dzac,
I don't live in GA, but I will write to them! Have you contacted RSOL state leaders in GA? If not, may I post this to them too?
Good luck and keep us posted! BTW...... what changes does this bill create? Just so we know!
Hugs,
RWsMom

It allows sex offenders to petition to get off the registry once their probation/parole/sentence is done. It will allow people not charged with a sexual crime to get off too Ie kidnapping.

BILL to be entitled an Act to change and enact provisions of law relating to classification of sexual offenders, sexual offender registration, and restrictions on sexual offenders' residences, workplaces, and activities; to amend Code Section 5-6-35 of the O.C.G.A., relating to appeals requiring an application for appeal, so as to make such Code section applicable to appeals reviewing a decision of the Sexual Offender Registration Review Board; to amend Article 1 of Chapter 10 of Title 17 of the O.C.G.A., relating to procedures for sentencing in criminal cases, so as to provide that, classification shall be by the sentencing court rather than the Sexual Offender Registration Review Board; to amend Article 2 of Chapter 1 of Title 42 of the O.C.G.A., relating to classification and registration of sexual offenders and regulation of the conduct of such offenders, so as to revise provisions relating to registration; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

Votes
Date Time Vote No Yeas Nays NV Exc Description
03/16/2010 1:38PM House Vote #629 165 001 009 005 PASS
Status History
Date Action
02/26/2009 House First Readers
03/03/2009 House Second Readers
03/09/2010 House Committee Favorably Reported
03/16/2010 House Third Readers
03/16/2010 House Passed/Adopted
03/17/2010 Senate Read and Referred
Footnotes
3/16/2010 Modified Structured Rule
Versions
LC 29 3742/a
LC 29 4233S/hs
LC 29 4233S/hcs

Exciting news the senate Judiciary committee has pushed thru HB 571. Now we just have to wait for the whole senate to pass it thru! thanks to everyone who emailed

I EMAILED HARP!!!

Thanks!!

I sent all of them this article and asked that they give sex offenders a Second Chance

Wrong way to stop sex abuse

By JOANNE PAGE
First published: Monday, April 19, 2010
The tragedy of child sexual abuse is widespread. It is estimated that one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused before the age of 18. The damage caused can last a lifetime, with profound consequences for both the individual and society.
Over the years, New York has enacted tougher and tougher laws regarding sex offenders. However, with each passing bill, the state Legislature has gotten further away from finding legislative solutions to the root of the problem, and instead, has focused on fear-based -- not evidence-based -- measures that make it almost impossible for those seeking to rebuild their lives to do so.
More than 80 bills concerning sex offenders now pending in Albany would further tighten restrictions and deny services that are critical to rehabilitation. Restrictions involving the Internet, residency and employment are just a few of the proposals that would further deter reporting of such crimes by family and friends and drive convicted sex offenders underground.
Noticeably absent from this legislative agenda are measures that address the need for prevention, intervention and treatment.
If we truly want to prevent sexual victimization, we need to intervene effectively where the crime occurs most frequently. The widely held, but incorrect, belief is that sexual assaults are more likely to occur between a stranger and a child. An overwhelming 93 percent of victims under the age of 17 are sexually assaulted by someone they know, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics; 34 percent of these assaults are committed by a family member. Both are among the most underreported crimes.
Victim advocacy groups have come out against some of the harshest proposed restrictions and notification laws because they rightfully feel that the stigmatization of sex offenders will only result in decreased reporting, leaving an even greater percentage of victims unprotected.
Residency restrictions don't protect society. Studies have found that on average, most perpetrators traveled at least one mile from home to commit a crime. Research done in Minnesota found that residency restrictions would not have prevented a single one of the crimes studied.
Residency restrictions increase the percentage of sex offenders who are homeless or lost to parole supervision. Such individuals are too often dumped in shelters where they get little or no treatment or services. Sex offender registries, including New Jersey's Megan's Law, have also been found to be both ineffective and hugely expensive.
Meanwhile, measures that would increase reporting of sex offenses, assist victims and help prevent sex abuse of the most vulnerable of victims, including institutionalized and foster care children, are left unfunded and unaddressed.
Our state leaders must pay attention to where most of these crimes occur, do what it takes to reduce their numbers and work to assist victims in recovering from the abuse that they have suffered.
We cannot address the problem by demonizing a handful of convicted individuals, raising almost overwhelming barriers to their rehabilitation and pretending that we are addressing the epidemic of sexual abuse of children.
We have witnessed a broad-brush condemnation and demonization of those who have committed crimes, been punished and are trying to reintegrate into the community. Strict laws based on fear and misinformation are unfair to those subjected to them and deceive the community into a false sense that effective action is being taken, when, all too often, the action is both counter to civil liberty and to community safety.
Until we use evidence rather than fear to drive our policies and our interventions, everyone loses. The most vulnerable of children get victimized over and over and over again.
JoAnne Page is the president and CEO of the New York City-based Fortune Society, a prisoner re-entry agency.

timesunion.com

dzac,
I sent this to the state leader for RSOL. Here is his reply:

In fact we are watching it very closely and it has passed the House 163 - 1 and is now out of Committee in the Senate and we hope it goes to the Floor this week. A similar bill passed the Senate 52 - 2 last year and died in Committee in the House. We have very high hopes for this smallest of chinks in the marble this bill represents.

Right now the political advice is that we let this one go for a midnight vote. The less attention the better at the moment so our conservative legislators can vote for it without fanfare and then claim they had nothing to do with its passage.

This bill passed the House two days after our conference and I have personally talked with legislators prior to that passage and asked them when any group, for or against, local, state, or national, put 182 people in one conference on the issue. That brought the votes we needed for passage.

That is why I am encouraging every state to hold large conferences. We did not challenge the registry, we challenged speakers to address us on their perspective on the registry. Everyone, from researchers, district attorney, ministers, and therapists did just that. They said, to a person, the registry is wrong, it does not work, and it is not what was intended.

It helped that CNN was there to report on the issue.

Now that we have the ball rolling, we need help to keep it moving.

For more information, see our website: http://www.gasorr.org

Kelly R Piercy
State Organizer
Georgians For Reofrm
http://www.gasorr.org

Georgians For Reform
P.O. Box 180
Hull, GA 30646-0180

The governor signed it today!!

yasyayayyayayayayayayayayay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!