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CALL TO ACTION:

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Call to Action : OH Legislature Going at it Again

http://constitutionalfights.blogspot.com/2011/02/call-to-action-oh-legislature-going-at.html

Ohio Legislators are going at it again. Just six months after having been soundly defeated in the June 2010 Bodyke vs. Ohio Supreme Court ruling, seven Ohio House Representative s have proposed new legislation to retroactively revise Ohio’s sex offender laws to re-capture all offenders who committed crimes before 2008 onto the rolls of the sex offender registry.

Those concerned about this proposed legislation must contact the seven Representative s immediately to express their opposition to this bill. If we are forced to do so, Constitutional Fights will return to the battlefield to help defeat this latest attempt by the Ohio Legislature to violate the constitutional rights of 30,000 Ohio citizens.

The newly proposed bill, House Bill 77 of the 129th General Assembly would amend and repeal parts of the existing Ohio sex offender statutes to:

“clarify that SORN Law definitions of sexually oriented offenses, child-victim oriented offenses, tier classification s, public registry-qualified juvenile offender registrants, and related terms include the specified offenses regardless of when they were committed and to provide for court reclassificati on of offenders and delinquent children who committed their sexually oriented offense or child-victim oriented offense prior to January 1, 2008, and had SORN Law duties based on that offense into one of the tier classification s of the current SORN Law.

View proposed HB 77.

Bill Sponsors:

REPRESENTATIVE S:
Hackett Garland Blessing Combs Grossman Hottinger Patmon

Email: district84@ohr.state.oh.us

Email: district20@ohr.state.oh.us

Email: district29@ohr.state.oh.us

Email: district54@ohr.state.oh.us

Email: district23@ohr.state.oh.us

Email: district71@ohr.state.oh.us

Email: district10@ohr.state.oh.us

We seek legal professionals who are willing to engage in a lawsuit against the State of Ohio should this legislation be put into law. We also still seek legal professionals who are willing to engage in a lawsuit against the State of Ohio regarding the Bodyke Supreme Court ruling of June 2010 for damages of those 30,000 former offenders who were maintained on the sex offender registry 2-1/2 years after they should legally have been removed.

We must collectively hit these legislators squarely in the “front teeth” this time to assure that we do not experience what we experienced between 2008 and 2010.

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Counting the costs (Federal and State Budget Deficit)

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As the federal government struggles to deal with a staggering one-trillion-dollar budget deficit, law enforcement, fire departments, school systems and health care brace for the effects of losing funding to support basic programs.

At the State and Federal level, budget cuts are slicing deep into programs that at one time seemed to be absolutely essential. Now with the reality that there is no money to fund these programs it is every-man-for-himself, as it were.

At the top of the list for cuts are drug enforcement and prevention programs. The DARE Program has been completely cut in many municipalities across the country. The War on Drugs costs a staggering $66,500 per minute. As of January 30, 2011 $3.5 billion had been spent in just 30 days. http://www.drugsense.org/cms/wodclock

In Kansas schools would receive $107 million less next year because of $200 million in lost federal stimulus funding. The Olathe School District stands to lose $2.5 million this year and $5.2 million more next year in state funding under Gov. Sam Brownback’s proposed state budget and community mental health centers would lose $15 million in state funds. Johnson County Mental Health Center stands to lose more than $1 million.

However, there is one extremely pricey piece of legislation that is not going to be cut, the AWA or Adam Walsh Child Protection Act. “Attorney General Derek Schmidt proposes overhauling the state’s offender registry to bring it into compliance with the sex offender registration and notification provisions of the federal Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act. “In tight budget times, these are steps we can take to make Kansas safer and to reduce the burden on child victims,”

Texas is another state that has found itself with a huge shortfall in funds.

Just a few of Texas’ budget cuts: “The proposal would cut a total of $16.1 billion in health and human services spending. That’s a 24.6 percent cut. $9.8 billion short fall for schools. The proposed budget doesn’t include funding for increased numbers of students, for projected declines in property values and related local school taxes, or $3.3 billion in the current budget from federal stimulus money. Public education spending would drop a total of $7 billion from current levels. Higher education would be cut $1.7 billion, or 7.6 percent, from current levels. $3.3 billion from the business and economic development section of the budget.”

The Texas Legislative Budget Board, an independent review agency for the state’s legislature, included its legislative biennium-based report this fiscal impact information, suggesting that SORNA would be very costly to implement in Texas

The true cost of the AWA is unknown, but the estimate from the federal government is $150,000,000 and, as previously noted, this price tag does not include the average 8% increase of registered offenders each year.

The ineffectiveness of the registry though is well known. Studies from many states and agencies prove that the registry and the AWA are simply a waste of money; money that would be better spent on education for our kids, on hospitals and fire departments.

Law enforcement has become a greedy tenant, demanding more and more while offering to let other programs take the shortfalls. It’s time to hold law enforcement accountable for its costs. If laws are ineffective it is time to scrap them for more effective measures. And it is certainly not the time to sacrifice our children’s education for feel-good laws that only stroke the ego of inept politicians who cannot or will not read the reports that tax payer’s money pays for; reports that tell us clearly that the AWA and the registry are not worth the heavy price tag.

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Sex Offender Treatment

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From Sandy Utah, comes a sad story of a repeat Sex Offender who brazenly adduced and raped a 4 years old child in the same store her mother was shopping in. In fact the store was crowed. What motivates a person to do something like this? The answer seems to elude us. The closest thing we can look at for comparison is alcohol and drug addiction.

When a person is diagnosed as an alcoholic or a drug addict, everyone knows these are lifelong afflictions. Many people fight these afflictions on a daily basis. The desire for the substance is ever present, but those who successfully resist these addictions often do so by turning to groups like A.A. (Alcoholics Anonymous) and N.A. (Narcotics Anonymous)

A 12 step program.

Addiction to anything is difficult to fight. It takes courage and knowing what to avoid and doing so. The 12 step program for drug and alcohol addiction helps along both lines. It brings together people

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