Sex Offender Laws Pummeled
Good news, for once! (And if I've been quiet for a while, it's because I'm researching and writing my opposition comments to the Department of Justice guidelines for the Adam Walsh act.) Thank you Amanda Rogers and the American Chronicle.
EX OFFENDER LAWS PUMMELED AS GAP BETWEEN BEING TOUGH ON CRIME AND BEING SMART ON CRIME WIDENS
Washington D.C.: In a desperate attempt to keep the flow of misinformation alive, John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted - who has always sought vengeance over prevention (and makes a ton of money doing it) assembled a small group of parents whose children have been murdered, whether by a registered sex offender or not and went to Capitol Hill last week to push for yet even more ineffective and blatantly vindictive laws in the name of a handful of murdered children.
The group called “The Surviving Parents Coalition,” enlisted the services of a PR (public relations) firm. This is important to note as, in the words of Eugene Kennedy, quoted from the New York Times: “You call in public relations operatives when the truth won’t do.”
The coalition's PR company: (R.M.S. PR) sent out a press release that the group would be meeting with a few “fools on the hill” last week in Washington urging them to “declare war on sex offenders.” Declare war? There was also to be a press conference. To date, I have seen only one single article covering this event - evidence that Mr. Walsh and his entourage have pushed the envelope too far. Vengeance against 600,000 plus people for the actions of the handful responsible for the despicable crimes which took the lives of these parents’ children cannot continue. The silence upon Capitol Hill last week spoke volumes and sends a clear and powerful message: It is no longer enough for the American people for elected officials to look “tough” on crime. The American people want legislators to be “smart” on crime - to focus on prevention, not retribution.
Across the nation, a growing number of top mental health experts, law enforcement agencies, and victim advocacy groups are becoming fed up with costly, ineffective, and counter-productive sex offender laws, and they are speaking out. The over-inflated balloon of hype and hysteria which has been the platform for creating and passing much of the legislation is deflating as factual data on the issues surrounding sex crimes comes to the forefront.
For example, ALL of these laws focus on former registered sex offenders who statistically are responsible for a miniscule 3% of new sex crimes. That means that 97% of new sex crimes will be commited by someone who is NOT a registered sex offender. To put it in perspective, out of the 400 Dateline "To Catch A Predator" stings only 4 out of the over 400 caught were actually registered sex offenders. So then, WHY are all these laws only targeting those on the registry that pose the lowest risk to society?
The tide is turning and lawmakers who don’t want to be left holding the bag for the miserable failures that have been created in the name of protecting the public are taking notice. With the exception of the three "fools on the hill" that are still trying to make a name for themselves via deception and who have obviously not done their homework. Those lawmakers being: Senator Joe Biden-(D) DE, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz-(D) FL , and Congressman Al Green-(D) TX.
Multiple states across the nation are delaying and in some cases even outright refusing to comply with the Federal government’s mandate of the Adam Walsh Act passed last year in a closed door session, at the bequest of Rep. James Sensenbrenner.
Community notification laws, residency restrictions, and all the other “one up man-ship” policies that have been set into law to date haven’t protected a single child and it has cost the American people dearly. These laws have torn a huge hole in the fabric of our society. ALL of these laws have been based on a handful of tragic and brutal crimes, some involving someone with a previous sex offense and some not. America’s children have a greater chance of being struck by lightening than by having their child abducted. The crimes are horrific but they are in fact, extremely rare. The majority of sex crimes are not committed by strangers or even registered sex offenders, yet that is who John Walsh and others constantly focus on when lobbying for laws against everyone and anyone with a past sex charge, whether for Romeo and Juliet relationships or kids caught playing doctor. Everyone has been lumped together and publicly slandered by vote hungry politicians and the ratings hungry media, trying to convince us that everyone on the sex offender registry is a child molesting, incurable pedophile capable of murdering a child at any given moment. Bullshit. If all registered sex offenders posed that kind of threat to the public, we’d be neck deep in the bodies of murdered children just by walking out our front door. Think about it.
Lawmakers are (finally) doing their homework. They are finally beginning to pour over the numerous reports which government agencies and mental health experts have compiled and that the taxpayers have paid for regarding recidivism, types of offenders, factual data and the negative consequences of the plethora of ill thought out legislation.
Sex crimes are down? That’s no surprise. I wonder how many cases will never see the light of day because family members fear the wrath of these laws and keep sexual abuse “within the family” to themselves instead of reporting it? How is this protecting children or helping to solve the problem?
The ever growing group of organizations and individuals who have read the mountains of data and oppose laws like community notification, residency restrictions, and the Adam Walsh Act include, but are not limited to:
Patty Wetterling
Nancy Sabin
The Jacob Wetterling Foundation
Franklin Zimring, law professor University of California at Berkeley
Scott Poland, past president of the National Association of School Psychologists
Robert Prentky, a psychologist and nationally renowned expert on sex offenders in Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Kansas department of Corrections
Iowa County Attorney’s Association
Colorado Department of Public Safety
Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Minnesota Department of Corrections
NACDL
Montana Treatment Association
California Coalition on Sex Offending
Therapy Key
SATA
ETAY
My5th.org
NAESV
American Bar Association
JJAG
Dr. Jill Levinson PhD
Dr. Fred Berlin
I don’t know what’s worse, someone who exploits a child sexually or someone who makes a career out of exploiting their own child’s tragic death for personal gain at the expense of thousands of others (and their families,) who had nothing to do with the perpetration of these heinous crimes.
Amanda Rogers - 7/03/2007
EX OFFENDER LAWS PUMMELED AS GAP BETWEEN BEING TOUGH ON CRIME AND BEING SMART ON CRIME WIDENS
Washington D.C.: In a desperate attempt to keep the flow of misinformation alive, John Walsh of America’s Most Wanted - who has always sought vengeance over prevention (and makes a ton of money doing it) assembled a small group of parents whose children have been murdered, whether by a registered sex offender or not and went to Capitol Hill last week to push for yet even more ineffective and blatantly vindictive laws in the name of a handful of murdered children.
The group called “The Surviving Parents Coalition,” enlisted the services of a PR (public relations) firm. This is important to note as, in the words of Eugene Kennedy, quoted from the New York Times: “You call in public relations operatives when the truth won’t do.”
The coalition's PR company: (R.M.S. PR) sent out a press release that the group would be meeting with a few “fools on the hill” last week in Washington urging them to “declare war on sex offenders.” Declare war? There was also to be a press conference. To date, I have seen only one single article covering this event - evidence that Mr. Walsh and his entourage have pushed the envelope too far. Vengeance against 600,000 plus people for the actions of the handful responsible for the despicable crimes which took the lives of these parents’ children cannot continue. The silence upon Capitol Hill last week spoke volumes and sends a clear and powerful message: It is no longer enough for the American people for elected officials to look “tough” on crime. The American people want legislators to be “smart” on crime - to focus on prevention, not retribution.
Across the nation, a growing number of top mental health experts, law enforcement agencies, and victim advocacy groups are becoming fed up with costly, ineffective, and counter-productive sex offender laws, and they are speaking out. The over-inflated balloon of hype and hysteria which has been the platform for creating and passing much of the legislation is deflating as factual data on the issues surrounding sex crimes comes to the forefront.
For example, ALL of these laws focus on former registered sex offenders who statistically are responsible for a miniscule 3% of new sex crimes. That means that 97% of new sex crimes will be commited by someone who is NOT a registered sex offender. To put it in perspective, out of the 400 Dateline "To Catch A Predator" stings only 4 out of the over 400 caught were actually registered sex offenders. So then, WHY are all these laws only targeting those on the registry that pose the lowest risk to society?
The tide is turning and lawmakers who don’t want to be left holding the bag for the miserable failures that have been created in the name of protecting the public are taking notice. With the exception of the three "fools on the hill" that are still trying to make a name for themselves via deception and who have obviously not done their homework. Those lawmakers being: Senator Joe Biden-(D) DE, Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz-(D) FL , and Congressman Al Green-(D) TX.
Multiple states across the nation are delaying and in some cases even outright refusing to comply with the Federal government’s mandate of the Adam Walsh Act passed last year in a closed door session, at the bequest of Rep. James Sensenbrenner.
Community notification laws, residency restrictions, and all the other “one up man-ship” policies that have been set into law to date haven’t protected a single child and it has cost the American people dearly. These laws have torn a huge hole in the fabric of our society. ALL of these laws have been based on a handful of tragic and brutal crimes, some involving someone with a previous sex offense and some not. America’s children have a greater chance of being struck by lightening than by having their child abducted. The crimes are horrific but they are in fact, extremely rare. The majority of sex crimes are not committed by strangers or even registered sex offenders, yet that is who John Walsh and others constantly focus on when lobbying for laws against everyone and anyone with a past sex charge, whether for Romeo and Juliet relationships or kids caught playing doctor. Everyone has been lumped together and publicly slandered by vote hungry politicians and the ratings hungry media, trying to convince us that everyone on the sex offender registry is a child molesting, incurable pedophile capable of murdering a child at any given moment. Bullshit. If all registered sex offenders posed that kind of threat to the public, we’d be neck deep in the bodies of murdered children just by walking out our front door. Think about it.
Lawmakers are (finally) doing their homework. They are finally beginning to pour over the numerous reports which government agencies and mental health experts have compiled and that the taxpayers have paid for regarding recidivism, types of offenders, factual data and the negative consequences of the plethora of ill thought out legislation.
Sex crimes are down? That’s no surprise. I wonder how many cases will never see the light of day because family members fear the wrath of these laws and keep sexual abuse “within the family” to themselves instead of reporting it? How is this protecting children or helping to solve the problem?
The ever growing group of organizations and individuals who have read the mountains of data and oppose laws like community notification, residency restrictions, and the Adam Walsh Act include, but are not limited to:
Patty Wetterling
Nancy Sabin
The Jacob Wetterling Foundation
Franklin Zimring, law professor University of California at Berkeley
Scott Poland, past president of the National Association of School Psychologists
Robert Prentky, a psychologist and nationally renowned expert on sex offenders in Bridgewater, Massachusetts
Kansas department of Corrections
Iowa County Attorney’s Association
Colorado Department of Public Safety
Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault
Minnesota Department of Corrections
NACDL
Montana Treatment Association
California Coalition on Sex Offending
Therapy Key
SATA
ETAY
My5th.org
NAESV
American Bar Association
JJAG
Dr. Jill Levinson PhD
Dr. Fred Berlin
I don’t know what’s worse, someone who exploits a child sexually or someone who makes a career out of exploiting their own child’s tragic death for personal gain at the expense of thousands of others (and their families,) who had nothing to do with the perpetration of these heinous crimes.
Amanda Rogers - 7/03/2007
posted by the administration at 10:00 AM
1 Comments:
According to www.celebritynetworth.com John Walsh currently has a net worth of $20 million dollars.
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