Recently, the Bureau of Justice Statistics released a report entitled, “Recidivism of Sex Offenders Released from State Prison: A 9-Year Follow Up (2005-2014).” “Notwithstanding the sensationalist headline (“three times as likely”), the statistics reported are actually quite favorable. Full Summary BJS Report
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Remove Children from Sex-Offender Registries
There are good reasons to reconsider some aspects of the 1994 Crime Bill, because we’ve had a chance to see the unintended consequences. One feature of the 1994 law that has had baleful unanticipated effects was the adoption of sex-offender registries. At the time, experts advised that sex offenders never reformed. To protect the community from those found guilty of such offenses after their return to society, registries would require them to identify themselves (sometimes even with signs in their windows). Understandably, penalties were particularly harsh for anyone who harmed…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Does Law Enforcement Belong In Your Group Setting?
Therapeutic treatment groups, no matter what kind, are usually carefully monitored settings where one can feel safe enough to talk about very personal and intimate issues. “Sex offender” treatment groups should be no exception. The therapeutic groups that many registrants are mandated to attend are also supposed to be safe havens, settings where registrants can open up in a group of their peers, about difficult issues they are dealing with. So why are parole officers sitting in on “sex offender” therapy treatment sessions? It doesn’t seem right and it doesn’t…
Read MoreYou Just Discovered You Hired a Sex Offender. Now What?
A reader sent me the following question. I worked for a grocery store. Can a child molester be employed by the grocery store? I reported it to the manager, and showed proof and nothing was done about it. There’s a lot going on here. What does the law require an employer to do (if anything) under these circumstances? And what should an employer do when it discovers it is employing a sex offender? Legal Advice Column
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Pornography: A Public Health Crisis?
They are at it again- Lawmakers across the country declaring pornography a “”public health crisis”. This isn’t new by any means, several years ago lawmakers were calling pornography an “epidemic”. This week lawmakers in the Arizona state government approved a measure urging the state to prevent “exposure & addiction” to porn. 15 other states legislative chambers have adopted similar measures. Is it true? Is pornography an epidemic, a public health crisis? I thought those scare tactics were supposed to be used for real “population panic” like the plague. According to…
Read MoreGuam: Mandatory rather than optional chemical castration for sex offenders sought
[guampdn.com – 5/14/19] A new bill seeks to make chemical castration among Guam’s sex offenders released on parole mandatory, rather than optional or voluntary, under a 2015 law that’s never been enforced. “The intent of the legislation is to add more teeth to an existing mandate,” Sen. James Moylan, R-Tumon, said in introducing Bill 137 on Tuesday. The objectives are not only to reduce recidivism among convicted sex offenders, but also to keep the community safe, the senator said. Moylan’s bill would make the hormone or anti-androgen treatment program, also…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Human Sexuality VS Human Kindness
Human Sexuality is described as the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, erotic, physical, emotional, social or spiritual behaviors. But many of us seem to have taken a wrong turn somewhere, we’ve misconstrued human kindness with human sexuality. Look at poor Joe Biden, accused of invading several women’s sexual boundaries by giving them what they are now saying were “unwanted hugs” sometime ago. (Never mind that they didn’t complain about it until he threw his hat in the presidential ring.) Joe grew up in an era…
Read MoreGeneral Comments May 2019
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of May 2019. 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 comment.
Read MoreKat’s blog: The Definition of Words Matters
Watch the current goings on in Washington. Politicians have become fluent at arguing over the definition of words. During the Clinton administration it was the word “is” that Pres. Clinton needed defined. Now, with Attorney General Barr the word “summary” is an issue. I don’t know about the folks in Washington but where I come from all you have to do is look up the definition of a word in the dictionary. It’s not rocket science. Definitions of words are pretty clear cut aren’t they? While those in Washington may…
Read MoreThe Problem with Sex Offender Punishment
Few crimes evoke such passionate and emotional public responses as do those committed by the sexual offender; yet, few crimes are as sensationalized and misunderstood as the sexual offence. Although many offences are exaggerated in terms of amount, those committed by the sex offender are often perpetually entrenched in hyperbole. And this is not some neo-liberal, new wave approach to understanding sex offenders. In 1965, the Institute for Sex Research published a lengthy analysis of sexual offenders and deviant sexual behaviours, resulting in the conclusion that there exists a wide…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Why We Stay
Recently Fox News did an article on Law & Order TV Director Jace Alexander (son of actress Jane Alexander). Mr. Alexander was sentenced in NY to 10 yrs. probation and registration as a” sexual offender”, on child pornography charges. He had faced up to 7 yrs. Imprisonment. But this piece isn’t so much about Mr. Alexander as it is about his wife, actress Maddie Corman and his family and the reason they stayed with him and supported him through this ordeal. Maddie Corman told the Times of London that she…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: A Time to Reflect
Easter, a holiday with candy, decorations, family visits and children participating in Easter egg hunts. A holiday that so far, is fine for registrants to celebrate. Halloween, candy, decorations and children, yet it’s outlawed for registrants. I don’t get it, it doesn’t make any sense. We could say that there’s the religious element to Easter therefore they can’t take that away from us. But, there are those whose Wiccan religious beliefs include celebrating Oct.31st, Halloween, is their right to celebrate their religion denied them? I’m not certain how one religious…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: TN HB407 Smells of Genocide
As I watched the TN General Assembly video/April 10th/Finance, Ways & Means Committee/ Vote on part two of HB407, I couldn’t help flashing back to a definition I had learned in a World History class. Genocide: In 1948 the UN approved its Convention on the Prevention & Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), which defined genocide as any of a number of acts “committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethical, racial or religious group”. This includes causing seriously bodily or mental harm…
Read MoreThe sex offender registry should assess risk, otherwise it is purely punishment
A not-so-uncommon story: The sexual assault victim — a girl of 16. She’s now 37 years old, happily married to the love of her life, and the mother of three children. That’s right — the victim and her attacker got married soon after the girl’s mother, learning of the couple’s romance, reported the “assault” to prosecutors. Although he has a master’s degree, the attacker couldn’t find a teaching job because he was listed in the sex offender registry for life. His wife had to work multiple jobs to help support the…
Read MoreColombia
Colombia Travel to Colombia on [21] by Air – Entry was: Denied Submitted by: America’s Most Hated Registration Status Registration State: Mississippi – Currently Registered: Yes – Listed on Public Web Site: Yes Visa Visa Required: No [if 25] – Explanation provided:[/if 25] [25] Advance Notice Advance Notice provided: Yes – Adv. Notice required by State Law: Yes Advance Notice Comments: Reported via travel form at state DPS driver license office Offense Info Offense Level: Felony – Conviction expunged: No – Offense involving Minor: Yes – Passport Identifier: No Result Entry…
Read MoreInternational Travel 2019
This post is intended as a place for discussions about International Travel ONLY. We added a new post for this year in order to keep the discussion manageable. For more information and previous discussions on the topic, please see the pages in the International Travel menu named International Travel [year number] Click here for the latest International Travel Information and Resources
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Living in the Gray Zone
A local “sex offender treatment group” recently had a guest speaker from the sheriff’s office. He was there to speak about the do’s and don’ts of the registry. My first thought was “shouldn’t everyone in group have been informed of the do’s and don’ts when they were first put on the registry? Isn’t that when registrants should be provided with all the information they will need to be informed registrants? Instead, they wait till the registrants are all assembled in a treatment group that the registrants are paying for to…
Read MoreGeneral Comments April 2019
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of April 2019. 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 comment.
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