Droidmcse, I posted on this site a few weeks ago asking to hear from others interested in advocating for Juvenile sex Offenders in my state (or any state for that matter) and hardly I am grateful for links I recently got from "old timers" who post regularly on Daily strength but otherwise I got little to no response.
WAR( https://www.womenagainstregistry.org/ ) responded and although we are still few and far between in my state we are proceeding to gather a few others to advocate as a state chapter. CURE-SORT has been incredibly helpful, RSOL not so much. But as you said many of these organizations don't have as many active members as you'd think and maybe don't want to admit that...
AND then of course there is the prejudice from prison families (and prison activists)and other prisoners and guards against SO's and their families in general.. (Law enforcement and the Prison activist crowd think women/ families who stick with SO's are the most damaged of all) And don't even get me started on therapists and social workers "approved" by the state systems.

Yet in this state SO's suffer the highest over all proportion of all prison deaths (an activist who has been quietly pursuing this statistic in my state gave me the info when CURE-Sort shared her name and she joined with me) But there is enough of this "elephant" to go round and divided in our own little bands of prejudice we just wear ourselves out pointing the shame blame and claiming I'm better than (i.e. rapists are better than child molesters, and certainly better than child porn convictions and sex-aholics are more respectable than ..just .name your pecking order before , after and inside and continue to whine to your families who of course think they suffer the most collateral damage of all ) but then we are all innocent and unfairly treated and the most to be pitied of all SO's forgetting that if we don't (all) figure out to contribute in some on our own state level Elephants will trample even the youngest among us and (whether the registry is 500,000 or 800,000 there are a lot of "us" out here
So if you fell too scalded by the system, If you can't step up right now maybe you could help an activist in my state by gather your state statistics to prove or disprove her idea about prison deaths and SO's in your state because she thinks it will be a powerful statistic useful to ALL activists. (even those prison activists who don't want to associate with her because her focus is SO's in prison) I would only ask that you also find out the age of the prisoner at time of death as well as his conviction. (Maybe this is the part of the elephant you decide to illuminate even if you can't publicly step up at this time? and e-mail it to me?)

My husband was convicted in 1976 shortly after he returned from Vietnam, so we have been in this for the with prejudice against SO for literally years and since AWA "compliance" it's gotten worse. (Sort of like the joke about dropping a frog in hot water and he immediately attempt to jump out but put a frog in cooler water and slowly raise the temperature.. and the result? a boiled frog) SO's and their families are just like everyone else. And as soon as we crawl out our motto becomes "I'm all right Jack! (why should I lend a hand?) It's understandable that people focus on their own survival but eventually, no matter how scalded we each are, no matter our own PTSD from the trauma of collateral damage,
We all need to look around. I help the others still in shock from "the (first) knock on the door because we realize as maybe they don't that they have no idea how long this crap can last and maybe, just maybe get over ourselves enough to contribute in some small way to the over all good (maybe by advocating for JSO's or for SO's harassed and even killed in our prison systems. We can do little about the prejudice of others except somehow reframe the injustice issues and join hands.

Sorry for going on and on BUT The real reason Molalla went on to make a difference was because of the international feminist movement and because her father supported her instead of caving in and throwing her to the wolves. .

We have no affiliate for RSOL in Pennsylvania. I wish we did. I'm limited as to what I'm able to do, but I would gladly join up if we had one. Instead I've called and written letters on my own

Just remember, for many on the registry, they can't use computers, and many might even think to look. It's more than likely family members that do most of the searching for info

It's ok to run on and on - There seem to be too few posts of people trying to motivate and rally the troops. This is at least dialog that will hopefully get the next person in line to step and do something.

*Might Not*

faeryedark -
I understand about the computer restrictions.
I just finished working on code to get the majority of SOs in GA's addresses. We just re-ignited the local chapter. The point of getting the mailing address is to send them snail mail info about the group.

I envision that this task will spread to the other states as well. The code took many days to scrape the information from the site. And granted it's outdated as soon as I look. Maybe I'll rerun it every quarter to keep the list semi up to date.

If our people don't know about us, this forum, and the others, and don't know who to contact, then shame on us for not getting the word out.

True, but mailing to everyone, can be quite costly.

yes of course it can be. which would go to having the masses of us donating money to help support those among us that don't have. National RSOL has offered to help with the costs of a mailing to targeted groups - maybe more affluent areas for example.
Just a back of the napkin calculation, if we made a postcard sized mailer, and then used postcard presorted rates, even to send to 10k people would only cost in the several hundreds of dollars.

Just a word of caution about sending post cards even if that's cheaper (people other than the recipient can read whatever you write on the back. Also I live in a state where you have to look SO's up one by one using zip codes. Just saying. A folded brochure with a place on the outside for an address which could then be opened by the recipient might be more effective. At least that's what I'm thinking about. I though all the S's in my state had been sent to one prison but they are scattered all over and of course, so are the families so it would be hard even to just go to a certain facility and pass a brochure out to all the families waiting in line. WAR has several pretty good national brochures and I'm sure others do to.

My avocation is writing letters to my state representatives and others. I know that this has resulted in no changes, but I feel compelled to write. To me it is a request to start changing things is small ways, because I know they will make no blanket changes. I also know that my letter alone does not get their attention to change things, but I always feel I have to ask. About 5 years ago, I wrote a letter to the USSC indicating that their charge is to determine "appropriate punishment" which meant that there was nothing to say the appropriate punishment had to include prison time. I listening to the testimonies to the Justice Committee and the person in charge of the USSC stated that they have started to consider appropriate punishments besides prison time. Was I the person that put it in their head? Who knows... Anyway - here is my last letter sent to all on the Senate Judicial Committee. Just a small note - the Tier Structure is in a table in my letter.

Dear [either Senator or Representative],
Even though I am not a constituent of your state, I hope that you will read this letter since you are a pivotal voting member of the Senate and Judicial committee that can affect the lives across the country.
I would like to address a very sensitive subject. It is the Sex Offenders laws and downstream consequences of being charged with a crime that is outlined in the Adam Walsh Act or Title 18, Chapter 110.
I understand that politicians do not want to address the issue that we are seeing in this country. To be seen as not being tough on crime is pretty bad, but being perceived as not being tough on sex offenders is almost a death sentence for politicians. However, I am asking that you at least take a look this letter and consider how you can help with the situation – even in any small way.
Today there are over 850,000+ individuals listed on the Sex Offender register, some of those listed are children and those that pose absolutely no public safety threat. There is not any supporting evidence that the Sex Offender Registry provides any public safety and most likely even inhibits public safety.
The primary concern today is that although there is a component of the Adam Walsh Act that describes the Tier structure, there are few things that utilize that structure. The Tier structure indicates which crimes are associated with each Tier. The least seriousness of the crimes are in Tier 1 with more serious sex crimes in Tier 2 and the most serious sex crimes in Tier 3.

Tier I
A sex offender other than a Tier II or
Tier III sex offender. 42 U.S.C. § 16911(2).

Tier II
Defined in 42 U.S.C. § 16911(3) as an offense punishable by imprisonment for more than one year and:
A. Comparable to or more severe than the following offenses, when committed against a minor (or an attempt or conspiracy to commit them):
1. Sex trafficking as defined in 18 U.S.C. § 1591;
2. Coercion & enticement under 18 U.S.C. § 2422(b);
3. Transportation with intent to engage in criminal sexual activity under 18 U.S.C. § 2423(a); or
4. Abusive sexual contact under 18 U.S.C. § 2244 committed against a minor 13 years old or older.

OR

B. That involves:
1. Use of a minor in a sexual performance;
2. Solicitation of a minor to practice prostitution; or
3. Production or distribution of child pornography.

OR

C. That occurs after the offender becomes a Tier I offender.

Tier III
Defined in 42 U.S.C. § 16911(4) as an offense punishable by imprisonment for more than one year and:
A. Comparable to or more severe than the following offenses (or an attempt or conspiracy to commit them):
1. Aggravated sexual abuse under 18 U.S.C. §
2241 or sexual abuse under 18 U.S.C. § 2242.3
2. Abusive sexual contact under 18 U.S.C. § 2244
(described in the tier II offense definition) when committed against a minor under 13 years old.

OR

B. Involve kidnapping of a minor (unless committed by a parent or guardian).

OR

C. That occurs after the offender becomes a Tier II offender.

An example of the broad-brush, in the Farm Bill that was passed last year Section 6 disqualifies anyone convicted of an offense under chapter 110 of title 18. Did you know that one of the crimes under this section is “Whoever knowingly uses a misleading domain name on the Internet with the intent to deceive a person into viewing material constituting obscenity shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than 2 years, or both.” Did anyone that passed this bill even realize that a crime that is this trifle compared to other offenses would totally disqualify an individual from receiving any benefits from the Food and Nutrition Act? In addition in all the proposed criminal justice reform bills, they will never be eligible.

Criminal justice reform is a big topic of conversation in the world today. I believe that this is one of the few areas that there is bipartisan agreement on. However as a couple of examples of exclusion across the board for all sex offenders are:

The REDEEM Act that was proposed by Senators Rand and Booker. The disqualifying section of this bill states ““(B) a sex offense (as that term is defined in section 111 of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (42 U.S.C. 16911))” which cites “section 1591, or chapter 109A, 110 (other than section 2257, 2257A, or 2258), or 117, of title 18”.

Another is in the proposed SAFE Justice Reinvestment Act of 2015 it has exclusions throughout of “A Federal sex offense, as described in section 111 of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.”

I am sure that all proposed legislation that address the criminal justice reform will include this across the board statement. I can absolutely guarantee you that not all sex offenses are the same and there is recognition of that in the Tier construct.

I would ask if you could do two things. The first is to support Criminal Justice Reforms and the second to review and request that any bill introduced consider the Tier structure outlined in the SORNA Tier Classification Definitions. For example, “(B) a Tier 2 or 3 sex offense …

As a final comment, the New Hampshire Supreme Court reviewed a case that applied restrictions on a registered Sex Offender. In the court document, I thought it insightful a couple of statements. They were:

“When such requirements are “imposed equally upon all offenders, with no consideration given to how dangerous any particular registrant may be to public safety, that restriction begins to look far more like retribution for past offenses than a regulation intended to prevent future ones.”

“…that are imposed on convicted sex offenders and on no one else as a result of their convictions are not part of their punishment. In my opinion, a sanction that (1) is imposed on everyone who commits a criminal offense, (2) is not imposed on anyone else, and (3) severely impairs a person’s liberty is punishment.”

Thank you,

I volunteer when I can to help RSOL and WAR. Not everyone is able to be on the front lines advocating, but anyone can help with donations or help with behind the scenes....

EXACTLY!