Nako,
You know I'm in.
Just an opinion here. The face(s) of the organization should not be RFSOs. They should be the mothers, wives and girlfriends that are effected by these laws. This is not sexist. This crazy mess was started by the mothers of 2 victims of assault. I am not belittling their pain. All I'm saying is that this is where the power of change lies.

Your right. I'll change it. I will be working more on it this weekend. It's a blog. I don't really like blog formats but it's free and easy to use. I can add pages of how the laws started and maybe some of why the laws get worse. I remember one of the new laws in FLoriduh about residency restrictions because 1 mother complained about an SO living near a bus stop. Most of these laws happen over 1 incident.

or that might have been here in Philly. Thankfully the supreme court here says residency restrictions are unconstitutional

Nako,
The only large area that tried to put residency restrictions in place was Allegheny County. That is what prompted the PA Supreme Court case. Some townships have had them and they were all knocked down by that ruling. The closest ones to Philly, that I remember, were Bensalem, Lower and Upper Chichester and Tinicum. Philly City Council has never even proposed them.
The case made them unconstitutional because there is no state law allowing them. That keeps being proposed in the state House and never goes anywhere.

I also went through the same ordeal as you nakohichi, when I tried two years ago to get in contact with someone from pa rsol. it just didn't exist it seemed. I'm a registrant who's sentence went from 10 year to life on the registry when the adam walsh act took affect.

As residency restrictions go, the 2500 feet rule was struck down, but I recently read that senator lisa boscola of york county pa has a bill in to try to reinstate a residency restriction in pa but less broad as the 2500 foot rule. Hers will be 1000 feet from schools and 500 feet from school bus stops ect.

I contacted her offices, left messages but got no response. I don't really worry about her bill going thru. She's tried it before and it didn't pass.

I'd just like to see a place online where you can contact someone. There is a lot of info out there, but to have someone return your email quickly, share info or just someone to connect with, I feel, is important. It was for me.

This is a great place too. This is and has been the only support group that I've found answers and support.
But it would be nice to have a site with FAQs and law info for PA.

Nakohichi, I've had just that site since 2007. Once Fallen has been a premiere site for sex offender info, and I've been very accessible to most anyone with a question, especially when they call. I take hundreds of calls, letters, and emails, and this year I'm pushing a thousand contacts already.

I can understand the frustrations with the larger groups in the reform movement. We are too small a movement so have so many factions. I run Once Fallen as an independent site so as not to be influenced by factions.

However, as someone who has run a state-specific site (ReFORM-AL) for a number of years, you have to understand that all the groups out there consist of individuals who may or may not have expertise in business, marketing or in justice studies. We are a grassroots movement. Without the benefit of the resources needed to launch large-scale campaigns, hire top-tier marketers to help devise complex PR campaigns, or invest millions into lobbyists and big-name attorneys, our campaign has been an asymmetrical battle. Our strategy has been simple for the most part-- we try something when we have the resources to do it, and take note of whether or not it works.

I have invested a lot of effort into my home state of Alabama. I have fought to stymie bad legislation there. Unfortunately, four years later, ReFORM-AL is mostly a one-man show, though I have a couple of up-and-comers learning the ropes. I don't get paid for the work I do. I have to deal with whiny, ungrateful armchair activism prognosticators. And it gets worse when I try to raise funds to do bare-bones activism projects. Then the groups that do exist vary greatly in philosophy and strategy. (As an example, I disagree with coolrich's assessment, I think we NEED more RSOs at the front. By keeping us on the sidelines, it brings about the "lurking in the shadows" stereotype in people's minds. It is easier to dehumanize an absent or hidden opponent.)

Most of those who fight this war also have lives. Since too few men speak up, this cause is full of women, many of whom have children and are trying to juggle family and jobs (since many RSOs are chronically unemployed). Also, have you considered the fact that people who don't call us when life is fine for them because they have good jobs and stable homes? Mike Tyson and Jeffrey Epstein aren't donating to the cause. People call us in hopes we have FREE resources for them. They want us to have free housing and employment lists ready made for them. And few who seem fired up to do something about these laws actually do.

Once Fallen has lots of free resources but it isn't enough. I can't keep up with all 50 states.

I had worked a little in the past with the woman who was running the PA site a couple years back. People come and go for the cause for many reasons-- stress, they find other work, get burned out, just drift away, some life-changing event, etc., and that's what happened in this case. Some douchebag came in about a year ago from PA, making lofty promises and failing to deliver. That's another peril of life as an activist-- dealing with saboteurs and agent provocateurs trying to sow dissent in the ranks.

Running a state group is pretty tough. There's legislation watch, trying to keep up with state and local laws, recruiting, marketing/ PR, and my least favorite thing to do, fundraising. I got cursed out by people just trying to raise $300 for a trip to Montgomery to stop a bill that would have made thousands of registrants homeless. I've stopped bills in one of THE WORST states in the US with hardly any resources whatsoever, but imagine how things could turn around if somehow I had the manpower and resources

I really hope you can get something going in PA. I try not to be too hard on those I disagree with, even though I get frustrated at times. After all, these sites are full of people who want to just sit around the virtual campfire, piss and moan, give group hugs and singing Kumbaya. However, it takes a special breed to be on the front lines. Like them or not, those at RSOL, SOSEN, WAR, and other sites are all we've got until those lacking the spine to fight find their spines and join us.

I can't promise much but if there is anything I can do to help, I'll do so.

Derek, I think your site rocks.

This is where I'm coming from. I'm a business woman. I sell supplies to special fx makeup artists for almost 30 years now. It's a small community , I'm 1 of 5 big shops that ship all over the world. In my mind, there is no competition and we all should support each other. People spend energy competing , I don't.

I see this in the same manner. Unfortunately the few groups I've hooked up didn't like that I had ideas. I tried things their way and it's not for me. They aren't bad things, it's just not how I do things. I'm not a follower.. and a lot of the women in the organizations are not followers either. I appreciate what they do. They don't think I realize that. They say that I'm hard to work with.. I just have different ideas. Basically they want to tell me what to do, and I do it.
I don't hold this misunderstanding against them. I try not to feel like I'm being blindly judged in a bad light... but I now have a reputation. Kindof like an RSO being judged by the public. It's not a good feeling. I blame myself for some of it, because I'm just not very diplomatic.

But I'm going off in a tangent, sorry.

I don't hold grudges. I just don't feel their ways are my ways. I don't have the time or the expertise to do a great site like yours. But I want to do something. I know how to market, I know how to do a website. I might actually have some different ideas that others don't . Maybe they're not great ideas but I'd at least like a try to help out or fail. I've been told to be quiet. I just don't see any harm if there is another site, where there would be links to sites like yours, DS or WAR or other groups. With an email to contact someone in PA that might have some answers, or at least try to help them fin them.

Or I could just not do anything. I don't see where that helps anyone. I might fail in my ideas but you never know. But if I get enough people bitch about me doing something.. then I won't. I'm not going to fight over it. I guess that's why I posted it here. To get some feedback.

thanks

Derek,
We can agree to disagree.
All I know is that the most effective people on both sides of this have been women. On our side, Mary Duval was the most effective. On the other side, Patty Wetterling and Maureen Kanka. John Walsh was just looking for money when he jumped on the train that was already barreling down he track.

I'm not going to do anything. I've tried to join these support groups. Each one, FAC, PA RSOl & WAR... each has 1 woman in charge and when I open my mouth to suggest doing something else I've been told I'm difficult to work with. I am the 'labeled' bad guy among the support system public. I've been told to be quiet, listen, learn and maybe some day I'd be asked to do something. Another gives me a list of busy work that doesn't do anything.. and when I say that I've done it and there should be more,.. that I'm exasperating.

These laws were put in force by the public bitching, just 1 time, at a politician during voting season. These will change only when the majority of the public want it. . and it will happen. Maybe not soon enough, but when everyone has a family member or friend who is 'labeled' then it will change.

I have ideas that others aren't doing. Maybe they won't help but I'm not going to throw myself to the lionesses anymore. I'm going to spend my time and money on my son's issues .. as I am already.. but nothing more than his issues.

Thanks coolrich and Derek for responding. Nak

Wow!!
Even though SOSEN is a shadow of what it used to be, it does have a BOD and Staff members doing a little something. There is no political action but there support and knowledge sharing.

I'll always be looking into the laws. I got an email from the lawyer I hired for my son's friend who he met in the joint. She says there are some laws that might help my son's situation.

I want to help.. all of my 57 years I've been on my own and I'm a worker, but there needs to be respect among people you work with.. and I get none because I'm not a sheep. I'm going to make it easier on myself and not be told I'm a problem.. I just don't want to do it anymore.

I'm planning on keeping track of laws here in PA, and hoping to eventually find a place in the ACLU. I'm not giving up the fight, but I'm not going to put time an effort into a new group or site.

Nako,
As I have said many times, I'm here to help, if you need it. The real positive is we are geographically in the same place. I watch new Bills in the state assembly daily. Nothing has been happening recently. I think he AWA wore them out. I know keeping track of all the revisions over 2 years wore me out!

I've never been one to be bossed around by anyone, and that's a good thing. The downside to working for a group is you have to deal with "group think." If you don't fit the mold of the group then you aren't valuable to them. I don't fit anyone's mold, and I'm pretty effective. The people who run some of these groups don't like me, but those who don't know we exist and find Once Fallen do.

We do need more men, especially registered persons, at the forefront. I'm tired of the mother hen syndrome that plagues our cause. Lets be honest-- women and men do tend to approach the issue differently. Women run nearly all the groups these days, and women are reluctant to take a more aggressive approach, opting for softball when we need to put on the pads and tackle and chop block the opposition. It is the truth. Mary Duval was the rare footballer amongst the women in the cause. She'd put on the helmet and pads. The groups out there now don't have that fortitude.

The way some of the males behave in the cause, I have to wonder if they got sex changes as part of their punishment. Why are most of the guys too wussified to take a bold stand?