Presentation Transcript

1. The Systematic Oppression of Sex Offenders

   Presentation By: Maxwell Adepoju Michelle Rosa Mary Elizabeth Bagley Matt Passalacqua Margarida DaGraca
2. Quotes The reality is that sex offenders are a great political target, but that doesn’t mean any law under the sun is appropriate.  —Illinois State Representative John Fritchey People want a silver bullet that will protect their children, [but] there is no silver bullet. There is no simple cure to the very complex problem of sexual violence. —Patty Wetterling, child safety advocate whose son was abducted in 1989 and remains missing In a Nutshell: There is a catch-22 to limiting sex offenders rights. Either take away rights for sex offenders to gain security for all or lose security for the general population and secure rights for sex offenders.
3. Facts
4. Megan’s Law
5. Other Federal Law
6. Each State’s Influence
7. Problems With Laws The registration laws are overbroad in scope and overlong in duration, requiring people to register who pose no safety risk; Under community notification laws, anyone anywhere can access online sex offender registries for purposes that may have nothing to do with public safety. Harassment of and violence against registrants have been the predictable result; In many cases, residency restrictions have the effect of banishing registrants from entire urban areas and forcing them to live far from their homes and families. 
8. Case Study Dan’s Story I was convicted of statutory rape when I was 17. The girl was 15. Now I am in college.  I register everywhere and every time I am suppose[d] to. I must register every 90 days. I must register between the hours of 8 and 5 Monday thru Friday before the 15th [of the] month.  Right now I can handle that. I am a student, my hours are flexible, but once I start work, I will either have to work near the police office I register at to do it on my lunch hour or take time off from work.  I get a call from the [college baseball] head coach to come to the office. My heart is in my throat. He takes me to the athletic director’s office. The athletic director is beside himself. He tells me that an officer from the police station comes in to see him and that he says that we have a sex offender on campus that is on his baseball roster. He is angry. He says I must have lied on my application, because I checked no on my college application when it asked if I was ever convicted of a felony. I said I did not lie. [He was adjudicated and has no public criminal record]. I am not a felon. He says that being on the list makes me a felon. I said I’m not.  I am use[d] to my family confronting these people [who ask me about being on a sex offender list]. It is hard to tell people over and over. The looks on their faces are hard to read. You never know what they are really thinking until much later. Here I am in a new school. I know no one and very early on I have to explain my past to total strangers.  When my family and I go on vacation to visit relatives in other states I must always look up the law as to my duties regarding the list in a particular state. More than two weeks in New York I must register. More than three consecutive days in one county in Florida I must register. My parents moved to Arkansas. If you are in Arkansas you must register after 14 days. They take a statement and fingerprint you. It is always like starting it up all over again. I will be visiting my parents for more than 30 days in a year so I had to be assessed as to my level of risk to reoffend. I had to take a psychological test. I wanted to puke [the questions] were so disgusting. Is that the type of person people think I am? I am not attracted to children, or dead people. I would never rape anyone. I respect women; I have three sisters, a mother, grandmothers, aunt and girlfriend who I love. I am a good person who made a bad decision with a peer 16 months my junior seven weeks after my 17th birthday. My coach might send me to New York next summer to play baseball. I will have to be assessed by them too. I will have to do this for another 23 years. That is how long I have to register.
9. False Assumptions Patty Wetterling, a prominent child safety advocate who founded the Jacob Wetterling Foundation after her son was abducted in 1989, recently told Human Rights Watch, I based my support of broad-based community notification laws on my assumption that sex offenders have the highest recidivism rates of any criminal. But the high recidivism rates I assumed to be true do not exist. It has made me rethink the value of broad-based community notification laws, which operate on the assumption that most sex offenders are high-risk dangers to the community they are released into.
10. Cycle of Socialization ACTION - Questioning Authority - Changing Laws Educated Decision Making Interrupt Cycle Reframe Norms
11. Make Similar State by State Guidelines Each State in the Union governs sex offenders differently. Some have very strict laws such as no sex offender can live within 1000 ft. of a child, while others have very lenient laws that regulate sex offenders. We respect that each state sees this issue differently. However, it is very invasive to the rights of sex offenders. Many of these laws prohibit their rights to: owning property, privacy, commercial trade, mobility and employment. These laws vary from state to state quite drastically. We feel that to help sex offenders acclimate back to society that they should have consistent requirements that are across board. This will allow each state to manage the sex offender registry in a superior manner and relay to each offender the same basic rules based on their crime. Many low risk sex offenders are made to abide by laws that exceed the risk that they pose to society.
12. Examples of Inconsistencies Tennessee Offenders Required to Register: Any person convicted of the sex offenses listed in Tennessee Code.  Further, any person convicted in another jurisdiction of an offense that can be classified as one of the offenses listed above. Any person required to register in another state, upon establishing sufficient presence in Tennessee, must register in Tennessee, unless the sexual offense disposition occurred in juvenile court. Duration of Requirement:Offenders classified as “sexual offenders” may apply for termination from the Registry ten years after expiration of their sentences, provided they have been on the registry a minimum of five years. Offenders classified as “violent offenders” must remain on the registry for life. Penalties for Non-Compliance:Violation of the Registry law is a Class E felony with mandatory jail time. California Offenders Required to Register: California registers adult, juvenile (convicted in juvenile court and sent to a state level incarcerating facility) sex offenders, as well as, out of state residents required to register (in other state) that come to California for work or school purposes. Duration of Requirement: Once convicted or adjudicated, this is lifetime requirement for both juveniles and adults.  In order to be relieved of this requirement, juveniles adjudicated in juvenile court may petition to have their record sealed; adults may petition the court for a Certificate of Rehabilitation in some cases or a full Governor’s Pardon in most cases. Penalties for Non-Compliance: There are various criminal penalties that apply to persons who fail to comply with the sex offender registration requirements. In general, a person convicted of a registrable felony sex offense who willfully violates the registration law is guilty of a felony. A person convicted of a registrable misdemeanor sex offense who violates the registration law is guilty of a misdemeanor on the first violation, and subsequent convictions for violating the registration law are felonies.  Information Provided by: http://www.klaaskids.org/
13. Examples of This Phenomenon  http://www.gencourt.state.nh.us/rsa/html/lxii/651-b/651-b-mrg.htm (NH)
14. Identifing Risk
15. Implementating Risk
16. Preventative Strategies
17. websites http://hrw.org/reports/2007/us0907/1.htm#_Toc176672548 http://www.reformsexoffenderlaws.org/index.php