Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of July 2023. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil. This section is not intended for posting links to news articles without additional relevant comment.
Related posts
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IL: How do scores of Chicagoans arrested for sex crimes stay off the sex offender registry once convicted?
Source: nbcchicago.com 10/22/24 When John heard the news on a recent Friday, it hit him hard:... -
MT: Montana’s Porn Age Verification Law Is Headed to Court
Source: reason.com 10/23/24 “Invoking the innocence of children is not…a magic incantation sufficient for legislatures to... -
Enough With the Sex Offender Registry
Source: filtermag.org 10/23/24 Law enforcement has done a good job of portraying recidivism as a kind...
Artificial Intelligence and voice overs are in play in the current election cycle. Mr. DeSantis (FL) may no know of it, but his PAC is running campaign ad appearing ( by sound) to be the voice of an ex U.S President quoting a sentence, when is in fact an AI simulation of the man’s voice speaking in the commercial.
First, please understand I am not trying to start a war. I hope my comments will be construed as being respectful.
There are a lucky few registrants who have a path to deregistration. Many of us do not! We are “lifers.”
Respectfully, if you are one of those who will be deregistered, and you think that your crimes are “better” than someone elses crimes, then you are entirely missing the point.
The point is that tyranny and injustice and twisting of our constitution and laws (whether it targets true, evil SOBs or pretty-good guys who just made a minor boo-boo) is NEVER right. – For anyone!
The problem is the registry itself, not whom it targets.
Furthermore, if there approximately 1 million pissed-off registrants right now, and we can barely move towards our goal of elimination of the registry, then what if 1/2 of those people suddenly get deregistered? What if, suddenly, there are only half of us left to “fight the good fight”? Don’t you think that our cause for justice might suffer?
Sure, you may be able to get off the registry….but does that mean “Hurray for me, and the hell with you” ? (just asking)
Half Measures are Anathema to our Cause for Liberty and Equal Justice! ALL Registries are unjust; for they are government blacklists that foment hatred – government sponsored Hate.
Thank you for reading this and considering my viewpoint. Do you share it? Or do you think that some people should be let off the registry, but the registry should stay in place? (for the truly evil SOBs)
I have a question, I been registering in CA for 13 years. If I decide to move out of the country and deregister then decide to come back to my same location, would that reset the time I have been registering? And would it effect my tier? Thanks everyone 🙂
A convicted murderer will soon be getting out on parole, after less time than, say, possession of illegal photos will get you. This is nothing new, but the last sentence in the article I find noteworthy:
When Guerrero is released, he will be on parole for the next 3 to 5 years, but unlike a sex offender, he will not be required to register.
An individual! (not a group or by statute) described as dangerous by the DA. Makes no sense to me. I tried, am still trying, to contact the reporter to find out why that is the case.
Man convicted in 2003 murder of Redlands teen granted release from prison Damien Matthew Guerrero has spent nearly 20 years in prison for the murder of Kelly Bullwinkle.
I’ve been FTR since 2006 in Michigan. A tier 3. Know there’s plenty been registering longer. Every day, minute, moment of happiness I have is a slap in the jail house deputy’s, the P.O.’s, and the politicians self serving faces. (Many have at least two.) Lol. I don’t think about my joy and happiness p#ssing them off. That gives them control over it. I live my life to the fullest I can. Certainly, even with their imposed constraints, far better than they would have me. Better yet, I understand that they themselves will feel the agony of life. They are not immune from illnesses, despair, depression, heartache, betrayal, and even the effects of death. I believe they are sociopaths nominally. They punish, but they shall suffer even more than we. Yin and yang. Karma. Whatever.
Anyone else feel helpless? In Kansas, and I have been registering for 15 years now. I was originally given 5 years as a juvenile (15) in 2008 after getting out of 32 months confinement. The girl, 13 was my girlfriend for 2 years or so, then I got charges. In 2011 legislation changed and individuals with my type of crime, which is commonly known as statutory rape in Kansas law KSA21-3502(a)(2) anage based crime , was changed to a lifetime, all those that fall under the subpart of “rape” no matter how it’s defined under the statues were required to then register for life. Just seems unjust, 5 years to a lifetime. No judicial review, nothing. I only had 2 years left until the law changed. Now I’m 34, and I’ve researched the laws to death almost, and emailed the governor, legislators, representatives and many advocacy groups or people hoping they could possibly help to no avail. I just wish there was something that could be done, even when those people I’ve messaged realize it’s wrong and are totally in agreement with me say the Supreme Court ruled it’s not unconstitutional and there’s no avenue to take. I’ve got my bachelors of science and technology with an emphasis in construction engineering, and I can give many examples of how it is punitive and creates hardships as well as hinders life and liberty.
Thx David. That’s what I meant. No more acronyms for me. No sir. On second thought. The registry isn’t really THAT bad. Look how well we all get along here. A nice sense of community.
Since we all have so much idle time on our hands b/c of the registry, I’m surprised there isn’t constant bickering on here. I applaud so many of you. Money drives the registry. Until there’s a different payoff for politicians, the registry will remain. Not in tact. It is being chipped away. But the greed needs another way to be fed. Until that time, this is it. I’d like to see the day I’m proven wrong.
I wonder if now that Donald Trump has a civil conviction for sexual assault in New York , does he have to register as an S.O.?
A bit off topic, but I just saw Roman Polanski in the news, as he’s going to be at the Venice Film Festival, one of the few he hasn’t been blacklisted from, to show his new comedy that features John Cleese. It reminded me that I hadn’t seen his last award-winning film, “J’Accuse” (also called “An Officer and a Spy,” based on Robert Harris’s novel about the Dreyfus affair). I went to look for it on streaming, and nope, not anywhere, not even Amazon or iTunes. Checked Amazon.com for the DVD or Blu-Ray, and could only find French-language from private sellers. That’s insane! This is an award-winning French film (Grand Jury Prize at Venice, Best Director at Cesar) from a major director, and literally zero distribution in English because the distributors are scared! I really can’t grasp how much the world has changed in my lifetime.
Greetings, sports fans. Long time, no see!
Given my rare appearance on here anymore, IDK if this has been posted elsewhere; however, this decision, IMO, is a huge win for us. Of note, Justices Roberts, Kavanaugh, and Jackson all served on the DC CCoA before heading to SCOTUS. I don’t think it unreasonable to believe there are some professional conversations going on among the DC judiciary regarding SORNA in general and this ruling in particular.
Fallon v. U.S.
Google Scholar: Fallen v. United States, 290 A. 3d 486 – DC: Court of Appeals 2023
In this decision, the DC CCoA found SORNA registration to be part of punishment. Heck yeah!
For anyone interested, I began tracking all of my email communications with any law enforcement agency, i.e; police officer who handles the local registry, probation / parole officer etc, back in 2001 when I learned that the service was even available.
The tracking is admissible as evidence in court, the same as the green “Return Receipt” from the USPS. The details provided in the tracking summary include the I.P. address of the computer where the email was opened, how long it open, whether or not the email was forwarded or printed, down to the operating system on the computer where it was opened.
I NEVER send an email relating to anything important all without utilizing the extension tag that makes my email trackable through the service I use.
If you are interested in utilizing the same service I do, (I am not the owner and I don’t make anything from anyone signing up), I use readnotify.com,
I don’t use Windows so I cannot take advantage of a lot of the embedded services they offer, I use Linux for security purposes. Should anyone decide to sign up, you should try using the tracking tag of
your.recipient@someemail.com.ensured.readnotify.comYour recipient will only see their email address displayed, and their system will not notify them that the email was tracked. They will not be notified that a verification of the email was received and opened.
While I am no longer required to register, I am always in CYA mode, no matter who it is I am communicating with. I hope this helps those who communicate electronically regarding registration and/or legal matters.
I utilize a whole host of security platforms to ensure that I am protected 100% of the time I use my computer. If anyone is interested in any of those items and why I use them, I will be happy to post them here.
Protect yourself. NEVER use gmail, hotmail, yahoo mail, etc. When law enforcement asks for copies of your communications, they belly right up and lick the boots of every person making the request.
The issue isn’t recidivism. Or bad data. Or precedent. The issue is a government that gives women less than a year in prison for burning their (non-abusive) dad to death with chemicals (link) and gives us interminable sentences for victimless crimes. There’s no accident here, it’s fully intentional and legal loopholes will only go so far.
I just spent a couple hours reading the IL sex offender registration act and the accompanying sex offender notification statutes. It all reads like everyone required to register is John Wayne Gacy, which is why the public must be notified constantly. I’m wondering how it makes sense to label people “predator”. I mean even if I agreed with the registry existing for the purpose of providing facts of crimes committed (which I vehemently do not), I don’t understand how this label came into being. Convicted of possession of CP makes you a predator? Having underage sex as a teenager or exchanging photos with another teenager makes you a predator? Then 10, 20, 30 years down the line, with no new offenses, these people are still labeled predators in the present tense. Seems like defamation to me. Especially how they just broadly slap that label around. IL has a reputation clause in its constitution and I cannot believe we can’t, at a minimum, file suit to get rid of that label if not the registry as a whole.
PARSOL has submitted an official position paper to the US Sentencing Commission for their upcoming session, urging them to reduce and eliminate mandatory minimum sentencing around sexual offenses, especially non-production child pornography.
Per PARSOL: “In addition, we know many federal laws and sentencing recommendations unfairly discriminate against people with sexual offenses. To that end, we present the following background information and recommendations for the United States Sentencing Commission to consider during its 2023-2024 session.”
PARSOL Public Comment pdf document
I took my plea deal back in 2000 but the nightmare for me didn’t start till 2006 when they made FTR a felony, Fast forward to 2023 and I’m still on the registry, The only difference is I’m in my 40’s now, I’ve spent my whole life on the registry and I can literally say that every single day of it, was a phucking nightmare. I don’t think I’ve ever had one peaceful day, I don’t know what it’s like to be free, I went from being a young stupid kid to a “sex offender” just like that.
In 2020 A public defender from LA county Dylan Ford, while going over my DOJ report told me “I don’t know how you made it this far, riverside county kept talking shots at you, even the district attorney office personally arrested you for FTR” he was also amazed that I was able to dodge prison and complete 9 years of felony probation, I told him “Im literally out here fighting for my life”
At the time I felt like my life was over and there was nothing to live for but he was able to talked me off the ledge by giving me hope about possibly getting a 17(b) it’s a long shot but what do you have to lose don’t give up now.
That guy literally saved my life
Been reading about Truman today, and never really appreciated the 1950 McCarran Internal Security Act (link), which required all members and former members of communist parties to register their names and addresses with the federal government. They were excluded from federal jobs and denied passports for being on the list automatically, and could be jailed using emergency powers. Truman vetoed this bill, calling it a step toward totalitarianism, but overwhelming support from Dems and Republicans led to veto override, until it was effectively dismantled by SCOTUS 15 years later in 1965 (and the emergency jailing powers eliminated by Nixon in 1972). This is the closest analog to the SOR I’ve seen in American law—real, sensational crimes (there was actual Soviet spying in America) led to a massive panic, mostly among GOP lawmakers, but many Dems too, and a massive, unconstitutional overreaction forcing people onto unconstitutional registries, denying jobs, citizenship, and travel freedom, often for regretted choices they had already moved on from.
🧐 The Interwebs know all!! 🤔 I was a bit surprised to see how much basic information about me was readily available simply by googling my email address. You might want to see for yourself by going to this website:
http://www.fastbackgroundcheck.com*
Or, simply google your email address. 🤷🏻♂️
*This may answer some people’s curiosity – including my own – as to how scammers get our cell phone numbers. 😒
Great read out of New York Magazine (link). This is the reason the registry survives judicial challenge—non-scientific theories of trauma from a psychologist fired from Harvard for fabricating data and reborn after 9/11 with Pentagon PTSD contracts. It’s a scathing indictment of a branch of psychology that entered the science via “grassroots” advocates. As a psychologist myself (albeit experimental) it’s just embarrassing that grassroots activism affected scientific processes—imagine if activists could influence the development of the theory of relativity! This is a great read, and it will help many of you understand why educated judges can convince themselves that we are so dangerous—because the depths of the “trauma” we supposedly cause justify our outrageous sentences and registries, even when the judges themselves know we are not likely to reoffend.