News & Noteworthy: Articles Concerning Sex Offender Issues: Recidivism

News & Noteworthy: Articles Concerning Sex Offender Issues ©
Our Position on Federal Legislation Affecting Sex Offenders and Why:

HR 4472 "Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2006"

"As we meet today, I believe our nation is on the verge of a full- blown constitutional crisis. Time and time again, when confronted with matters involving balancing the rights and liberties, the Bush administration has opted not only to intrude on those liberties, but to do so in secret and outside the purview of the courts and the Congress. Those of us who raise these issues and voice these concerns don't do so because we want to coddle terrorists or criminals." Rep. Conyers in his speech on 4-6-2006, House Judiciary Committee Hearing on the Department of Justice. Washington Post, 4-6-2006.

Send a letter to OPPOSE HR 4472!
Find your Senator and Representative
then copy and paste the letter below and sign it.

You may also wish to send them a letter in the mail often they get more attention than do e-mails.

Dear Representative and/or Senator:

I am a constituent who is very concerned about all offenders who live in my community. Statistics show that non sex offenders released from prison commit six times more sex offenses than do sex offenders released from prison. (NCJ-198281 pg-24)

I ask you to consider other more effective ways to prevent new victims. Please do not let any new sex offender legislation pass that does not stress treatment for sex offenders. Treatment works and can lower recidivism rates to less than 5.3% (please see Department of Justice "Recidivism of sex offenders released in 1994," (NCJ-198281) (http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/rsorp94.htm). Prison treatment programs exist in all but three of the states in that study, Florida, California, and Oregon.

The "Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2006" HR 4472 still does not address prevention or the true dangers to our communities. Perceived loopholes in sex offender registries are NOT what kill our children; lack of information and public education is! This must stop - now! Most sex offenses against those under 18 (over 90%) are committed by someone they know - a family member, a teacher, a coach, a minister, etc. Focusing only on the registered sex offender gives communities a false sense of security and places families in greater danger.

Today, there are more than 551,000 law-abiding registered sex offenders in the nation. HR 4472 will further limit employment, housing and other opportunities for them, and will expose them and their families to even greater harassment. Laws like these will more likely than not scare registrants off the registries, making our communities and children less safe. These bills will NOT encourage compliance and local police will spend more time and taxpayer dollars on trying to find those who quit registering.

In addition, increasing the term of registration from the current 10 years to life (or 20 years for misdemeanor offenders of minors) is too broad. Some people listed on registries as having offended against minors are people who as an older teen had a consensual relationship with younger teen. These individuals do not deserve to be subjected to harsh punishment which flows from registries. Most of those registered do not, and never will, meet any legal or psychological criteria to be labeled -predatory- nor do the facts of their crimes warrant that label. I also note that registries make no distinction between violent and nonviolent crimes such as the violent rapist, Peeping Toms or someone who has urinated in public. Such a registry leaves communities more confused and scared.

I am also concerned about making -failure to register- a federal crime, especially for technical violations which occur often. This takes away states' rights and does not allow for discretion by judges, parole or probation officers and therapists in determining the reasons for noncompliance and the best recourse for all concerned. HR 4472 treats juveniles as adults and that is wrong! Judges should have discretion where juveniles are concerned.

In closing, I implore you to consider also the forgotten spouses and their children in this dilemma, the family of the registrant. They, too, have the right to be safe in their homes and not harassed by their neighbors. They deserve to be able to go to school and not be teased or ostracized by other children. We can protect these children, too, and find more reasonable and effective ways to keep everyone's children safe.

I am counting on you to OPPOSE HR 4472 the Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2006.

Signed,

How HR 4472 Passed the U.S. House
Perhaps the most important fact to know about "The Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2005" (HR 4472) is that, the full U.S. House has not seen portions of this bill nor have they voted on it. How could this happen, well here is how.

Last September the US House voted on and passed "The Child Safety Act" (HR 3132). Then sent it to the Senate there the bill died. It died for good reasons; it violated principles of constitutional law. It was overbearing and did not contain any preventions provisions to stop sexual offenses.

Then in December of last year Rep. Sensenbrenner introduced "The Children's Safety and Violent Crime Reduction Act of 2005" (HR 4472) which was a combined bill covering two areas of law under one theme. Gang violence and Sex Offenses were combined under Child Safety.

Given that HR 3132 died in the Senate Rep Sensenbrenner wanted a do-over. As Chairperson of the House Judiciary Committee where most all bills about sex offenders are referred to, he was the final decider of which bills would go to the full House floor.

What was done is HR 3132, HR 1751 and HR 1279 were all morphed into HR 4472 and many provisions of HR 3132 were made harsher making life more difficult for sex offenders. However, HR 3132, 1751 and 1279 were approved earlier by the full House but the House never had opportunity to review the harsher provisions of HR 3132.

On March 8, 2006 Rep. Sensenbrenner motioned the House (only 20 or so Members were present) to "Suspend the Rules" in order to get HR 4472 passed and sent to the Senate. He indicates HR 4472 does include 3132, 1751 and 1279 with some modifications and additions, without fully explaining what they were, and the Speaker of the House permitted him to -suspend the rules- on that information.

However, the Speaker was not made aware that other bills have been morphed into HR 4472 without full House debate. They are, HR 4815 (Intro: 2-28), and HR 4905 (Intro: 3-8) and HR 4732 (Intro: 3-8) and HR 4894 (Intro: 3-7) and HR 4883 (Intro: 3-7) all bills that were introduced in the House and referred to the Judiciary Committee of which Rep. Sensenbrenner is Chairperson.

The March 8th Transcript and my comments will help folks understand what took place and who did object and basis. The result was HR 4472 passed -under suspension of the rules- and sent to the Senate. In the Senate it was read twice and assigned to their Calendar No 379.

According to the manual of "How Are Law are Made" (1) a motion for -suspension of the rules- is usually used only for expedited consideration of relatively noncontroversial public measures. All bills about sex offender are highly controversial.

Another excellent description of what occurred "What John Walsh WON'T tell you about The Children's Safety Act (H.R. 4472)" by Sharon Wilson is worth reading.

When bills such as HR 4472, and the procedure by which it was passed, can pass Congressional muster we are in a Constitutional Crisis!

eAdvocate April 2006

Main reasons why HR 4472 is bad legislation!
Within HR 4472 are several retroactive provisions which allow State laws and State judges decisions to be set aside by a federal administrative employee using guidelines. This violates jurisprudence and constitutional separation of powers principle.

The House premise is that former sex offenders are the cause of high profile crimes and other sex offenses. HR 4472 now proposes to over-control them. If the House had reviewed the crimes they claim as a basis for the bill they would have realized that non sex offenders committed many of the crimes.

The House bill is based on several sound bites and false beliefs. An example is, that 100,000 or more sex offenders who are supposed to be registered are lost in the system. Their 100,000 is based on a mathematical calculation from a flawed 2003 telephone study. Those numbers and percentages are carried forward each year as though they were a current fact. The study performed by a non profit corporation believes every person ever convicted of a sex offense should forever be registered. The study fails to recognize that States have granted exemptions and some registration terms have expired. These folks are now considered "lost in the system" which is not true.

Another example is the claim that sex offenders have a high rate of recidivism. The House has failed to look at the 2003 Department of Justice (DOJ) recidivism study which shows a low recidivism rate. That very same study shows that non sex offenders released from prison commit six-times the number of sex offenses than do sex offenders released from prison within three years of release. (2)

Since HR 4472 applies to all kinds of sex offenders then that 2003 DOJ recidivism study is a proper standard because it is the best cross-sectional view of all kinds of sex offenders. That study represents two-thirds of all offenders released that year nationwide. Further, the study does not exclude anyone as most studies do. (2)

Current laws permit the public access to all state registries and the national registry, portions of HR 4472 merely duplicates current law. Further, States also notify each other when offenders move from state to state again HR 4472 duplicates that too. Why have duplicate laws?

A few of the most egregious points of HR 4472 are, it creates predators where an offender may not be by today's definition. (3) HR 4472 redefines predator by the age of the victim which defies the meaning of predator. Further, HR 4472 ignores that many offenders are juveniles who would be labeled a predator for life for mere experimentation.

HR 4472 also expands to include treating all juveniles as though they were adults and saddles them with lifetime registration and the societal consequences that flow from public scrutiny. This destroys a whole generation of youths when with reasonable treatment these folks can grow to again be a productive member of society.

Another maniacal provision of HR 4472 is to penalize someone for 20 years for simply not providing an address in a timely manner. Such penalties are not used with driver's license, professional licenses, or any other governmental agency requiring addresses. The absence of an address doesn't harm anyone, the penalty is excessive and should be struck down.

Continued ---

The Department of Justice in 1997 (DOJ-1997) studied the offenses of 73,116 sex offenders in prison and they uncovered incredible facts which Congress has failed to review. Of the 73,116 sex offenses 50,027 were against victims under 18. As to those victims 46.5% were committed by close relatives of the victims, 46.8% were committed by boy friend / girl friends and other acquaintances, and only 6.7% were by strangers. HR 4472 focuses on stranger type crimes which means it fails to provide any prevention for 93.3% of the sex crimes committed against those under 18. In fashioning legislation analyzing "victim / offender relationships" is supercritical in prevention of future like crimes.(5) See also Chart for assistance with the following statistics.

DOJ-1997 reveals shocking facts about juvenile offenders under HR 4472, if it becomes law. DOJ-1997 statistics can be properly applied to current national figures of registered sex offenders (RSO) to estimate the effect of HR 4472 on them. Parents for Megan's Law (PML) reports 551,987 RSOs in 2005.

Romeo and Juliet cases: DOJ-1997 reports that, 5.2% (4.4% + .8%) of the victims -under 18- the offenders were their boy/girl friend or ex. What is commonly known as Romeo and Juliet cases. Applying that percentage to PML's report of 551,987 RSOs results in 28,652 Romeo and Juliet cases. True not all are, but definitely, a goodly portion nationwide are.

Note: That 5.2% could go 22% higher if you included the friend and ex-friend group. Maybe those were budding relationships gone bad. If included that would make 151,796 cases. WOW!

Children Declared Predators: DOJ-1997 reveals and even more shocking fact about how many youths nationwide will be automatically declared predators regardless of the facts of their case, if HR 4472 is made law. DOJ-1997 reports that, 1.7% of the victims -under 18- the offenders were their siblings or step siblings. Applying that percentage to PML's report of 551,987 RSOs results in 9,383 predatory cases nationwide. These are siblings of the victim.

In many of the high profile crimes where a previously convicted sex offender was involved, that offender during his previous period of incarceration, was denied therapy because the state didn't provide it, or the offender refused therapy or was kicked out of therapy for simple non compliance with rules.

It seems to me that non compliance with rules demonstrates a higher need for therapy, the state kicking the offender out as a sort of punishment actually violates public safety. Florida, California, Oregon and now Alaska all refuse to provide therapy for offenders while they are in prison. Florida has had the highest number of children murdered by previously convicted offenders, all those offenders were denied therapy even when they asked for it.(4)

Congress claims HR 4472 is based on Florida's high profile victims and others, but never mentions therapy in prisons. All HR 4472 does is track offenders after they commit crimes. HR 4472 contains no provisions to prevent crimes, and that is the main reason it should not be made law!

HR 4472 is a maniacal overly broad response to a problem that calls for a focused visionary response. Congress needs to stop using victim's names as war crys and look at the facts of each crime to fashion proper visionary legislation for the future. Today there is a constitutional crisis and it includes sex offense legislation!

eAdvocate April 2006

--- Resources ---

1:	How Our Laws Are Made, *Motion To Suspend the Rules* On Monday and Tuesday of each week and during the last six days of a session, the Speaker may entertain a motion to suspend the rules of the House and pass a public bill or resolution. Sometimes the motion is allowed on days other than Monday and Tuesday by unanimous consent or a rule from the Committee on Rules. For example, the House by rule from the Committee on Rules provided for the motion on Wednesdays for the remainder of the 108th Congress. Members need to arrange in advance with the Speaker to be recognized to offer such a motion. The Speaker usually recognizes only a majority member of the committee that has reported or has primary jurisdiction over the bill. The motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill is debatable for 40 minutes, one-half of the time in favor of the proposition and one-half in opposition. The motion may not be separately amended but may be amended in the form of a manager's amendment included in the motion when it is offered. Because the rules may be suspended and the bill passed only by affirmative vote of two-thirds of the Members voting, a quorum being present, this procedure is usually used only for expedited consideration of *relatively noncontroversial public measures*. The Speaker may postpone all recorded and yea-nay votes on certain questions before the House, including a motion to suspend the rules and on passage of bills and resolutions, until a specified time or times on that legislative day or the next two legislative days. At these times, the House disposes of the postponed votes consecutively without further debate. After an initial fifteen-minute vote is taken, the Speaker may reduce to not less than five minutes the time period for subsequent votes. Eliminating intermittent recorded votes on suspensions reduces interruptions of committee activity and allows more efficient scheduling of voting.
2:	Recidivism of sex offenders released in 1994, Published 2003, Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, Langan, P. A., & Levin, D. J. NCJ-198281. Abstract: Presents, for the first time, data on the rearrest, reconviction, and reimprisonment of 9,691 male sex offenders, including 4,295 child molesters, who were tracked for 3 years after their release from prisons in 15 States in 1994. The 9,691 are two-thirds of all the male sex offenders released from prisons in the United States in 1994. The study represents the largest followup ever conducted of convicted sex offenders following discharge from prison and provides the most comprehensive assessment of their behavior after release. See Chart for comparison of sex offenses committed by sex offenders and non sex offenders.
3:	Predatory; The term “predatory” means an act directed at a stranger, or a person with whom a relationship has been established or promoted for the primary purpose of victimization. 42 USC 14071 (a)(3)(E).
4:	FLORIDA VICTIMS: Jessica Lundsford(2005), Amanda Brown(1998), Sarah M Lunde(2004), Carlie Brucia(2005); FLORIDA OFFENDERS: John Couey, Willie Crain Jr., David Onstott, Joseph Smith. All were denied therapy when they were in prison because Florida does not provide therapy to those it imprisons. See "What can be done about sexual predators" Editorial, 2-5-2006. "... The tragedy is that for 20 years Florida ran a widely admired, well-functioning rehabilitation program in a special prison for sexual predators. Then the program's funds were stopped in 1989 by then-Gov. Bob Martinez and the Legislature. There followed a long period when convicted sexual offenders received no treatment in state prisons." Further, John Couey specifically asked for therapy while on probation and was denied. See Sexual crimes: No easy answers, by JAMIE THOMPSON, LEONORA LAPETER, St Petersburg Times 4-24-2005. "... "Many people who need and want help don't get it. One example: John Couey. He requested mental health assistance for nearly three decades. He told police in 1991 that he had a problem but had not received help to "control his sexual attraction for young children." Notice the correlation, Gov. Bob Martinez stopped funding therapy in Florida's prison in 1989, John Couey asked for therapy in 1991 while on probation and was denied. John Couey murdered Jessica Lundsford in 2005.
5:	Inmates in State Correctional Facilities, 1997 (DOJ-1997); Page 36 of "Recidivism of sex offenders released in 1994," that study was the largest study of recidivism ever. However, there was one key piece of information not available to the researchers, "victim / offender" relationship. To resolve that the DOJ extrapolated from BJS Survey of "Inmates in State Correctional Facilities, 1997" data on 73,116 prisoners who reported having one victim. Those prisoners represented 84% of all incarcerated male sex offenders in 1997 NATIONWIDE.

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