Families of SOs Community Group
WE HAVE MOVED!!! ............................. ............................... ......................... ............................ ............................. .......................... HERE: http://support-for-families.boards.net ............. ................ ............... ................ ............................... .................Please create a profile...
Yes, some of you may have heard about those already, but PFML has sued me for slander and defamation in retaliation for trying to organize a protest against them last Wednesday. Don't worry, it is a frivolous lawsuit and is intended to frighten me off from any future protests. It will not work.
Here is the Newsday report. Since many of us aren't digital subscribers, I have to cut and paste the article for you.
Newsday
April 23, 2016 8:06 PM
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/parents-for-megan-s-law-files-lawsuit-against-sex-offender-1.11724412
Parents for Megan’s Law files lawsuit against sex offender
By Laura Figueroa
The Suffolk nonprofit hired by the county to monitor registered sex offenders has sued a Cincinnati registered sex offender, accusing him of defaming the group with his online posts.
Parents for Megan’s Law filed a lawsuit in Suffolk state Supreme Court in Central Islip on Tuesday, claiming Derek W. Logue, who runs a support website for sex offenders, made “false disparaging statements about the integrity” of the Ronkonkoma-based group on his Twitter account and an online news forum.
Logue, who was served with court papers as he protested outside of the nonprofit’s Comac Street office on Wednesday, contends his posts accusing the group of receiving “kickbacks” are protected by the constitutional right to free speech.
The legal dispute comes as the group, which tracks the addresses of more than 1,000 registered sex offenders and provides counseling services to sex-abuse victims, renegotiates its three-year $2.7 million contract with Suffolk. It is set to expire at the end of the month.
Vanessa B. Streeter, a spokeswoman for Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, said the county plans to renew the group’s contract, but is “still working out the terms.”
At the center of the lawsuit is a Feb. 23 post Logue wrote responding to an online article about an upstate Broome County lawmaker’s call to increase the 20-year period Level 1 sex offenders must remain on the state’s registry to 25 years.
“This is what is known as ‘moving the goal post,’” Logue wrote in the comments section of Binghamton’s FOX 40 WICZ TV news website. “ . . . The REAL reason the state is pushing this is because Parents for Megan’s Law gets millions of dollars in kickbacks.”
In that post, and on his Twitter account, Logue questioned whether the agency’s funding went to “padding” the pockets of the Broome County legislator pushing for the increase, a claim the nonprofit’s attorneys say is “false” and made “with reckless disregard for the truth.”
Laura Ahearn, founder and executive director of Parents for Megan’s Law, said she couldn’t comment on the lawsuit, and referred questions to the group’s pro-bono attorneys at the Mineola law firm of WeitzPascale.
“You can’t go around defaming innocent organizations that are here only to defend children, the elderly, the disabled,” said attorney Brian C. Pascale, a partner at the firm.
Logue, who pleaded guilty in 2000 to first-degree sexual abuse against an 11-year-old girl in his home state of Alabama, according to court records, said he has traveled to other cities to protest sex-offender residency restriction laws.
He said he came to Suffolk to protest the county’s tracking program because he believes municipalities should focus on funding “rehabilitative” programs that help offenders reintegrate into society.
“They’re trying to silence me for speaking up,” Logue said in an interview. “It’s easy to go after and dehumanize a group that’s invisible in the eyes of society.”
Logue, who carried a sign that read “Parents for Megan’s Law: Stop Supporting Myths for Money,” said he tried to stage a larger demonstration. He said he sent letters to 300 Suffolk registered offenders encouraging them to come out and protest, but only one showed up.
Parents for Megan’s Law is also defending itself against a federal lawsuit filed last month by a Suffolk registered sex offender, who claims the nonprofit violated his civil rights by interrogating him at his house.
Here is the Newsday report. Since many of us aren't digital subscribers, I have to cut and paste the article for you.
Newsday
April 23, 2016 8:06 PM
http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/parents-for-megan-s-law-files-lawsuit-against-sex-offender-1.11724412
Parents for Megan’s Law files lawsuit against sex offender
By Laura Figueroa
The Suffolk nonprofit hired by the county to monitor registered sex offenders has sued a Cincinnati registered sex offender, accusing him of defaming the group with his online posts.
Parents for Megan’s Law filed a lawsuit in Suffolk state Supreme Court in Central Islip on Tuesday, claiming Derek W. Logue, who runs a support website for sex offenders, made “false disparaging statements about the integrity” of the Ronkonkoma-based group on his Twitter account and an online news forum.
Logue, who was served with court papers as he protested outside of the nonprofit’s Comac Street office on Wednesday, contends his posts accusing the group of receiving “kickbacks” are protected by the constitutional right to free speech.
The legal dispute comes as the group, which tracks the addresses of more than 1,000 registered sex offenders and provides counseling services to sex-abuse victims, renegotiates its three-year $2.7 million contract with Suffolk. It is set to expire at the end of the month.
Vanessa B. Streeter, a spokeswoman for Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, said the county plans to renew the group’s contract, but is “still working out the terms.”
At the center of the lawsuit is a Feb. 23 post Logue wrote responding to an online article about an upstate Broome County lawmaker’s call to increase the 20-year period Level 1 sex offenders must remain on the state’s registry to 25 years.
“This is what is known as ‘moving the goal post,’” Logue wrote in the comments section of Binghamton’s FOX 40 WICZ TV news website. “ . . . The REAL reason the state is pushing this is because Parents for Megan’s Law gets millions of dollars in kickbacks.”
In that post, and on his Twitter account, Logue questioned whether the agency’s funding went to “padding” the pockets of the Broome County legislator pushing for the increase, a claim the nonprofit’s attorneys say is “false” and made “with reckless disregard for the truth.”
Laura Ahearn, founder and executive director of Parents for Megan’s Law, said she couldn’t comment on the lawsuit, and referred questions to the group’s pro-bono attorneys at the Mineola law firm of WeitzPascale.
“You can’t go around defaming innocent organizations that are here only to defend children, the elderly, the disabled,” said attorney Brian C. Pascale, a partner at the firm.
Logue, who pleaded guilty in 2000 to first-degree sexual abuse against an 11-year-old girl in his home state of Alabama, according to court records, said he has traveled to other cities to protest sex-offender residency restriction laws.
He said he came to Suffolk to protest the county’s tracking program because he believes municipalities should focus on funding “rehabilitative” programs that help offenders reintegrate into society.
“They’re trying to silence me for speaking up,” Logue said in an interview. “It’s easy to go after and dehumanize a group that’s invisible in the eyes of society.”
Logue, who carried a sign that read “Parents for Megan’s Law: Stop Supporting Myths for Money,” said he tried to stage a larger demonstration. He said he sent letters to 300 Suffolk registered offenders encouraging them to come out and protest, but only one showed up.
Parents for Megan’s Law is also defending itself against a federal lawsuit filed last month by a Suffolk registered sex offender, who claims the nonprofit violated his civil rights by interrogating him at his house.
Have you considered filing a counter suit against the organization?
Given the dismal, expensive and oppressive track record of sub- contractors like MTC, CCA, etc inserting themselves as 'private law enforcement/ guards/ officials" at great expense to the tax-payers with power to run for-profit prisons, (and civil commitment "facilities," I am very concerned that a 'civilian' organization with an obvious ax to grind (Parent's for Megan's Law) is now being given official power to revoke and send parolees and Registrants back to prison. (they are already apparently 'in charge of victim services" have now officially been given power to legally stalk not only the 'offender' but the family as well...So virtually any stranger who shows up at my door I am expected to talk to, allow in my house, to give personal information to? And what happens if I don't co-operate with this 'extra'-legal civil outfit with power to troll my house and send my family member to jail just because... some victim's advocate came to my house to do a compliance check and went off in a huff when rebuffed?
I have to agree, that you should consider a counter sue if there are grounds to support it.
If it is legal, I would try to record everything that goes on as well during these proceedings. I would also get all of their fiscal records, personnel records, and anything else you can think of. I am sure they are going to be digging in to your closets for whatever they would like as well.
Good luck, keep us posted and let us know if there is anything we can do...