Response to the Recent Time Magazine Article, ‘Bad Men’

This was written by Vicki Henry of W.A.R.  I thought it was a good reply to Time magazines one-sided journalism ,So I ask if could pass it on.  This was in response to the recent Time magazine article that just scares people even more.  This is a great response to anyone who thinks the registry is a good idea.

Ms. Dockterman and Editor,

I know the title ‘Bad Men’ was a media ploy to garner readership and invoke fear amongst the readers. I get that, but is was in poor taste. I don’t know that anybody at TIME has an inkling of how difficult it is for our families to live a life surrounded by people who, after reading things such as your article, conclude registrants are irredeemable and are not entitled to breathe the same air that they do. 

Is there ever redemption in the world of the ‘others’ who go about their ‘sin free’ lives after calling their legislators demanding their children and family be protected from the perverts, molesters and pedophiles. Hark, there is no silver bullet! While that is the focus of the first law passed in 1994 and was designed as a law enforcement only tool it has since become an empire. How can that be? Please read these couple of paragraphs and ask yourself who would benefit and who is safe.

According to the NCMEC map there are over 874,725 men, women and children (as young as 8 and 10 in some states) required to register and the “crimes” range from urinating in public (indecent exposure), sexting, incest, mooning, exposure, false accusations by a soon-to-be ex-wife, angry girlfriend, or spiteful student, viewing abusive OR suggestive images of anyone 18 years old or younger, playing doctor, prostitution, solicitation, Romeo and Juliet consensual sexual dating relationships, rape, endangering the welfare of a child, the old bait-n-switch internet stings (taking sometimes 12 months before a person steps over the line) guys on the autism spectrum or with intellectual disabilities and many others.

If you multiply the number on the registry by 2 or 3 family members you can clearly see there are well over 3 million wives, children, moms, aunts, girlfriends, grandmothers and other family members who experience the collateral damage of being murdered, harassed, threatened, children beaten, have signs placed in their yards, homes set on fire, vehicles damaged, asked to leave their churches and other organizations, children passed over for educational opportunities, have flyers distributed around their neighborhood, wives lose their jobs when someone learns they are married to a registrant….all these things occur when these people try to hold their family together and provide the three things that professionals state are needed for successful reintegration; a job, a place to live and a “positive” support system.

Just a sample of the benefactors would be: therapist who decide how often and for how long people have to be in therapy – say $60 a week for ten years, or once a month for fifteen years or lie detector tests ranging from $100 to $300 after you complete and take along a 10-12 page questionnaire for discussion prior to the ‘hook-up’ to the machine which by the way cannot be used in court, but could lead to a police raid of the residence. 

Office staff for the mandated registration and police officers to conduct the residency compliance checks – some politely and inconspicuous and others not so much (their dress attire say it all) and don’t forget the county in Florida that proudly has a car with the signage on the doors “Sex Offender Compliance Vehicle” or the displaced homeless sex offender who congregated under a bridge later deemed “Bookville” after super lobbyist/attorney Ron Book who pushed legislation for 2,500 foot residence restriction. They are having to move again. How many taxpayer dollars are spend trying to track homeless registrants. 

The entrapment, the innocent taking plea deals, the non-contact – non-violent offenses where lives are ruined. The 95% state cases ending in plea deals and the 97% in federal cases resulting in years and years of incarceration in state, federal or privately owned prisons….at, depending on the state, from $22K to $55K per inmate per year.  The contract signed with a private prison requires 95% bed fill rate. 

Lastly, over 30% of the registrants are juvenile-on-juvenile. So, the question becomes….who are the ‘bad guys?”

Attachment – ‘Frightening and High’  https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/188087/30_03_495_Ellman.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y