Ex-Sex Offenders Demand Equal Justice
Crippling legislations and laws stop rehabilitation
March 19, 2007--Illinois
It seems as if some type of residency, location, or zoning restriction will be passed. Why not help these legislators make their decisions based on fact rather than the false sense of security any of these types of restrictions would bring. Below is a letter I wrote to a reporter in Illinois. Help your readers and the legislators. Help educate them. I hope you are a responsible reporter for telling one side only breeds more myths, more disinformation, more hatred, and more vigilantism.
Don’t you and others in Illinois think it’s about time to clean house in your state legislature? These legislators are ignoring good sense. They are ignoring law enforcement. They are ignoring psychology and psychiatric professionals. They are ignoring right-minded people, and they are ignoring those of us in the public who know that there is something drastically wrong with politicians who seem to be on a hate-them bandwagon based on their continued political existance.
It has been said thousands of times that at least 90% of all child molestations are in the home. Therapy is needed for not only the offender in the home, but also the victim in the home. The entire family is a victim, and these irresponsible legislations and laws will not change that fact, nor will they solve the problem since new molesters are born and discovered everyday, and will be until the end of time.
What about the other 10%? Out of this 10% it is generally agreed amongst professionals dealing with sex offenders that stranger danger is said to be around 1.0 to 1.5%, but let’s say 1.5%. Doing basic arithmetic (600,000 x 0.015 = 9,000) you quickly see that although this number looks and appears large it is small, and probably not real. Why is it not real? It is because of multiple entries of the same the same individuals on each state registry.
Where ever a labeled sex offender moves or visits they must check in with the local law enforcement. When this is done, the individual is entered into that registry of that locality or state, thus making the registries artificially high, and not trustworthy.
How many registered sex offenders there are, no one really knows for certain. One source said approximately 386,000 registrants in 49 states and Washington, D.C., as of February, 2001,
http://www.uscourts.gov/fedprob/December_2006/sexoffenders.html. Another government source quoted; nationwide there are over 550,000 sex offenders.
There source was the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. How do they know even when the government who churns out these children named bills and acts don’t know with all the resources they have?
http://www.senate.gov/~schumer/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/record.cfm?id=260682.
Another survey, the Washington State Institute for Public Policy conducted a telephone survey during the month of October 1996, to inquire about the number of registered sex offenders in each state. The survey returned a total number of registered sex offenders in the United States: 185,393.
http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/rptfiles/numberof.pdf. Yet another source gave 563,803 registered sex offenders in the United States.
http://www.amberview.org/images/sex-offender-map.pdf. Another gives 603,245 as of 2007.
http://www.cybertipline.com/en_US/documents/sex-offender-map.pdf.
What is important? From 185,000 registered sex offenders in 1996 to over 603,000 in 2007, an eleven year period the registries grew by 326%. The registries now include children, adolescents, teens, young adults, and adults. Everyone can become a sex offender under these laws since Megan’s law.
The registries are about money, millions of dollars, and about political careers. No matter what we are told, the public registries are about punishment, humiliation, and vigilantism.
What can you and other media people do to help bring accountability to legislators locally and nationally? Publish information such as this. Raise awareness and start questioning what political figures are doing, and why? Make them prove what they are doing is beneficial to the public, to the victims, and to the perpetrators some of whom are children. Make them prove that by destabilizing people who are trying their best for successful reintegration and rehabilitation is best for the public.
Organizations such as that founded by John Walsh have a vested interest in keeping sex offender numbers high, and in making more offenses subject to sex offender registrations. Stop being a rubber stamp, and start investigating what is a silent crisis in the United States. Get on top before this crises stops being silent and becomes very dangerous.