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

What Is SARATSO?

QUESTION:

The term SARATSO refers to State authorized risk assessment tools used for evaluating sex offenders. Senate Bill 1128, Alquist (Chapter 337, Statutes of 2006) established the state committee, known as the SARATSO (State Authorized Risk Assessment Tool for Sex Offenders) Review Committee, to consider the selection of the risk assessment tools for California.

To learn more about SARATSO Click Here

Do sex offenders who live together or in close proximity to each other re-offend at a higher rate?

QUESTION:

As best we can figure this idea is the result of a far out Politician who is trying to garner more supporters, because we can find no support for the principle. To start with former offenders will have a tendency to cluster because of ineffective residency laws and offenders' loss of employment due to newer laws, which means they need cheaper living arrangements. Lawmakers create the problem then complain it exists; Lawmakers are their own worst enemy.

Admittedly there is a belief that a group of former offenders living together makes the surrounding community more dangerous, but there is no authority -that we know of- to support that theory either. Over time we have seen that people and politicians will conger up all sorts of claims, always unsupported, to rid their community of sex offenders; its banishment they want!

Interestingly enough there is research to support that, former offenders living together is good. Yes, GOOD! see this 2004 Colorado report to its legislature:

Do the living arrangements of sex offenders, including Shared Living Arrangements, have an impact on community safety?

The findings and subsequent recommendations are presented below.

High-risk sex offenders living in Shared Living Arrangements had significantly fewer violations than those living in other living arrangements. In addition, the average overall number of violations was low in Shared Living Arrangements, which is surprising, given that this was the only residence type that had significantly more highrisk sex offenders. Shared Living Arrangements also had one of the shortest amounts of time between when a sex offender committed a violation and when the probation officer or treatment provider found out about the violation. In addition, the roommates of sex offenders living in Shared Living Arrangements called in violations of probation and treatment requirements to the sex offender’s treatment provider and probation officer more times than roommates in any other living arrangement. This leads back to the conclusion that a positive support system, which 100% of the Shared Living Arrangements provided, is an important component of being successful in treatment.

Recommendation:
Shared Living Arrangements appear to be a frequently successful mode of containment and treatment for higher risk sex offenders and should be considered a viable living situation for higher risk sex offenders living in the community. Source: REPORT ON SAFETY ISSUES RAISED BY LIVING ARRANGEMENTS FOR AND LOCATION OF SEX OFFENDERS IN THE COMMUNITY

Offenders hold each other accountable for their actions and responsibilities and notify the appropriate authorities when a roommate commits certain behaviors, such as returning home late or having contact with children.

In California, the San Diego County District Attorney's FAQ: What is the rationale for placing multiple patients at the same location? has this in response "However, more importantly according to DMH, the research indicates that sex offenders living together who are in treatment reoffend at lower rates that those living alone."

And, as to making the immediate community more dangerous, in a 2003 Minnesota Report to its Legislature. Of the 13 sex offenders who did re-offend between 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2002, none of them re-offended in their immediate community; their offenses were mile/s away from where they lived. see LEVEL THREE SEX OFFENDERS RESIDENTIAL PLACEMENT ISSUES: 2003 Report to the Legislature (Revised 2004)

Finally, if anyone has other information or studies we can cite, positive or negative, please contact us and we will update this; no hearsay please.