Sex Offender Laws Are Broken. These Women Are Working To Fix Them

All 50 states have sex offender registries, and the U.S. Justice Department combines them in a single national database. The information, which is available online to the general public, covers nearly 1 million people, whose crimes run the gamut from streaking to rape. In addition to the stigma imposed by that electronic pillory, registration comes with a panoply of restrictions that dictate where people can live and work, when and where they are allowed to travel, and even whether they’re allowed to pick up their own children from school or take them to the park.

Reform organizations cite four major reasons for scaling back or eliminating the registry. They say it’s unconstitutional, imposing ex post facto penalties that deprive registrants of rights everyone else enjoys; it’s unscientific, relying on discredited beliefs about the danger that registrants pose; it’s unforgiving, disrupting people’s lives decades after they’ve completed their sentences; and it’s undiscriminating, burdening not just the registrants themselves but their families and communities

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23 thoughts on “Sex Offender Laws Are Broken. These Women Are Working To Fix Them

  • January 19, 2020 at 8:19 am
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    Amen on that. Needs to be dismantled! It’s all a money pit for LE etc. and a way to keep jails full. Isn’t working just works in their favor. Reform it all and as Trump says make America great again! Lower the incarceration rates to new history lows . . . . 😜

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  • January 19, 2020 at 8:39 am
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    I really hope that maybe some positive, common sense reforms can be made! At least there are some people that are not brainwashed by all the misinformation and propaganda out there about sex offenders. I am just amazed at the amount of people out there that believe everything they read, or everything that the lawmakers and law enforcement, and the news media say about sex offenders. This whole thing is a modern day witch hunt. Making people afraid of something that’s not even there. God bless the good people out there that are trying to right some of the wrongs and change legislation. It is an uphill battle trying to educate people about the truth. Some people just don’t want to hear it.

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    • January 19, 2020 at 9:59 am
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      A huge part of the problem is that people say “sex offender”.

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      • January 19, 2020 at 10:19 pm
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        In Illinois, anyone newly assigned to be a “sex offender” is now automatically a “sexual predator” too! That means that one can be looked at as someone who is stalking children in a sexual way when all they really did was obtain a used computer with one image of a naked child in an archive of old files from previous owner never opened according to computer forensic expert. That is a sexual predator today! How about the man whose step-daughter sent selfies to her boyfriend. Now he is in prison for the pictures taken by his step-daughter with the built in camera on his computer. Computers all come with cameras. This can make you a sexual predator without you even knowing it! In the 1950s, people thought “Leave it to Beaver” was about a wholesome family with perfect parents. Today the Cleavers would be locked up and labeled sex offenders for distribution of child pornography! https://archive.org/details/leave.it.to.beaver.complete.series/Season+3/Leave+It+To+Beaver+-+S03E05+-+Baby+Picture.avi Listen to how Ward and June Cleaver “justify” taking and distributing nude pictures of their son!

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        • January 19, 2020 at 10:33 pm
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          Oh, and just to be on the safe side, The link is of an episode of “Leave it to Beaver”. DO NOT SAVE screen shot images to your computer as you may catch a charge! A man in MA saved screen shots from a movie and served time in prison for the screen shot picture he saved of Brook Shields!

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        • January 20, 2020 at 8:14 am
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          Can someone be placed on the registry today for taking nude pictures of a baby and then sending them to someone, as shown in this Leave It to Beaver episode?

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          • January 20, 2020 at 10:01 am
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            How many of us from the previous generations have baby pics of taking a bath in the kitchen sink? I know I do! They’re cute as hell, too! And back then you had to take film to get developed. No one got arrested for something that was considered “cute”. Fast forward to today, thankfully we don’t have to take film to get developed anymore. Otherwise, all of our parents would be on the registry.

            I can’t make this any clearer; Someone with knowledge enough to speak in court or legislative sessions PLEASE PLEASE remind these people that Megan’s Law was enacted for the absolute WORST type of offenders. Not pictures of kids being cute in a bath tub or sink. Not for even the stupid adults like myself who had a consensual rendezvous with a teen a year under legal age. Not for teens sexting each other. Not for the 5th grader who kissed his classroom crush on the cheek.
            Megan’s Law has become a monster. And it’s too bad that it would have to be completely obliterated in order to stop it. Because apparently these lawmakers don’t seem to be able to distinguish the difference between the examples I made above to someone who kidnaps, rapes and murders a child … or anyone for that matter.

          • January 20, 2020 at 10:14 am
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            It’s possible, and I would avoid to be on the safe side.

        • January 20, 2020 at 2:40 pm
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          Any explicit or implicit sexual activity of or with a child is considered child porn not some photo of a naked baby posing on his tummy as evident by the fact this episode is still available.

          Did you notice though how emotionally distress Beaver was of the thought that his classmates, even worse the whole school, would see his “nude” picture?

          Now try and imagine how the victim, whose horrific sexual abuse was recorded and posted on the internet, must feel.

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          • January 20, 2020 at 9:40 pm
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            I was a victim of $EXUAL abuse as a child and lots and lots of people have seen it. I was over that before I even graduated high school. I realize that not all people are that lucky. But don’t try to push the lies that all people are victims for life. Or that a violation is worse because $EX was involved.

            Unfortunately, because the Registries exist, I don’t have much empathy these days. If a victim supports the Registries then I don’t care how they feel. In fact, if a person supports the Registries then I pray they become a victim. I couldn’t care less about those “people” or how they feel.

  • January 19, 2020 at 9:37 am
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    From the article;

    “ Henry also sometimes worries about discussing her advocacy. “I put a huge target on my back for being the person I am,” she says. “One guy told me online he would kill me and sodomize my corpse.”

    So let’s get this straight …. a guy who doesn’t like that she advocates for sex offenders has threaded to not only take her life but to commit a sexual act on her corpse afterwards…? Wait… does this jackass realize that he just threatened to commit a sexual OFFENSE on a person’s dead body?
    So these are the people who are on social media always talking badly about those with sex offenses and they’re obviously ready and willing to commit sex offenses themselves.
    Necrophilia will also get you on the sex offense registry, buddy. Then what? You’ll be considered a “child molester” like everyone else is.

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    • January 19, 2020 at 5:26 pm
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      Threatening to rape someone is illegal and a $EX crime. The person who did that is an un-Registered $EX offender. He needs to be imprisoned. Afterward, he can join everyone else on the hit list.

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      • January 20, 2020 at 10:02 am
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        Vicky Henry should show that email or comment to the authorities because, as far as I know, making such threats over an electronic device connected to Internet where it will stay forever, is a crime.

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  • January 19, 2020 at 2:58 pm
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    The public is actually more comforted and complains less when law enforcement leads them to believe that Registered Citizens are the only bad guys. That way, they can show the public all of the many restrictions and punishments that are placed on RC’s, demonstrating that they are doing everything possible to eliminate sex crimes against their children, apart from killing or locking up all RC’s indefinitely. This way, it looks to the public like law enforcement is doing it’s job as well as possible. Plus, the registry lets people see the pictures of the persons they hate so much.

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    • January 19, 2020 at 5:35 pm
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      The public is made to believe that RC’s are born with their criminal convictions. People don’t realize there was a time in our lives when we had no criminal convictions for anything but then look what happened. So, the public should be worried about each other because petty soon they’ll be convicted of something someday.

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  • January 19, 2020 at 6:12 pm
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    Fan-Damn-tastic article. I have lots to say

    First I agree with what they said about Christians being the worst. I am not judging because I am a Christian. I got saved when I was 11 and my faith and my family is what got me through the prison part of my sentence.
    I was volunteering for a local Christian radio station raising money for 3 years until someone found out I was on the registry and said they would not give anymore if I was not let go.
    I did not get a salary and raised more money from anyone who ever volunteered there. I got told to never come back. When I worked, I also use to donate a lot of $ to them as well. After leaving, they would still send me their plea for a donation. I had to call and ask to be removed from their mailing list.
    I try and got to large churches now where you can just blend in and not be asked to volunteer for anything, although I still get asked on occasion. I just say ” I’ll think about it”.

    Secondly something the article made me think of. It is sort of good SO many people are now on the registry. We now have a LARGE voice, there is WAY more of us than when it was started in 1997. Power in numbers. Something eventually has to give somewhere. Just hope and pray it happens before many of us are dead. I am no spring chicken and would like to be able to live a few years not being on the registry.
    With all the organizations like those mentioned, it is sad F.A.C and Gail were not included.

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    • August 17, 2021 at 10:37 pm
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      I totally agree, Gail and her FAC team are heroes!

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      • August 18, 2021 at 9:09 am
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        Amen and amen!

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  • January 20, 2020 at 5:36 am
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    Folks it’s MLK day. Maby take some time to go read up on MLK. You’ll be surprised at how similar the fight he fought is to the one we fight today. Take a few minutes to educate yourself and learn a little today.

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  • January 20, 2020 at 6:50 pm
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    I would like to express my graditude to these women for putting themselves out there for me. I appreciate everything total strangers are doing to stop these unfair and illegal Laws and the ignorance of the general public.

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    • January 21, 2020 at 5:23 am
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      I have met with some of these ladies and they are truly fine folks trying to bring into the ‘light’ the injustice of the system and correct it. Family members are also victims of these RSO laws. I too thank them for taking up leadership positions. Sometimes I let my ‘warrior aggressiveness’ get ahead of my common sense. We need dedicated ladies to help calm down the efforts. I am not a big fan of most politicians as I had experience with them while I was assigned to DC. I would much rather have some ‘rag head’ shooting at me than have some politician with ‘power’ trying to BS me.

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  • January 20, 2020 at 10:17 pm
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    You hqve no clue what you are talking about! Level Ones, like I am, are not placed for public dissemination!

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