From registry to life sentence: Has Tennessee’s sex offender registry gone too far?
Attorneys have called for a change to the Tennessee sex offender registry they said created an unconstitutional punishment as legislators added more restrictions each year.
What NewsChannel 5 Investigates knows is that Thomas pleaded guilty in exchange for a lighter sentence. He had prior convictions and was advised by his public defender that a jury would likely not give him a chance. The trouble is that nothing in the transcript from his plea hearing mentioned anything about the sex offender registry. You can make the argument that the registry was only a couple of years old at the time, so it wasn’t on the mind of attorneys and the judge, but Thomas says that’s no excuse.
“As God as my witness, that was never told to me. If he (the defense attorney) had told me that, I would’ve said no. I’m not going to take this,” Thomas said.
At the time Thomas was told to report once a year, pay an annual fee, and tell the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation where he lived, what he drove, and where he worked.
He couldn’t live near a park, a school, or anywhere children could reasonably be, even though his crime had nothing to do with children.
The registry at the time was written so Thomas could appeal to take his name off the list 10 years after he had completed his full sentence, which would have been 2014. So why is Thomas still on the list in 2022? Because Tennessee lawmakers made sure he would be there for life.
Shocking, and heartening, to see this fair and balanced report on TV.
Maybe the tide really is turning. Good luck to Mr Thomas!
Oremus.
Comments are open on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/nc5/status/1559278396504424448?s=12&t=BaZWVH030MAkhPeIfzVP8Q
First comment is from ‘Nashville Deb’:
‘If you were raped you wouldn’t think they’ve “gone too far”. Rapists don’t care if it’s a child or adult. Whatever gets them off is all they want. They should be on the registry for life. It’s a life sentence for their victims!!! Victims will never forget their rape!‘
Hey thanks for sharing this uplifting comment. It’s great that you went out of your way to bring us the trash we don’t want to see. Everyone knows these comments are out there. So how does this help at all? Do you think your actualy telling anyone something they don’t know?
I can assure you your not.
I’m telling you somewhere you can comment directly on the article where the reporter will see your comments. You don’t have to comment on the article if you don’t want to. You can also let Nashville Deb’s comment stand as the only feedback the reporter’s received thus far.
Or you can ignore both the article and the feedback. No one is making you read them.
I commented both on the news tweet and in response to Nashville Deb.
Deb’s useful in the sense she’s ADMITTING that she views the registry as a tool for harm and vengeance. She enjoys watching others suffer.
Apparently Tennessee loves those federal dollars as well. There is no other incentive to keep people on the registry without compelling evidence on a case by case basis other than money. Once states get a taste of it, they will do anything to anyone to keep getting more. There’s no accounting for how the funds are spent. This scheme is very similar to civil asset forfeiture, except they take your life instead of your money. But it’s always about the money.
I wrote an email to the news director thanking them for their courage to tell the truth, at least some of it. If you’d like to reach out :
sandy.boonstra@newschannel5.com
Registry’s have never been legal any more then the sun down laws, jim crow laws, slavery, or the many other slavery based laws… the people can be made to feel incompetent police are doing their jobs and politician’s can launder illegitimate election fraud funds so that explains why it gets worse and never ends ..People love to have someone to hate to make their lives look better,,give em a good circus and they will never revolt no matter how bad their lives..
FAC
Thank you for this post. Some of the comments fail to acknowledge that he said he was innocent. I believe him for I too was falsely convicted over 25 years ago . Plea bargained because my court appointed attorney I had no chance because it was my word against a minor and nobody would believe me. . That the conviction would be no different than a traffic ticket . There was no registry. He also told me 20% of those convicted are innocent. But since then they have moved the finish line dozens of times and now they say I’m on the registry for life for no fault of mine just greedy politicians. I can prove my innocence but need a attorney that is willing to do private investigations and take it back to court. If anyone knows of an attorney in eastern Kansas around Kansas City. Let me know.
As for Debs. Comment about the victims always being victims for the rest of there lives. They are if they choose to be. Some have chosen to get past it and go on with their live and not be victims anymore. We all have gone through traumatic things in our lives . We can choose to continue to be victims or get past it and not let it define who we are.
Please keep us informed as to whether they follow through with changing these unconstitutional laws.
I’m in the same boat as Thomas. Nowhere on my sentencing documents that says I must register as a SO. The judge in my case also said that the prohibitions that are usually put on SO’s were not in line with what my offense was. I answered an ad on Yahoo.com from an escort and we set up a date. When I was arrested, I was told that the girl was a minor. The detective said that it wasn’t a case of trafficking, it was a case of the girls boyfriend setting up dates for her. My only income is from Social Security and a small VA pension, so I couldn’t afford a lawyer to get a clarification of sentence. I was sentenced under the guideline that lets SO’s petition for removal from the registry after 20 years. I was really happy when June of 2022 came around and I could file the petition. That happiness didn’t last long after finding out that the clock didn’t start until my probation ended in 2009. I just feel like I’m in limbo now.