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News & Noteworthy © ---
Featured Issue 8-6-06 |
How "The Adam Walsh Act" and "Political Hype"
misleads the public about GPS monitoring of sex offenders!
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7-26-2006 Florida:
Law puts predators in U.S. database: Sex offenders also on list |
.Mug shots and personal details profiling Brevard County's 696 registered sexual predators and offenders soon will be posted on a national database. Thursday, President Bush signed the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act during a ceremony in the White House rose garden. The legislation -- finalized on the 25th anniversary of Walsh's abduction -- will create a countrywide sexual criminal registry, listing photos, addresses, physical descriptions, vehicles, employment and other pertinent information. [snip]
For the Adam Walsh Act, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Orlando, added a provision designating $15 million in federal grants over three years for states that track sexual perpetrators using global positioning systems. Included is Florida, which uses ankle bracelets to monitor predators after release from prison. "It's sad that in society, we have these people that are so mentally disturbed and they are so prone to recommit acts when they get out of prison," Nelson said.
However, Carolyn Ferguson, executive director of the sexual offenders' rights group SoHopeful International, said taxpayer expenditures for the Adam Walsh Act would be better spent on educational programs. "Considering that 90 percent of sex offenses are committed by someone who is not a sexual offender, the policy direction the federal government is taking is wrong-headed," Ferguson said.
..more..
: by Rick Neale, Florida Today
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7-31-2006 Illinois:
Illinois hopes for money to track sex offenders |
.Illinois hopes to get millions of dollars for global positioning systems to track sex offenders. The money is part of a bill President Bush signed into law last week. The "Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act" will establish a pilot program that will divide $25 million for electronic monitoring systems. The money will be divided among 10 states.
Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel urged congress to include funding for GPS monitoring. Illinois must apply for a share of the $25 million. Emanuel says he plans to be the first state to submit a request.
..more..
: by ABC7 Chicago
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Politicians justify implementing GPS: "nearly instantaneous information" which will "prevent" -BUT- "not prevent" and Iowans you will pay for this to protect your children! |
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8-4-2006 Iowa:
Some sex offenders to get GPS bracelets |
.More than 500 electronic bracelets equipped with "real-time" global positioning systems will be used to help track convicted sex offenders across the state, under legislation passed earlier this year. Iowa lawmakers approved $2.4 million to fund the monitoring bracelets as part of the $449 million justice-system appropriation bill, Senate Republican Leader Mary Lundby said in a recent press release.
U.S. Census Bureau: Shows 2,966,344 Iowans. Active GPS for 500 sex offenders will cost $4,800 each, and every Iowan will pay roughly $.81 per year to pay for them.
As best as I can understand what these politicians are saying is, prosecutors will be able to tell "who killed the child" after the child has been killed.
Hey, they figured out who killed Jeseta Gage without spending $2.4 million. The benefit of GPS is? Remember, GPS CANNOT be programmed for the bedroom of every child in America.
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The "real-time" GPS technology will provide nearly instantaneous information on a sex offender's exact location, as opposed to the older "radio frequency" bracelets, which could only alert the Iowa Department of Corrections when an offender was more than about 100 feet from her or his residence, said Rep. Lance Horbach, R-Tama. The difference, he said, is the "real-time" bracelets can more effectively prevent future attacks.
"The 'real-time' bracelets can be used as preventative tools, as well as prosecutorial tools," Horbach said. "The radio frequency bracelets can help prosecute an offender but not prevent something from happening."
..more..
: by Leah Dorzweiler - The Daily Iowan
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.Well there is no doubt folks have heard the cry of Politicians nationwide about the Adam Walsh Act (AWA). Politicians and supporters of the Act are heralding it as the best thing since seven up to resolve sex offenses. You know whenever I hear the rah-rah of those folks it scares the heck out of me because I know, from history, they are touting "sound bites" and the real story is in what they are not telling folks.
Didn't folks hear the rah-rah about the Jacob Wetterling Act and the Pam Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act ten or so years ago? Yup, we heard it back then, and what the Politicians are not telling folks today is, let me quote from AWA, "Sec. 129 REPEAL OF PREDECESSOR SEX OFFENDER PROGRAM. (a) Repeal- Sections 170101 (42 U.S.C. 14071) and 170102 (42 U.S.C. 14072) of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, and section 8 of the Pam Lychner Sexual Offender Tracking and Identification Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C. 14073), are repealed."
Years of lawmaking, billions of tax dollars down the tubes, and they want us to believe them again, that AWA is the answer. Today their cry is "GPS" of sex offenders, these offenders need to be tracked closer. I certainly hope folks can see the fallacy in that thought, track offenders to the crime which is committed in seconds, and somehow the public feels better that prosecutors will now be able to know -for sure- who committed the crime. This act will make prosecution easier. WOW, hey guys, there is a problem in that logic too, the victim is still a victim, nothing was PREVENTED! But, we have a better telephone book of offender addresses.
Enough of my ranting. So folks do know, there are a few parts to AWA worth keeping, but today the topic is GPS and what Congress has not told the public.
Who can be monitored with GPS:
Sen. Nelson of Florida introduced S 980 the purpose being to "use global positioning systems to monitor convicted sexual offenders or sexual predators released from confinement." (Text of bill in AWA link below) OK, it can be used for all registered sex offenders not just predators. However, one needs to understand other comments made in the bill, "Congress finds: (1) in recent years we have seen multiple cases of convicted sexual offenders serving probation abducting and murdering young children; ..."
What that means is, if a person is put on probation (or parole) for -any kind of crime- and that person has a sex offense somewhere in his/her background, they fit the criteria for GPS monitoring. The bill is referencing two specific crimes which occurred in Florida, Sen. Nelson's home state, Jessica Lundsford and Carlie Brucia. Both of the offenders, John Couey (with a history of sex offenses) and Joseph Smith (with no history of sex offenses) were on probation for drugs crimes when they murdered those victims.
Congress displays a serious lack of vision by targeting only persons with a history of a sex offense (Joseph Smith would not have been monitored if AWA was in effect then). Sec. 102 of the AWA shows 17 victims, and the Act's namesake -Adam- makes 18, of which 3 are crimes unsolved today (nothing is known about the offenders), and, 5 of the crimes where committed by persons who had no sex offense in their backgrounds. Of the remaining ten offenders, seven refused to take therapy while in prison -or- the state failed to provide them a therapy program during their incarceration (Florida, 3 cases). Further, the Dep't of Justice statistics show that non sex offenders released from prison commit 87% of the new sex crimes while sex offenders released from prison commit 13%.
Who will get GPS funding for Pilot Program:
With legislators throughout the nation believing they can get funds for GPS monitoring through the AWA, the AWA has only approved a "Pilot Program." Nothing but a handful of states will ever get money for GPS monitoring, and they will have to qualify and meet minimum standards set for the program (Sec. 621(a)(C)). Congress then establishes a mandatory provision for an experiment, some states or maybe within the same state, Congress will provide grants for "different approaches to monitoring" to ultimately have the ability to assess which method is most effective. (Sec. 621(b)). My spin on this is, those areas of the nation that do not meet the "minimum standard" will be less safe than those that do meet the standard. An experiment with lives at stake?
To those who will take me to task on that comment I offer, why is it that Congress is not willing to accept studies already performed by a few states? It is likely those states will be part of this experiment because they are more advanced on the topic by their own efforts. Yet, Congress feels it must recreate the wheel, or maybe those studies already disclose a inherent problem with Active GPS (the minimum standard)? Ahh, there it is.
Known problems with Congress' minimum standard:
Maryland study quotes: "A body of research concentrating on criminal offenders demonstrates that GPS, like other supervision tools, should not be applied en mass to all offenders or categories of offenders." (pg-v)
"The PTD (Portable Tracking Device) runs on a battery lasting anywhere from sixteen (16) to twenty-four (24) hours and must be removed from the person and recharged for approximately four (4) to six (6) hours in a charging unit run on household electricity. Consequently, the user must have access to electricity daily, thereby creating additional challenges in the use of GPS on homeless individuals." pg-3
"With an active system, the problems associated with inaccessibility of cellular service can occur, thereby making real time tracking impossible if the PTD is in a cellular “dead spot.” However, location data would still be able to be stored in the PTD even in these circumstances and retrieved when the PTD was again in range. (Except in inclement weather, hurricaines) pg-4
"GPS systems are all subject to interruptions in the signal reception caused by physical barriers and certain structures. Individuals inside buildings and vehicles have found that their PTDs have been unable to receive sufficient satellite signals to track their locations. In urban settings, the height of buildings has even blocked satellite signal reception for individuals on the street. In other jurisdictions, dense brush, trees and weather conditions have interrupted the satellite signals." pg-5
That is only the tip of the iceberg, the link to the study is below and folks can read it at their leisure. Suffice to say, there are documented flaws which would contradict the Congressional theory about Active GPS. I will bet when the final GPS study for Congress comes in 2010 (Sec. 621(c)(2)) that all those flaws will be edited out or written in such a way that they will not be a flaw; wordsmithing. Several other states have also completed the same type of study with similar results. The key in all the studies, GPS is premised on a "risk assessment" instrument, Congress says no to that, Congress wants to DESIGNATE Tiers based on the PAST CRIME that caused registration. I hope all lawyers are listening.
New Mexico performed a similar study and it was reported in the article "Community Corrections High-Tech Challenges and Solutions" (link below) which also looked at studies from Massachusetts and Vermont. One comment made by Steve Lickwar, Ass't Dir. of Field Services for the Vermont DOC stuck in my mind, ""The future is we need to use technology to do these things smarter and not just apply it over the old way. [The active system] looks like it is a deterrent [when it is on], but there is no difference between those who have it on and those who don't in terms of long term recidivism rates," he said. Recidivism, isn't that what is touted will be reduced by the use of GPS?
GPS Funding for Pilot Program:
Sec. 621(c)(1) appropriates $5,000,000 for the years 2007 through 2009, $15,000,000 in total. Maryland reported, for active monitoring which AWA requires, a cost of $9 to $12 per day (their study covered 4 other states) or $4,380 per year per offender. Likewise Iowa reported a similar cost of $13 per day and $4,800 per year per offender. None of the systems included costs to setup equipment in the offender's home either. Lets use ($9.00 + $12.00 / 2) $10.50 per day or $3,832 per year for our discussion. So for the pilot program $5,000,000 per year means 1,304 offenders can be monitored each year. Remember, several states will qualify and the money is to be equally divided. Is that really going to make the "nation" safer?
GPS Funding for those on Parole or Probation:
Sen. Nelson of Florida, in his S 980 bill, told us "who will ultimately be monitored," and he said the intent is to monitor ONLY those folks on probation or parole who have a sex offense in their background. That number is going to be far higher than just those on probation or parole for a current sex offense but -current sex offenders on probation or parole- are the only numbers generated by the Department of Justice statistics.
According to the latest Dep't of Justice Parole and Probation report (link is below), there are 4,144,782 folks on probation nationwide at the end of 2004. The report shows 3% of them are sexual assault cases or 124,343 in total. Missing from that report is the exact percentage of folks on parole for sex offenses, so lets use 3% again (the DOJ 1994 Recidivism Study showed 9,691 so 3% is likely low). Total folks on parole is 745,125 using 3% as sex crimes that means 22,353. Summing the two together is 146,696.
To fund 146,696 offenders at $3,832 each will cost $562,139,072 per year or approximately 1.7 billion dollars over 3-years. The studies considered getting the offenders to pay for the GPS units. To think that is a possibility is like believing in the Yellow Brick Road of the Wizard of Oz. Congress and state legislatures have legislated offenders out of any jobs that would allow them to pay their daily bills. Iowa is a prime example of how residency laws have displaced offenders from their homes and most are living in rural areas or homeless. Maryland warns us that Active GPS rarely works in rural areas and certainly not without electricity which the homeless do not have access to. John Q. Public will ultimately fund GPS units that is reality.
The Congressional Budget Office estimated that it will cost $1.5 billion to implement the Adam Walsh Act. Then expect $1.7 billion every 3-years just for GPS monitoring. So, what Congress has done with their "GPS Pilot Program" is use it as a marketing tool (Sound Bite) to get the main Adam Walsh Act passed. After all haven't politicians nationwide touted GPS and gathering support for the AWA? Sound bites without revealing the true costs of the program or the inherent problems with cellular GPS systems. No wonder Congress is ignoring studies already performed, under grants from the Justice Department, because those studies would undermine the GPS Sound Bite! I wonder what their story will be in 2010 when the AWA study is completed? I bet it will be no different than what state studies say today.
Will the nation's children be safer or will we be hearing another bill named after a new victim with a provision that "REPEALS THE PREDECESSOR SEX OFFENDER PROGRAM," the Adam Walsh Act? History does have a tendency to repeat itself especially in politics. Should John Q. Public hold Congress accountable, if so, when?
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Sources:
The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act, Section 621 Pilot Program for Monitoring Sexual Offenders. PART-II is Senate bill 980 "Sexual Predator Effective Monitoring Act of 2005" introduced by Sen. Nelson of Florida.
Child Molesters Would Face Death Under New Bill (7-21-2006) by 10News.com. "Child advocates have called the bill the most sweeping sex offender legislation to target pedophiles in years. It would: "Provides federal funding for states to track pedophiles using global positioning devices."
Parole and Probation Agents: Community Corrections High-Tech Challenges and Solutions (1-30-2006) by Michelle Gaswau, Managing Editor Correction.com
John Couey: Suspect in 9-year-old's death booked into Florida jail (3-20-2005) by CNN. "Criminal History: Outstanding warrant for violation of probation charge stemming from a 2004 arrest for possession of marijuana under 20 grams and possession of drug paraphernalia."
Joseph Smith: Judge: 'I did my job' in Smith case (2-6-2004) by CNN. "... Smith tested positive for drug use in August, but the probation officer noted that the test could have been affected by Smith's use of prescription painkillers and antidepressants. The second violation came when Smith fell behind in his court payments, a $411 bill that was to be paid by the fall. Rapkin said because Florida does not have a "debtors prison," he could not jail Smith for simply falling behind in payments. He said that is a frequent occurrence for people on probation, but then they usually catch up."
Maryland: Task Force to Study Criminal Offender Monitoring by Global Positioning Systems: December 2005, Final Report to the Governor and the General Assembly
Department of Justice: Probation and Parole in the United States, 2004. Table 2 "Adults on Probation," Table 3 "Characteristics of Adults on Probation" -Sexual Assault 3%-, and Table 4 "Adults on Parole."
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