July 7, 2015—The topic was Sex Offender Registries And Calls For Reform. The guests were Abbe Smith, professor of law and co-director of the Criminal Justice Clinic, E. Barrett Prettyman Fellowship program at Georgetown University, and author of “Case of a Lifetime”; Jill Levenson, associate professor, social work, Barry University, and clinical social worker; Brenda V Jones, executive director, Reform Sex Offender Laws, Inc; and Victor Vieth, founder and senior director, Gundersen National Child Protection Training Center.

While the general topic was the public registry, the focus of the show was on the registry as it related to and impacted juvenile offenders.

Brenda was magnificent! “Our” side made some excellent points, and the show’s hostess seemed to be sympathetic to the need for reform. In fact the program ended with every participant, even the “opposition” agreeing that some reform was needed.

This is a very sympathetic story, and that is what it takes to open doors and start changing perceptions of who is on the registry and changing minds about the problems with public registration as it applies to ALL persons. Our message and our name is getting out there, through various types of media, and this is very important to our cause and our advocacy, and this is what will open even more doors.

The show can be heard in its entirety—one hour—here:

https://thedianerehmshow.org/audio/#/shows/2015-07-07/sex-offender-registries-and-calls-for-reform/110574/@00:00

Written by someone outside of NARSOL

Occasionally we will share articles that have been published elsewhere. This is a common practice as long as only a portion of the piece is shared; a full piece is very occasionally shared with permission. In either case, the author's name and the place of original publication are displayed prominently and with links.