No, hadn't seen this one. And, yes, I do believe there is hope and lots of it. In my husband's SOT class in prison, the woman teaching it said that Virginia is not changing the laws, but changing the way sex offenders are treated. A quote from her in relation to SO laws was I believe, "Its not real, its political."

That's exactly what this guy is saying. The registry is not real. Its the result of politicians sucking up to the willful ignorance of the masses. The last thing that people want to know is that sex offenses happen in the home. Yet, this is the overwhelming truth.

People use politicians to mask their fears and politicians eat it up for the votes.

In the meantime, those of us caught up in this mess are looking over our shoulders....

http://www.dailystrength.org/groups/families-of-sex-offenders/discussions/messages/20354817

Forgiven :-p this article is that good that we need to post it twice! Never enough time to forget about hope and how we can build each other up, that's what this is article is--hope. A win in California is a win for all of us. Every time this happens we take down one brick of the wall. Eventually if we take down enough or the right ones we can knock the whole wall down with the right court decision. "Tear down this wall" happens for us one brick at a time.

And yes peek is correct when she says sex crimes against children happen in the home setting. 93% of child victims no their perpetrator in a significant way, as in they are it stranger danger, which is what the registry is trying to protect against. And why does the registry protect against stranger danger and little else? Think of the victims that the sex offender laws are named after! They are all sensational cases that do not represent the 93% of sex crimes! Jessica's law, Megan's law, the Adam Walsh act, we as a society are applying these rules to protect against the 7% of sex offenses and doing very little to protect against the 93%! It is insane!

"93% of child victims know their perpetrator in a significant way, as in it is not stranger danger, which is what the registry is trying to protect against."

I hate not being able to edit lol!

Also, most people on the registry are there for crimes against adults...yet people believe that every person on that list represents the minuscule number of people who have perpetrated stranger danger crimes against children. And that number has to be EXTREMELY minuscule.

Viewed from that perspective, the sex offender registry is a cruel hoax...a fraud pretending to be something it is not. If people really knew that (instead of being willfully ignorant), the sex offender registry would go away pretty dam fast. But willful ignorance is a tough one.

Actually, I believe the hysteria is starting to die down. You never hear about Adam Walsh anymore. Most states could not handle to burden of that kind of legislation. Its good to hear people finally talking about evidence. As this guy says, there is no evidence that these things work. They don't work. My state is quietly demonstrating that reform can take place in ways other than directly from the legislature.

Funny to look at the laws they are passing now. This year, they passed a law to make registration retroactive to 1980, but only names and addresses will be posted on the website. This law passed unanimously. It was prompted by a man who, in his 40's, claimed that the little boy in him was now getting retribution for the attacks made on him when he was 6! And his retribution is now codified into law...worthless law...harmful law...laws whose effects are go completely against the evidence.

Yes, that man was harmed as a 6 year old. Yes, he continues to feel the damage up until today. But there is plenty of evidence that this man can be helped. There is no evidence for the effectiveness of the solution that he sought. What a waste of money! What a waste of this poor man's life to put that money into a phoney solution!

But why did they do it...politics. Feeding the willfully ignorant masses their pablum of fear.

OK, well now that I have had my rant :) ...

I actually think that they are scraping the bottom of the barrel now coming up with new and more creative ways to scam the public. Eventually it will die out because, frankly, i don't see that a lot of our politicians are actually that bright. (My opinion.)

Peek, are you referring to "Robby's Rule" in Virginia? I didn't read the new law to include addresses, but name, date of birth, conviction and location of conviction. No photos or addresses. There is a distinct possibility that the supplemental registry will create more problems than actually help as the supplement doesn't indicate if the people have died, moved or anything else, and people that may have become better people and remained offense free for decades may lose their jobs and everything they have worked hard to rebuild.

Yeah, Brain. I thought it included the address. Glad at least they didn't include that. Thanks for straightening me out. I am just amazed by the stupidity of politicians that they could fall for that.

intelligent article....

Not only CA but Nevada had joined in looking at whether the registry and the laws surrounding it are any good. And sometime this year CT is spending money on a study to look at the registry and it's ineffectiveness. Governor Malloy here is really pushing for legislation and the "second chance" act. For once it seems they are looking at the root causes and tackling mental health, job training and social training. We've already closed three prisons in this state.