ATSA: Registration and Community Notification of Adults Convicted of a Sexual Crime: Recommendations for Evidence-Based Reform
A new report from the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers concludes that, “The research to date on SORN has not identified significant reductions in the incidence of sexual abuse or sexual offense recidivism as a result of this policy. This fact leads to the conclusion that SORN, as currently implemented within the United States, does not achieve the intended goals of preventing sexual abuse, protecting society, or effectively managing the risk of individuals convicted of sexual crimes. Current practices additionally have numerous unintended consequences which actually potentially increase, rather than decrease, risk factors for individuals required to register. If the goals of these laws are the prevention of sexual abuse and reducing recidivism risk, meaningful legislative reforms will be required.”
wow. an honest report it appears. have not seen one of those in a long time.
Is there a way for us to cite the original source? Those we are seeking to influence with truth are sometimes skeptical to the point of absurdity, and having this information accessible through the authority who published it will lend additional credence to the document.
To that point, I’ll share a personal anecdote. While I was on probation, I was seeking visitation with my children and presented my probation officer a notarized document giving me permission from the custodial parent. He wouldn’t accept it because I handed it to him in person rather than it coming directly from the parent (who had given it to me). I said that it was notarized, but he insisted that notaries can be forged, so he needed it sent from the parent. I simply mailed it back to the parent to put it back in the mail to the PO.
My take: If a person can forge a notary, then they certainly can drive to the parent’s town and drop the document in the mailbox just as easy. Not sure what this PO was thinking in justifying the extra step of mailing as lending more authenticty than a notary signature and seal. Some people in law making and LE don’t have common sense. Actually strike out “some”, and replace with “most”.
The original source was a Psychology Today article from an Oregon sex offender treatment provider in about 1985. He was claiming that a subgroup of untreated sex offenders had a recividism rate of as high as 80%, and that his treatment dramatically reduced recividism rates. IIRC, the Oregon state legislature was considering cutting funding to his treatment program, and he wrote the article in hopes of keeping his funding going. The article had absolutely nothing to do with strengthening sex offender registration. (Which in those days was police-only in the states that even had sex offender registration at all.)
The Oregon author has now admitted he made the 80% number up off the top of his head, and is upset that about how his article is being used. However, it’s too late to fix the damage now. I don’t even think courts realize that the Psychology Today article is their ultimate source at this point. By the time of Smith v Doe, Kennedy wasn’t actually directly citing the Psychology Today article-he was citing an article that was citing an article that was citing an article that was citing an article…..- and somewhere on a pretty long chain of citations there was an article that cited the Psychology Today article.
Yeah they don’t care about the facts they’ve all been playing stupid for 20+ years and really have a tainted offense that requires circuit judges and failing attorneys, Johnny on the spot state attorneys to be in shame fighting for you which taints the whole system. Kinda like when someone steals from you or stabs you in the back they change and you can tell. Well if they are afraid to do their jobs only in SO cases I can see the same attitude setting in why give a shit about anything when your just getting a check to plea a guy on a shit deal when there are piles and piles of case law they can use. An attorney explained it to me once and in the end he was scared to use the law and laid down so I won the shit myself on post conviction relief and a die hard PD to argue my motion which the state conceded and couldn’t show cause why I was in prison that long. That was 15 years ago and I fond myself in a completely different system 2020 after failing to follow being a SO to the T and broke a rule created just for me the bottom 1% and I see the judge was scared to rule on my other motion my attorney was scared to argue it when even the judge ruled without prejudice wanting the state and my attorney to work it out off the books and he knew he was right then he just dropped off and wouldn’t bring it back when the state and he couldnt work it out a hella lot of people are ashamed to represent a SO and basically do so so that everyone knows it’s just a check for them and they really aren’t helping you with all they know and arguing the law they just pleading you out cause they know your gonna take a 1 year probation deal and not goto trial because “SO” scares the shit out you thinking what the jury’s gonna do and your not gonna risk getting 10 years. Why are they afraid…because the law puts us on a list created because of muderers that Kidnapped unknown children raped and killed them and dumped their body’s and they name the laws after those kids and put everyone on the list and say these are bad people, their family is bad this is where they reside stay away and yet there is absolutely no evidence we are bad at all. Even the predator statues are intertwined with SO making it a sub category and the same. There is no murderer registry, no home evasion registry, hate crime, child abuse, child neglect, domestic violence, assault and battery registry and all these crimes have high reoffend rates and real victims. That’s exactly what’s going on here and judges and attorneys are playing stupid like it isn’t happening citing old disproved case law and rulings which they know are frivolous but who can afford to be wrong? They point at all us saying they have reason to believe we need to be watched in our own community’s but there is no evidence we are at all dangerous. Weak political leaders know this and exploit it because let’s face it most people in this world are pretty stupid and believe anything. They act like there in something to decide upon about the registry they step over the threshold of our people time served lives and make us relive being arrested dealing with police and probation rules the rest of our live while making a “norma” life flat impossible we spend our days reading law naivating these terms of the rest of our lives like this shit is worse than probation because on regular probation you can find a job and live normal and no one knows anything and when it’s done you move on 20 fucking years of this shit 15k dollars blown for breaking a harmless law that is frivolous but they didn’t think so at the court they acted like I was on trial for my past offense adding points for it so I have to follow a law created because of my first offense then when I break that law your gonna add points from the past offense to enhance the punishment from the first this shit is so double Jeopardy and they act like my wife and kids and 20 year job can just wait while I go to jail for 9 months for nothing for fucking nothing this is a sick world with a bunch of sick humans walking around with head down to take your money and life at your misery for their check lmfao. These days there isn’t any honor and integrity with the SO registry and attorneys and judges ducking their heads staying back in the fox hole very few men left out there.
Would it be permissible to post the following excerpt to the comments section on the “proposed SORNA changes” website?
“A more recent study (Hanson et al., 2018) modeled the long-term (25-year) risk of
sexual recidivism in a large, combined sample (N = 7,000) of adult males convicted
of sexual crimes and found that the likelihood of new sexual offenses (i.e., arrest,
charge and/or conviction) declined the longer an individual with a history of sexual
offending remained sexual offense free in the community. This effect was found for
all age groups and all initial risk levels. As such, the authors recommended that
policies designed to manage risk of sexual recidivism need to include mechanisms to
adjust initial risk classifications and determine time periods where individuals with
a history of sexual crime should be released from the conditions and restrictions
associated with the “sexual offender” label (Hanson et al, 2018). In essence,
restrictions such as lifetime registration for those who do not reoffend appear to
have been designed for a category of individuals that may not actually exist.”
I referenced the ATSA document in my comment and attached a PDF copy–which the DOJ website supports. I suspect nobody at the DOJ will read it because such ideologues would prefer to remain willfully ignorant of objective data.
There are 11 days remaining in the comment period. If anyone else is going to comment, I think it would be a great idea to attach one of their own reports showing low sexual recidivism rates.
Veritas.
Smart man, I did exactly the same thing yesterday by attaching the report to a short comment that summarizes who ATSA is.
Let us not forget the SO-hating Senator Florence Shapiro of Plano, Tx who quoted the charlatan who had the bogus treatment center in one of the prison systems. He submitted his “study” to the reputable journals, and after being turned down, submitted it to Psychology Today by a counselor Ronald Longo. Senator Shapiro quoted his statement in that layman’s magazine that the recidivism rate is “alarming and frieghteningly high; as high as 80%”.
She did not attempt to verify this false statement, but what was worse, Supreme Court Justice Kennedy quoted her when making a decision in an appeal case. Like the SCOTUS justice, other lower court justices quoted him when deciding against defendant’s appeals. NOT A ONE OF THEM even bothered to verify that false claim.
Ira Ellman published a well-researched paper about the so-called expert. Google Ira Ellman and scroll down to “frightening and high: the Supreme Court’s crucial mistake to get the whole story.
Most of the laws, such as Jessica’s Law, are based on this false statement. Longo, who presented himself as an expert in the 1986 issue of Psychology Today is mostly responsible for all these useless laws. It’s beyond appalling that one person’s screwed up ideas and outright fake statistics is responsible for a nation that has created the biggest legal mess in history.
NOT A ONE OF THEM even bothered to verify that false claim.?? No need to verify, they already knew years ago, as i keep telling you folks they can not and will not allow a win for the sex offender, they face the wrath that will follow,,,,,,,,,, and they know this all to well, pray for acceptance is all we can do,, the registry will be here forever,, and it will get worse,, far worse in the years to come.
Courts never rule on the side of a sex offender? That’s false.
And when they do they get overturned; no?
Disagreed. There are judges who follow the law and make decisions based on fact regardless of ones legal status.
If they weren’t quoting that Psychology Today article from the 1980s, they’d have found something else to quote.
I would interject that these “unintended consequences” are far from that. They were carefully thought out to exact punishment by self-righteous individuals who think all SOs should be put to death. Barring that, they live to make our lives as miserable as possible.
Sad to say this latest study, or a hundred more like it, will not sway the emotion-driven laws we suffer under. Like so many long-term injustices in America, change must come by Supreme Court verdict.