Challenge to PA Sex Offender Law Begins: National Group Cites Costs and Unconstitutional Provisions

RSOL, Post Office Box 36123 

Albuquerque, NM 87176

www.reformsexoffenderlaws.org

For Immediate Release...
January 2, 2013
Contact: Robin van der Waal 202.709.3890.

 Albuquerque, NM—Reform Sex Offender Laws Inc. (RSOL) recently announced plans to challenge sections of Senate Bill 1183 (Pennsylvania’s new sex offender registration requirements) on multiple constitutional grounds (see first press release here). Today, RSOL began the process of notifying registered persons throughout Pennsylvania regarding the details of this new plan and will seek to organize affected citizens into an active group of advocates to contest the law.

Because the new law requires so many individuals to frequently report in person to a state police barracks for the remainder of their lives, RSOL asserts that the new law substantially violates both state and federal Constitutional protections guaranteed to the citizens it affects. RSOL asserts that these onerous new in-person reporting provisions transform registration into a form of lifetime probation supervision, and therefore, constitute punishment.  

Despite wide misconceptions, registration requirements are not part of a person’s actual sentence or punishment; rather, they are a collateral consequence of the individual's conviction. In fact, for public registration schemes to pass constitutional scrutiny, they cannot impose punishment either by design or effect. RSOL finds it problematic that this new law retroactively adds new offenses to the list of offenses requiring registration. This provision alone has the potential to undo an undetermined number of plea agreements because of representations made to defendants which helped induce them to plea. 

In support of this action, Brenda Jones, RSOL’s Executive Director, stated, “Even though enforcement of the controversial law has begun, RSOL is optimistic that many aspects of the law will ultimately be declared invalid by the courts, and, as a result, legislators in Harrisburg will be forced to revisit this issue. RSOL finds it incomprehensible that those responsible for the fiscal integrity of Pennsylvania have given such paltry consideration to the financial ramifications of SB 1183.”

In a presentation of talking points being made available to Pennsylvania registrants, Jones questioned whether legislators considered the financial impact of:

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Sex Offender Registration Requirements to be Challenged

RSOL, Post Office Box 36123 

Albuquerque, NM 87176

www.reformsexoffenderlaws.org
 

December 20, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Larry Neely
RSOL Legal Committee
202-709-3890.
 

Reform Sex Offender Laws Inc. (RSOL) plans to soon challenge sections of Senate Bill 1183 (Pennsylvania’s new sex offender registration requirements) on multiple constitutional grounds.

Today marks the beginning of enforcement of a controversial new state law that purports to protect citizens from registered sex offenders. RSOL’s executive director Brenda Jones stated, “It is disappointing that Pennsylvania’s lawmakers chose to ignore the lessons learned when Ohio proceeded down this same disastrous path more than five years ago.” Ohio was the first state to be deemed AWA complaint, but the courts subsequently have found several aspects of Ohio’s new law unconstitutional. After expending millions of taxpayer dollars defending an unconstitutional law, Ohio was forced  to revert back to the old registration system for those sentenced prior to the new law’s enactment.

Jones stated that provisions of Pennsylvania’s new law “transform what is supposed to be a non-punitive, civil regulatory measure into a form of lifetime probationary supervision for most persons on the registry,” which RSOL believes to be blatantly unconstitutional. “And further,” she continues, “all individuals on Pennsylvania’s registry will see their registration periods dramatically increase, with the majority becoming life-timers. This,” she emphasized, “is a violation of the ex post facto clause.”

Jones stated that although the new law was touted by its supporters as necessary to bring Pennsylvania into compliance with the federal Adam Walsh Act (AWA), “It does little if anything to improve public safety, and any marginal benefit achieved is at the expense of trampling over our most cherished constitutional protections.”

Jones concluded her remarks by saying, “It is most unfortunate that RSOL must undertake such a challenge, but make no mistake about it; we cannot and will not stand by while public policymakers shred the constitution and disregard their oaths of office.”


RSOL promotes the elimination of sexual abuse and the preservation of civil rights for all individuals through the use of effective legislation based on empirical research. We envision sexual offense laws based on equal justice and respect for the dignity of all people, protection from retroactively applied punishment, and the establishment of fact-based laws and policies which protect our communities.
 

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Reform Sex Offender Laws creates legal fund in response to murders of Gary Blanton and Jerry Ray in Washington State

OPINION: Press Release

Cambridge, MA -- Reform Sex Offender Laws (RSOL) Spurred on by the June 3 murders of two registered sex offenders, RSOL has created a legal fund dedicated to challenging the ever increasing restrictions imposed by legislatures throughout the United States. RSOL’s top priority will be attacking the expanding reach of sex offender registries because it is clear that these Internet websites have contributed to a steadily increasing number of murders of persons registered on that list.

RSOL’s Executive Director Brenda Jones pointed out that this is not the first incident where a person’s name being listed on Washington's sex offender registry has led to his murder. In 2005, two men on that registry were shot and killed in Bellingham by a vigilante who gained access to their home by posing as a law enforcement officer. Authorities investigating that shooting called it “one of the nation's most serious cases of vigilantism aimed at sex offenders.” (Seattle Times, August 30, 2005)

“Washington State expressed concern in 2005,” says Jones. “But what has the state done in the intervening years to prevent this from happening again? And what will they do now that two more registrants have been murdered at the hands of a vigilante using the sex offender registry as a tool?”

Clallam County prosecutor Deborah Kelly said in a recent court hearing that Patrick Drum, the self-proclaimed vigilante in the June 3 incident, had told investigators that he “planned to keep killing sex offenders until he was stopped.”

Gary Blanton's recent murder in Washington State left his young wife Leslie alone to raise their sons Gary, Jr. and Skylar, both under the age of three. The murder of Jerry Ray left his aging father alone with no assistance. News accounts have come in from as far as Maine showing that murders and other acts of vigilantism against registrants have occurred and are increasing. ***

“People on the registry are citizens, too,” Jones says. “The majority have completed serving their sentences. Their children, like Skylar and Gary Jr., are entitled to the same protection as any other citizen. They certainly do not deserve to have their parents marked as helpless targets for vigilantes.”

According to Jones, there is scant evidence that sex offender registries enhance public safety. “In fact, there is considerable evidence to the contrary. Public registration provides little more than a taxpayer-financed tool for vigilantes wishing to commit horrendous acts of vigilantism against registrants and places their innocent children in danger.”

RSOL believes that the full home address of registrants should be available only to law enforcement, not the general public. RSOL calls on Governor Gregoire to immediately issue an emergency order removing street addresses from the sex offender website. In addition, the Sex Offender Policy Board must commit itself to assuring the safety and well being not only of the men and women on its sex offender registry, but also the innocent family members of those registrants.

Reform Sex Offender Laws (www.reformsexoffenderlaws.org) is a national organization with affiliates in 39 states. RSOL advocates for the civil, constitutional, and human rights of roughly 750,000 registrants on the public sexual offender registry, not to mention millions of their family members-- including their children.

Any legal case RSOL undertakes must deal with registration itself and potentially impact a significant number of similarly situated persons. With its limited resources, RSOL cannot undertake any case where an individual simply wishes to challenge his/her conviction.

Contact: Brenda Jones, Executive Director
Reform Sex Offender Laws
Admin_Team@reformsexoffenderlaws.org
(443) 579-7765

Murders of Gary Blanton and Jerry Ray blamed on Sex Offender Registry

OPINION: Press Release

Cambridge, MA-- Reform Sex Offender Laws (RSOL) condemns in the strongest terms the recent murders of Gary Blanton and Jerry Ray by self-proclaimed vigilante Patrick Drum. According to Paul Shannon, Director of RSOL, "Washington State’s Sex Offender registry does not protect the public and in fact provides a taxpayer-financed tool for vigilantes wishing to commit murder and other horrendous acts of vigilantism.”

“Gary Blanton is not a rapist. He was only 17 years of age himself when he engaged in consensual sexual contact with a17-year-old girl he was dating,” Shannon said. The girl’s parents filed charges, however, citing that she could not give legal consent due to a handicapping condition. Gary’s death leaves his young wife Leslie alone to raise their sons Gary, Jr. and Skylar, both under the age of three.

“What is most troubling,” says Shannon, “is that this is not the first incident where a person’s name being listed on the public sex offender registry has led to his murder.” In 2005, two men who were on the Washington State Sex Offender Registry were shot and killed in Bellingham by a vigilante who gained access to their home by posing as a law enforcement officer. Authorities investigating that shooting called it “one of the nation's most serious cases of vigilantism aimed at sex offenders.” (Seattle Times, August 30, 2005)

The two men murdered in 2005 (Hank Eisses and Victor Vasques) were a “success story,” according to Kit Bail, the Department of Corrections field supervisor for Whatcom County. In an interview at the time, Bail said, “These guys were doing fine. They were employed. They were living according to the conditions.” She went on to state that the killings should “not be the basis on which we change the laws on registration, but if it is a vigilante act, it gives one pause.”

Examining the 2005 murders, John La Fond, an attorney who had opposed Washington’s public registration law on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, uncovered dozens of assaults and harassment incidents against sex offenders, including one case in 1993 where the house lived in by the family of a registrant was burned down just as he was moving back home. It is too late to save the four individuals who died in these carefully planned vigilante attacks, Shannon acknowledges, but he wonders, “How many must die before Washington acts?”

Shannon asks, “What has the state of Washington done during the intervening seven years to prevent this from happening again? RSOL is not aware of any action taken subsequent to the 2005 murders that would ameliorate the risk to registrants and their families. If they were concerned then, why was no action taken? And what will they do now that two more have been murdered at the hands of a vigilante?”

RSOL believes that the ultimate solution is that access to home addresses of registrants should be available only to law enforcement rather than the general public. While this dramatic change in policy would require legislative action, RSOL calls on Governor Gregoire to immediately issue an emergency order removing home addresses from the sex offender website. In addition, the Sex Offender Policy Board must commit itself to assuring the safety and well being not only of the men and women on its sex offender registry but also the family members of those registrants. Shannon says, “These people on the registry, and especially children such as Skylar and Gary Jr., are citizens entitled to equal protection the same as any other. They do not deserve to be made deliberate and helpless targets for vigilantes.”

RSOL-National
June 18, 2012
Contact: Paul Shannon
919.780.4510

NEWS RELEASE: Blanton and Ray Murders Emphasize need for Policy Change

OPINION: Press Release

Gary Blanton and Jerry Ray were ambushed and murdered on June 3 in Clallam County, Washington, by Patrick Drum. Having widowed Leslie Blanton and stolen a father from her two sons, the confessed killer said, "It had to be done," and that he had intended to kill even more persons he found on Washington's public sex offender registry.

"These two men were murdered in cold blood because they were required by law to mark themselves as targets for vigilantes," said Paul Shannon, Director of RSOL (Reform Sex Offender Laws). Vicki Henry, Director of W.A.R. (Women Against Registry) elaborated, "Drum's pathological hatred for 'registered sex offenders' has devastated the lives of Blanton's and Ray's families and friends and has sent chills of fear into the hearts of families and friends of another 750,000 registrants across this nation."

Most of the articles dealing with the story make it clear that such vigilante activity should not be tolerated by law-abiding citizens. "Anyone who is taking justice in to their own hands and attacking sex offenders in this community, we'll take care of them very, very strongly," said Clallan County Sheriff Bill Benedict to King5.com. Brian O'Neill, writing for the News Tribune's Blue Byline, "A cop's perspective of the news," (http://blog.thenewstribune.com/bluebyline/2012/06/04/1838/#storylink=cpy), zeroes in on the core problem: "Our justice system, for all its faults, is the product of our collective will, and it was created to repudiate [vigilantism]. Life is sacred and people deserve a chance to defend themselves from the presumptive judgment of one person."

Sadly, much of the reading public has no such scruples. Many comments to these blogs and articles hail Mr. Drum as a hero and deplore that he was arrested before he had completed or at least furthered his mission, as evidenced by these comments on various sites. A commenter on the Huffington Post wrote,“ I for one am 100% for the registry and they should probably include bounties on it too… I really don't [sic] care where patrick [sic] found the names. im [sic] just glad he found them.” “I say let him go and give him a medal,” wrote a visitor to King5.com. And from The Daily News came, “The president should grant him amnesty. He obviously has unfinished work to do.”

Blanton and Ray and far too many others are victimized daily by the malingering stigma of sex-crimes from which they long ago repented and have completed their punishments. Blanton's offense of third degree rape occurred over a decade ago when he himself was a juvenile; he leaves behind a family. Ray, convicted of rape of a child in 2003, lived with his father.

RSOL, SOSEN (Sex Offender Solutions and Education Network), and W.A.R. work daily to educate public officials and the general public about scientifically grounded practices which have been proven to make communities safer. "Sexual violation of a child is a serious crime that is usually carried out by relatives or others close to the child. But most people on the registry have never actually harmed a child,” said Shannon. “We need to support policies and laws that are effective and based on solid research. Public sex offender registries are neither. It is long past time to terminate policies based on ignorance and hatred which stigmatize, ostracize, and terrorize those labeled "sex offenders” and their families long after they have completed their sentences.”

Lynn Gilmore, SOSEN CEO, who uses a pseudonym for advocacy work in order to safeguard family privacy due to the potential for bigotry, bullying, and stigma associated with the issue, added, "Since 2003, there has been a notable increase in the number of murders of registrants. It is hard to deny that the creation of a public registry has led to unintended consequences: vigilante threats and actions, verbal assaults, vandalism, violence, and murders of registrants and, in some cases, their innocent family members. At SOSEN we feel that the only place for a registry of this nature is in the hands of law enforcement, not the public."

"When people are on the registry, it puts them in danger of having targets drawn on their foreheads as well as on the foreheads of family members and others who live at the same address. In doing this, the public registry is facilitating criminal acts. Clearly, the public registry must be seriously reconsidered,” concludes Shannon.

For more information contact the following:
R. William van der Wall, RSOL Correspondence Committee, 919.780.4510, salemredux@gmail.com or visit reformsexoffenderlaws.org
Vicki Henry, Women Against Registry Director, 636.208.5949, vicki.henry@womenagainstregistry.com or visit womenagainstregistry.com
Lynn Gilmore, SOSEN CEO, 800.773.4319, lynn.gilmore13@yahoo.com or visit sosen.org

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NEWS RELEASE dated 06.11.2012 distributed copyright-free by Vicki Henry of Women Against Registry 636.208.5949 as a public service. Questions about content or distribution may be emailed to one of the above or to vicki.henry@womenagainstregistry.com