Take a guess: If you named any figure higher than 5 percent, social science says you're wrong. But don't worry, the U.S. Supreme Court doesn't know the right answer, either. More than 100 court decisions around the country, including from the high court, have cited sex offenders' supposedly "frightening and high" threat of reoffense in justifying the increasingly sadistic punishments the country inflicts upon them.
David Feige's documentary examines how this class of untouchables came about. Driving the narrative is the startling figure of Ron Book, whose daughter was horrifically abused by the family's female nanny for six years.
The film opens on the father's pain, still raw decades after the fact, as seen in his eyes, both distraught and deranged.
Vengeance dictates sex offender laws
There's a seemingly intimate scene of Book getting ready in the morning, where we see him shaving, with his shirt off, his middle-aged body exposed to the camera. What's jarring is that he's standing in a gorgeous granite bathroom. We see shots of his case of expensive watches, then of Book getting dressed in walk-in closet that puts any Men's Wearhouse to shame. It's a portrait not of an aggrieved father willing himself out of bed each day, but of a general preparing for battle.
Book is one of the most powerful lobbyists in Florida, and since his daughter's abuse, he's been on a mission to keep kids safe from sexual predators. That's how he describes it. As the film shows, the swaths of legislation that Book has pushed have done more to make sex offenders' lives miserable than to actually protect children.
"Sentence them to waterboarding every day, throw the keys away," Book says at one point. "I used to be a liberal Democrat, and then a crime hit my family, and I realized just how conservative I was."
The quote encapsulates our national attitude toward sex offenders, one that relegates them to a monstrous, subhuman class. We see this in neighborhood "predator patrols," in state-sanctioned sex offender tent colonies, and in the eagerness with which politicians of all stripes invent new scarlet letters with which to brand offenders. We see it, too, in the three registered sex offenders whose stories are interwoven throughout the film, themselves victims of a society that would rather they disappear and die than offer treatment, rehabilitation or, God forbid, compassion.
Anyone familiar with these arguments will quickly realize that Untouchable isn't treading new ground. Still, the filmmakers exhibit considerable deftness in tracing a character-driven historical arc that helps makes sense of this deeply discomfiting subject. Screens at MCT Sun., Feb. 19, at noon.
I AM HAPPY TO JOIN YOU TONIGHT IN AN EVENING OF CONSEQUENCE. AN EVENING THAT MAY GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS A TURNING POINT IN A CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT DEDICATED TO RESTORING JUSTICE FOR ALL.
IN 1787, THE FOUNDERS OF OUR COUNTRY CREATED AND ADOPTED A CONSTITUTION WHICH ESTABLISHED THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. FOUR YEARS LATER, THE FOUNDERS AMENDED THE CONSTITUTION BY ADDING PROTECTIONS FOR INDIVIDUALS’ RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES. 10 AMENDMENTS KNOWN AS THE BILL OF RIGHTS.
BUT MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED YEARS LATER, THE PROMISES OF THE CONSTITUTION AND OF THE BILL OF RIGHTS ARE BEING DENIED TO A GROUP OF CITIZENS WHO LANGUISH IN THE CORNERS OF SOCIETY AND FINDS THEMSELVES EXILED IN THEIR OWN LAND.
THAT GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS HAS BEEN LABELED BY SOME AS "SEX OFFENDERS". I SHALL HENCEFORTH REFER TO THEM AS "REGISTERED CITIZENS".
REGISTERED CITIZENS HAVE MADE A MISTAKE. THEY HAVE BROKEN A LAW. AND THEY HAVE PAID THEIR DEBT TO SOCIETY BY GOING TO PRISON OR SERVING TIME ON PROBATION.
DESPITE THE PAYMENT OF THEIR DEBTS TO SOCIETY, REGISTERED CITIZENS CONTINUE TO BE PUNISHED BY BEING DENIED JOBS, A HOME IN WHICH TO LIVE, CREDIT, ACCESS TO PARKS, BEACHES, AND LIBRARIES AS WELL EXILED FROM SOME OR ALL MEMBERS OF THEIR FAMILIES.
SOME REGISTERED CITIZENS ARE UNEMPLOYED. SOME ARE HOMELESS. AND SOME ARE MURDERED BY VIGILANTES FOR NO OTHER REASON THAN THEIR LABEL. THIS IS PUNISHMENT!! DESPITE WHAT THE U.S. SUPREME COURT HAS RULED. THE REQUIREMENT TO REGISTER IS NOT THE SAME AS -- OR EVEN SIMILAR TO -- BECOMING A MEMBER OF COSTCO!
IN A SENSE WE HAVE COME TO THIS CONFERENCE IN L.A. TO CASH A CHECK. A PROMISSORY NOTE SIGNED BY THE FOUNDERS OF THIS NATION.
IT IS OBVIOUS TODAY THAT AMERICA HAS DEFAULTED ON THIS PROMISSORY NOTE INSOFAR AS REGISTERED CITIZENS ARE CONCERNED. INSTEAD OF HONORING THE SACRED OBLIGATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION, AMERICA HAS GIVEN REGISTERED CITIZENS A BAD CHECK. A CHECK WHICH HAS BEEN RETURNED AND MARKED "INSUFFICIENT FUNDS".
BUT WE REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THE BANK OF JUSTICE IN AMERICA IS BANKRUPT. WE REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT THERE ARE INSUFFICIENT FUNDS IN THE GREAT VAULTS OF OPPORTUNITY OF THIS NATION. SO WE HAVE COME TO L.A.. THE CITY WHICH CREATED THE NATION’S FIRST REGISTRY IN 1947. TO CASH THIS CHECK. A CHECK THAT WILL GIVE US THE RICHES AND SECURITY OF JUSTICE. WE HAVE ALSO COME TO REMIND AMERICA OF THE NEED TO ACT NOW.
IT WOULD BE UNCONSCIONABLE FOR THE NATION TO OVERLOOK THE URGENCY OF THE MOMENT WHEN CIVIL RIGHTS ARE DENIED AND CITIZENS SUCH AS CHARLES AND GRETCHEN PARKER ARE MURDERED BY VIGILANTES IN SOUTH CAROLINA LAST MONTH. THIS SWELTERING SUMMER OF THE REGISTERED CITIZEN’S LEGITIMATE DISCONTENT WILL NOT PASS UNTIL THERE IS AN INVIGORATING AUTUMN OF FREEDOM FOR REGISTERED CITIZENS. 2013 IS NOT AN END, BUT A BEGINNING.
TODAY THERE ARE MORE THAN 750,000 AMERICAN CITIZENS WHO ARE BEING DENIED THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS EVERY DAY. 24 HOURS A DAY, 7 DAYS A WEEK, 365 DAYS A YEAR. THIS MUST STOP! NOW IS THE TIME TO LIFT OUR NATION FROM THE QUICK SANDS OF INJUSTICE TO THE SOLID ROCK OF JUSTICE. NOW IS THE TIME TO MAKE JUSTICE A REALITY FOR ALL CITIZENS. BUT WE CANNOT MOVE FORWARD ALONE.
INSTEAD, WE MUST INCLUDE OUR LOVED ONES. OUR PARENTS. OUR CHILDREN. OUR NIECES, NEPHEWS, AUNTS, UNCLES, NEIGHBORS AND FRIENDS. WHO WILL BE SERVE AS OBJECTIVE WITNESSES TO THE PLIGHT OF REGISTERED CITIZENS.
I AM MINDFUL THAT SOME OF YOU HAVE COME HERE FROM FARAWAY STATES. MARYLAND, MASSASCHUSETTS, FLORIDA. I AM ALSO MINDFUL THAT SOME OF YOU HAVE RECENTLY BEEN RELEASED FROM PRISON AND SOME OF YOU REMAIN ON PROBATION OR PAROLE.
GO BACK TO MARYLAND. GO BACK TO MASSACHUSETTS. GO BACK TO FLORIDA. GO BACK TO THE SLUMS WHERE SOME HOMELESS REGISTERED CITIZENS LIVE. KNOWING THAT SOMEHOW THIS SITUATION CAN AND WILL BE CHANGED.
I SAY TO YOU TONIGHT, FRIENDS, EVEN THOUGH WE FACE THE DIFFICULTIES OF TODAY AND TOMORROW, I HAVE A DREAM. IT IS A DREAM DEEPLY ROOTED IN THE AMERICAN DREAM.
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY THIS NATION WILL RISE UP AND LIVE OUT FOR ALL CITIZENS THE TRUE MEANING OF ITS CREED, "WE HOLD THESE TRUTHS TO BE SELF-EVIDENT, THAT ALL PEOPLE ARE CREATED EQUAL."
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY IN THE PARKS OF MARYLAND REGISTERED CITIZENS CAN HAVE A FAMILY PICNIC.
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY IN THE LIBRARIES OF NEW MEXICO REGISTERED CITIZENS CAN READ A BOOK.
I HAVE A DREAM.
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY IN THE STATE OF FLORIDA REGISTERED CITIZENS WILL BE ALLOWED TO ENTER EMERGENCY SHELTERS WHEN A HURRICANE ARRIVES.
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY IN THE STATE OF TENNESSEE REGISTERED CITIZENS WILL BE ABLE TO LIVE WITH ALL THE MEMBERS OF THEIR FAMILIES.
I HAVE A DREAM.
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY IN THE STATE OF OHIO REGISTERED CITIZENS CAN CELEBRATE HALLOWEEN IN THEIR OWN HOMES WITHOUT FEAR OF ARREST.
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY IN THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA REGISTERED CITIZENS CAN LIVE IN ANY CITY OR COUNTY THEY WISH TO LIVE IN.
I HAVE A DREAM.
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY IN AMERICA REGISTERED CITIZENS WILL NO LONGER BE REQUIRED TO WEAR GPS MONITORS.
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY IN AMERICA ARMED POLICE OFFICERS WILL NO LONGER SHOW UP ON THE DOORSTEPS OF REGISTERED CITIZENS.
I HAVE A DREAM.
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY THE NAMES, PHOTOS AND HOME ADDRESSES OF REGISTERED CITIZENS WILL NO LONGER BE PUBLISHED ON THE INTERNET.
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY IN AMERICA ELECTED OFFICIALS WILL NO LONGER PASS LAWS THAT DENY THE CIVIL RIGHTS OF REGISTERED CITIZENS IN ORDER TO INCREASE THEIR CHANCE OF RE-ELECTION.
I HAVE A DREAM.
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY REGISTERED CITIZENS WILL NOT BE TREATED LIKE LEPERS AND WILL NOT BE PUBLICLY DISGRACED, HUMILIATED AND SHAMED.
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY IN AMERICA REGISTERED CITIZENS WILL NOT BE HUNTED DOWN AND MURDERED BY VIGILANTES.
I HAVE A DREAM
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY IN AMERICA THE U.S. SUPREME COURT WILL RECOGNIZE THAT REGISTRATION IS A FORM OF PUNISHMENT.
I HAVE A DREAM THAT ONE DAY IN AMERICA REGISTERED CITIZENS WILL LIVE IN A NATION WHERE THEY WILL NOT BE JUDGED BY A MISTAKE THEY MADE DECADES AGO BUT BY THE CONTENT OF THEIR CURRENT CHARACTER AND ACTIONS.
THIS IS OUR HOPE. THIS IS THE FAITH WITH WHICH I WILL CONTINUE MY WORK TO RESTORE JUSTICE FOR REGISTERED CITIZENS. WITH THIS FAITH WE WILL BE ABLE TO HEW OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN OF DESPAIR A STONE OF HOPE.
THAT WILL BE THE DAY WHEN WE ALL WILL BE ABLE TO SING WITH A NEW MEANING, "MY COUNTRY ‘TIS OF THEE, SWEET LAND OF LIBERTY". AND IF AMERICA IS TO REMAIN A GREAT NATION THIS MUST BE TRUE.
SO LET JUSTICE RING FROM MOUNT RAINIER IN WASHINGTON STATE. LET JUSTICE RING FROM THE MISSIPPI RIVER IN LOUISIANA. LET JUSTICE RING FROM THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS IN COLORADO. LET JUSTICE RING FROM THE BEACHES OF CALIFORNIA.
LET JUSTICE RING.
AND WHEN THESE THINGS HAPPEN, JUSTICE WILL RING. FROM EVERY VILLAGE AND HAMLET. FROM EVERY STATE AND CITY. AND THAT WILL IN TURN SPEED UP THE DAY WHEN ALL CITIZENS. REGISTERED AND UNREGISTERED. JOIN HANDS AND REPEAT TOGETHER THE ULTIMATE GOAL OF THIS MOVEMENT TO LIVE AS CITIZENS. AS EXPRESSED CLEARLY IN THE LAST SIX WORDS OF OUR NATION’S PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE. "WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL."
HOW DO WE GET THERE? BY SHOWING UP – STANDING UP – AND SPEAKING UP.
Members of the Supreme Court on Tuesday appeared skeptical of the federal government’s argument that a registered sex offender should be required to notify authorities when moving to another country.
Justice Anthony Kennedy, who was known as the court’s swing vote before the death of Justice Antonin Scalia last month, noted that the defendant in the case moved to a country not covered under the Sex Offender Registration and Notifications Act (SORNA).
The law requires sex offenders to inform “at least one jurisdiction involved” of any change of address.
“The Philippines is not a jurisdiction under SORNA," Kennedy said.
The case, Nichols v. United States, focuses on Lester Nichols, a convicted sex offender who moved from Kansas to the Philippines in November 2012, eight months after he was released from prison. A month later, he was arrested and deported back to the U.S. for failing to update his sex offender registry.
Curtis Gannon, assistant to the solicitor general at the Department of Justice, argued on behalf of the government that Nichols was required to notify Kansas of his change of address within three business days of his move because Kansas was “an involved jurisdiction.”
Several of the justices, including Elena Kagan, Stephen Breyer and Chief Justice John Roberts, grappled Tuesday with the language in the statute that defines an involved jurisdiction.
Roberts said the statute is an “awful lot to ask a layperson to parse” in order to avoid the maximum 10-year sentence for violating SORNA.
In trying to understand the statute, Breyer questioned whether Nichols would have had to notify Kansas if he had been living in the Philippines for 15 years and then moved to Thailand
“Why not Kansas?” he asked. “That was a jurisdiction that was involved.”
Gannon said Kansas would only remain involved if the national registry said Nichols still lived in Kansas.
Kagan wondered why the U.S. is even bothering to extradite sex offenders back to the U.S. from other countries if they are only required to say they are leaving the state, not where they are going in the world.
She said it seems like the attitude would be “good luck, good riddance.”
Justice Clarence Thomas, who asked questions for the first time in 10 years during a gun rights case on Monday, remained silent for Tuesday’s arguments.
We are not "pedophile sympathizers" and do not condone abuse in any form! We are ex-offenders, parents, children, husbands, wives & friends of those forced to wear the modern day Scarlet Letter!
The purpose of this petition is to speak out to encourage the reform of the South Carolina Sex Offender laws. To help ex-offenders and their families be treated fairly with the laws that affect them, and to hopefully encourage our law makers who we elected to remember the slavery and Nazi aspects of the political hysteria that sparked an draconian epidemic. These ineffective measures that continues to increase punishment but does not prevent OR DETER criminal activity.
That pursuant to South Carolina Code Annotated Section 23-3-430 (D), upon conviction of an offense not specifically identified, the presiding judge may order registration if good cause is shown by the solicitor.
That the State of South Carolina, in adopting an across the board lifetime registration requirement, has not narrowly tailored the registration requirement to serve a compelling state interest.
That the State of South Carolina, in adopting an across the board lifetime registration requirement, has established no rational basis reasonably tied to a governmental interest in exceeding SORNA’s tiered registration requirement which allows for cessation of registration for certain offenders.
That the State of South Carolina, in adopting an across the board lifetime registration requirement, has established no rational basis reasonably tied to a governmental interest in requiring persons convicted of ABHAN, a non-specifically identified registration offense, to suffer a lifetime registration requirement.
That the State of South Carolina, in adopting an across the board lifetime registration requirement, has established no rational basis for treating those convicted of ABHAN and Criminal Sexual Conduct 1st Degree identically, while SORNA has found justification in treating them differently
That the State of South Carolina has established no rational basis reasonably tied to a governmental interest in lifetime registration without judicial review.
South Carolina is one of the Few States With Serve Sex Offender Laws
South Carolina severity level is one of seven states with the most severe sex offender laws in the U.S.
In her 2015 book Protecting Our Kids? How Sex Offender Laws Are Failing Us, criminologist Emily Horowitz argues that our draconian sex offender laws "promote fear, destroy lives, and fail to protect children." With all of these stories circulating in the news, though, I've been wondering -- what's the best way to reform the sex offender registry?
We humbly pray about the growing national hysteria concerning sex offenders and deviant sexual behavior. Specific strategies include promoting research, treatment, and common sense legislation of real protection of children from sexual harm be coupled with civil liberties for all people concerned, including alleged sex offenders.
Only amending existing laws that violate the rights of offenders and do nothing to protect children, especially those that humiliate and shame offenders, those that criminalize consensual sex among adolescents and young adults, those that restrict the residences and employment of offenders, and those that continue to incarcerate offenders who have completed their sentences under so-called civil commitment. We need our state to consider working with such amendments to protect all people and citizens and also to oppose new, federally enacted draconian legislation.
High-powered attorney and former Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz has denied claims that he had sex with Virigina Roberts when she was 17. Roberts made the claim in a lawsuit accusing Jeffrey Epstein ( BILLIONARE SEX OFFENDER) of using her as a "sex slave." Prince Andrew has also been implicated by Roberts in the underage sex romps.
Months earlier I emailed Mr. Dershowitz, seeking his help to petition the courts on my behalf, he declined! God gave him his gifts and he turned deaf ears to my cry of injustice and he is now feeling the consolation of being innocent and now feeling some feelings I have for the past 30 years!
We are not to turn deaf ears to the cry's of injustice.
State Of Florida is like we are becoming in South Carolina
Florida appears to be about the top state when it comes to fascist sex offender laws. Everyone listed on the state registry is lumped into the same category, no tier system exists. Like South Carolina!! Right now, a teenager caught "sexting" on his cellphone is listed right next to a man who violently raped several children! Even dead people are included on Florida's skewed registry and how that keeps communities safe is beyond me.
In Miami, former sex offenders, many of which have committed non-violent offenses, have been forced to live under the Julia-Tuttle Causeway bridge for about three years until the ruthless politicians went a step further and booted them out, claiming they were situated too close to a "park" that was actually an island that has no park-like structures (i.e. swings). The ACLU filed a lawsuit challenging this claim, but to no avail.
Apparently, there are many corrupted politicians holding office in this state who care nothing about public safety but care plenty about advancing their own careers (fear-mongering is an effective vote-magnet).
Two-faced attorney Ron Book, realizing this human rights violation was gaining media attention, visited the people living under Miami's rat-infested bridge. He made empty promises claiming he would find homes for them. Well, to date Ron hasn't done this, but he has lobbied to go even further with zoning laws even though it has been proven zoning laws are useless.
So now, approximately 100 people (including one woman) are very close to being, if they are not already, homeless in the state after Miami-Dade county has pushed them out from under the bridge. Hard to believe this Nazism is going on in America, but indeed it is.
In an episode from American's Reality Check that interviews some of the people who lived under Julia-Tuttle. You'll get to know more about them and what awful conditions they had to endure. Again, do keep in mind that most (if not all) of them are far from being predators. In fact, the only crime one man committed was having a 15-year-old girlfriend when he was 18. Now he has a family who are just as traumatized by these laws as he is. When the biased media uses harsh crime definitions like "sexual assault of a minor", that includes teenagers who had consensual relationships with other teenagers only a few years apart in age, like in this man's case.
The program is available as a download and I recommend listening to all of it, especially if you are just now learning about this ongoing human rights disaster in the "Sunshine State".
contact seekingjustice@zoho.com to begin the warfare to reform these fascist laws!! https://www.facebook.com/seekingjusticescregistryreform/?ref=hl
The most profound form of "stranger danger" apparent in the nation's criminal justice system arises not in the form of a sexual predator lurking in the shadows. No, the stranger who presents the gravest danger to our society is the lawmaker, judge or prosecutor who seeks to transform the criminal justice system into a blind assembly line. Only if we the people take back the power that is rightfully ours can justice be done.
Consider the so-called Romeo and Juliet laws criminalizing consensual sexual contact between young people when one of the participants is below the age of consent.
Laws raising the age of consent to 16, 17 and 18 years of age were enacted throughout the United States in the late nineteenth century in response to rapid industrialization. There was a fear that young girls leaving their homes in rural communities would be subjected to danger in the cities where factory jobs were plentiful. Activists responded by insisting that the age of consent be raised from 10 and 11 years old. The law was passed not to prohibit acts of curiosity or even love between young people. It was to protect the young from stranger danger.
These laws are still on the books today, and many a young person is now in prison, a felon, a lifetime registrant as a sex offender or otherwise consigned to the indefinite purgatory known as sex offender treatment for the simple act of sexual curiosity. We put these young people on trial and never let the jury know what the consequences of a guilty verdict entail.
When these crimes are charged, a defendant is cast into the criminal justice system. And it is at this point that the newest form of stranger danger takes place. Jurors are often told only what must be proven by the state to find a defendant guilty. Jurors are given no, or, depending on the jurisdiction, little responsibility for punishment. We ask jurors to determine guilt in a vacuum, divorcing the crime from the consequences of being found guilty of it. This is moral cowardice.
The result is a system in which no one really accepts responsibility for what happens to a young person at trial. Lawmakers pass laws in their legislative sanctuary without any particular knowledge of the person on whose neck the law's yoke will fall. This one size fits all approach often works injustice.
Judges then turn their back on justice when a defendant appears before them. If lawmakers mandate a mandatory minimum sentence, then a judge imposes it. The judge disclaims responsibility taking the judicial version of the Nuremberg defense: he or she is, after all, just following orders.
Prosecutors, too, turn away from the consequences of their acts. Legislators create the crimes and penalties. Prosecutors just move the widgets down justice's conveyor belt.
In this way, government becomes unaccountable. When three branches of government -- the legislature, the courts and the executive in the form of the prosecution -- all turn their backs on one another, link arms, and dance a chaotic jig the result is hardly a thing of beauty.
So where do defendants turn for justice? It used to be a jury was told it was free to serve as judge not just of the facts, that is whether something occurred, but also of the law, to wit: whether the law was correctly applied. Almost every state now disapproves of jury nullification, as do the federal courts.
My sense is that we need to revisit jury nullification. Folks involved in combating the excesses of the nation's failed war on drugs have done good work in focusing attention on jury nullification. Those in the reform community on sex offender laws need to forge a link with with drug law reformers and spread the word that jury nullification, i.e., teaching juries about the consequences of what they do and of their right to refuse to be conscripted as assembly-line workers engaged in the detached work of finding so-called facts regardless of the consequences, is an important American tradition that must be revived.
