UPDATED WITH VOTE: WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives today passed legislation to extend Megan’s Law beyond American borders.
The bill, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.), would require the U.S. to tell other countries when convicted sex offenders are traveling there. It would also try to set up reciprocal notification systems so the U.S. is told when convicted sex offenders travel to this country. A 2010 Government Accountability Office report said that at least 4,500 U.S. passports went to registered sex offenders in fiscal year 2008. Full Article
–
US Congress House Bill 515
Status: (Introduced) 2015-01-22 – Referred to House Judiciary
Bill Title: To protect children from exploitation, especially sex trafficking in tourism, by providing advance notice of intended travel by registered child-sex offenders outside the United States to the government of the country of destination, requesting foreign governments to notify the United States when a known child-sex offender is seeking to enter the United States, and for other purposes.
——————-
Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 645.
Type of Action: Calendars
Action By: Senate
https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/house-bill/4573
Contacting your Senator:
http://www.contactingthecongress.org/
I have emailed my objections of HR4573 to 5 senators. I sent them the facts about RC.
If this passes there is no way they can say that life time registration is not punitive. I have a child related crime and so far I’m on the vigilante hit list for life, my spouses family lives in the Philippines .this means I would never be able to visit them again? I did plea to any of this. It’s all punitive for me. When I pled guilty to my crime back in1993 the judge said I would have to register with the police only once unless I move. No restrictions at all. Look at it now, wow how could they think it is constitional to keep adding on more and more, does anyone know what double jeopardy is?
They better not make this retroactive . If so we need a class action suit against all of it.
Intl Megan’s Law Action: “12/11/2014: Committee on Foreign Relations. Reported by Senator Menendez without amendment.”
Robert Menendez is the senator accused by multiple sources of visiting underaged prostitutes in the Dominican Republic on several occasions. (Travel on private jets and staying in private villas no less.)
Washington hypocrisy at it’s best.
Yes its punitive… My court order and release had no mentioning of registering… Come to find out the Federal doesn’t order registration… But the states take it on themselves to force me to be added to their lists…
I sent off letters to Congress last time. Maybe we need another angle. People don’t care about the low re-offense rate, or that this is ex post facto punishment for registrants. Besides the lip service to ex post facto punishment in the courts, the publics all for it. Maybe we can focus on the bureaucracy this has created, the money spent on tracking people who have nothing to do with re offending. Maybe as someone has suggested, here, this law will KEEP sex offenders in the country. That should disturb those who want us out. And then what sort of precedent will this send when other disfavored groups become candidates to be on the green list? Environmental activists, pro choice or pro life activists, radical libertarians or progressives; once they have a record, some government official can consider them dangerous, and flag them when traveling.
For all practical purposes this is already being implemented as you may have noticed the increase in the topic of RSO being denied entry (myself included only last September). The mechanism is already in place…tested…and working perfectly. This is is just a formality really.
The battle is lost.
Like some of you, I was in denial and tried to maintain a posture of optimism but as the years have gone by and I have witnessed the decline of the America in the erosion of the constitution which is the very fiber the country had been based on, I have come to the inevitable conclusion that not only is the battle lost but the entire war.
Those who are still in denial will argue with me and more power to you. Denial is a powerful illusion but ultimately you will see that it is just that – an illusion.
Lee
If I’m not mistaken, Hasn’t this pretty much already been implemented? I’ve already read many horror stories of folks traveling to other countries and being put right back onto the return flight to the U.S.A. Prison system. We, as citizens, are already detainees. Honor is merely a word, not a verb. Not with puppets in higher offices. 🙁
Does anyone have ideas on how this would play out with the possibility of the tier system?
I was convicted of a crime where the young woman in my case was 17 and half years old. She was my girlfriend until she was 20. Everything she claimed we did was after she was 18. In over 30 states the crime I was convicted of would not have been a crime. Age of consent in many other countries I am sure are lower than those of the states. It would be ridiculous if I could not travel because of some law that some politician(s) created to boost their approval rating.
I think they need to create laws and websites comparable to Meagan’s Law for politicians because I believe they ruin more lives than RSOs.
More ex-post facto punishment disguised as from what I can tell – gross denial and obfuscation of available risk and recidivism statistics.
The authors of this bill certainly would not want to clear the air by introducing such sobering facts that would at least start to remove the covers from hyperbole these laws are essentially based on.
These laws are witch hunts at best and more accurately an extreme violation of constitutional rights against a new class of “citizens” created under the auspices of fear mongering taken to a new height by aspiring and bottom feeding political opportunists. They know the playbook all too well; generate fear, create a lie and make it a big one. The rest is up to human nature and the resultant behavior which the constitution was supposed to protect ALL American citizens from.
I’m kinda at the point where I see this is just a formality. It has already been in practice keeping us from traveling for a year now.
Well, correct me if I’m wrong, but this bill looks like a serious positive, not a negative. As Tired of Hiding said above, they have been doing this since at least last December. Registrants have been reporting they have been getting sent back upon arrival in ALL countries. And they report this is being done to ALL offenses, even simply misdemeanors. At least one registrant said the only info sent to the receiving country was that he “was traveling to their country for the purpose of committing a sex crime.”
This bill seems to greatly reduce the reach of what they have been doing. This bill seems to limit this only to those whose offenses involved children. Until now, they have been doing it to every registrant, no matter the charge.
This bill seems to say it will not be done any more once the registrant passes the time frame in the Adam Walsh Act to the end of registration. That would seem to mean that California registrants, who have to register for life, would no longer be subject to this once they reach the time frame that the Adam Walsh Act would allow them to stop, although they can’t stop because of California law.
These are major plusses. If I am reading it right, this is far better than the tier system CA RSOL has been lobbying for, as it conforms to federal, which the California tier proposal does not. This bill does not even require application for the end to this, it just automatically ends after you pass the time frame in the Adam Walsh Act — unlike the proposal for tiers, under which a bureacracy would be created and you would have to file an application to stop — and any time you have to file, that will be a point to create trouble and add crap on later on.
This appears to immediately take many registrants out from under this crap. And many others can look forward to an end to it after less time than they would be in the proposed California tiers.
I think it is wrong to do this to anyone, at least anyone no longer on parole. Still, this looks like a bill to support as making for a much better situation than is in place now. This bill stops this from being done to a LOT of registrants.
I see nothing positive in HR 4573. Upon furthur reading, this appears to not terminate automatically, but as mentioned in the sunset clause, would terminate on the last day of registration, which , in California , means never. If denying RC’s right to travel when Int’l Megans Law has not passed both Houses of Congress is the tactic of implementation of draconian laws, and then use the logic that since it’s already being done and the sky is not falling, and then pass a law legalizing the status quo (of course, the initial implementation is a quiet watered down version) and no one questions this tactic, I think we’ll see a lot more of this tactic in the future. We need a mechanism to stop those in power from abusing this tactic of implementing draconian laws first , followed by legislation which then legalizes what is already being done and then ramp it up, since they found some loopholes in the their chronologically illegal implementation that would be “common sense” not to address.
Did I read correctly that Bob Melendez is the pointman on this?
Or no, it’s Chris Smith. Upon furthur reading, it looks like Chris Smith likes to export bad ideas all over the globe, as in his attempts at exporting the War on Women all over the globe, in the form of trying to stop women’s abortion rights all over the globe. I think the world would be helped more if this guys career of 34 years in Congress would end.
The 113th Congress has adjourned for 2014.
http://jamiedupree.blog.wsbradio.com/2014/12/17/113th-congress-adjourns-for-2014/
“The Senate stands adjourned until Tuesday January 6, 2015,” said Sen. Angus King (I-ME) to a nearly empty Senate chamber just before midnight; King, who is allied with Democrats, will be in the minority when the 114th Congress convenes that day.
It looks like H.R. 4573 will transition to “Sine Die” at least for now. It will probably be back in 2015.
Read it again: It is the last day of registration for the time frame in the Adam Walsh Act. That is very different than simply the last day of registration.
If the Adam Walsh Act says you don’t have to register after 10 years, but Californa has lifetime registration, well, this bill says that after 10 years the feds will not send your info to other countries any more.
Currently, they ARE sending it for lifetime — they are not now paying any attention to how long, are simply sending it on every last registrant, no matter how long ago the offense, no matter what the offense was, even for offenses not covered by the Adam Walsh Act.
This is truly a very sad situation. As of today, I’m married to a woman of Asian descent and her parents still reside in Asia. They are both almost 80, no longer capable of traveling and my in-laws. So, in essence, unless the laws are altered or some tiered system in California is instituted, I will never see them again! These are people whom I consider family members! Furthermore, what if they die? I can’t attend the funeral? I’m 19 years after being arrested/Battery/wobbler/Summary Probation/Reduced to a Misdemeanor and Expunged/no issues prior/past! Its nuts. As of today, I’m still required to Register, but according to the law, never been convicted of a crime. I will be moving to LA for a year/long story and going to attempt to obtain a Certificate of Rehab again. I attempted this in OC/LA is where the issue occurred, but OC is highly political and the Judge eventually stated (6 years ago) that he couldn’t find a reason to deny the motion, but it wasn’t enough? Please wish me luck and feel free to advise. Has anyone heard of a Sex Offender receiving Summary Probation? I did!
I wouldn’t assume non-AWA state RSO’s would get the benefit of the AWA timeframe since the AWA timeframe relies on AWA tiering levels, which non-AWA state RSO’s have not been designated. Also, I believe I read in HR 4573 that it does not preclude the authority of Angel Watch from sending out the notices on anyone they want. HR 4573 lays the groundwork for more ramped up legislation to detail whats to be done like fill the loopholes and begs states to come up with their own versions. Instead of limiting a bad , II wouldn’t assume non-AWA state RSO’s would get the benefit of the AWA timeframe since the AWA timeframe relies on AWA tiering levels, which non-AWA state RSO’s have not been designated. Also, I believe I read in HR 4573 that it does not preclude the authority of Angel Watch from sending out the notices on anyone they want. HR 4573 lays the groundwork for more ramped up legislation to detail whats to be done like fill the loopholes and begs states to come up with their own versions. Instead of mitigating a bad practice, I see this as a foundation for more restrictive draconian legislation.
Please disregard the first 5 and 1/2 lines of my post, The first 5 and 1/2 lines are repeated. the post should start …..’I wouldn;t assume non-AWA states’…..
Anonymous Nobody, not meant to pile on, but I have an additional comment…
“Since you say the Feds don’t require registration for your offense, I believe this bill”
You mean it’s not a Federal crime, what you are referring to and would not require federal registration. That may be so. It’s when you are calling the AWA, the Federal standard that gets confusing when the AWA is a federal standard for mandating states to require certain things.The defacto standard for states is to not be AWA. So, its not like non-AWA states are being hold-outs.
The AWA tier 1 includes all “sex offenses” which do not fall into tier 2 and tier 3 of AWA. In the AWA, “Sex offenses” is defined as any crime with a sexual element , but not consensual sex crime between adults (also,consentual of someone over age 13 and the other person not 4 years older is not considered a sex offense). So, in other words, consentual prostitution between adults would not be considered a tier 1 sex offense, but everything else would be considered a tier 1 sex offense under AWA, that the state requires registration for. So just because the crime is not a Federal crime doesn’t mean AWA state RSO’s are not in their states tier 1 and required to register for at leat 10 years and fall under the AWA for that time. I think the only thing positive about AWA compared to non-AWA states is the time frame. Other than that, it’s insane ramped up arbitrary punishment and appears to cost over a billion dollars. Also, it uses a child murder victim’s name for specific parts of it, such as the ‘victims name’ definition of a sex crime. Or naming a federal webiste after a murder victim. You would think its a murderer registry.
Can we try something here for at least the holiday season. Don’t post negative comments. For those of us under stress of recent troubles, it only depresses us more. Let’s just take a moment a pray for any kind of positive direction our situations can take. Let’s make this forum a place of inspiration and hope. Thx for letting me speak.
I agree , will said
AWA came about in 2006. I think all 50 states had registration well before the AWA was hatched. I’d be interested to read up on in what order the states started their registry. I know, as you’ve stated Anonymous Nobody, that California was the first. And I have been inspired by your knowledge of the history of this stuff. But I do question what offenses AWA states do not require registration for, that non-AWA states do require registration for, other than prostitution among adults? The reason I mention prostitution among adults is because the AWA explicitly states in its definition of a ‘sex offense’ that would make someone register in at least AWA tier 1, that a sex offense is not a consentual sex crime among adults, or a consentual sex crime with one person over age 13 and the other being less than 4 years older. I mention this because its written in the AWA. I think I read somewhere some states require registration for solicitation of prostitution with adults. So, is that your only example of a crime some non-AWA states require registration for? Or in other words, Is there any crime in California that requires registration, that AWA states do not require registration for? I don’t think so. Lastly, I just read 17 states are AWA, 2 territories and 70 Indian Tribes. If a state does not want to comply and be an AWA state, they do not get 10% of their Byrne money. States are not mandated to be AWA states. They just don’t get 10% of the Byrne money, which I have read is not much money and Nevada may be hurting its economy by recently becoming an AWA state, since it costs more than that money to be AWA compliant.
I find it offensive that Chris Smith is trying to shove parts of the AWA on all states, even ones that don’t comply with AWA, like California. Will other parts then follow? And some here have said the IML criminalizes attempts to leave the country. I’m guessing this criminalization of attempting to leave will be passed later by the states, like maybe an added line in the state registration to be initialed. And it would say that you are required to report any travel plans. You don’t report travel plans, boom, failure to register charge.
Being very inspired by this subject, I went back to see the laws in a AWA state and looked to one of the harshest states, Florida. Florida has registrants registering for life. Anonymous Nobody, you are correct that the AWA is a minimum and Florida has gone past the minumum time frame outlined in the AWA. So, on the time frame issue, the AWA is not an improvement since it only sets a mimimum. If it set a maximum ceiling, then it would be a positive in this respect. And also, any crimes not requiring registration in AWA states that require it in non-AWA states, if they exist, is not because of the AWA minumum standard, but is because of the state’s choosing. After these considerations, I completely dislike the AWA, whereas before I thought it had something positive going on its time frame.