In a recent chat with a registrant he referred to himself as a “S.O.” /”sex offender”. I was sort of stunned. After all the previous discussions we’d had about not giving in to anyone’s labels, about standing up for who you know yourself to be, how, I asked, can you refer to yourself as an S.O.? It seems I had caught this person on a bad day, he had just exited a weekly sex offender treatment group where everyone was referred to as a “sex offender” or simply “S.O.” by…
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Kat’s Blog: Make a Difference
Like many of you, before I knew someone on the registry or became involved in advocacy, I never gave much thought to how our justice system worked. I knew very little about how or why state bills were proposed and even less about who was responsible for getting them pushed through to a vote. I naively assumed my state representatives were looking out for my best interests and those of my family, friends and neighbors when proposing and voting on key issues. Boy, was I wrong. Now that I’ve got…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: A Few Words on Suicide
Back in 2017 I wrote a piece on the Women Against Registry website titled “No More Suicides, Please!” So, I was surprised when almost 2 years later, someone commented on that blog piece, someone who after 25 years on the registry still felt that he “wishes he would have ate a bullet long ago.” He had lost his family, his job, his home, his dignity, everything. It’s heartbreaking to imagine someone spending a quarter of their life wishing that he had “just ended it years ago”, all because of the…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Is Remorse a Requirement for Registrants?
Remorse: A gnawing distress arising from a sense of guilt for past wrongs, according to Merriam-Webster. In a recent interview TV star Bill Cosby stated he was “not remorseful and did nothing wrong”, maintaining his innocence in the sexual assault crimes that were leveled against him in a well- known TV news media circus court case. So what happens to those accused of sex offenses who maintain their innocence throughout their trials, prison sentences and even after they are set free? Where is the line in the sand drawn between…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: To Compete In Today’s World, Registrants Need Computer Access
Making it out of prison alive is a success in itself. Making a success of your life once you are out of prison is often a whole different story. Registrants who are prohibited from using smartphones and computers, often those on probation, may find it a struggle trying to reintegrate into today’s fast paced techno- world without the proper tools. It’s becoming increasingly difficult to succeed in society without having access to computer technology that’s the norm for most men, women and children. For registrants, every day there’s some new…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Rest in Peace My Friends
Was a homeless registrant who was found dead in the Michigan snow this week a victim of the frigid polar vortex that swept through half the country? (Autopsy report pending.) Or, was he the victim of Michigan’s state sex offender laws which deny emergency shelter to “sex offenders” even during the most brutal weather? What about the homeless registrant found frozen to death behind a Waffle House in Springfield, Missouri? The man’s snow covered body was found by other homeless people seeking shelter from the frigid weather. How many registrants…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Residency Restriction Proposal in Hawaii
Last August I wrote a blog piece on the Women Against Registry website regarding homeless registrants living in city parks and on the beaches of Oahu. At that time, the island seemed to be doing just fine without any presence or residency restrictions. Hawaii is one of 20 states that doesn’t have restrictions. Back then, Hawaii’s public defender, Jack Tonaki made this comment “the island is so small, residency restrictions would make it impossible for registrants to find housing.” As far as I can tell, the island hasn’t grown in…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Death of a Registrant: Two Different Perspectives
The recent heart attack and subsequent death of a registrant who attended a “sex offender” treatment group for the past decade brought about two vastly different perspectives on his passing. The group counselors were emotional and grief stricken. They expressed their concern about how to break the news to the group. They offered group time or individual time to help any registrant that needed to process feelings of sadness. The counselors emotions stemmed from the notion that this was “someone they had grown to know over the years” and that…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Blimey, Who Does Australia’s Fact Checking?
Peter Dutton, Minister for Home Affairs in Australia wants to be the white knight riding in to save his constituents from “sex offenders” by proposing a National Public Registry. “Thwarting the exploitation of children is my key priority as Minister for Home Affairs” says Dutton. Fact #1: That’s all well and good, except Australia already has state-based registries with various levels of public accessibility in Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Even with those state-based registries, there has been a 77% rise in child sex abuse and exploitation of…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: The Registry: A Valuable Public Safety Tool?
If you have a few minutes, read Florida’s Sex Offender Registration and Monitoring Triennial Review 2018 (www.oppaga.state.fl.us). Even if you don’t live in Florida, it’s an interesting slog thru what governmental bureaucracy thinks is important when it comes to the registry. The highlight of this auditing monstrosity is the attached letter at the end of the report from Fl. Dept. of Law and Enforcement to the coordinator of the Office of Program Policy Analysis & Governmental Accountability, stating “the registry is a valuable public safety tool”. I read the report…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Sometimes A Song Is Just A Song
Baby It’s Cold Outside. It was just a wintery song from the late forties, nothing more. A song that’s been sung during the Christmas holidays for decades. Generations grew up singing along with the radio, no one ever had issues with it. That is until now. Now it’s the latest moral holiday debate. The victim of a # movement. Someone or some group decides they don’t like the sound of those lyrics, that the lyrics foster a pro- rape, sexist attitude in our society. And just like that, thousands of…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Media Can’t Leave Well Enough Alone
From the small town (pop. 2,000+) of Sardis, Mississippi came a Christmas Story with a happy ending, sort of. Michael Clay Saripkin, a registrant, served as the Grand Marshal of the Sardis Christmas parade Dec. 11 2018. According to the news article most of the residents of Sardis have no problem with a man with a past being named Grand Marshal by the town’s Chamber of Commerce. And isn’t that the way it should be, because everyone has a past. The facts of Mr. Saripkin’s case can be read on…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: The Registry “Jingles” Away With Your Money
The holidays, a time of giving. But for registrants, that “giving”, goes on all year. Registrants fork over payment for all sorts of fees all year long. Registry fees, polygraphs fees, assessments, “sex offender” treatment fees, etc. These fees are not inexpensive and if you are unfortunate enough to have to register in December and take a polygraph in December and pay for treatment in December, you’re left with empty pockets come Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa. Here’s an approximate total of the yearly “giving” cost for new registrants on probation:…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: There’s No Making Sense of Residency and Presence Restrictions
Registrants receive mixed messages when trying to make sense of the registry’s Residency & Presence Regulations. If you haven’t already, try reading the updated (Sept. 2018) State & Territorial Registration Laws Concerning Visiting & Temporary Residence by Adults. Then read your individual state’s registry rules. It’s like trying to read the newspaper without reading glasses. While state boundary lines may be bold and clear, everything else is small print, blurred and causes a headache. Every state is different. In some cases every town is different. There are states with no…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Lessons Learned
Our family member has been on the registry for a year. I know that in the grand scheme of things, that time is merely a drop in the bucket. We had no idea what we were in for. We educated and prepared ourselves as much anyone can before we started this seemingly endless road thru hell. Read what we could, talked to those willingly to share, asked questions when we finally figured out what questions to ask. Soon we realized that if we didn’t help ourselves no government or law…
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