U.S. Congress successfully extends the “Megan” franchise
By David Kennerly….
We lost the battle, brewing for some eight years in Congress, which will effectively stop those of us, U.S. ‘registered sex offenders.’ from venturing beyond our own countries. The enactment of International Megan’s Law is not the end of the war, however, as we are fighting back against this injustice in the courts and, to the extent that we wield any influence, in the media.
The bill was signed into law by President Obama February 8th of this year and will stoke the fire under the simmering cauldron which ‘child sex offenders’ are forced to inhabit and further diminish our already depleted portfolio of rights.
To capsulate the highlights of the law (and which I see as the nadir of a once free society):
- It will criminalize the act of traveling outside the U.S. without prior notice and permission from the government. Ten-year terms in federal prison await those of us who fail to do so.
- It will obligate the Department of Homeland Security to notify foreign governments of the anticipated travel of U.S. ‘child sex offenders’ and encourage those governments to do what they will with that information, whether that be to slam the door in our faces or something even worse.
- It will obligate the Department of State to revoke the passports of U.S. ‘sex offenders’ and require them to reapply for new ones with a designation affixed to each indicating its bearer to be a ‘sex offender.’ [Note: this provision is not limited to ‘child sex offenders’ but includes all ‘sex offenders.’]
There are a number of other details, none of which ameliorate the law to our advantage, which provide a structure for carrying out this mission or which specify the information which the ‘sex offender’ must provide before travel, such as detailed itineraries, purpose for travel, places one intends to stay, etc.
So much for spontaneity in travel! Of course, that assumes that there are countries that will let us in the door in the first place.
Here’s the funny thing: perhaps the most important aspect of this law, the notification of foreign governments of the intended travel by U.S. ‘sex offenders,’ has already been the practice of the U.S. Government for some three years. The U.S. has been issuing these foreign notifications, in the absence of any clear authority to do so, and Registrant travelers have already been turned away in droves by many countries, some of which have, coincidentally, explicitly (and very recently) announced laws forbidding ‘sex offenders’ from entering their countries.
So, the peculiar thing about this new law is that we already have a very good sense of how it will play out and the results, so far, aren’t pretty, with many Registrants facing humiliating refusals at foreign ports of entry and being made to get on the first returning flights to the U.S.
Exceptions to those countries routinely turning away all Registrants, however, appear to be some Western European countries such as The Netherlands and France (but not the U.K., of course). Many other countries, particularly Asian and Latin American countries, as well as Russia, have joined with the U.K. in refusing entry to U.S. ‘sex offenders.’
The eerily-named governmental consortium called ‘The Five Eyes,’ which consists of the U.S., U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand, had already been turning away each others’ ‘sex offenders’ for many years now, a fact which provides some strong clues as to the origin of this more recent global expansion of the policy of internal exile for ‘sex offenders.’
The critical component, which is facilitating this worldwide travel ban, is the international police agency, INTERPOL, which has openly lobbied for such bans. This is an agency which deserves far more scrutiny than it once did when it was mostly a sleepy backwater in danger of complete irrelevance. It has been completely made-over by the most powerful governments who comprise its membership and the new INTERPOL is very muscular and frightening, indeed. If ever there were an entity deserving of a full-on paranoid conspiracy theory, INTERPOL would be it.
The only way that we know anything about the fallout from our government’s extant policy of notifying foreign governments of U.S. Registrants’ travel (which predates the recent law, not yet in effect) is from the message boards at California RSOL (CARSOL) where several of us started discussing this looming issue some three or four years ago.
The only way we knew which countries were barring us was by simply attempting to travel to those countries and then reporting back to the CARSOL discussion forum. The U.S. government neither informed us ahead of time that it had begun notifying foreign governments of our ‘sex offender’ status, nor did it provide any reports of which countries had been refusing us entry. The results of this program, however, soon became quite evident as more startled and alarmed Registrants took to our forum to report recent frustrated attempts at travel.
We are preparing a country-by-country matrix based upon those attempted travel experiences that will be available shortly. Nevertheless, the information in that report will exist only because individual Registrants reported their experiences to the CARSOL message board and, as such, that information will almost certainly be incomplete.
If this is sounding a bit like a grassroots effort to fight back against an ugly, unfolding (and uncommunicative) juggernaut aimed precisely at us, then you are right.
From what I can tell, our group, alone, has been gathering the appalling details of this secretive regimen and exposing it to the light of day although we now have the satisfaction in knowing that they are beginning to be known more widely, thanks to a handful of media reports.
I am encouraged by the individuals or publications which have begun to respond critically to IML such as Lenore Skenazy (Free Range Kids), David Post (of the Volokh Conspiracy, now part of the Washington Post), Reason Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Slate Magazine, Counterpunch Magazine, and the Washington Times. No, they’re not overwhelming in their number, but striking in their willingness to break both the complicitous silence and the flip-side hysteria which has gripped the press for so long when the subject is ‘sex offenders.’
read the rest of the article here
These laws sure are bad and getting worse all the time. So what are we going to do about it?
Everybody just write one letter. Please
I wrote to Diane Feinstein this week on your behaves. Enough is Enough. I agree. If all of you AND your family member wrote one letter that would be millions of letters.
I was looking on the Women Against Registry website and I have just read declarations by the administrators of 3 different government agencies . I’m not sure, but I think that they are official briefs to the court explaining to a judge why he should throw out a request to prevent IML.
What I found that irks me, is their smug and arrogant claims that they have already been doing these things, except for the passport identifier. But what they didn’t say, is that they already know what our passport numbers are and that those passports are already flagged. They neglected to explain how they already detain us and our family in an intimidating matter in full public view.
They say that the law won’t prevent us from traveling freely. That their not responsible for what other countries do about letting foreigners enter. But they forgot to mention the letter that they send to that receiving agency, which will state of how the US DOJ believe it is the intention of the traveling RSO to commit a sex crime in their country. Because “everyone knows, it’s not a matter of ‘if’, but a matter of ‘when’.” It’s not the fault of the U.S. government that the RSO will be immediately apprehended, and/or interrogated without an attorney, and/or made to sign documents in a language he doesn’t understand, but for sure, they are to be turned around at he border, put back on a plane home, at their own expense, whatever that expense will be.
What I see in the IML, is that my government wants the world to believe what they believe, and just in case I might want to hide my shame, they will make sure I go to prison for ten years.
I am a ex-criminal because I committed a crime 35 years ago. But the men who signed those documents, in my mind, they are criminal today!!!
Very well stated and thanks for your efforts !! I remain astounded at so many ‘s ravenous appetite for misguided persecution.
This is a slippery slope. Now it’s passports. But it won’t stop there. Driver’s licenses will be next. Heck, we all know about Florida. Do we really believe that this is where it all ends? No way!
I don’t think we give congress and the American people enough credit for coming up with unimaginable ways to hurt us and while we languish, the punishments they inflict do absolutely nothing to protect society. And the lawmakers know it. They are greedy and they want power.
I really want to know on what grounds (rationale) the Congress can outlaw or prevent someone from sponsoring a foreign born spouse or spouse-to-be other than show they can just because? Deterrent for what? I can see it to prevent underage marriage, but there is no federal age of consent law (that I can find), only state law which varies from 16-18 years old. 2 consenting adults from countries (USA and other) should be able to be sponsored and wedded. This seems to be an overreach by Congress. I would not know where to catalogue this to challenge it in court, but seems illegal on some grounds.
Can someone enlighten us?
International lawsuits can be levied in other countries if there is no remedy for grievances in the US. The eroded liberties afforded to the disenfranchised are continually minimized and threatened daily. Arm yourself with knowledge and digest everything you can on matters not only affecting you but your entire family
I, too, would like to know how they can justify this. It is a major stumbling block for myself and my Filipino fiance.
When I read the rejection the justice (or should I say tyrant) gave it is pretty clear they had their ears closed. I think there should be a justice brought in from another state because the ones in California are biased against Janice anyway. Did they even site cases to support their decisions? How can they say registrants are free to travel when they are basically blocking the destinations.
Why can’t this be a suit in civil court? People sue over anything, Burn your lip on a hot cup of coffee and that’s worth a million. So why not seek damages for the mental anguish or other things the people are being made to suffer?
What rejection are you referencing? The IML hearing is scheduled for March 30, so there’s been no rejection of anything related to the IML challenge (which is styled as a civil case).
Sorry, meant to say response.
Sooner or later.. We’re gonna have to get angry enough that we do more then talk. Our founding fathers had to rattle sabers and then they moved on to out right civil disobedience. And sadly It’s nearing that time.
Personally I think it’s near time we fight back because peaceful resolution to such tyranny has never happened. I doubt it ever will. They keep pushing us and attacking us. Treating us like animals. Sooner or later abused animals bit back.
Will, I don’t disagree with you but how can we fight back without playing right into their hands? Any “fight” outside of a courtroom will be deemed as proof that we truly are a menace to society. I’d like to fight back but how do you suggest we do that without giving the enemy ammunition to use against us?
Paul and Will,
The first step in our fight is to join RSOL if you have not already and join your State RSOL affiliate. Additionally, education is the key to overcoming fear for both those against us and we, ourselves.
Be knowledgeable to the facts of your case and the data concerning the registry. Bed open to talking to people and educating them. If each of us educate 5 others around us that would make 4 million on our side.
And lastly, play the game in every aspect and follow the rules. Set aside the pride and use the system. It will soon start to crumble under its own weight.
JR,
I hear you on the other points. But I’m not sure if I approached 5 people I knew, they would agree with me, even with a dispassionate presentation of the facts regarding the registry. I’ve actually tried that on some people, JR. It hasn’t worked. Some of them are too conditioned. I hate to sound cynical but it’s not a simple task. Perhaps I need to take a Dale Carnegie course or read The Art of the Deal. Besides, we are living in a country where our fears are being played upon so the vampires (cough, cough, excuse me, “politicians”) can gain more power and job security.
If you have convinced five others JR, what’s your secret? Oh sure, my family is convinced. Some of my friends (the few I still have) are convinced. But perfect strangers? Hard to do.
Perhaps my mistake is to try to tell them that this could happen to them. People dismiss that outright. No one believes it. It’s like I’m telling them that they could just as easily be struck by lightning.
I think that if all of you by the thousands showed up on your local state capital with sleeping bags as a symbol of homelessness and abandon, that would get attention. Along with your family and friends. That would be in the millions.
Let me know when and where; I’m in Raleigh, NC.
Will they penalize us if we gather for protest since they say RSOs cannot assemble together!!!
I’m sick and tired of these draconian laws. I’ve no inclination towards children in sexual way but being labeled as a “sex offender” automatically makes you a child molester or rapist in the society’s eyes, even churches are no exception. What a country have come to now? Land of the “free”, home of the “brave”
I am sorry to say but people will never rise up. Especially for this cause. To rise up would mean people would actually have to oppose the police and in this country people worship anyone with a badge and a gun.
It is absolutely time that we start doing something as a group Yes But how to join this group if one doesn’t have the required funds to join. I am an RSO having been released recently from 3 yrs of Federal Supervised Release/Probation after serving 72 mths of an 84 mth sentence in an FCI for the Possession and Downloading of Child Abusive Materials.While on Federal Supervised Release it is virtually impossible to be any such advocate and/or be a part of any social group(s) for that matter. I was able to learn of and somewhat follow this group, yet for obvious reason was unable to join back then. I did much cheering from the sidelines, but that was all I could do then. NOW as I attempt to engage and join the fight it appears one must pay to join this group. I am totally ruined now and have not had an income for more than a year. If it wasn’t for a life long friend I would be homeless and more than likely, not living period. Why must there be a mandatory charge to join?
Dear David, I have a 33yr old felony sex offense against a minor stemming from a USAF General Courts Martial but I have never been on a registry. I am now 60 and plan to go to Costa Rica in May. After reading your article, I am VERY concerned now, especially with:
“It will criminalize the act of traveling outside the U.S. without prior notice and permission from the government. Ten-year terms in federal prison await those of us who fail to do so.”
Who do I have to talk to? Who do I have to tell? I had never been in trouble before or after my offense and I surely don’t want to set myself up for a 10yr prison sentence just because i want to go on vacation.
I believe it was June ’09 when I made the prediction that SO laws. i.e., registry/registration, were only “precursor” laws or, “something that precedes and indicates the approach of another”. This is why you have in just about every US state legislature passing one SO law right after another, back to back, a heeping and a piling on, one law more Draconian than the other. The flood gates being openned for this with the US Supreme Court ruling in the Doe v Smith and the Connecticut case back in ’03. And that stupid ruling Doe v Miller in which the presiding Judge stated…”You have no Constitutional right to live where you want to live”! Yes, this guy actually said that. Byt anyway. again, I said it back ’08 that this type of thing, e.g., IML was coming down the pipe. I knew it, I could see it just as plain as I see the sky everyday. Everyone, please study the history on the Jewish people, Nazi Germany in the 1930s. Get a hold of a copy of the “Nuremburg Laws” passed by the Reichstag (German Congress) in ’35 and then compare those laws to SO laws of today. And guess what, the Nuremburg Laws were passed right before the trains were packed with these poor people and started rolling on their way to Buckenwald, Triblinka, Belsen Belsen, and other concentration camps north. It was called the “Final Solution”. Given the utter comtempt, the venomous hate that the Nazi people, I mean the American people have for RSOs, are we as RSOs heading for a Final Solution?
You need to read the article in the New Yorker this month. Cover Story. “Sexual Offenses. Should children as young as NINE be put on the SOF for life”… Disturbing article about our society.
I am donating to your cause. I can’t do more than 10 a month but it’s because I don’t want my country to turn into Nazi Germany. This is how it all started over there. With lists of criminals and “sexual deviants” that were hauled off and executed much to the glee of the general public until they themselves saw their own movements restricted and their neighbors hauled off to death.
We have a constitution and it’s time it was respected. No double jeopardy. No ex-post facto prosecution. It’s time our Supreme Court followed the laws of our land set forth by our founding fathers.
Let me jump in here a minute. I don’t usually like to comment on these sites’ anymore because man thinks they can solve man’s problems. I’ve been mixed up in this sex registry for 3 years and after my probation I will have a lifetime to go.
It seems everybody wants to take a different approach to this Megan’s law or whatever one wants to call all these laws. To me most all these laws’ are all man made. So when doesn’t anybody on here put God into the equation.
That’s my point they don’t and man wants to solve all his problems man’s way. God is much more better.
Now think about this. We have victimless crimes, such as urinating on the street, looking at porn,, maybe even flipping the person the bird might be considered a sex registry offense but you see my point.
Like one person on here and many persons have said “Enough is Enough” I agree they are persecuting us all in all of this. People can’t find jobs, are homeless, can’t be around there love ones because of this or that and some can’t even go to church.
When Megan’s law first came in, it wasn’t meant to go this far but who do we thank for that. Can we blame it on the Government, can we blame it on the people or can we blame it on the greed and self-righteousness of a people or nation?
I would much rather fear God than fear Man. We all need to stand up for all this in the proper way or else it will be worse than when it first began.
Freedom to travel is an inalienable right dating back to the Articles of Confederation.
It was not specifically listed in the Constitution because it WAS understood that it was inalienable by the founding fathers and it was absolutely unnecessary to list it.
Although they keep passing these laws as ‘civil laws’ to completely bypass
the ex post facto issue, if the international law criminalizes anything at all, it becomes an ex post facto violation.
And what about those who are no longer required to register ? (federal guidelines in the original law, misdemeanor 10 year registry period subject to certain conditions), do they now get back on a new list and suffer penalties that the law already removed from
them ?
I wonder why no one has approached this as a Bill of Attainder ?
It certainly singles out one class of people.
The actual statistics can be used to prove that sex offenders have a lower rate of recidivism than virtually every other crime.
Shouldn’t there then be a registry for ALL other offenders ? Burglary, fraud, murder assault, etc. ?
Doesn’t the public need to be protected from ALL criminals ? Maybe if the states had to spend millions to create registries for every type of crime they might find it easier to have no registries at all.
In addition, the Constitution PROHIBITS Congress from passing ex post facto laws. It does NOT say only criminal laws. The founding fathers actually discussed civil vs. criminal laws under ex post facto and deliberately CHOSE NOT to differentiate. They SPECIFICALLY stated NO ex post facto law shall be passed.
Calder v. Bull is NOT blanket authority to pass ex post facto civil laws.
Another point i think is overlooked is the Declaration of Independence. IT IS PART OF LAW. That means that life, liberty, etc, is a right BY LAW.
The Declaration is, and has been, part of the Organic LAWS of the United States. IT has as MUCH legal authority as the Constitution.
Food for thought……
We live in a Police state lets face it. Not sure if anything can change it now. Maybe too late already. But the rest of America needs to wake up that first its us then its them. The Government will never give back the power they have without a fight.
I too don’t get the not being able to sponser a spouse. As long as they are legal age and aware of the situation it should be fine. Many protections here. I am personally losing a fiancee of 7 years because of this and I am Mad as Hell. Its just another punishment for something I was already punished for. I have little to live for and that makes a person think nothing matters. I wouldnt want a bunch of people with nothing left to lose walking around.
This is about punishment and ruining lives nothing more.