New Federal Sex Offender Bills Pass House
A series of new federal sex offender bills have passed the house and are making their way to the senate.
Here are some:
The House passed the Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act (House Resolution 1188), to reauthorize certain programs established by the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act; passed the Targeting Child Predators Act (HR883), to provide a certification process for issuing nondisclosure requirements accompanying certain administrative subpoenas; passed the Child Protection Improvements Act (HR695), to establish a national criminal history background check system and criminal history review program for certain individuals who, related to their employment, have access to children, the elderly, or individuals with disabilities; and passed the Targeted Rewards for the Global Eradication of Human Trafficking Act (HR1625), to include severe forms of human trafficking in the definition of transnational organized crime for the purposes of the U.S. State Department’s rewards program.
The House passed the Global Child Protection Act (HR1862), sponsored by Rep. Martha Roby, R-Ala. The bill would expand the scope of U.S. criminal law by defining unlawful sexual contact with a child in a foreign country as a federal sex offense against a minor. Roby said repairing a technical flaw in the law would make it easier “to put serial child abusers away where they belong.” An opponent, Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., criticized the bill for imposing a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for breaking the sex-offender law.
The House passed the Strengthening Children’s Safety Act (HR1842), sponsored by Rep. John Ratcliffe, R-Texas. The bill would add violent crimes that violate state law to the list of crimes that prompt enhanced penalties when sex offenders fail to register or report certain information as required by federal law. Ratcliffe said it closed existing loopholes in order to “make sure that all dangerous sex offenders are treated the same and are subject to the same enhanced penalties.” An opponent, Rep. John Conyers Jr., D-Mich. criticized what he called the bill’s unfair and counterproductive expansion of mandatory minimum sentences for criminals.
The House passed the Protecting Against Child Exploitation Act (HR1761), sponsored by Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La. The bill would make it a federal crime to knowingly consent to the creation or transmission of child pornography. Johnson said the designation was needed to close a loophole in current federal law that he said “essentially allows a child rapist to admit to sexually abusing a child and yet still evade punishment.” An opponent, Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., criticized the bill for expanding the imposition of mandatory minimum sentences, which Scott said could leave teenagers who engage in consensual sexual conduct facing 15-year prison sentences.
The House passed the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse Act (HR1973), sponsored by Rep. Susan W. Brooks, R-Ind. The bill would require national athletic governing bodies, such as USA Gymnastics and USA Swimming, to report cases of sexual abuse to law-enforcement authorities. Brooks cited a recent report of hundreds of suspected cases of sexual abuse at USA Gymnastics programs in calling the bill “an important step forward toward protecting” young athletes across the country.
I am in favor of laws to protect our children, people who are not allowed to be around innocent children should of course be required to stay away, but I also feel as part of my community that there are labels that truly don’t fit the offender. There should be a codification system that; one protect the offender and alert the institutions. I don’t think a banner is the solutiin.
Magda, I feel your heart is in the right place, but your trust in the system is misplaced. The politicians who are the one’s to “codify” the laws have taken advantage of the situation are are making people homeless and tearing up families. Don’t ever trust our government to do the right or correct thing. They who run the government will apply their own agenda ahead of the interest of the people they govern.
And remember. The thinking you approve of by these politicians, will one day apply to you or your family. Think long term!
If you ask many truly dangerous offenders, they will tell you themselves they should be locked up. The problem is that 95% will never recidivate. Proximity to children had nothing to do with it. Causation vs correlation.
This is why it’s imperative that we challenge the ex post facto component of people who were thrust into this mess again after we completed our sentences. They are trying to entrap ALL registered citizens and put us all back in prison or civil commitment.
This is what these laws are designed to do. We need our challenges to win and by all rights of the constitution we should win without question. However…..will the judges and justices adhere to the constitution, or will they make up the own laws??
Once the sentence is served, the “bill” has been paid and the government should leave these people alone; particularity those who were entrapped and do not have a proclivity for under-aged girls. These offenders have have a right to live too. They paid their debt and now should be returned to civil society with all the right freedoms and protect that come with being an American. I believe that the ongoing relentless punishment is what causes the recidivism. Let’s give these people a break. We do it for everyone else including thieves, murderers and often even enemy combatants. Our treatment of these offenders is cruel and although their crime was serious, they too deserve some mercy.
We need to be sure the statistics and facts are actually heard by the courts. So often they are ignored and dismissed as fluff. Actual facts and statistics need to be the focus of our arguments. Class actions are also an answer. We need to just start a deluge of paperwork: death by a thousand papercuts, so to speak.
What to government doesn’t realize is they have created a minority that grows in number daily. Minority groups this large generally band together and offer up demands for change, not just through the courts. They also demand certain social benefits based on their level of discrimination.
It seems all of these sex bills exempted all countries where 13 is the age of consent-marriage between adults- under 18 is the norm
I wonder how many new sex offenses these new laws will stop?
Sure are lots of lawmakers thinking about children and sex. I wonder how many of them will be done in by their own pen? Do we really need these redundant laws? Again, follow the money. These laws have only two purposes: Appease the constituency so the incumbent can be re-elected, and appease the sponsors and lobbyists so theu can make money. GPS companies, John Walsh, and private prisons are where I would look first. It would be a shame if any of those institutions were committing crimes themselves.
Agreed
I have to admit that I do not even understand half of what those Bills say…but am I to understand that the Federal law wants to include sex offenses that occur in other countries that are against the laws here but perhaps not against the law in other countries? Did I misunderstand that one?