Comments on: Rethinking “Sex Crimes” and Sex Offender Registries

By: Is it time to destroy Wikileaks? - Page 10 - Political Forum

Is it time to destroy Wikileaks? - Page 10 - Political Forum — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 07:17:42 +0000

[...] you give paedophiles free rein in your country? No. In fact, the US "sex offender" laws are utterly draconian. But at least our Internet is relatively [...]

By: Is it time to destroy Wikileaks? - Page 10 - Political Forum

Is it time to destroy Wikileaks? - Page 10 - Political Forum — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 04:35:12 +0000

[...] you give paedophiles free rein in your country? No. In fact, the US "sex offender" laws are utterly draconian. But at least our Internet remains (for now) [...]

By: Misguided Bill Wants to Stop Predators on Social Networking Sites « iLookBothWays

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:41:59 +0000

[...] Rethinking “Sex Crimes” and Sex Offender Registries [...]

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By: RustyH

RustyH — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:46:41 +0000

I agree. I was charged in 2003 as an “offender” in the state of Maryland for having online sex chats with a friend of my wife & mine who was 17. Yes, we exchanged pictures. I was over the age of 18 at the time. Due to her having a meltdown for other reasons, it was brought out that we had had an “affair”. Due to this, I was forced to register in MD. Since moving to WV, they do not have a qualification for “offender”. Only “sex-offender” & “sexual predator”. No matter what the classification, I am required to register for life. Was even told by judge in MD that it would have been legal if we would have had physical sex, but the discusion of it online is what made it a crime. GO FIGURE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By: RustyH

RustyH — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:46:41 +0000

By: Illinois Law Bans Sex Offenders from Social Networking Sites « iLookBothWays

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 03:57:30 +0000

[...] Rethinking “Sex Crimes” and Sex Offender Registries [...]

By: Teen Sexting: Punish or Educate ? — Technology Liberation Front

Teen Sexting: Punish or Educate ? — Technology Liberation Front — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:08:05 +0000

[...] adults from exploiting children sexually. This is serious stuff indeed when one considers the dire consequences of being convicted not just of a felony, but a “sex offense.” Depending on state law, [...]

By: Cyberbullying Hearing Yesterday: Education, not Criminalization or Intermediary Deputization — Technology Liberation Front

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:33:56 +0000

[...] are the “Mark of Cain” in modern life, exceeded only in their lasting effect by being required to register on a sex offender registry. Cato Adjunct Fellow and civil rights lawyer Harvey Silverglate (testimony) highlighted the serious [...]

By: thomas

thomas — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:22:37 +0000

The other thing that most people do not realize is that some registered offenders were in their very early twenties say 22 and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time. to make a long story short no one had sex with this girl, sometimes girls approximately the same age over 18, were very permiscuous and wanted to prove to their friends they were not. The da jacks up the charges so high that being young and scared and after fighting the charges for years, you finally give in get probation, do a little time in the honor farm, and try to live your life. Knowing you never harmed any one, then you end up on the internet and all of the sudden your not living in your old neighborhood where people new you and your character, now you are dealing with people that do not know you and are so mean, cruel, harrassing, try to run you out of the neighborhood, you tell them to call the DA and ask about the case, but they do not. I am affraid for my wife and her well being. you get expungement, cert. of rehabilitation, and you are still not elegable to get off the internet. and they put the wrong charge on the website. My mail man opens my mail, they throw peanuts on the roof so the birds come and peck on it, one harrassment after another. and it was 27 years ago. there was no sex, no injury, just a girl that wanted to prove something.

By: danJ123

danJ123 — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 09:02:29 +0000

In my early 20's I was convicted of having sex with a 15 year old girl in 1991, five years prior to the passage of the mandatory sex offender registry laws. It was something I regretted the night it happened, but the fact is, it was consensual sex.

My convection occurred directly because of that regret, as I wrote her a letter afterward saying it could never happened again, which her mother found and turned into the police. I'm going to say the DA that tried my case recognized I was not a danger to anyone, as he offered me a plea deal of no jail time, and 1 1/2 years of UNSUPERVISED probation, which I took. At the time, most of my friends just shook their heads at me and told me how stupid I was, and was considered a joke between the people who knew me.

The point is, I fulfilled my 1 1/2 years of probation without any incident, and I moved on with my life. I went on to develop a nice career, got married, and lived a productive life. I told my wife about what happened a couple months into our dating. Initially, she was not happy with it, but recognized that I was not sexually attracted to children, rather it was a very misfortune mistake on my part, and was very forgiving on her part. Not anticipating the passing of Megans law at the time, we decided that it would be something that would be kept a secret from her family, and friends.

Unfortunately, after about a year of being married, the Megans law was passed in my state. When I appeared on the web site, her family, friends, and our neighbors all discovered what I had done. After they all got over the initial shock, some of them were unwilling to distinguish between a mistake, and someone who trolls the playgrounds searching for children. As my wife and I attempted to defend ourselves, and our marriage, and tried to sort out fact, from pure fabrication, more and more people developed a problem with me, and the fact that she was married to me. Eventually, after the stress of the holidays, my wife could not take all the negative attention and the stigma that came with being married to a 'sex offender', and left me, and eventually divorcing me.

The second shoe to drop in this was with my mother, and family. While my mother was greatly disappointed and hurt over what happened, right or wrong she decided not to tell anyone in the family so not to cause any issues within the family. When the web site went up, as near as I could tell, people went to view the site more out of curiosity, and a depraved form of "entertainment".

A friend of my stepfathers was the one who saw me on it, and quickly called my stepfather to find out why I was there. My stepfather in turn lacked any discretion, or willingness to talk to me about it, and spread the word spread that I was on it to the rest of my family. My stepfather and I had always had a tense relationship, and never got along, and this was the nail in the coffin as far as our relationship went. Tension turned into open hostility between us, and it caused a strain within the family. I still see my mother whenever my stepfather is not around, and I occasionally see my brother. However, I have not been invited to a family even since the Web Site went up.

While not everyone in my old group of friends was aware of what had happened, out of the ones that did know, several slowly started to turn their backs on me and started treating me as if I had snatched a child out of a bed while they slept. After a few months, word spread about me and, and with very few exceptions, everyone I knew or hung out with began to distance themselves from me. Individuals who never had a problem with me, suddenly started to develop attitudes towards me, and several physical conflicts occurred. While not all my friends abandoned me, over the course of 2 years, I went from being well liked, respected, and married with many friends, to someone who was constantly isolated.

As time went on, it has become harder to find a place to live, as most landlords do criminal background checks. Since I have been on the Sex Offender Web site, I have been evicted, have had little old ladies threaten me, telling me I better move "or else". My dog mysterious got off his leash in the back yard, and was killed by a car. I have received anonymous threatening phone calls.

Needless to say, finding a job has become harder and harder over the years, as the web site has become a more popular form of "entertainment" for bored people. Since I've gone on the web site, I've found myself out of work more than having work. I have exhausted all my savings and for the last several years, I have just been hanging on by a thread. The addition of including the address of a sex offender's work address on the sex offender's web site has thoroughly terrified me, as I am in constant fear that a co-worker will discover me, and complain to my boss.

The worst part about the Sex Offender registration laws is the local police are not required to handle the registration in a consistently, or uniformed manner. For years, the law required me to register every year, and within 10 days of whenever I moved, or got a new job. I am use to being able to walk into the local police station, day or night, and register without any questions or constraints put on me. A police officer will simply come out, and fill out the required paper work, taking about 15 minutes.

Unfortunately, without my knowledge, the law had changed from 10 days to register any type of change in registration, to 3 days. 8 months before I was supposed to come off the Sex Offender Web site, I was evicted from the apartment I was living in under mysterious circumstances (The eviction was over noise complaints). Being broke, I decided not to fight to stay in the apartment and I moved in with a friend in a neighboring city.

On the 3rd day after my move, I happened to call the police in the town I had moved out of, to get their address. At the time, it was required to mail the police when a sex offender had moving, providing them with your new address. While I was on the phone with the officer, it came up that there was a change in the registration period.

As soon as I got off the phone, I drove straight to the police station of the town I had moved into. I distinctly remember this day, as it was a Friday, and I arrived at the police station around 4:40 PM. I went to the desk to explain to the officer that what I was there to do. He informed me that the "Records Department" handled sex offender registration for that city, and that the Records Department closed at 4:30 PM on Fridays.

When I attempted to explain to the officer what my predicament was, he was less than enthused to help me, and only offered the suggestion that I come back on Monday. Because of this "snafu" (As it was described to me by a police officer in the town I current live in), I was deemed out of compliance. I am now subjected to 10 more years of required, mandatory registration.

Was what I did wrong? Yes, I knew it at the time, and was willing to own up to it. Do I deserver to be on this web site for 20 years for consensual sex with a 15 year old girl? Do I deserver to lose my family over it? Do I deserver to have my life completely and utterly ruined? Do I deserve to live in isolation, and alone the rest of my life? Do I deserver to live in fear the rest of my life? Do I deserver to live with no hope, or chance of being accepted in society?

By: drastic

drastic — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 18:52:58 +0000

what are the chances of a man who has a sex offender charge for sexual assult of a drunk 45 yr old woman who dropped charges,married him to prove innocence.State picked up charges,sent him to prison.Woman divorced him because she couldnt handle it.He has custody of his 4 kids and cannot even set foot on the school property to pick his kids.what state would give him a chance to raise his kids in a normal atmosphere?

By: drastic

drastic — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:52:58 +0000

By: Linda's Blog

Linda's Blog — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 18:30:25 +0000

Illinois Law Bans Sex Offenders from Social Networking Sites...

Illinois recently enacted changes to a law to make the use of social networking sites by registered sex offenders a class 4 felony. Set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2010, Illinois state senator Bill Brady explained the reasoning behind the changes,......

By: The Progress & Freedom Foundation Blog

The Progress & Freedom Foundation Blog — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:55:59 +0000

If NCMEC's Going to Regulate the Internet for Child Porn, It Should At Least Be Subject to FOIA...

Last year, my colleague Adam Thierer asked whether State AGs + NCMEC = The Net's New Regulators? Adam noted that NCMEC, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a private non-profit organization, was playing a law enforcement role in......

By: If NCMEC’s Going to Regulate the Internet for Child Porn, It Should At Least Be Subject to FOIA

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:26:06 +0000

[...] over an organization essentially regulating the Internet and imposing criminal sanctions that could follow convicted “sex offenders” for life would by itself be an enormous [...]

By: fima

fima — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:33:19 +0000

I came to US as Jewish Refugee on Human rights violations
in former USSR.
I worked for Mitsubishi Electric in Chicago
I had my rights violated again in Minnesota and IL.
I was convicted for porn possession in 2003, misdemeanor
conviction and placed on sex offender register in Minnesota. Since
2003 as you may understand I can not find job, only short terms
projects.
Here you can find comparission of my situation as jew pariah in USSR
and predator pariah in US

http://estrinyefim.newsvine.com/_news/2008/07/1...

Everybody is talking about sex offenders
as about group of people who is not deserve second chance. According
Department of Justice this group have very low level of recidivism.
Most of so named former sex offenders are at very low level, like
streakers, public urination, internet users like myself or convicted for
consensual teen sex. There are a very few real predators.
I think government created group of predators pariahs among criminal
pariahs, striped them any human rights like jobs and housing,
demonized them as dangerous predators. This is very bad thing to do,
almost like Nazi did in Germany.
There are 20,000 registered sex offenders in Minnesota.

I am member of RSOL ( reform sex offender law )
Each year Minnesota congress is trying to pass new laws restricting
former sex offenders. This year I testified against these laws.
After I testified against No Network for predators law you are talking
about, lawmakers voted against this law, and then applied this law
only for offenders on probation.
Nobody could do this in IL.
There are huge hysteria around human sexuality in US now. Nobody even try to
stop this and solve sex crimes problem in another way, not like
demonization, joblessness and homelessness.
Somebody should lobby congress on behalf sex offenders, but nobody is
there. I am not getting any support.
Next year Minnesota congress must pass Adam Walsh act. This is very
draconian law intended to make life for former sex offenders
impossible. This is very dangerous for public safety. I may try stop
this law but I am not getting any support.
Could you answer me what do you think about all these huge problems
for all people in US
I will try to call you.

Fima.

By: Adam Thierer

Adam Thierer — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 13:32:55 +0000

Larry Magid and Declan McCullagh of CNet News both have related articles up worth reading about registries:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-19518_3-10309421-238....
and
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10309431-38.h...

By: Adam Thierer

Adam Thierer — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 04:02:36 +0000

An interesting perspective on the issue from Robin Sax, a former sex crimes prosecutor for the Los Angeles District Attorney's office:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robin-sax/did-the...

By: Social-networking ban for sex offenders: Bad call? | KBBS @ TECHBLOG

Social-networking ban for sex offenders: Bad call? | KBBS @ TECHBLOG — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:07:22 +0000

[...] leave it up to others to debate our sex offender registry policy. Adam Thierer and Robin Sax have just written thoughtful responses to The Economist’s article, taking [...]

By: admiration

admiration — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 18:08:53 +0000

One of my ex-colleagues, a young woman in her late twenties, was forced to register as a sex-offender (for life in the state of Idaho) because she had consensual sex with a young man (who was 3 months away of turning eighteen). Clearly this act does not qualify to be registered as a sex offender for life. Moreover, she was sentenced for eight years. Spent one year in prison, and is now serving the rest of the seven years on parole. Her 2 children were taken from her. She is not allowed to travel outside of her home town (let alone the State of Idaho). She has to pay $80 per counseling session (several times per week). She can only go shopping early in the morning (before she goes to work). She is not allowed to go anywhere where children might appear (movie theater, parks, shopping malls, church, etc.). You can imagine what all of this has done to her self esteem. And all this because the religious parents of the young man she has consensual sex with, filed charges against her.
I agree, the strongest punishment must be applied to the REAL SEX OFFENDERS of this world, like rapists, murderers, abductors, pedophiles and the likes. But NOT 2 people who had consensual sex (especially when one is only 3 months away from turning 18).
CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE BRING MORE ATTENTION TO THESE DARN CASES. CLEARLY THE SEX OFFENDER REGISTRATION LAW NEEDS TO BE APPLIED AND LOOKED INTO MORE DETAILED AND CAREFULLY.
Boohooo to the lawmakers of Idaho, and especially booohoooo to those parents that filed charges in this case.

By: Your Children Are Probably Safe Online – Really!- The SiliconANGLE

Your Children Are Probably Safe Online – Really!- The SiliconANGLE — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:31:37 +0000

[...] at Tech Liberation Front, my friend Adam Thierer posted an essay today that finally, properly and with the appropriate passion, expresses the exasperation I feel when I [...]

By: fallenone

fallenone — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:54:38 +0000

More facts can be found in the book "Once Fallen," found at www.oncefallen.com, which is also a great website for learning the truth about *ex crimes and registrants. Everything we've been taught about *ex offenders is a lie.