WASHINGTON, DC – Monday, July 27, 2015 – U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) today introduced S.1867, legislation to protect children from exploitation by establishing an international notification system to provide advanced notice of travel by registered sex offenders to destination countries. This legislation is a companion to H.R. 515, which was introduced by U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ). Full Press Release
Related
FY 2016 DOJ Interpol Brief (p 14/15, 18)
International Megan’s Law / RSO Travel Issues
Janice’s Journal: Registered Citizens Trapped in U.S.
WASHINGTON, DC – Monday, July 27, 2015 – U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) today introduced S.1867, legislation to protect children from exploitation by establishing an international notification system to provide advanced notice of travel by registered sex offenders to destination countries. This legislation is a companion to H.R. 515, which was introduced by U.S. Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ).
http://www.shelby.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/newsreleases?ID=C5A8C220-0143-40F8-8ECA-318E91DCAD7A
Since Senator Shelby is saying his law will prevent heinous crimes against children, is he willing to be individually, personally and financially responsible for every non-American child abused by an American after his law is passed?
If he believes his law is that sound, then he should be willing to place his life on the line to pass it.
Also, would Senator Shelby pass the same polygraph test given to sex offenders? Would he be willing to take it? If not, why not? Should his constituents not know that their Senator refused to take the same polygraph test given to sex offenders?
No new law is needed. They do it already.
They’re already doing all of these things. 100%!
Isn’t it interesting that there are a few times RSO’s are “targeted” in this article? I thought registration was no more difficult than being a member at a local shopping center. I thought registration was just supposed to be monitoring; not punitive; no big deal. When the US government is actively targeting a certain group of people, people who have served their time for any wrongdoing, there is a problem.
Really makes one wonder now doesn’t it, don’t these elected officials have anything better to worry about? I mean really with all that is going on in todays society!
Problems:
1. The age of consent varies from country to country and/or from region to region within a country.
2. The definition of a child is not the same throughout the world.
3. Not all sex offenses in the United States are sex offenses elsewhere.
4. Sex offender classification and management is handled by countries differently. Meaning someone who is high risk in the USA might be considered low risk in another country.
5. Adding a special passport for one group of citizens is probably unconstitutional.
The “SEX OFFENDER!!!” designation on the passport will effectively ban registrants from ever leaving the country. Before, it was a crapshoot, but for the most part it will now prevent all offenders (not just child offenders, since the designation is based upon registration status, not offense) from getting past the initial customs of any foreign country.
In addition, now it may become harder to WALK into Mexico, which currently is still easy to do.
THIS BILL IS A DONE DEAL. This bill will most probably pass near-unanimously by the Senate and the House’s companion bill is the same. When it comes to RSO’s, Tea Party Republican and Communist Democrat politicians alike will join arms and sing beer songs in passing this crap, then Obama will have a field day saying “Congress can come together on core issues like child safety” or some other BS. We can do all we can to fight it, but I know the federal government. It is not like the state.
The only chance we have is a federal lawsuit, and I’m not sure if CA RSOL has the resources to take this one on alone. There are a lot of grounds to fight this on, but it will have to be coordinated in many different quarters.
Once again VERY broad and should be fought by ACLU. This should be narrowly applied to convicted international sex traffickers and pimps.
The people don’t want us here, yet they won’t let us leave.
I thought one of the basic rights as an American citizen was the right to travel. One can gauge a nation’s freedom by how free its citizens are to come and go as they please.
Why do I not feel like my American citizenship means anything anymore?
Is my passport pretty much useless at this point?
Not trying to be a smart ass here but I am wondering what happens if one renounces their American citizenship at this point.
How can they stop you from simply leaving the country if you are no longer an American citizen?
Any info pointing in the right direction is welcome. I am starting my research here since this is a topic that certainly someone here has already checked into to some extent.
Thanks – Lee
Does Shelby not read the newspapers? He wants to protect children from sex, and of course he does not like human traffickers. But if you read the papers with half a brain, here is what you already know:
1. the United Nations “peacekeepers” in Africa. They are accused of exploiting children for sex.
2. Malaysia, soon to be a treaty partner under the new Trans Pacific Partnership: a country known—well known—–for sex slavery, ordinary slavery, et cetera.
3. Thailand—-ditto. However, this problem of slavery doesn’t seem to bother politicians in Washington when it comes time to sign treaties that might be good for business.
Reading the Huffington Post each day is a good way to keep up with modern day hypocrisy. If you have a strong stomach, I recommend it.
It seems this is the final nail in the coffin so to speak, with the scarlet letter being placed on our passports no one gets out, I am so tired of this shit,I did NOT rape a child, I have for years tried to move on with my life, raise my family the right way but can never be allowed to be a normal citizen. I have no conviction, can vote, own firearms and still cant leave this screwed up country. I am active in my state,have donated to CA rsol also but really do not see a end to this madness.
Just guess I am venting, just wish more would stand up.
Click on the link provided for the press release and then click on the Facebook symbol to go to Shelby’s Facebook page. Then comment on it.
Supply the sponsoring senators with your comments via these websites:
http://www.shelby.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/emailsenatorshelby
http://www.mikulski.senate.gov/contact
http://www.kirk.senate.gov/?p=comment_on_legislation
I don’t know where to post this remark, so this seems like as good a place as any. HELP! I don’t know why I should keep trying. My girlfriends family ( she passed from cancer) is in Thailand. I love them all so much and they love me. Everyday here is a living hell. Doctors telling me to take more meds, therapists telling me to forget the future and focus on ” each day”. I cant find a job that will support the court mandated therapy, and rent, and food. I cry every day because I miss my loved ones so much it feels like a knife in me. I had a motorcycle wreck on the highway last week and hoped a car would hit and kill me to end this horror. I have read that if you do EVERYTHING right, in time I could get off the national list and be able to return to my family and home I love so dearly. I’m sorry for sounding like this, I know many of you have worse situations, but to me, this is a nightmare. thanks for listening.
I just wrote to the addresses provided. I hope that it helps. I guess they have hearts and can feel our combined regrets and pain. I feel for those poor exploited children with all my heart, and cry every day for looking at those images. But isn’t using introducing laws like this without helping the children’s family out of poverty and despair exploiting the same children for a self serving purpose. I feel that humanity efforts go farther than oppressing laws. Many of these families sell their children into these horrible situations in order to save their other children. so sad a situation.
All my family lives in germany.If this law passes I can forget about ever going back.I,m heartbroken over this.My thoughts were that after completing probation there would be a chance of going back.everyone in my family is a duel-national-except me(us).I,m crushed over this-any advice?
Hang in there patience we all feel for you.
I just emailed those senators the following in hopes to help educate them.
I really wish the media and any other organization would stop publishing, producing or relying on reports and opinions from law makers about how great sex offender registration and notification laws or Megan’s law work. They are using false statistics and pure myths to further their personal agendas under the guise of protecting children. None of these failed policies have achieved any positive results in the US and are in fact destroying the lives of thousands of innocent children and their families because one of their parents or family members are on such a registry. Organizations should have enough integrity to investigate their claims before they publish it and be sure that there is some credibility to it and not just a platform to exploite children for a law makers personal gaines or their own. Here are some facts from the leading authorities on this subject which indicate what a failure these registration and public notification laws are in the US. These laws are a waste of tax dollars and are a misplaced use of valuable law enforcement and gov. agency resources.
California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) End of Year Report 2014. (page 13)
Under the current system many local registaring agencies are challenged just keeping up with registration paperwork. It takes an hour or more to process each registrant, the majority of whom are low risk offenders. As a result law enforcement cannot monitor higher risk offenders more intensively in the community due to the sheer numbers on the registry. Some of the consequences of lengthy and unnecessary registration requirements actually destabilize the lifes of registrants and those -such as families- whose lives are often substantially impacted. Such consequences are thought to raise levels of known risk factors while providing no discernable benefit in terms of community safety.
The full report is availible online at. http://www.casomb.org/index.cfm?pid=231
National Institute of Justice (NIJ) US Department of Justice Office of Justice Programs United States of America.
The overall conclusion is that Megan’s law has had no demonstrated effect on sexual offenses in New Jersey, calling into question the justification for start-up and operational costs. Megan’s Law has had no effect on time to first rearrest for known sex offenders and has not reduced sexual reoffending. Neither has it had an impact on the type of sexual reoffense or first-time sexual offense. The study also found that the law had not reduced the number of victims of sexual offenses.
The full report is available online at. https://www.ncjrs.gov/app/publications/abstract.aspx? ID=247350
The University of Chicago Press for The Booth School of Business of the University of Chicago and The University of Chicago Law School Article DOI: 10.1086/658483
Conclusion. The data in these three data sets do not strongly support the effectiveness of sex offender registries. The national panel data do not show a significant decrease in the rate of rape or the arrest rate for sexual abuse after implementation of a registry via the internet. The BJS data that tracked individual sex offenders after their release in 1994 did not show that registration had a significantly negative effect on recidivism. And the D.C. crime data do not show that knowing the location of sex offenders by census block can help protect the locations of sexual abuse. This pattern of noneffectiveness across the data sets does not support the conclusion that sex offender registries are successful in meeting their objectives of increasing public safety and lowering recidivism rates.
The full report is availible online at. http://www.jstor.org/stable/full/10.1086/658483
These are not isolated conclusions but are the same outcomes in the majority of conclusions and reports on this subject from multiple government agencies and throughout the academic community.
People, including the media, should not rely on and reiterate the statements and opinions of the legislators as to the need for these laws because of the high recidivism rates and the high risk offenders pose to the public which simply is not true and is pure hyperbole and fiction. They should rely on facts and data collected and submitted in reports from the leading authorities and credible experts in the fields such as the following.
California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) (page 38)
Sex offender recidivism rate for a new sex offense is 1.8%
The full report is available online at. http://www.google.com/url?sa= t&source=web&cd=1&ved= 0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F% 2Fwww.cdcr.ca.gov%2FAdult_ Research_Branch%2FResearch_ documents%2FOutcome_ evaluation_Report_2013.pdf&ei= C9dSVePNF8HfoATX-IBo&usg=AFQjCNE9I6ueHz-o2mZUnuxLPTyiRdjDsQ
Bureau of Justice Statistics 5 PERCENT OF SEX OFFENDERS REARRESTED FOR ANOTHER SEX CRIME WITHIN 3 YEARS OF PRISON RELEASE WASHINGTON, D.C.
Within 3 years following their 1994 state prison release, 5.3 percent of sex offenders (men who had committed rape or sexual assault) were rearrested for another sex crime, the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today.
The full report is available online at. http://www.bjs.gov/content/pub/press/rsorp94pr.cfm
Document title; A Model of Static and Dynamic Sex Offender Risk Assessment Author: Robert J. McGrath, Michael P. Lasher, Georgia F. Cumming Document No.: 236217 Date Received: October 2011 Award Number: 2008-DD-BX-0013
Findings: Study of 759 adult male offenders under community supervision Re-arrest rate: 4.6% after 3-year follow-up The sexual re-offense rates for the 746 released in 2005 are much lower than what many in the public have been led to expect or believe. These low re-offense rates appear to contradict a conventional wisdom that sex offenders have very high sexual re-offense rates.
The full report is available online at. https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/236217.pdf
Document Title: SEX OFFENDER SENTENCING IN WASHINGTON STATE: RECIDIVISM RATES BY: Washington State Institute For Public Policy.
A study of 4,091 sex offenders either released from prison or community supervision form 1994 to 1998 and examined for 5 years Findings: Sex Crime Recidivism Rate: 2.7%
Link to Report: http://www.oncefallen.com/files/Washington_SO_Recid_2005.pdf
Document Title: Indiana’s Recidivism Rates Decline for Third Consecutive Year BY: Indiana Department of Correction 2009.
The recidivism rate for sex offenders returning on a new sex offense was 1.05%, one of the lowest in the nation. In a time when sex offenders continue to face additional post-release requirements that often result in their return to prison for violating technical rules such as registration and residency restrictions, the instances of sex offenders returning to prison due to the commitment of a new sex crime is extremely low. Findings: sex offenders returning on a new sex offense was 1.05%
Link to Report: http://www.in.gov/idoc/files/RecidivismRelease.pdf
Once again, These are not isolated conclusions but are the same outcomes in the majority of reports on this subject from multiple government agencies and throughout the academic community. No one can doubt that child sexual abuse is traumatic and devastating. The question is not whether the state has an interest in preventing such harm, but whether current laws are effective in doing so. Megan’s law is a failure and is destroying families and their children’s lives and is costing tax payers millions upon millions of dollars. The following is just one example of the estimated cost just to implement SORNA which many states refused to do.
From Justice Policy Institute. Estimated cost to implement SORNA Here are some of the estimates made in 2009 expressed in 2014 current dollars: California, $66M; Florida, $34M; Illinois, $24M; New York, $35M; Pennsylvania, $22M; Texas, $44M. In 2014 dollars, Virginia’s estimate for implementation was $14M, and the annual operating cost after that would be $10M.
For the US, the total is $547M. That’s over half a billion dollars – every year – for something that doesn’t work.
http://www.justicepolicy.org/images/upload/08-08_FAC_SORNACosts_JJ.pdf
Thank you for your time.
I emailed the CA US Senators the following…
Legislation: S 1867 (Shelby) International notification system: OPPOSED
Dear Senator___________:
I am appalled with the underhanded performance by the United States to interfere with a curtain American’s citizen’s “right to travel’ internationally, proposed by U.S. Senator Richard Shelby by encouraging other nations to prevent entry by ruining the reputation of 95% completely, reformed American registered citizens (registered sex offenders). For a nation that boast in “Being The Land of the Free” this a wicked un-American law that should never be considered , let alone become law against these American citizens( that the US Government deem to hate) whom have made mistake and have judicially paid their debt. Furthermore, what evidence do Senator Shelby have to target registered citizens for such extremism?
Please do not bring this Country down to a new low and shame. The United States is supposed to be a better country than that. Do not support or any law like it, vote No on S1867.
I will be sending more emails to other Senators, as well
FYI, this their contact info…
Barbara Boxer
112 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3553
(202) 224-0454 fax
http://www.boxer.senate.gov/contact/index.html
Senator, Dianne Feinstein
331 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-3841
Fax: (202) 228-3954
TTY/TDD: (202) 224-2501
http://www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/e-mail-me
If laws like this pass, I will end it all. I know my next life will be better, because I have been a good person in this life. I hope you all peaceful lives
Sorry, just so depressed about my future. I should be glad people like you guys are out there. Need to be stronger. Hope you all will forgive my self pity.
what kind of cruel person would think this kind of legislation would change things. we are not demons, although we deal with them. i hope others see the light and stop this kind of witch hunting.
I’m very surprised that Jeffrey epstien the billionaire in Florida doesn’t have his legal teams fight these laws. With all his money and power I guess they don’t effect him enough to challenge these laws.
Tomorrow the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (the committee that will need to approve S.1867 before it can move on to the Senate floor for a vote) will meet to review this document called the “Trafficking in Persons Report” put out by the US Department of State:
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/245365.pdf
The document summarizes some actions that other countries have taken to refuse entry for SOs. It’s hardly a complete report since it makes no mention about Mexico’s denial of entry practices for RSOs.
Please take a look through the document and we can discuss on this blog what if any surprises or misinformation anyone finds. I think it is this sort of information that the committee will consider in deciding whether S.1867 makes sense to implement to fight trafficking while denying our right to travel.