I live in Nevada. They asked me to take this state. But if I am extending myself for something that doesn't ever go anywhere then I would rather devote time to counseling in prisons or in re-entry programs. Plus, my husbands case is just starting in Nevada and I dont want to take on a role like this that may give the appearance of his guilt, because he is not guilty with what he is charged with.

Nak,

I admire your grit and fight for your son. I think your son's case is not typical of most people who are labeled RSOs. Your son is an exception to the rule, 95-99% of the people charged and convicted of sex crimes are guilty (1-5% innocent out of 800,000 is still a very large number and we should be ashamed of it). Your son's case though doesn't do much to help for the majority of RSOs so maybe that is what is happening?

i don't support standard/mainstream religion, but i do believe that they have their place in the world.

i honestly feel a majority of them are lost causes, some parts of them have been twisted and perverted beyond their beginnings. there are a lot of churches of those religions that have a lot of redeeming qualities. they do practice and preach what the tenets of their faith.

like anything else you have the good, the better and the best. but you also have the worst and the worthless.

considering the continuing lawsuits and the ordinances that RSOL is getting changed in CA?? yeah i support them!

they are getting some things done. it might not be things that you want done but you simply can not deny that they are fighting.

and it the things that they are doing in CA follow suit like so many other things? it will spread to other states and change things in those states too.

All too often support turns from "this is a blatant Civil Rights violation and an outrage on epic proportions" to "all I really care about is getting relief for me or my loved one". Understandable, but that is not how it works.

"They want soldiers not leaders." well, duh!

Anyone can be a leader. Here is how. Possibly go to law school and pass the bar in your state, for sure chuck a successful and lucrative career to spend all / most of your time on this cause, ruin your career further by putting your name out there, speak up in public and on the record, establish and maintain a legal and tax-compliant organization, research, write, file and maybe win law suits in the proper legal channels. All that without any compensation and maybe not even covering your expenses.

Do all that and I will be your first loyal soldier. Until then I will support those who have done it, even if I do not agree with everything 100%. Because they have earned it. And they are all there is.

Independent.. I don't think my son is the exception. He plead guilty and went to prison. He met people in there who the same thing happened to. If you took a look at my son's case you would think he was guilty too, because the FEDS make sure it looks like that.

Dixon, You haven't walked in my shoes and you don't know what or who I know.. duh!
This is the attitude I get and that's why I don't belong to these groups.

as much as i hate to admit it? when i get riled up and impatient and try to change minds simply by force? i have to step back and think of what my mother used to tell me. "you get farther with sugar than you do with vinegar". : /

none of us want to see change for SO's take 10, 15 or 20yrs. we want it done NOW or tomorrow at the latest. none of us want our loved one or our lives to hinge on the rules, regulations and restrictions of the registry for even one more day.

but.... none of us have a magic wand. so we have to work thru channels. and sometimes those channels are clogged and slow to navigate.

Echo your point about sugar rather than vinegar is one we all need to take to heart and also put into practice.

Nak, your point that there are other people in prison like your son I believe is true. I just don't think there is a large percentage of people like your son. You will hear anecdotally from someone like Rew who was in prison that even he doesn't think that most of the people in prison for sex related crimes were innocent. That doesn't mean there aren't innocent people in there. Rew works very hard to help those innocent people. Your son's case is not the typical person put in prison for CP.

Well, I was just trying to determine if this organization was something that sees action, and is seriously making progress of some kind, anywhere. I have lobbied and spoken on the senate floor in Carson City Nevada for funding for Autism funding in our state and I got involved because my son is autistic and because too many families don't get what they need or what my son was financially privileged to have. I just wanted an idea if it's worth it, will it even make a difference to help, and also will it hurt my husband who's case has just started as of 1/27/15. I would hate to affect a PSI or anything negatively for him. I know we all want to hold onto some kind of hope in life but I am sorry to say I do believe in the concept that there are lost causes. I am not trying to rain on anyone's parade or be negative about anyone's spiritual faith, I just believe there are things that we will not ever be able to change. Maybe I will just request literature from this group and see what it says.

Statistics say that 2.5 to 5% of people who go to prison are innocent. So if even 2.5% of the people in for sex crimes that would be 20,000 people from the over 800,000 RSOs. I never said my son's case for cp is typical. viewing cp is not the only sex crime people go to prison for.
I know you don't agree with me but in my world 20,000 going to prison for a sex crime they didn't commit should be acknowledged and addressed, yet those people usually aren't.
5% of the 800,000 = 40,000 . I think that's significant. My son was in prison too and he knew who was in there for the same reason he was and shared that info when he got out. I like Rew and agree with a lot of his posts, but he's not the only one who has experience with this bs.
I'll leave it at that..
Nak

Pslam, i think that this org. RSOL is like any other. it's all in what you or other put in to it.

if people don't put any effort into it, nothing much is going to come out or succeed from it.

Psalm, I understand not wanting to get actively involved while your husband is still going through the court system. I like the RSOL state chapters better than the national one.

I help where I can with CA RSOL and WAR wherever I can, but didn't start helping until after hubby was convicted. Like you, I didnt have the energy or the fight back then. I was just holding on for dear life as we navigated through the courts.

Let NV RSOL know you may be willing to help but it may happen after trial. But in the mean time, you can talk to your representatives to let them know your stance on RSO laws.

National RSOL had some rough patches in its life so far... There were some questionable folks (in my opinion) that were power roles in the organization whose reputations were brought in to question over and over. This hurt them a great deal and many advocates came and went in that time. Maybe not from the cause but from their organization. Wisconsin was one of them.

Since then we have been talking with some folks over there, have seen some of the organizational changes that have been made. Yeah they are moving more like a corporation now than they were, but I can tell things are being run better, managed better and their relations with folks like myself have vastly improved.

I also know from talking to a few of them, that they all have regular jobs, families and lives that they need to keep living, in order to have the strength and stamina to keep in this fight. Remember what the flight attendants say when that oxygen mask falls? Put your's on first so you are alive and awake to help those around you. Same thing goes for advocacy, you need to take care of you first or you won't be able to save anyone else. I know it seems to take away from all that could be done, but that is why there needs to be more people involved. I have 22,000 registrants in Wisconsin, 10,000 of them aren't on supervision anymore, just the registry. When I sent 1,200 of them letters asking for their participation I got responses from 5 of them. 5 out of 1,200. Pitiful, in my opinion. But that is what local state organizers face when they take on this cause. NO help. No one that wants to commit time or energy to doing things. I have one other member of my group, he is on supervision and will be discharged to just Lifetime GPS in about 4 months. He will stand up and speak, even now... But he really is the only one. I get many calls from people wanting to help, but when I tell them that what I need them to do is just call their local Assemblyman and Senator and ask to talk to them about the laws surrounding registrants, they probably don't. Some want to just give a little bit of money and call it a day. But money does me no good, when it is time for me to go to Madison on a regular basis I'll do that on my dime, no problem, what the cause NEEDS from registrants is their VOICES, from them, their families and their friends. If we all speak as one about the same things, we will be heard. But until then, the apathy of the registrants and their families is very discouraging.

I agree Wisconsin. Not everyone wants to get their hands dirty, and do something to help reform these laws. I do what I can to help Janice. I contact my legislators every year about laws concerning SO's. And I will continue to speak up until we have common sense laws, and repeal all the bad ones.

As far as the National group is concerned, they may do better about the organization, but I wish they would focus on National laws, as well as supporting the state groups. If they do advocate at the national level, then I wish they would send update on their efforts, just as they highlight the efforts done at the state levels. Until I see this change, any monitary donations I make will be made to WAR and CARSOL.