WA: Sex offender records request raises safety, First Amendment questions

Attorneys fighting a request to release the names of all level 1 sex offenders in Cowlitz County are making a novel — and perhaps long-shot — legal argument to the state Court of Appeals.

Judges should take into account the motives of Kelso resident Curtis Hart, a sex offender vigilante who filed a state public records request for the list of offenders’ names months ago, a motion to the Washington Court of Appeals argues. Full Article

Related posts

Subscribe
Notify of

We welcome a lively discussion with all view points - keeping in mind...

 

  1. Your submission will be reviewed by one of our volunteer moderators. Moderating decisions may be subjective.
  2. Please keep the tone of your comment civil and courteous. This is a public forum.
  3. Swear words should be starred out such as f*k and s*t and a**
  4. Please avoid the use of derogatory labels.  Use person-first language.
  5. Please stay on topic - both in terms of the organization in general and this post in particular.
  6. Please refrain from general political statements in (dis)favor of one of the major parties or their representatives.
  7. Please take personal conversations off this forum.
  8. We will not publish any comments advocating for violent or any illegal action.
  9. We cannot connect participants privately - feel free to leave your contact info here. You may want to create a new / free, readily available email address that are not personally identifiable.
  10. Please refrain from copying and pasting repetitive and lengthy amounts of text.
  11. Please do not post in all Caps.
  12. If you wish to link to a serious and relevant media article, legitimate advocacy group or other pertinent web site / document, please provide the full link. No abbreviated / obfuscated links. Posts that include a URL may take considerably longer to be approved.
  13. We suggest to compose lengthy comments in a desktop text editor and copy and paste them into the comment form
  14. We will not publish any posts containing any names not mentioned in the original article.
  15. Please choose a short user name that does not contain links to other web sites or identify real people.  Do not use your real name.
  16. Please do not solicit funds
  17. No discussions about weapons
  18. If you use any abbreviation such as Failure To Register (FTR), Person Forced to Register (PFR) or any others, the first time you use it in a thread, please expand it for new people to better understand.
  19. All commenters are required to provide a real email address where we can contact them.  It will not be displayed on the site.
  20. Please send any input regarding moderation or other website issues via email to moderator [at] all4consolaws [dot] org
  21. We no longer post articles about arrests or accusations, only selected convictions. If your comment contains a link to an arrest or accusation article we will not approve your comment.
  22. If addressing another commenter, please address them by exactly their full display name, do not modify their name. 
ACSOL, including but not limited to its board members and agents, does not provide legal advice on this website.  In addition, ACSOL warns that those who provide comments on this website may or may not be legal professionals on whose advice one can reasonably rely.  
 

27 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

“Should the public’s right to know information that could affect its safety be impinged if the person requesting it has objectionable motives?”
Could affect its safety? Maybe Hart should seek out and harass everyone who HASN’T committed a sex crime, that would help society.
“He’s [Hart] acknowledged he intends to publish the names and has said that “sex predators deserve scorn.” “Hart is a controversial figure himself, especially with police.”
THAT is his intent… he should face criminal charges if the records are released and someone is harmed in any way.
“And even if Hart’s request was denied, “I would imagine he’s got a lot of sympathetic mothers in the county that would ask (on his behalf),” Thompson said.”
A lot of ignorant sympathetic mothers. They most likely already know the whereabouts of the offender in their case.
“You have to commit the supposed crime, and then you can go and punish them if that’s the case.” said Michelle Earl-Hubbard, a Seattle-based media law attorney.
Then why the hell do we even registries at all Ms. media attorney? Oh yeah, for thr the safety of the children, sigh.
There are so many people in this world who don’t even know what the 1st amendment states let alone now how it affects them. I only hope that Mr. Hart doesn’t ever cross the line and find himself on the defense side of criminal law.

If, WA State a law that do not published level 1 RC. He may the right to get info, however, may lack the authority to publish.

Very interesting article! This man clearly has issues! Nobody would do this without a reason. It’s not normal. I bet 1000000000/1 this guy watches porn, has sexual issues and wants to feel vindicated by focusing upon others! It’s not normal and the guy clearly has issues. If he was so concerned and caring, he would reach out and look for ways to help those in needs. He has issues! No doubt!

Yeah this can be an important ruling. If the court denies access then it obviously points to some type of privacy interest in the info, if the court allows disclosure it does not mean crap, unless the attorneys for the offenders are claiming a privacy interest such as mine with home address, current photo +description, compilation of pieces of a pubic record combined with the latter. Home addresses have been considered a privacy right and cannot be disclosed without your permission. The continuous updated current likeness along with the stigmatizing status from past crime implicates a privacy issue. These are not public records but compilations by the state of compulsory collected current info with selective pieces of past public records. This is unconstitutional. At least we will see in my case.

Hart has admitted Tier 1 people deserve scorn. The Judge and attys are concerned he will misuse the data in childish and immature ways. So, if something happens to just one of the Tier 1 people he lists and it is proven it was because the list of Tier 1 people was published, can Hart be charged as an accessory to that crime for publishing what was once not public info and misusing the info against the T&Cs of it? If he publishes it, is it considered public info then since no one has gone in and requested to see it through the proper way to request it?

“You don’t presume that someone’s going to commit a crime with them and … preempt access to them getting them,” Hubbard said. “You have to commit the supposed crime, and then you can go and punish them if that’s the case.” REALLY/!!!!!!!! Isn’t that what the registry, and all the current laws in this wonderful country do now???? The registry PRESUMES that we will commit a crime in the future, and what about the “You have to commit the supposed crime, and then you can go and punish them if that’s the case.”…….but isn’t just a little TOO LATE by then! How many have to be harmed or MURDERED before “you can go and punish them”….if you punish them all all?????

Loser Corey Hart posted a comment there. Loser Donna Zink has joined him. I posted the comment below (and some others) but it might not appear. I can’t say but I know what I’d love see happen to both of those “people”.

The comment:

I know TDN.com feels like you little baby, big government-dependent harassers need to be protected so I can’t say what you need to hear. Too bad, I guess. I’ll try to be nice enough for the babies.

You are a liar (first paragraph, imagine that!). Experts never did support the $EX Offender Registries ($ORs) and never will. Further, I truly do not think there are ANY people in America today who are actually serious about public safety or protecting children who support the $ORs. Informed people know that not only are the $ORs not needed, but that they are much, much worse than merely worthless. They are idiotic social policy.

But meh, I doubt you geniuses could even understand why so I won’t bother trying to explain. Smart people can actually figure it out. Especially anyone who takes even a tiny, casual look at the $ORs.

So you can have your Nanny Big Government (NBG) Registries. I PROMISE you that they will continue to do jack squat. But they are going to lead to plenty of problems. I promise. And the families that are listed on your hit hist will continue to be around all kinds of people all the time, completely anonymously. Meh, facts.

American has never been a great country. Still isn’t. Full of lazy, clueless, self-entitled, self-rigtheous d-bags like Loser Hart. It will continue to devolve and “people” like Loser Hart will just keep losing. These types of “do-gooder” activities are the highlight of his “life”. LOL, funnnnnny.

Enjoy your hate. Loser Hart – you need to get working on the rest of your NBG Registries. Don’t you care about children?

@Notorious D.I.K. / Kennerly:
AJ, I assume that you, like me, and as a fellow libertarian, am appalled that this guy sees himself as a “libertarian” and wraps himself thickly in its mantle.
—–
Yes. It seems too many think libertarian means “not Democrat or Republican.” Umm no, it means your rights extend until they infringe on mine, and vice versa. (Kinda how we typically treat one another in everyday life.) Where is that dividing line? Therein lies the difficult answer courts need to balance or determine.

Aman,

Sir I will have you know that I happen to be red-neck loser myself, so please cut us from the south some slack.

Seems to me that a half ass hacker could turn him into a lev 1 , if not he will run in to the wrong RC or RC family member and end up gumming his food or worse , because everyone knows what he looks like, cant be hard to find this Big Time Hero . Seen this Hart freak on a video some time ago trying to set some guy up . I remember thinking back then that sometimes the hunter becomes the hunted . Be awesome to see his next picture toothless as a lev 1 . all about how dose it feel hero ?

some times the hunter becomes the hunted , and this Hart guy seems to be begging to end up set up as a lev 1 himself , everyone knows what he looks like up there now , seen this lame video some time back him and some other guy trying to set some guy up , its amazing he still has his grill lol