I know I'm wearing out my typing finger nail doing what I can to bring about this house of cards fall!

I believe! For me doing nothing is not an option.

How true! I, too, believe that change is inevitable, and it will happen. I am fairly new to all this and still in shock just how badly people can be treated. We are all affected as a family, and that seems like cruel and unusual punishment. I will be attending the RSOL meeting in San Diego on January 11th. I want to get as much information as possible, and I will post afterwards to fill you in about what happened. My BF will be sentenced by then, and I am already choking up but I hope that this will give me something worthwhile to do.
Thanks for all the great support here. I have a feeling I will be on this site a lot more in the near future, seeing how you all are coping. I can't imagine being without him, and I am sick to my stomach every day, knowing that he will be in this awful place.

I know I have plenty of free time right now after Salvation Army told me not to come back for my community service. I would like some ideas as to what I can do to help.

This is exactly what I preach to people. YOU JUST NEVER KNOW what may happen next that might help our cause.

To illustrate my point, please allow me to tell you my story and the stories of all the registered sex offenders in Oklahoma.

I don't mean to get personal, but it is easier to explain it this way. In April 2000, I was released from prison. At that time I was mandated to register once a year for ten years only. Then in 2007, the Oklahoma legislature passed a law which created some SORNA like restrictions on sex offenders on the registry. This new law created tiers in Oklahoma, and I was reclassified as a tier 3. As a result my original 10 year registration period was changed to life.

Many who had looked forward to getting off in 10 years were devastated.

Then a gentleman named Starkey challenged the law and the new requirements on the grounds that the new rules introduced in 2007 could not be applied retroactively and it was a violation of the Oklahoma Constitution to allow an ex post facto law.

http://tinyurl.com/n3rxe3e

http://tinyurl.com/nqjtlge

This case finally went to the Oklahoma Supreme Court in June of 2013---and we WON. The court basically said that the new length and terms of registration could not be applied to those convicted before 2007. If a person was convicted before 2007 and had completed 10 years on the registry, he had to be removed.

You can read those two links above. The Court ruled that the SORNA amendments added in 2007 were PUNITIVE and could not be applied retroactively.

As a result Oklahoma will have to remove almost 3,000 offenders from the registry.

My point is this: YOU JUST NEVER KNOW. You don't know who might file a lawsuit against some of the regulations of the registry and how the court might rule. These laws are very new and many have never been tested by the courts. There has never been a Mr. Starkey to challenge them.

A couple of years ago, nobody had every heard of Mr. Starkey. The people on the registry for life when they changed their registration length just figured they would never get any relief and would die on the registry.

Then here comes Mr. Starkey, out of the blue to change that. He was certainly courageous with a damn good lawyer in Tulsa named John Dunn.

Many thought this would NEVER happen. Here you have a registrant in Oklahoma, a state full of hillbillies and rednecks, a backward and very conservative state filing a suit and winning. Who would have ever thought this could happen????

Trust me, if it can happen in Oklahoma, it can happen anywhere. Yes, that means it can happen in Florida and Arizona also.

Even the posters here who have a loved one facing a lifetime registration should take note. This should renew your hope. It is possible that at sometime, a registrant will challenge the registry on a state level. Maybe on the grounds of extremely cruel or unusual punishment and have the registration period greatly shortened. Or maybe on some other grounds. Who knows? Someone may someday file a law suit to reduce the lifetime registration to something much shorter, something more easy to live with.

One thing I tell registrants who are looking at long periods of registration and their families is that the laws are recent and subject to change at anytime. Who knows how the registry will be operated 10 years down the road.
One thing I am certain of---the registry 10 or 20 years from now will not look like the registry we have today.

We still need to work, we still need to educate, but we can never give up HOPE. With the court decisions like the Starkey case here in Oklahoma, we have REAL HOPE because there is a very good chance that some of us will get some relief in the future.

I have been called a cheerleader, a motivational speaker, and even a fool. But we need to stick together and work. After the Starkey decison, even the most cynical person should have hope.

Even in the worst circumstances, there is optimism for the future.

I will end this with a quote I have always liked. " I like the night. Without the dark, we'd never see the stars.”

rewdiazepam

maisr, first, this board can be a great help, and a good place for consolation and support.

Secondly, I'd look at the big reform groups out there, see which ones offer you the most, which ones align with your beliefs on how reform and change need to come about.

Thirdly, contact them, or even multiple ones, and ASK how you can get involved with the fight. We, as a cause, ALL need money and resources. There are varied, multiple ways how you can offer your help and support, it's best to ask the organization(s) themselves, and to give them an idea of what you can do, how you want to help, etc.

I'll do this again, I wonder if wisconsinrsol could somehow make a sticky for resources? Anyway, here goes:

RSOL (Reform Sex Offender Laws, INC.) - http://nationalrsol.org/ or for Facebook https://www.facebook.com/nationalrsol

This is a National group fighting the registry, under it are various individual state affiliates, look to see if your own state is represented here http://nationalrsol.org/affiliates.

W.A.R. (Women Against Registry) - https://www.womenagainstregistry.org/, FB https://www.facebook.com/pages/Women-Against-Registry/233731560022790

Don't let the title throw you off, it's for FAMILIES of registrants, as well as registrants themselves, to have a platform for reform against the laws and restrictions.

SOSEN (Sex Offender Solutions and Education Network) - http://sosen.org/, FB https://www.facebook.com/pages/SOSEN-Sex-Offender-Support-Education-Network/184614688250344

USA FAIR, INC (Families Advocating an Intelligent Registry) - http://www.usafair.org/, FB https://www.facebook.com/USAFAIR

Advocating a modified registry.

Sites for news and resources:

Sex Offender Research and News - http://sexoffenderresearch.blogspot.com/, and for current news http://eadvocate-community.blogspot.com/.

Sex Offender Issues - http://sexoffenderissues.blogspot.com/, FB https://www.facebook.com/OfficialSOIssues

That will be a good start for you on your journey. Good luck, and let us know how it goes!

Dave in the Philippines

I've noticed how fast most of these laws get pushed though to me its asking for trouble. Yes it happens hear as well wich just proves the point that anything is possible given time or not so much as the case may be.

I realize how disheartening and demoralizing it is to see the legislators pass more and more laws regarding sex offenders and registrants.

But one thing to keep in mind is this----every time they pass another restriction arising from the registry, it just pushes the registry closer and closer to being a punitive measure rather than a regulatory civil scheme to protect the public.

This is what happened in Oklahoma and I see it is also happening in Florida. Every legislative session, the legislators played the game of "lets-see-how-many-laws-we-can-pass-against-sex-offenders" to make them look tough on crime.

But it backfired, in that so many regulations were passed over the years that the SORNA like restrictions enacted in 2007 were considered punitive and thus could not be applied retroactively. This can very well happen in other states as they, too, pass more and more legislation to restrict the lives of people on the registry.

I spoke to an criminal defense attorney, an old friend who I used to duck hunt with; he was actually at one time a federal prosecutor. His opinion is if enough courts rule the sex offender registry as punitive in nature, that the registry would come tumbling down. He also mentioned if the registry was declared punishment, registration would have to be a part of sentencing for it to be legally enforced.

To all the mothers, wives, and girlfriends who have a loved one on the registry for life, keep the faith.

In Oklahoma almost 3,000 LIFETIME registrants had their registration cut back to 10 years because one man, Mr. Starkey, had the courage to stand up to the Oklahoma DOC and file a law suit.

You just never know what will happen next. Things are never over until we give up all hope.

rewdiazepam

Yeah, great point rewdiazepam, and one they ALWAYS fail to see. In their unbridled lust to outdo each other and win an election or reelection, or somehow get monetary gain, they fail to see that they're pushing the envelope on what they can get away with. Guys, have you ever heard the expression, 'Give them enough rope to HANG themselves with.'? It's all going to blow up in their smug faces someday, and it's going to end badly for them.

No one, not on this board, anywhere, knows what, who, how, and when (possibly why!) the chance, opportunity will present itself for change, always remember that people. The Dragon has a soft spot among it's underbelly scales, and you never know when that spot will be revealed and vulnerable We need to be able to be alert, ready, and ABLE to drive the lance home when that happens.

Dave in the Philippines