3/31
Judge Asked to Halt Sex Offenders’ Passport Marks (Courthouse News)
Attorney: Sex Offender Passport Marker Would Be Dangerous (ABC)
3/30 (post hearing)
Attorney: Sex Offender Passport Marker Would Be Dangerous (New York Times / AP)
The Latest: Attorney: Sex offender passport marker dangerous (Washington Post / AP)
3/30 (pre hearing)
Passport mark for sex offenders law challenged in court (AP)
Federal court to hear challenge to “scarlet passport” provision of International Megan’s Law
Fear of flying: Sex offenders push back against having unique passports
Sex offender passport: Unlawful stigma or valid way to curb sex tourism? (Christian Science Monitor)
3/29
Law Creating Passport Mark for Sex Offenders Faces First Challenge (CA RSOL)
So is this the only question the judge asked, “I’m not sure how you make that leap, that that’s what the message is,” the judge said. “Where does that come from?” Because that one question appears in every news article….with the implication the Janice is really exaggerating the seriousness of the passport marker. Also, it gets really frustrating to hear every @&$#! news source constantly use the term “sex offender”. Twenty years after someone’s drunk driving offense, do they still refer to him constantly and everywhere as a drunk driver?? No, they don’t. But using the term sex offender to refer to us implies that we are constantly and actively engaged in a sexual offense – as if, by our very existence, we are a sex offense incarnate. If a recovering alcoholic or drug user wishes to self-identify as an alcoholic or drug abuser, that’s entirely his or her own choice to do so. But I choose NOT to identify myself as a sex offender. The media needs to seriously think about this matter. Or do we live in “the land of second chances….where we will never let you – or anyone else – forgot.”