FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Vicki Henry, President
Women Against Registry
202.630.0345
contact@womenagainstregistry.com
2014 Women Against Registry’s Operation Push Back
As Director of Women Against Registry, I am contacting your agency on behalf of over two million women, family members and those affected by the public sex offender registry. We have grown tired of the continued penalties registrants and their FAMILY members increasingly face. We have begun “Pushing Back” on legislation driven by sensationalized media representations. For too long we have heard heart-breaking stories from families being destroyed, registrant families being turned away at Disney Parks, turned away when visiting a foreign country on Christmas vacation, children passed over for higher education opportunities, family homes/property damaged, members asked to leave their church, and many other scenarios which continue as punishment for a loved one’s sexual offense but has progressed to the annihilation of family units. We ask that you take a few minutes to become informed of the ever increasing problems surrounding individuals convicted of a sex offense as we have provided evidenced-based resources for your convenience.
One New York family’s story…
My son, who at the age of 17 had a consensual sexual relationship with his 14 year old girlfriend, is now on the registry for life as a “violent offender and most likely to reoffend!” As the mother of a now registrant I experience heartbreak at watching my son deteriorate from a once ambitious, happy young man into a lonely and very depressed recluse. He often expresses thoughts of suicide and we have to encourage him to keep moving forward even though we know if the laws aren’t changed, his real hopes for a happy life is always going to be limited. I cry a lot of tears while at the same time my mind and soul are enraged at what is being done to him. I cried and anguished over the very explicit questions he was asked during offender counseling. I am infuriated at how this system is so out of control and destroys everything in its path. We lost a daughter-in-law and contact with our two grand-daughters because she could not deal with the things the family was subjected to on a constant basis. That was very devastating. Our family has been through his being beaten, harassed and ridiculed….all for what? I ask, all for what?
EVIDENCE-BASED RESEARCH:
Women Against Registry often cites a research study by Jill Levenson, Ph.D., and Richard Tewksbury, Ph.D., Professor entitled Collateral Damage:Family Members of Registered Sex Offenders. “Researchers have identified ways in which sex offender registration and notification (SORN) laws can impede community reintegration efforts of RSOs and potentially contribute to recidivism. The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of SORN laws on the family members of registered sex offenders.” Noted in the report; out of 446 interviewed 87% of families suffered hardships due to the registrant finding and sustaining employment. Out of 437 interviewed 44% have been threatened or harassed; out of 441 interviewed 30% have suffered bodily harm or property damages due to Meagan’s Law Notification.
From a recent study by: Michelle Meloy & Jessica Boatwright & Kristin Curtis (The Sponsors of Sex Offender Bills Speak Up: Policy Makers' Perceptions of Sex Offenders, Sex Crimes, and Sex Offender Legislation page 445. Published by: http://www.sagepublications.com On behalf of: International Association for Correctional and Forensic Psychology)
Sex offenders are among today’s most hated and feared criminals. The contemporary response to this has resulted in specialized laws, referred to as “sex offender legislation.” Although legislation targeting sex offenders is not new to the United States, or elsewhere, the policy makers involved in today’s “third wave” of sex offender laws (Terry, 2005) are the focus of this current investigation. This wave of U.S. sex offender laws is based on numerous misperceptions about sex offenders and sex offender risk factors, public fear, and the pressure for policy makers to “do something” about this social problem. Thus, this research attempts to reconcile the facts of sex offender science against the views of lawmakers. Is there a total disconnect between empiricism and policy maker perceptions?
61 legislators where interviewed, at least one from each state, 65% admitted to “policy being written due to high profile cases” some not even within the jurisdiction of their own state. Most of the legislation was written from a few high profile cases. 44% of the policy makers interviewed saw overly broad sex offender laws as a problem. Influential elected officials have a host of ideas and perceptions about this type of crime and offender, but these views are often not based on science. Research such as this could help transform “shoot-from-the-hip” policy making into “informed policy making” by integrating scientific outcomes into legal responses.
Patty Wetterling, Mother of Jacob Wetterling in which a law was named after, has said as recently as March 2013, “...that the registry is doing more harm than good.” http://www.citypages.com/2013-03-20/news/patty-wetterling-questions-sex-offender-laws.
Cost to New York vs. Credible Research
Per the NCMEC, there are 751,538 men, women and children on national registries with 36,603 of those registered in New York. When you consider the registerable offenses, the law enforcement and office staff expenses associated with monitoring and tracking, as well as the length of time the state of New York has committed, one has to wonder what empirical evidence supports this valiant effort. There is none! However, there is credible research advising low recidivism rates. According to a study by the U.S. Department of Justice, 5.3% of American sex offenders are rearrested for a new sex crime within three years with only 3.5% being convicted. (Bureau of Justice Statistics, 2003).
Other things impacting costs are Probation & Parole as well as incarceration and went on to say the U.S. is 5% of the world’s population AND 25% of the world’s incarcerated.
"Sometimes federal mandates and state laws get passed without a real sense of what the lingering costs are," says Suzanne Brown-McBride, deputy director of the Council of State Governments Justice Center.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127220896
Recommendations that will Accomplish the Desired End Result - Prevention of Sexual Abuse:
· Design or create policy with the primary goal of prevention of sexual abuse violence thus reducing the sexual deviancy rates. (A Reasoned Approach: Reshaping Sex Offender Policy to Prevent Child Sexual Abuse By Joan Tabachnick and Alisa Klein) of The Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers.
· Implement pre and post-trial diversion programs into the judicial process for sexual offenses much like those available for drug and other offenses hence cutting down on prosecutors forcing plea deals based on little evidence and laws sparing victims from testifying.
With the publications of numerous studies and empirical research, Women Against Registry is calling for New York legislators to stop enacting additional laws as they are doing more harm than good. We are calling on our trusted leaders to become familiar with the current scientific research before writing legislation. We are “Pushing Back” against laws that were written out of fear and the unfortunate loss of a few well publicized national cases which are called “Apostrophe Laws.” For example the projected cost of Chelsey’s Law in California was presented as: “State officials have warned that the cost of implementing Chelsea's Law will be high as the lengthier sentences play out. An analysis by the state corrections department found the law would cost $1 million in 2015 but $54 million by 2030. Per The California Legislative Analyst's Office, says “costs will run much higher, at least a few tens of millions of dollars annually within the next decade and hundreds of millions annually in decades to come.” http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127220896 Chelsea’s Law propelled the legislator’s career yet remains unfunded. Policy makers and the public need to be educated on the science of sexual deviancy and offending. For instance, one seldom-disputed fact is that most sex crimesundefinedespecially against childrenundefined occur between individuals who know one another, reside together, is an acquaintance or have access to the children. Yet policy makers and the public tend to view strangers as posing the greatest risk of sexual violence. Clearly, the familial victim–offender relationship is a more difficult situation to rectify through legislative means. Is this why it is missing from the public discourse?
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