Sex Offender Question?

[john legality]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

If I finish my 20 years of registering as a sex offender in my state will I still be required to register in every other state?

Alternately,, if the Sex offender registry board declares me to no longer be a threat and officially relieves me of my duty to register in MA will I still be required to register in other states? If so why, please?

 

[Zigner]

There is no reason to start another thread.

ETA: Contact the states in question and ask.

 

[Ladyback1]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? MA

If I finish my 20 years of registering as a sex offender in my state will I still be required to register in every other state?

Alternately,, if the Sex offender registry board declares me to no longer be a threat and officially relieves me of my duty to register in MA will I still be required to register in other states? If so why, please?

I *believe* you have to register in the state that you are a resident of...thus, if you stay in MA, you will have to follow MA laws regarding registration. If you move out of MA, then you will have to abide by the laws of your new state. So, the answer is "maybe". But, a personal anecdote: family member is a convicted offender out of Texas, however he was working in OK (but maintained residential address in TX). Due to some poor judgment on his part (DUI) he came to the attention of the local sheriff's office. They arrested him for failure to register. However, those charges were dropped because OK has a lesser amt of time that a convicted offender has to register, plus, he had maintained his residence in TX (where he was registered).

I am not unsympathetic to the plight of those who have to register as sex offenders. My family member has lived it (and he wasn't diddling kids--just a girl 2 days shy of her 18 birthday. And he was from the wrong side of the tracks--the girl's family was wealthy, he got "justice" from the good ole boy court...). What I am unsympathetic to is: you're whining, crying, moaning and complaining about how all of this is unfair. You should just man up, and take the consequences of your actions. Basically, build a bridge and get over it.

 

[john legality]

I *believe* you have to register in the state that you are a resident of...thus, if you stay in MA, you will have to follow MA laws regarding registration. If you move out of MA, then you will have to abide by the laws of your new state. So, the answer is "maybe". But, a personal anecdote: family member is a convicted offender out of Texas, however he was working in OK (but maintained residential address in TX). Due to some poor judgment on his part (DUI) he came to the attention of the local sheriff's office. They arrested him for failure to register. However, those charges were dropped because OK has a lesser amt of time that a convicted offender has to register, plus, he had maintained his residence in TX (where he was registered).

I am not unsympathetic to the plight of those who have to register as sex offenders. My family member has lived it (and he wasn't diddling kids--just a girl 2 days shy of her 18 birthday. And he was from the wrong side of the tracks--the girl's family was wealthy, he got "justice" from the good ole boy court...). What I am unsympathetic to is: you're whining, crying, moaning and complaining about how all of this is unfair. You should just man up, and take the consequences of your actions. Basically, build a bridge and get over it.

Id build a bridge and get over it but I'd be arrested for failure to register on the other side.

It seems to me that most people (who aren't sex offenders) are ignorant to the fact that there are hurdles that are impossible to overcome for sex offenders. These are not hurdles that they created for themselves they are hurdles that legislation created after they committed their offenses and applied to them retroactively.

SOR was applied to meet the need of protecting the public,,, it does not,, therefore it is only punishment. Ex post facto prohibits retroactive punishment.

It was ruled that it was unconstitutional to require the offenders to register, but that it could be justified because the rights of the people to safety far outweighed the rights of offenders.

I can appreciate this, I am not completely self centered.

This was decided when the registry was in its infancy. It has since been proven that the sex offender registry is completely ineffective at protecting people. Sex crime rates have grown at the same rate they always have despite the registry being in place for nearly 20 years. This is from the DOJ's own statistics.

Some have argued that the registry has contributed to crime because it creates what is known as internalized oppression, sex offenders of all risk levels start to believe the constant negative banter and will in fact live up to the label that has been applied to them by the systematic oppression.

 

[john legality]

"What I am unsympathetic to is: you're whining, crying, moaning and complaining about how all of this is unfair. You should just man up, and take the consequences of your actions."

I took responsibility for my actions and served my punishment in stellar fashion. What I don't like is additional punishment tacked on after the fact, punishment that wasn't applied at sentencing. Life destroying punishment, possibly worse than the original punishment of incarceration.

This is something that deserves to be fought over. I have limited weapons to fight with as I am in an adverse position, no money, no education, no legal representation, no rights, basically hopeless.

What I do have is my voice, my whining crying little voice.

Listen to it or not but you will hear it.

The more people who I can educate about what is taking place in this country the sooner it will be changed.

 

[cbg]

I'm not expecting to see a whole lot of sympathy in the legislature any time soon for adults who take sexual advantage of minors who are under the age of consent.

And what little there is will be reserved for the 18 year olds who had sex with their 17 year old girlfriends, not the 20 year olds who took sexual advantage of a 15 year old.

So don't hold your whining little breath waiting for a change in the law anytime soon. You don't like registering as a sex offender, you should have left the 15 year olds alone.

 

[john legality]

I'm not expecting to see a whole lot of sympathy in the legislature any time soon for adults who take sexual advantage of minors who are under the age of consent.

And what little there is will be reserved for the 18 year olds who had sex with their 17 year old girlfriends, not the 20 year olds who took sexual advantage of a 15 year old.

So don't hold your whining little breath waiting for a change in the law anytime soon. You don't like registering as a sex offender, you should have left the 15 year olds alone.

Change is coming like it or not, several recent supreme court decisions have ruled that the SOR has jumped the shark and is now officially punishment. This means it will not be able to be applied retroactively.

Of course they are not gonna give a widespread hall pass to the people they have wronged but each of those people will find justice as they fight for it.

Literally billions of wasted dollars will be spent fighting legislation that offers absolutely no protection from sex offenders to anyone. All on your dime.

 

[Proserpina]

Change is coming like it or not, several recent supreme court decisions have ruled that the SOR has jumped the shark and is now officially punishment. This means it will not be able to be applied retroactively.

Of course they are not gonna give a widespread hall pass to the people they have wronged but each of those people will find justice as they fight for it.

Literally billions of wasted dollars will be spent fighting legislation that offers absolutely no protection from sex offenders to anyone. All on your dime.

Sex offender "rights" versus traumatized victim.

Interesting.

 

[justalayman]

Listen to it or not but you will hear it.
.

what did you say? I couldn't hear you.

 

[quincy]

The laws on sex offender registration recently changed in Michigan (last year, I believe) - but not in the way john legality would hope.

Michigan amended their sex offender registry laws to include not only Tier 2 offenses (with a required 25 year registration) and Tier 3 offenses (with required lifetime registration), but also Tier 1 offenses (with registration required for 15 years).

In Michigan, if a convicted sex offender from another state was either not required to register under that state's laws or the time on the registry list has been met in that state, s/he might not be required to register at all in Michigan, depending on the date of the offense. But the law on who must and who might not need to register in Michigan is complicated, with a lot of "ifs," "ands," "buts," and dates and types of offenses to consider.

In other words, sex offender registry laws vary widely from state to state. You will need to check with each state you plan to live in to make sure you are in compliance. The bottom line is that you need to register as a sex offender in any state that requires under their laws that you register. Simple as that.

 

[cbg]

I think you need to go back and look at those US Supreme Court cases again.

I do not think they say what you think they say.

 

[justalayman]

I think you need to go back and look at those US Supreme Court cases again.

I do not think they say what you think they say.

Did I miss something? What SCOTUS cases are you referring to? I don't see a reference to any SCOTUS cases in this thread.

 

[cbg]

Change is coming like it or not, several recent supreme court decisions have ruled that the SOR has jumped the shark and is now officially punishment. This means it will not be able to be applied retroactively.

Of course they are not gonna give a widespread hall pass to the people they have wronged but each of those people will find justice as they fight for it.

Literally billions of wasted dollars will be spent fighting legislation that offers absolutely no protection from sex offenders to anyone. All on your dime.

Thus saying the sex offender who, at the age of 20, diddled a 15 year old and is now whining that he's having to take the consequences of his actions.

 

[justalayman]

thanks cbg. Yes, I missed that.


so John, how about posting up those cases. I am sure a few here would be glad to take a look at them and tell you why you are wrong.

 

[TigerD]

There are a number of problems with the way our system handles sex offenders post conviction.
Registration requirements are burdensome to the point of setting up the offender for failure. Many department play games screwing with offenders knowing that no one will care about the offender getting shafted.
In Missouri and many other state civil commitment throws yet another wrench in the mix. After serving high mandatory time, a sham civil trial is conducted where state cracks open the crystal ball and strive to prove it is more likely than not that the offender will re-offend. (As a side note, when the state bats 100 percent, we should all be concerned about a rigged game -- additionally, no one - not a single person - has graduated out of the SORTS* program.)
For the offenders that are required to register - more and more laws are passed to retroactively require previously convicted offenders who did not have to register to start registering.

By any reasonable evaluation registration is a continuation of punishment with the threat of significant additional penalties attached. It may be that my reader is okay with that, but that is an emotional response. This is a situation that calls for a well thought out intelligent plan. Creating a class of people tht can be abused and victimized at will can't be the pinnacle of our justice system. We can do better.

DC


* Sex offender rehabilitation and treatment services