You might be interested to know that the Justice department at the behest of (NV Cure) attorneys did a review of NV Prison practices and found that the N Department of Prisons breached the Disabilities Act in it's treatment of disabled prisoners. I think that the Registry Restrictions also probably "breach' the disabilities act. .

This is the news link: http://www.reviewjournal.com/las-vegas/justice-department-says-nevada-prison-system-breached-disabilities-act (The news article sites the review and the letter from the justice department makes suggestions to rectify incly=uding payment of "compensatory damages'

My heart goes out to anyone dealing with these double burdens especially with regards to youngsters adjudicated as adults and sent through the system. The Registry makes NO provision for developmental disabilities nor do they recognize that going through the 'justice system' causes PTSD and further traumatizes people when they attempt to comply with the draconian requirements of SORNA especially in cases where disabilities are involved from the start. Take care. Janet Mackie

I have been doing this support work for a while now and one thing I have noticed is that many of the younger guys who commit minor sex offenses have one or more mental disabilities-----autism, ADH, ADD, bipolar disorders, depression, OCD, etc.

I noticed this particularly in young men charged with child pornography offenses, but I have seen it in simple touching offenses. I don't deal with many guys with forcible rape offenses, so I cannot speak for that.

We know that people suffering from certain mental disabilities have a lower threshold for making good decisions in life. Many, such as those suffering from OCD are compulsive, and those with a bipolar disorder in the manic phase are liable to do anything.

If is for this reason that I believe most of these low level offenses can be successfully treated. Most of these guys are not perverts, but people suffering from a mental disability which clouds their judgment.

This is the reason I am so opposed to prison time for CP offenders and those convicted of low level offenses. While these individuals have technically broken the law, many of their problems are a medical problem more than a criminal justice problem.

By the way, we followed the same unfortunate path when we were waging the War on Drugs. Many of the low level offenders may have broken the law, but drug addiction is a medical problem and not a criminal justice problem. The low point and height of stupidity in the War on Drugs was throwing drug addicts who were not distributors in prison. For the same reason, it is just insane to place CP offenders who were not major distributors or producers in a prison setting.

We never seem to learn.

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Sorry, That link is http://www.reviewjurnal.com/news/las-vegas/justice-department says-nevada-prison-system-breached-disabilities-act
JanetM

Michiganfamily: The article is titled Justice Department says Nevada Prison System breached disabilities act by Pas htana Usufzy lV Review journal dated June 20, 2016 I don't know why the link keeps cutting off JanetM

i was diagnosed with mmr (mild mental retardation ) when i was a baby , the funny thing is when i was going thru the courts crap psycho evaluation they acted like they where shocked that i knew that , yeah its not hard to know that when i have been told about it growing up people , shoot i told them i can some times feel it they of course wanted me to exsplan that to them and that is some thing you cant exsplan it to any one

i know im not psyco normal for every one eles but its the normal i know and i cant exsplne it nor am i going to try, one psyco people said to me that they have never had any one tell them that before and im thanking will you just did, im not stupid but that thank i am , will guess what im smarter then the average bear

My son was diagnosed bi polar and would not stay on lithium three years ago, when he was arrested on a sex crime. He knew how out of control he was that he actually went to a mental health clinic in crisis for intake because he knew he needed medication. He was told to return to see a psychiatrist in 3 days for meds sadly he instead was arrested 3 days after intake as he was on a chat room and got caught up in an online sting operation, there was never an underage teenager it was a detective and was arrested. The prosecutor just said what does his bi polar have to do with anything...I say it had to do everything with his arrest and he should have been hospitalized when going to the mental health clinic, not imprisoned!

He has remained on lithium throughout incarceration and now knows he must stay on the meds. He is released from DOC next month July 18th...now starts the challenging lifetime probation, having to register and all the restrictions that he will face being labeled a RSO.

I am a member of two criminal justice and mental health coalitions, but will do whatever I can to bring awareness to the inhumane, unjust and unfair sentencing of the majority of those arrested for non-contact sex crimes. I hope and pray for change and that the registry is seen to be unconstitutional.

My son has asperger's syndrome and was convicted with distributing cp. He had a free membership to one of those p2p sites and it automatically shared what he downloaded. He wasn't trying to share anything. He got addicted to porn after he went to a friend's house and saw his friend's uncle looking at porn.

Ricky, I think what you said was very brave. I admire you for being so open.

I appreciate everyone's response. My son also has Asperger's and was convicted for downloading CP. Honestly I don't know what it is like to be in his shoes but I do know having this disability makes it 10 times harder for him to navigate through life being on the SOR for a "neurotypical". Life was confusing enough as it was to him before this. Now life makes absolutely no sense to him.

Janet, thank you so much for the article as well.

"The prosecutor just said what does his bi polar have to do with anything"

This is a typical response from any prosecutor. At most, they'll see it as a little bit of a mitigating factor and offer a slightly better deal. But usually, they just see it as excuses. They read defense written reports from experts as if they were reading junk mail. They give it two seconds thought and toss it out as just another excuse. I've learned that prosecutors are not very motivated to learn about how mental illness or developmental disabilities play a significant role in the commission of certain crimes.

In a way, you might be lucky the prosecutor asked " what does that (condition) have to do with anything?". Some prosecutors latch onto a mental health issue / a disability as even more reason to argue someone is dangerous,because they lack 'control of their sexually dangerous and so will forever be dangerous to the public... That's the sort of prejudice that piles on the fear and ends up with justifying civil commitment warehouses for SO's.

Oh for sure, Jackie. It can be used as a mitigating factor. There's a real danger there, for sure.

Sorry I keep calling you Jackie. I keep combining Janet and Mackie. :o)

I meant an aggravating factor, not mitigating.

Again, Janet is correct.

I fear that the next frontier or battle that sex offenders will have to fight will be the civil commitment scheme many states apply to offenders after they have already served their court mandated sentences. I believe that states will begin to use lower and lower standards to civilly commit an inmate being released from prison.

Defendants and criminal defense attorneys would be better served not to mention too much about the defendant's mental disabilities, as it could lead to civil commitment, a world for which there is no return. Men go into civil commitment but are never released.

DAs are nothing but "hired guns." Their job is to convict people of crimes, period.

Justice or fairness never enters their minds no matter what they say. They are not humanitarians and never will be just by the nature of their job.

We must remember that DAs are also politicians, and politicians' main goal is to continue to be re-elected and stay in office, so a high conviction rate must be maintained.

It is difficult for the average person to understand why a mentally challenged individual would not receive a break at sentencing, but we must realize that our system is not about justice, or even guilt or innocence.

Our justice system is about due process and due process only. Nothing else figures into the equation.

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In other words, should lawyers not try to get a lesser sentence by arguing mitigation and just chance a higher sentence in order to help ensure that disability or illness isn't on the record ?

I can see the rationale behind what Jackie is saying and I agree with it, but how does a defense lawyer do his job in arguing mitigation if he can't raise this issue?