I am very interested in seeing what comes out of the hearings. This letter pretty much sums up everything that I have been saying since my husband was arrested. Thanks for sharing!

That is a great letter, which demonstrates at least a modicum of hope that things will change. A change by the Sentencing Commission would be almost as good as the 2002 decision from SCOTUS in Ashcroft v. The Free Speech Coalition where the SCOTUS ruled that the federal CP statute was constitutionally over broad in terms of the use of the language "appears to be below the age of 18."

Prior to that decision one could have images of someone proven to be 30 years of age who was not even nude (see U.S. v. Knox, 3rd Cir. - a picture of a person in their underwear or bathing suit could be considered pornography) and still be convicted of possession of CP.

In 1996 the web was a very different animal. One had to belong to one of the online companies such as Prodigy, AOL, or another, whose name escapes me at the moment, in order to access the Internet. I belonged to Prodigy, and with this service as soon as you signed into your account all email that you had received (including attachments) were downloaded to a temporary folder on your hard drive. Even though we could prove that a) I had never requested any pornography whatsoever (adult or CP), b) only 3-4 images had even every been opened (and none of those were considered CP), and c) our expert witness stated that the 6-8 images the government "considered" CP were questionable at best and had not been viewed by anyone off of my computer, I was still told that because of the landscape of CP cases at that time there was a good chance that a jury would be instructed such that they would have no choice but to convict me. A sentence would have included a mandatory minimum sentence of over 20 years in prison compared to the "27-33 months" that I was "promised" if I accepted a plea. Ultimately I wasn't sentenced to 27-33 months, but rather 57 months because of a conversation I had with a 16 year old about a modeling offer I read about that made no indication of the nature of the offer - it simply said that one could earn $10k modeling. The judge even stated at my sentencing hearing, "well for $10,000 did you assume that the modelling would be runway modelling for Sears & Roebuck?" To which I stated, "Your Honor, I didn't assume anything. I just know that I never knew anything beyond the fact that a person I didn't know said that you could make $10,000 modelling. I don't even know if there was a legitimate modelling possibility, and that was what I told the 'victim.'" All I told this kid (who, by the way I could have LEGALLY had actual sex with in the State of Kansas where the age of consent is 16) was that I had read about a modelling offer that supposedly paid $10,000. I simply told him that if he was interested I would find out more - he indicated he wasn't. Those are the undisputed facts of the case - and yet my "charge" indicated "Attempted solicitation of a minor for production of a pornographic image for distribution over the Internet," none of which was factually supported.

These laws have created a witch-hunt environment where anyone who is even charged with such a crime is literally scared shitless to the point where they are willing to enter into a guilty plea to avoid even the remote possibility that they will rot in prison for the rest of their natural life.

It is promising to see a respectable organization suggesting changes to the guidelines! Thanks for sharing the letter!

i can't seem to be able to start a topic on here today. i have a question. my husband got out in dec charges were failing to registor new work address. anyway he has had 3 evaluations and now the po wants him to take a lie detector test( he's been asking them to give him one for the past10 years. can they put him back in jail if he fails it/ he's done his time for everything and now has a probation officer. i'm just so confused on all of this. i hope you can shed some light on this.

If he has a probation officer then likely he has some sort of probationary or post-supervision (after custody) period that really is a different sentence than the original one that put him on the registry. A violation of the registry is a new offense, and a conviction can start the entire nightmare all over. Anytime a RSO has a new offense, despite the nature, most states will still require (and always the federal government), will still treat him as though the instant offense is a sex offense. He could even be required to attend SOTP classes again.

So the answer is, yes, if he fails he could be "violated" at which point it would be up to the PO to recommend a penalty that could include further incarceration among many other things.

he hasn't done anything. has complied with everything that his po has wanted. like i said he has had all his evalustions ( which was 3 two hour test) if he hasn't done anything how could they put him back in jail

You said he got out of custody in December from serving some time for a violation of the registry for failing to register new work address - at least that is what I thought you said. If that is the case and he is now reporting to a PO as an extension of that "sentence" then he pretty much has to do what they say unless his counsel successfully intervenes. I know as part of my SOTP treatment program that I was required to attend as part of my post-release supervision I was required to take a polygraph test every six months for three years. Failing any of them would have been considered a violation of my supervision conditions and could have put me back in front of the judge who would have had all options on the table in terms of how he wanted to punish me - including putting me back in prison for the duration of my post-release period.

It really depends on your state's policies for supervision. I would strongly advise talking to his attorney about the situation.

Joan - try clicking on this link and posting your original post into a new discussion topic so we can stop the hijacking of this thread :) If that doesn't work for you please contact one of the group admins for assistance.

http://www.dailystrength.org/groups/families-of-sex-offenders/discussions/create/

Once you post your original post in a new thread we can continue the discussion there.

what would be classed as a violation?

In Wisconsin, the Polygraph is used as a part of "Treatment" and as a measure of how much they are progressing through treatment. It is also used as leverage to revoke a person to put them back in prison. It is used to kick people out of treatment as well.

If you ask the people at antipolygraph.org they will tell you that the Poly holds no weight, that it is something that shouldn't ever be used. I have a volunteer that is being railroaded with the polygraph. Don't forget that if you are a terrible test taker the poly will not be kind to you, for no matter what they claim about the 'Control' questions taking tests is a stressful business and it isn't like it gets easier as the test wears on, but usually harder. I know in my volunteer's case, the administrator of the poly didn't turn off his cell phone, which subsequently went off, the administrator answered the phone and then refused to turn it off even after the interruption. Unethical and I would say should have had the test thrown out, but of course the DOC, liking the results, are using it against him.

I discovered last night that the State Public Defenders office here in Wisconsin will represent people like him in this kind of thing, got him the numbers of the offices in his area to call, we'll see what he can find out. He has been trying to get a copy of his poly so he can send it off to get evaluated by an independent party, the DOC is refusing it, the polygraph office hung up on him and reported him to his agent, so he is currently feeling in hot water because of it.

wisconsinrsol: thank you for this. i know that mike hasn't violated anything and if i remember what mike said that this was going to be the last of the evalations. at least i hope so. this mess is enough to drive me crazy because i know he is doing everything he is supposed to.
again i say thanks. joan

Joan, can you clarify a few things? A - was he released in December from serving some time for a conviction for violating the residency restrictions? B - if so, did he have a public defender or paid attorney for that case? In either case that attorney still represents him throughout the remainder of the case until he is no longer under the supervision of a PO.

Whether the failure of a polygraph exam would be considered a "violation" or not would depend on what the terms of his supervision are to begin with. But regardless his attorney should be able to advise you - have you tried contacting him/her?