
This is one of the most insidious dangers of the public registry. The mere presence of a name on it cries to the public, “Watch out; I am a menace; I will do you harm!” when very, very seldom is that accurate.<br />
<br />
And as ignorant and as lacking in any evidence whatsoever is her assumption that registrants will put on dresses, wigs, lipstick, and heels and infiltrate women’s public toilets in order to molest those in there.<br />
<br />
We all want to keep children safe, but there is no evidence whatsoever that trans people pose any sexual harm to children or that registered citizens dress up as the opposite sex in order to commit crimes in public bathrooms. Children are far, far more likely to be molested by those close to them in their everyday lives and in their own homes or other places they regularly frequent than by anyone they don’t know, regardless of their gender identity, in a public place.<br />
<br />
So if you feel compelled by God to protest this or similar bathroom policies, please make it clear that you do not speak for all persons of faith, and for crying out loud, do a little research and learn a few facts.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-7633208249970120692016-04-12T11:09:00.000-07:002016-04-12T13:47:26.847-07:00Why are people afraid of truth and facts?I have just had a lesson in how far those who are opposed to our advocacy are willing to go to suppress the truth.<br />
<br />
This started exactly a month ago with <a href="http://tdn.com/news/opinion/laws-help-keep-children-safe/article_fed949a9-307c-5c36-8e47-6e2a1a258928.html" target="_blank">this op/ed </a>in the March 13 online edition of the Longview, WA <i>Daily News</i>. RSOL wrote a rebuttal, received assurance from the News' online editor that she would consider it, and sent it off. After a week of hearing nothing, receiving no response to inquiries, and not finding it online, it was posted <a href="http://with-justiceforall.blogspot.com/2016/03/with-sex-offender-issues-many-media.html" target="_blank">on this blog </a>and a link sent to the <i>News'</i> publisher. The online editor responded on March 23rd that it would be printed sometime that week. When I looked for it on the 24th, imagine my surprise when, instead of the rebuttal piece, I found <a href="http://tdn.com/news/opinion/sex-offender-registry-helps-keep-us-safe/article_f4f3232c-0066-5267-ba4e-91b972cbef6e.html" target="_blank">another op/ed</a> defending their first op/ed supporting public registration. I updated my blog entry, and she was immediately<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYtjQwQeHNb6EvTznPB-zUQiKReCN_hs030Khrew72USGDnwowv2fEowVvbmrC48HC5HwfVtOgda7ZPxDbTdeieMEUVwgsgrz2tf7YDe-cxn23GlmWB7miBPVSF6uHSop7ajM8F9-TZHNS/s1600/images+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="157" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYtjQwQeHNb6EvTznPB-zUQiKReCN_hs030Khrew72USGDnwowv2fEowVvbmrC48HC5HwfVtOgda7ZPxDbTdeieMEUVwgsgrz2tf7YDe-cxn23GlmWB7miBPVSF6uHSop7ajM8F9-TZHNS/s200/images+%25281%2529.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
contacted about the rebuttal piece; to the best of our knowledge, no response was received.<br />
<br />
I looked every day; she was written again on the 29th, and, again, no reply was seen. March turned into April. On April 10th both she and the publisher were emailed with an inquiry. She responded the next day saying that she had replied on the 29th and that the piece had been printed on March 25th. She sent the link and, sure enough, <a href="http://m.tdn.com/news/opinion/guest-commentary-laws-not-registry-keeps-us-safe/article_2cd27ea3-ac88-55d6-97e2-36a82c00d531.html" target="_blank">there it was</a>!<br />
<br />
How could it have escaped our attention? We scoured the <i>dailynews.com</i> site every day looking for it. And how was the email of the 29th overlooked? We will never have an answer to the second question. The email has been searched repeatedly, and the searches have turned up no communication from her or anyone at the <i>News </i>on the 29th. If she did indeed send one, it has dissipated like the morning dew in mid-summer.<br />
<br />
We can, however, answer the first question. It escaped our attention -- and our fervent hunting day after day -- because it appears to have been buried. It was not listed with other pieces printed in the Opinion section. If we had known what they named it, we could have searched on their site and found it. But no one else could have found it. No one else could have seen it. No one else could have determined that it existed in order to find it in order to read it.<br />
<br />
When it was printed, all of the hyperlinks to the studies cited were removed. But then if no one will be reading it, no one will need any links to click, will they? Additionally, every op/ed printed there that we saw has a comment section. The rebuttal piece has none. But if no one will be reading something, they won't be commenting on it, will they?<br />
<br />
Just out of curiosity, we looked at other types of articles on the site. Whether it was news or sports, opinion or entertainment, it has a comment section. Even the articles taken from <i>AP</i> have comment sections. Certainly we did not look at every article they have posted over a lengthy period of time, but we looked at many, and <b>every one</b> looked at has a place to leave a comment. Only one was found with no comment capabilities, and that is the one rebutting theirs.<br />
<br />
So that leaves only one question for the Longview, Washington <i>Daily News</i>: Did you bury our op-ed? If so, what are you afraid of? What do you not want people thinking about if they read that article? What do you not want people seeing if they click the links and read a couple of research studies? What do you not want people saying if they left a comment on the article?<br />
<br />
What are you afraid of?<br />
<br />
<br />shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3713544301131240733.post-51726377256518531702016-03-21T14:38:00.000-07:002016-03-24T06:05:49.047-07:00With sex offender issues, many media outlets don't want both sidesUPDATE: After this was sent to the publisher and editor, and after W.A.R. contacted them, I received an email yesterday -- 23rd -- saying the rebuttal would run "later this week." Today, the 24th, they ran a <a href="http://tdn.com/news/opinion/sex-offender-registry-helps-keep-us-safe/article_f4f3232c-0066-5267-ba4e-91b972cbef6e.html" target="_blank">reiteration of their position</a>. That means that this one should see print tomorrow, the 25th, or Saturday the 26th. Watch this spot for updates.<br />
<br />
A May 13 editorial in the Longview, WA <i>News Online </i>proclaimed, <a href="http://tdn.com/news/opinion/laws-help-keep-children-safe/article_fed949a9-307c-5c36-8e47-6e2a1a258928.html" target="_blank">"Laws Help Keep Children Safe."</a> The editorial was essentially an expression of outrage that the organization W.A.R. -- and by extension all such-minded advocacy organizations-- even existed. "It takes a moment to digest that such a group exists...." Apparently the news outlet had received a brochure and some factual information from W.A.R. after a vigilante incident occurred in Longview.<br />
<br />
The editorial angered me as it included several references that are blatantly untrue. I wrote the online editor inquiring whether she would consider for publication a rebuttal piece that I had started working on. By the time she responded that I could send it to her, I had finished it and immediately did so as this was a time-sensitive issue. That was over a week ago. Two separate inquiries to her as to whether <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaPd2Jdt61M-55OOadkcjnyqL5KQ9ElgHqe_uieuiUAPI_nlI4vzW1Uke1Ipw1GLiHfPw42iqfBlA7BeHKxmCLR3tteRzojLewtJeork2ZCu8il4M_ddwFDcQCHYeIWwuID7CqVHarrahP/s1600/censorship.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaPd2Jdt61M-55OOadkcjnyqL5KQ9ElgHqe_uieuiUAPI_nlI4vzW1Uke1Ipw1GLiHfPw42iqfBlA7BeHKxmCLR3tteRzojLewtJeork2ZCu8il4M_ddwFDcQCHYeIWwuID7CqVHarrahP/s320/censorship.jpg" width="195" /></a></div>
she had made a decision yet went unacknowledged.<br />
<br />
A week is enough time to decide to print or not print submitted material. Besides, I have experienced this too many times to count: journalism, which once long, long ago in a place far, far away, would almost always respond favorably to a request for "equal time," no longer feels the necessity to do that.<br />
<br />
And so I print it here, and I will send a link to the publisher and online editor of the <i>Daily News</i>.<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In response to your editorial of March 13, "Laws help keep children safe," I would first like to thank you for your condemnation of vigilante activity. Fully agreeing with the title of your op-ed, I too want laws that help keep children safe, and there is nothing about vengeance-motivated activity that works toward that goal.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The organization you criticize, WAR, or Women Against Registry, is one of several organizations that advocate for laws that do just that -- keep children safe. Another is SOSEN, Sex Offender Solutions and Education Network. And yet another is RSOL, Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc. These organizations agree with what research studies show: laws that keep children -- and indeed everyone -- safe must, in order to do that, be based on facts and empirical evidence.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The public registry system is not based on empirical evidence, and, in your defense of it, you say that the murder of Adam Walsh is "not uncommon." Actually, it is very rare. Whether or not Adam's kidnapping and subsequent murder were sexually motivated will never be known, but it was a heinous crime as was the murder of Megan Kanka and another handful of horrific child murders at the hands of murderers.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Your statement that WAR grew out of murders such as these is untrue. WAR, SOSEN, and RSOL grew out of a realization, based on research, that public registration of those who had previously committed a sexual offense -- not murdered, not decapitated, but committed an offense ranging from the trivial to the serious -- actually was not deterring sexual crimes against children at all. It was in some cases increasing the risk for re-offense, and it was and is creating conditions that seriously interfere with mandated rehabilitative efforts. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
It was and does negatively impact the lives of family members, especially the children of registrants. This is <a href="http://www.ilvoices.com/media/30$20-$20Collateral$20Damage$20Family$20Members$20of$20Registered$20Sex$20Offenders$20-$20Jill$20Levenson.pdf" target="_blank">well documented through research studies.</a> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
According to <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2820068/" target="_blank">yet another study,</a> "These policies have led to multiple collateral consequences, creating an ominous environment that inhibits successful reintegration and may contribute to an increasing risk for recidivism. In fact, evidence on the effectiveness of these laws suggests that they may not prevent recidivism or sexual violence and result in more harm than good." </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Reform organizations do not defend the actions that have triggered registration, and we recognize appropriate punishment as desirable and necessary, but it is difficult to claim that, in all cases, the children suffer through the actions of the registrant family members rather than the effects of public registration. Many situations exist where the offense was committed when the registrant was a child or juvenile himself. A number of cases involve premarital sex where the offender and "victim" later married and had a family, yet the offender remains on a public registry, often for life, and his children suffer greatly due to it. This continuation of punishment long after a sentence has been completed is but another form of vengeance and amounts to legalized, governmental vigilante action, exacting punishment far beyond what the courts assessed.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The impotency of the public registry to deter re-offense and to protect children is <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/track-sex-offenders-ny-county-hires-cops-37557231" target="_blank">well documented also. </a>Dr. Bill O'Leary is a forensic psychologist and longtime critic of public notification and tracking. He notes, "95 percent of sexual abuse occurs between a victim and a known acquaintance, not a stranger living down the street. One of the most unethical pieces of the situation has been saying that we need to do this to prevent sexual abuse when we know statistically that this has nothing to do with preventing sexual abuse.”</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
According to the United States Department of Justice, from 1992 to 2010 there was a steep decline in all major crime. There is no evidence that a decrease in sexual crime is due to our current policies, and that theory is actually <a href="https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/231989.pdf" target="_blank">negated by research</a>. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Many people and organizations advocate every day for policies that will keep children safe, but we know that until the focus is put on the victims and the actual facts about child sexual abuse, that is highly unlikely to occur.</blockquote>
<div>
<br /></div>
shellyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13000853333502699643noreply@blogger.com9