*NEW UPDATES*–In the rain, in the cold, tent in woods still stands
NEW UPDATES in comments…
We have lots of news and updates about “Jerry” and “Susi” and their struggle with the South Carolina residency restrictions laws.
First, total transparency: Jerry and Susi are Steve and Lila, and we will be using their real names going forward. They have agreed to go public in order to bring attention to this situation which is robbing Steve of the medical necessities that his Marfan Syndrome requires.
It was to Lenore Skenazy that Lila first wrote about the situation, and Lenore details that letter and her reaction in this piece at reason.com.
Secondly, Steve had a doctor’s appointment this morning: needless to say, his doctor was less than thrilled at his current living arrangement and is preparing a document that we hope will be considered by the Chester County Sheriff’s Department’s registration office.
We have asked the media in Chester County and the four counties surrounding Chester to investigate the situation. We have also appealed to the office of the Chester County Adult Protective Services and to the Marfan Association to investigate and to intervene if at all possible. Thus far, there has been no response, as far as we can tell, to our appeals.
We have turned to social media to spread this story, using the hashtag #tentinwoods.
We continue to stay in daily contact with Lila and to watch the situation as closely as possible. We continue to be optimistic that someone will look at this situation and say, “No. This can’t happen,” and we hope that the someone can take action and get Steve back into his home with access to the medical equipment he so desperately needs.
I would be very interested in hearing about how the Sheriff’s Dept. responds to the document from the Doctor.
Just remember everyone. The registry is not punishment. It’s just paperwork to inform the public so they can protect their innocent children and no harm will ever come to anyone as a result of its implementation. Thank you..
Protect them from what? Check on recidivism rates for sex offenders before you speak. Your precious children are not in harm’s way unless you look at the recidivism rates for those people living in your community with DUIs on their record. Now that’s a population you’d better protect your children from. Look at the SOs that have been battered and even killed by vigilantes and the targeted vandalism to the homes of SO relatives before you say no harm will come to those on an implemented witch hunt list.
Yeah, and what about the RSO’s children? They are ones being actually harmed. The ignorant masses think RSOs don’t have children, they think we are all loners without families. Most of us do have families we are trying to protect and these laws put great strain on our families, often breaking them up and forcing OUR children into unhealthy environments, where they become at greater risk themselves.
Talk about civil justice running amuck with not with this ordeal but all the ordeals that the sex offender has. I would hate to predict the outcome in all this as that is what the state is really predicting in all these sex offense ventures.
Speaking out about all this and not using fake names and such are the thing. Nobody likes a fake name anyway or anything fake and if all this isn’t stopped now or corrected or adjusted in some way than its going to get worse in the long run.
A redress of grievance is always a good direction in court to go and there is nothing wrong with standing up for your rights………. or should we all say…. the devil went down to Georgia.
HnH, inform the public of what? That a person will commit a crime that they havent even committed? All charges for sexual ‘offenses’ dont always involce a violet crime or assault on children. It does punish the person. Once a sentence is served, the sentence is served. Unless there is a notification for all charges, this is discrimination.
Hint at sarcasm should be noted. The entire thing is. Nothing but a sham for politicians to garner votes. We all know it, and they do too! One should watch the episode about sex on Adam Ruins Everything. He sums everything up at the end. Shame. Shame is what motivates everything we’re dealing with. It’s not about actual harm, and I’m guessing a large portion of registrants are on there for something stupid, not actual harm, force or coercion. But the shame of sex is what causes the trauma. Unless you’re a gay or transgendered teen. Then the entire LGBT community erupts in support because to shame such an individual for their sexual preferences (even in their early teen year) may cause that person shame! And we all know these stupid circumstances which lead people to find themselves up against criminal charges never would have seen a court room 100 yrs ago. But today we have shame. And parents want to keep their children as innocent as possible up until the stroke of midnight on their 16th birthday. And anything the teen may encounter sexually will be twisted by a DA into being a crime, to bring about what? Shame. And beings the teen is automatically exempted and innocent of any wrong doing, the shame is put towards the person unfortunate enough to find themselves on the registry. Unless a 14 yr old commits murder, they are always 1000% innocent and victims, even if they were the exact cause of the “offense”. Personally, I think someone needs to ask Adam Ruins Everything to showcase the needless harm the registry causes, and lack of empirical evidence for which it exists in the first place.
I messages and commented Adam Ruins Everything as well as John Oliver about covering the ineffectiveness of sex offender registry. I heard back from John Oliver show, but it was not a positive response. I haven’t heard from Adam Ruins Everything show. Perhaps if more people were to ask then they might think about it.
Would be nice if you could get the John Oliver show letter or message posted here, if open to it, with your info redacted so all can see what they had to say.
I like John Oliver, but he is a comedian. If he can’t make a joke about it, he probably won’t touch it and the SOR is no joking matter. John Oliver is also British, so he may not have a full understanding of how our laws work and the U.S. Constitution.
I do think we should try to reach out to National outlets, such as 20/20, CNN and The Washington Post. Small town papers and local news stations struggle to stay in business as they compete with the Internet and 24 hour a day cable news. They have to carefully choose their stories. National news networks have more flexibility and less risk when picking up unpopular topics.
Info
Mar 4
to me
Hello,
I write on behalf of Partially Important Productions, LLC, the production company for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Although your interest in Last Week Tonight is appreciated, Partially Important Productions does not accept or review unsolicited materials or ideas.
Your email was not reviewed by anyone involved in anyway with the development, acquisition, or production of Last Week Tonight, and no copies of them are being retained.
I apologize for the formality, but the show has a very strict policy when it comes to unsolicited submissions. Thank you for understanding.
Best,
Last Week Tonight
This is the very reason why we have to continue to fight these foolish laws if it was a politicians family he wood not only be in the woods in a dam tent he would not even be on the registry.
What is social media. Well in the computer it is how people communicate together. At times that communicate might be vague, with misspelled words and miss intentions and sometimes it can be to enlighten one’s loneliness.
Now I was given instructions of only using my computer for my business. Buying supplies, corresponding with my business contacts. The sheet of paper was a generic vague form. There is all kinds of media on the computer. Maybe RSOL is some form of social media. I wonder if I would post comments on a Christian if I would have to challenge that also.
Now if this site isn’t for learning &, understanding with others, or a glimpse of what others are going thru on this, I don’t know if this site would be considered social media. Hey I would like to spend the night with my girl friend but I can’t as I have to be home at 10 PM and I have always kept that. So even in some ways probation is a controlling factor. Now I can’t understand why I can live across the street from kids and others can’t?
I have only lived in a tent for a week or so in my boy scout days so its not to much fun, and in the winter time its not the greatest. Now a mobile trailer out in the woods might be fine but I think living in society would be a but more better with family and friends. Life is bad enough without all this sex offender junk riding our backs
I found the below paper citing actual colonial time records of your sister state North Carolina in the 1800’s. What is so striking about this parallel is how in that time you have people expressing the exact same sentiment being acknowledged in present time, it is like looking in a mirror?
Year: 1715
State: North Carolina Historical Records:
“The severity of the existing code defeats its own purposes, they argued.” (YOU DON’T SAY?)
“The present criminal code of this State . . . is dead; for, through the humanity of the juries and the Governor, it has become a mere nullity.”
“The severity of punishments is no deterrent to crime, they continued.”
“. . . [on the very day of a public hanging] many thefts were committed on our merchants, while their stores were crowded with buyers; counterfeiters seized upon it as a favorable time to pass their counterfeited money; and our streets at night presented a scene of disorder and drunkenness at once shocking to the feelings of humanity, and disgraceful to a civilized community.”‘
Source: 4-1-1939 Punishment for Crime in North Carolina by Albert Coates http://scholarship.law.unc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1472&context=nclr
Erika
“I do think we should try to reach out to National outlets, such as 20/20, CNN and The Washington Post.”
Fred,
These are exactly the outlets we should NOT involve in this matter. They will trump it up and add all kinds of “ratings bait” and make the RSO look like he’s desperate for sympathy after “abusing a child”…”child” being the keyword they’ll keep shoving down the viewers’ throats.
I don’t care what anyone feels or says about Donald Trump because at least the man tells it like it is when he speaks of why he hates the news media. They always over-exaggerate the issues they speak of in order to get RATINGS. They misinform!! Hello people!! MISINFORMATION given to the population by the news media is EXACTLY why we’re all in this predicament at the moment.
“Sex offender wants to live where he pleases. News at 11”
Yeah, imagine the positive response THAT will get.
What is your idea?
When attorneys are fighting against all this “sex offender registry” BS, they need to remind the courts and the public that people who are ON the SOR were NOT born on the SOR.
Everyone is soooooooooooooooooooooo worried about someone who was once convicted of a sexual offense that they take for granted the fact that people with NO SEXUAL OFFENSE RECORD are very capable of committing such offenses.
Much like this….trusted police officer…
http://reason.com/blog/2016/11/03/chicago-cop-sex-trafficking
With all due respect to the victims of this guy, I can’t help but laugh when I see/read news stories like this. My laughter being, of course, directed at the general public who think according to how their precious politicians instruct them to think. Please read that article. And someone PLEASE use it as EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE that one does not need to be a REGISTERED sex offender in order to commit a sexual offense.
Anyone has update on the California case where the entire police department was in the news when an underage girl accused many officers of having sex with her and that resulted an officer taking his own life?
http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2016/05/12/underage-sex-scandal-rocks-oakland-police-department/
While I might of been a bit crass on 16th and 17 century law Ericka was right in a way. Back than if you preformed black magic you were condemned. I guess if one looked at a child in the wrong way you were condemned.
Now this Maestro might have some good points about all this sex offender ordeal that everyone is going thru but common sense is common sense. Have I broken a lot of rules in some ways mean’s and forms. According to my PO I sure have and its not just being on face book or telling the truth. Its all about taking orders from another man’s wisdom if you want to call it that.
This guy living out in the woods and these sex offenders living in a Tent City are actually inhumane and very out of character for any government. First who are they protecting and who are they serving. I would think their job first..
We all could go on and on with this ordeal but in the end who’s right and who’s wrong. As I said before we all make mistakes or maybe my sister is more perfect than I am or my PO is more perfect.
When you really sit and THINK hard about the probation conditions, there is no way anyone with a stable mind and common sense can support the conditions put on us. They literally treat us as if we were all born fully grown, hatched out of a giant egg and attacked the first person we saw which happened to be a “minor”.
As if all of our lives we’ve never been around kids before. As if we’ve never been to a mall or movie theatre before our offense. Like me for example, I always tell them that I owned and used my computer for 7 damn years with no issues until AFTER my divorce and that’s when i came down with a case of the “f*ck its”.
But they don’t care. In their minds I want to use a computer to lure minors.
So I tell them (and this pisses them off but too bad) that I’ll just wait until AFTER my probation and use all the damn computers and smartphones I want and what are you gonna do about it then? Am I still a threat AFTER probation? Or only while ON probation? … Oh they HATE that. Tough!
I’m convinced the majority of people think that those of us on probation are on it for life. I’m sure there are some EXTREME cases but we can probably count those on one hand. For the most part, people with sex offense convictions get anywhere from 3 yrs to 10 yrs of probation following a prison term. I was in a S.O. group where one of the guys had only 3 yrs and his “crime” was the same as mine where the teenager was a year shy of legal age but it was a consensual relationship.
Probation conditions for S.O.’s in the state of Connecticut are as follows:
1. you will participate in and complete any sex offender evaluation and recommended treatment as directed by a probation officer (You may be financially responsible for all or part of the costs of such evaluation and treatment.);
2. you will participate in polygraph examinations administered by a CSSD-approved, specially trained polygraph examiner for treatment purposes and to determine level of supervision;
3. you will have no contact with the victim or victim’s family by letter, telephone call, tape, video, email, text message, or third party contact unless approved by a probation officer. (Contact with the victim or victim’s family must be reported immediately to a probation officer.);
4. you will notify your probation officer of any new or existing romantic or sexual relationship;
5. your place of residence must be approved by a probation officer;
6. you will not move from your place of residence or sleep elsewhere overnight without a probation officer’s prior knowledge and permission;
7. you will allow any probation officer entry into your residence and notify any occupant of your residence that a probation officer may enter where you live;
8. all employment must be pre-approved by a probation officer;
9. you will provide financial and telephone records upon a probation officer’s request;
10. you will abide by any curfew imposed by a probation officer;
11. you will not possess or subscribe to any sexually explicit or sexually stimulating material deemed inappropriate by a probation officer or patronize any adult book or video store, strip club, or adult entertainment club or similar establishment;
12. you will not use telephone numbers that provide access to sexually oriented services;
13. you will not hitchhike or pick up hitchhikers;
14. you will submit to electronic monitoring as directed by a probation officer, you may be required to pay for the costs of such monitoring, you will not tamper with electronic monitoring equipment, and you will not remove the equipment;
15. you will participate in any other treatment program as directed by a probation officer;
16. you must take any medication as prescribed if it is required as part of your treatment program;
17. you will not use any alcoholic beverages or drugs, except as prescribed to you by a physician;
18. you may not associate with other known sex offenders or convicted felons except in an approved treatment program or with prior probation officer approval;
19. you will not be in the presence of minors, nor have contact in any form, direct or indirect, including by means of computer, telephone, letter, tape, video, email, text message, or through another person with children under the age of 16 without probation officer approval. (Any contact must be reported immediately to a probation officer.);
20. you will not date or socialize with anybody who has children under the age of 16 without your probation officer’s prior approval;
21. you may not possess children’s clothing, toys, or games, without prior probation officer approval;
22. you will not go to or loiter near school yards, parks, playgrounds, swimming pools, arcades, or any places primarily used by children under 16;
23. you will not possess a camera, camera phone, camcorder, videocassette, DVD, or any device that can record or play back visual images without probation officer approval;
24. you must maintain a driving log or activity log, as required by a probation officer;
25. you must agree to and sign a computer access agreement that will be provided to you by a probation officer, before using any computer and you must submit to an examination and search of your computer or other similar equipment to verify it is not used in violation of probation or treatment conditions; and
26. you must comply with other probation officer-imposed conditions.
So, to sum it up: You must forfeit your entire life to your probation officer until your probation period ends and you are deemed “cured” since after that date we can no longer bully you anymore. Period.
They forgot to include, “You may not breathe without your probation officer’s approval.”
It seems so easy to be violated and thrown back into jail when in probation.
Maestro,
I understand your frustrations. My husband is on probation in Idaho and has many of the same restrictions that you are facing. We don’t like them but they are part of the punishment phase. He did spend 6 months in jail and has 3 1/2 years probation left out of 5 years.
Yes you do “forfeit” your life but it is temporary and I would much rather my husband & I go thru the probation restrictions & have him home than having him spending the 5 years in prison.
I would like to add that even though he has the restrictions, I also have them and I didn’t commit any crime. Yes that is the price I pay for supporting him. We are working on taking a horrific mistake he made and turning it into something positive. He is one month away from completing the treatment program here which I know some people scoff at but it has been a positive for us.
I am working on doing what I can to be a part of reform for sex offender laws and my husband also wants to help others when he has completed his probation.
JT,
“I understand your frustrations. My husband is on probation in Idaho… He did spend 6 months in jail and has 3 1/2 years probation left out of 5 years.”
There is no need for “probation” and here’s why:
1) If you (“you” in general, not you personally) commit a crime that CAN carry up to (x number of years in prison) but the DA and the Judge agree to give you less time, then whatever the time is that they CHOSE to give you in a plea deal should be ALL that you do. Otherwise, if they felt the crime was THAT heinous, you’d get much longer if not the full length of what the crime carries.
“Yes you do “forfeit” your life but it is temporary…”
2) And that “temporary” time is a waste of time and taxpayer money. Again, if the DA felt you should only do 6 month off of what COULD carry 5 years then you should be able to do the 6 months and be done with it. Being on probation doesn’t make trying to find a job or home any easier. It makes it worse.
“I would like to add that even though he has the restrictions, I also have them and I didn’t commit any crime.”
3) EXACTLY! But do you think the probation officers care about you? Think again. They are a legalized bully system. Period. And it earns them a paycheck. They also OVER-EXAGGERATE things, but that would take an entire article for me to get into detail. Here’s an example: You unfortunately lose your job for WHATEVER reason. Probation wants to grill you to death about WHY. And the thoughts going thru their minds are that you probably have some kind of SEXUAL harrassment issue. My response to them when such a thing as losing a job has happened: “Excuse me, am I on probation due to my employment status?”
“I know some people scoff at but it has been a positive for us.”
4) There is NOTHING positive about probation NOR that ridiculous “treatment” program. In fact, the people who run the treatment groups are bigger back stabbers than the P.O.’s are.
“I am working on doing what I can to be a part of reform for sex offender laws and my husband also wants to help others when he has completed his probation.”
5) What we should be doing (since most of the problems with homelessness and joblessness occur due to probation conditions) is change the probation “rules” or…and this is a better bet….fight to end the probation dept all together.
People HAVE taken more time in prison (not accepting plea deals) just to not have to come out onto probation.
People have PURPOSELY violated probation just to go back to do some time (you don’t always do the full time hanging over your head – that’s a scare tactic) to again, come out of prison with no further probation.
So in the long scheme of things, probation is UNNECESSARY. It’s an excuse to play “hero” to the public as well as employ a bunch of baffoons who couldn’t pass the Postal exam with a cheat sheet.
This is ridiculous behaviour.I read these comments and feel the anger.I too am on paper for 10 years. I have done 121 months in Federal Prison.I made the choice to give up basic rights and freedoms when I committed my crime that I might add was against children,as did all of you.Your anger should not be against others ,ex.Treatment providers,Parole Officers but yourselves.What did you think would happen by deciding to commit what ever offense got you in this current position.People will do one thing if nothing else and that is protect their children.This is a hot button issue right now and through these treatment based programs studies are being made.Untill these studies are in, this is the way of it.These laws are in place to protect society and it’s children.Some challenges have been made on a judicial level and battles have been won.Your anger and irrational rhetoric serves no purpose.Sexual offending against minors will never be tolerated.Wether we like it or not some do and forever will deem us monsters.You can only make the change as to how society views you on a personal level.by the way you act.So start by growing up and face the anger that comes from shame within yourselves.This is only your fault and your past behavior got you here.Seek treatment not to be cured there isn’t one.Seek treatment to become a better member of society.This is all they want.Reasurance that you are striving for wellness. You cannot find it through irrational beliefs.Moral inventory Is the beginning.Try it, be honest with yourself and the reality of your situation.
Believe it or not going back to court is what I wanted to do from the get go and my PO knows I wanted to. I even told my PO why I came down there to meet this person and he just held his tongue. Only one word I said to him.. “to prove”.
See they wanted me to come to the house. I might be blind but I’m not stupid”. A lot of you all on here have some hellish probation to deal with in your states. I think I went to these sex offender classes for about three or four weeks and than they let me go because I was talking in a Christian way that they couldn’t challenge.
Heck one day I brought my bible to my PO”s office and the next meeting he told me not to bring it again. I think they are all scared of Christianity even thou they say they are Christian’s…and they do all this stuff …. hey we all have had the wool pulled over us….. remember we are not teenagers.
I’m going to be driving down to try and meet JP as he can help I’m sure along with my lawyer in this hurtle I am going thru and that others in other states are going thru and believe it or not I’m writing letters to Trump at the Trump Hotel. They might get read they may not but the general public needs to know about all this mess as it is unconstitutional………and yes the Ten commandments are still alive and basic religion is still in the constitution…its how one understands the constitution and George Washington knew his maker….. or did he actually chop down that cherry tree.
And we should all look for a better new year.
Happy Holidays
They are afraid of the Bible because the Bible does not have an age of consent. Most of the countries laws were based on the Bible the sex offence laws are not. They need you to be guilty just to make themselves feel better about violating your rights. The Bible does not help their case at all.
UPDATE: Lila has spoken with someone in charge at the state level of registry management and awaits a response from him. She also has in hand the statement from the doctor that makes it clear exactly what Steve’s medical needs are for the oxygen and nebulizer treatments. If nothing else, this should at least show the local office the risks that are being taken by keeping Steve from his treatments.
And the temperature has been in the 20s at night, and rain comes and goes.
Lila’s faith is strong; if you are so inclined, she asks you say a prayer for them.
Something just hit me from out of the blue, maybe you could sift pasta (holes in argument) with it but here it goes:
My supposition is this:
All the legislative “intent” behind these laws are predicated on certain factors that contains similar language or reasoning nationally that give creedance to why it should exist?
You see terms such as this[*] (see below)
My proposed question is this ‘COMPARED TO WHAT SEGMENT OF THE POPULATION?’
This a very important question!
There is the general run of the mill vanilla argument of the BJS 3% recidivism base rate that will not ever change (what I was told by 3 expert staticians) WITH or WITHOUT a registry. That means 95% DO NOT REOFFEND SEXUALLY, leaving 5% that will; but who in that 5% will re-offend sexually? Any increase, decrease or fluctuation of this base rate sample (that’s all you need) would be due to the number of states included in the study, severe population increase or decrease however it would be slight. You only need a 10 or 7 year sample.
Then there is the comparison for lowest recidivism rate besides murder for recidivism after a completing a prison sentence for any other kind of offender OR CRIME etc…
That granted!
Now back to “segmenting” and creating laws around that “segment” because that “segment” is less worthy of “civil rights” because they are “at risk” prone to do this or that because this says that or because I (we) just think this or that absent any hard cross-validated proof for invoking and enacting draconian measures etc…
Most lawmakers do not even understand what is really going on they just vote to vote because everybody else is voting that way and lunch time is around the corner and who has time to really investigate and besides because they were told it is a “bi partisan” issue and “non-controversial public matter” they just vote etc…
Now time for the BIGGER QUESTION what is the RISK of the entire population of any given state to OFFEND SEXUALLY compared to what? (a one time sex offender?)
Now with that in mind where is the claim that “PUBLIC SAFETY,” is being “served” and that it “offers” “PROTECTION” and is that even possible? Remember for any “threat to public safety” to be “valid” it must be an “actual threat” not an “imagined threat.” This would overide any constitutionally protected rights according to the intent of the constitution.
How many sex crimes (are one time sex offenders to blame?) occur within the state or within the boundaries of any given territories population base?
WHAT WOULD QUANTITATIVE RESEARCH SAY ABOUT THIS:
1.) Is there really a threat (more of a threat, less of a threat) compared to the population base?
2.) Can it be prevented?
3.) Who is to blame? (95% blamed for the behaviors 5% hmmm? That warrants probation like reporting requirements and restrictions? (Not arguing the point of the ability to have a registry archive!)
5.) Is causing more violent or mortality related sex crimes to happen?
6.) Is it increasing types of sexual recidivism?
7.)___________{fill in the blanks}___________.
[*]Glossary of Terms:
“threat”
“safety”
“analysis”
“actuarial”
“static”
“dynamic”
“assessment”
“pose”
“risk”
“significant risk”
“protection”
“health”
“dangerous (ness)”
“finds”
“findings”
“public”
“self”
“sex”
“offender(s)”
I live in North Carolina and we have a population of 10,000,000 and of those 10,000,000 there are 21,704 registered sex offenders which leaves us with 9,978,296 people. Of those i wonder how many sex offenders there are. There are probably ten times as many that they don’t know about. Now the registry might be protecting kids from us, but really all it’s doing is enabling unregistered sex offenders to go and do what we can’t and go where we can’t go. So the registry is not really protecting anybody. i think it’s that way all over the united states. I hope steve and lila are O.K and that he can get out of those woods.
“[W]hen everything is classified, then nothing is classified and the system becomes one to be disregarded by the cynical or careless.” – New York Times Company v. United States, 403 U.S. 713, 729 91971) (Stewart, J., concurring)
NEW UPDATE: Lila is in touch with the South Carolina registry coordinator and has sent him a copy of the doctor’s report.
ALSO….a journalist with a major newspaper is interested in the story; he is doing interviews and gathering information. He hopes to write a story; we will have a link here when it is written and released.
We have a winter storm moving in tomorrow night, with snowfall and temperatures in the teens throughout the weekend.