As usual the media is not telling all the story. Click here to read more about the conference.
08/16/2012
By Katie Kim (Twitter)
ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A national convention about sex offenders is coming to Albuquerque to push for lighter punishment for sex crimes. But opponents, including Governor Susana Martinez, said we need the opposite.
- The highlighted is not the truth, so always read it from the source instead of hearsay.
[name withheld], 43, is president of the Reform Sex Offender Laws New Mexico. The husband and father is also a convicted sex offender.
In 1987, the then-17-year-old [name withheld] was convicted of sexual assault for an incident in Texas. He spent ten years on probation. But in 2000, New Mexico laws changed to force all sex offenders to register with the Department of Public Safety, even those like [name withheld] who served out his probation long before. [name withheld] will need to stay registered for another 13 years, nearly forty years after his "youthful mistake."
- And how old was the "victim?" Was it a teenage romance? Well, we don't know because you don't elaborate but leave it up to everyone to think the worse.
"It is immoral to create laws that punish people in perpetuity even though they've served out their sentence," said [name withheld].
Next month, like-minded advocates from all over the country will come to Albuquerque to try to do just that.
They want to change sex offender laws to have the online registry only available to law enforcement. They're also pushing to remove names of offenders once they complete their probation and to prohibit the state from forcing convicted offenders from registering retroactively.
"It's a violation of human rights to continue to humiliate, tear down and destroy families forever," said [name withheld].
Governor Martinez, a former prosecutor, calls the proposals outrageous.
- Of course she does, she doesn't want to look "soft" on crime, especially sex offenders, it could ruin her career.
"The Governor is outraged to think that anyone would want to limit the rights of parents to know when sex offenders may be around their children," said spokesman Scott Darnell. "As a career prosecutor of heinous child abuse and sex abuse cases, the Governor believes that our sex offender registration laws need to become more strict - not less - and move fully into compliance with the federal Adam Walsh Act."
Parents also said they deserve to know who is living next door.
- So what about all the other criminals who aren't known sex offenders, like murderers, gang members, drug dealers, DUI offenders, etc?
"I should be able to make a conscious decision of where I am allowing my kids to play and who I am letting them play around, even if it was 20 years ago, 30 years ago, 50 years ago," said parent Ariana Brown.
The legislature has tried to pass laws that reform the state's sex offender laws, but they either never made it out of committee or were vetoed by the governor.
[name withheld] said the current registry laws don't make the community safer and only victimize innocent family members.
"I have a wife and I have two small children, and of course, one of my big concerns is how this is affecting them," said [name withheld]. "In a couple years, my kids will be in school. How's this going to affect them in school? Are they going to be bullied and badgered and tortured for something that I did long ago and can't make go away?"
The annual RSOL conference will be held Sept. 6-9 at the Ramada Inn near I-40 and Eubank. Organizers expect more than 100 people from around the country.
RSOL is actually rather pleased with the news and the accompanying story. Why? Besides the free publicity, they put a registrant 'on camera' with a 'sweet young thing'... and they would NEVER put her on the air with a 'dangerous predator.'
ReplyDeleteSecondly, they gave him the standing of 'family man' and let him express concern for the effects this whole mess has on his family.
Third, they gave him the closing statement. This clearly shows they are wanting people to remember "his side" of the issue.
These are standard criteria... widely known and completly understood as the 'unwritten' law of journalism...
And the promos (that hyped the negative) were deliberately contrived to 'hook' those who oppose... which is exactly the 'market demographic' that we *need* to persuade to see the light.
Thus by my criteria, this was a homerun out of the park... and should be widely trumpeted... and so I am very serious in recommending that this go front and center on RSOL's website, and that there should be a proactive (thank you) letter-writing campaign for their great report... along with documentation (ie: links to research reports by credible professionals -- NOT RSOL opinions -- supporting the position RSOL takes...