Ex Post Facto Victory in Oklahoma
A man, whose conviction dates back to 1999 was successful in getting an order stating that the residency restriction that was passed in 2003 does not apply to him, since the law was passed after his conviction and would constitute an ex-post-facto violation. As a result of the victory, he is now able to live with his mother (or wherever he wants) in Tulsa.
According to this story, the police sergeant gave a completely misguided and ignorant quote, showing he has no idea that SORRs have repeatedly been found to be ineffective and do nothing to protect children. “The whole premise of the sex offender registry is to protect our children. Safe zones were created for families to at least feel comfortable knowing there were no sex offenders living nearby. The ruling will open the door for sex offenders to file similar lawsuits and be granted the freedom to reside next to an elementary school, if they so choose,” said Tulsa Police Sgt. John Adams.
Scarier, look at some of the comments on his article. It’s bad!
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There are many, many comments out there; some are just hateful and seem as if they were written in crayon. Others are just mis-informed and I attempted to educate them. I also saw an advocate for Women Against the Registry and contacted her, separately.
I think that what really frightens people is the idea of the “Big Bad” and when you point out to them the rates of recidivism; no more than 3.5%, and the efforts s.o.s make to be re-integrated into society, they understand. Appealing to their own human nature (if you’re close to my age, which is 59, you will have “fooled around” in the back seat) which was a rite of passage and is now prosecutable, i. e., the 18 y/o couple in North Carolina, with photos of their genitalia on their phones from the age of 15 y/o (they are still together and both have bright futures, if the NC D.A. doesn’t have his way), people can see that in a more sensible light.
The media makes no bones about leading with “SEX OFFENDER….” and you can say anything after those two words and have a guaranteed readership. What the law enforcement agencies and the media fail to take into consideration, or they just don’t care, is that these are people’s lives, futures, careers and relationships that are destroyed over this pettiness.
If this isn’t enough, if we cannot appeal to them on a humane, personal level, the monetary cost itself should be mentioned and it is daunting. Money for the care of the s.o., while incarcerated, although privatization, which should be outlawed from what I’ve seen, money for the monitoring and classes and court fees and drug tests, come out of the ex-felon’s pocket. But what about the cost to society? We are depriving ourselves of a segment of men and women who, under normal circumstances would be contributing members of society, and tax-payers!
There’s always at least one ignorant person out there spewing off at the mouth with no regards to the facts..seems like he may have a few secrets of his own… Another Hastert
So, how is ex post facto illegal in Oklahoma, but legal in Florida?
It’s not legal anywhere in the US.
Florida is a corrupt state.
In my dealings with Florida law, which primarily consisted of use in telecommunications, prior to the NSA leak and the Patriot Act, I found that many, many statutes in Florida are so poorly written, porous and deliberately obtuse, so that they CAN be widely interpreted. Take “Stand Your Ground” in which we had recently, three separate cases using this law, with three grossly different outcomes: 1) Zimmerman freed on what was clearly a charge of homicide; if a policeman is warning you to “drop your weapon”, and you fire and kill your “attacker” which was never proven, how then, does this lead to a determination of “Not Guilty”? 2) An African-American woman was sentenced to 20 years in prison for firing her weapon 3 times in the air to warn off her ex-husband, against whom she had a restraining order. Her sentence was overturned, but not until the public got wind of it and raised hell and 3) Michael Dunn (a white man), who because he was enraged at a car full of African-American teenagers in a 7-11 parking lot who wouldn’t turn down their music, returned to his car, retrieved his weapon and fired into the car, killing one of the teens. He is serving a life sentence with no possibility of parole. Dunn was licensed to carry, but had a very poor understanding of the law. Had this law not been in place, or worded differently, the young teen would still be alive and Dunn would be free (maybe).
Florida is a corrupt state when it comes to law, but we, as citizens need to fully understand what we are doing when it comes to voting for judges and D.A.s.
So sorry for the double post, but in my findings, we are already losing what little grasp we have in terms of Constitutionality when it comes to Right to Privacy laws and Amendments; III, IV, V, IX and XIV are constantly under fire due to “wireless wiretaps” by agencies like the NSA, who have subpoenaed Microsoft, Verizon and AT&T for ALL of their telecommunications records. To date, I believe Microsoft is the only corporation that has complied, which is why I don’t Skype or use Outlook. Be that as it may, we need to be more vigilant and on top of what our Inalienable Rights and Responsibilities are under the law. Back when I was a kid, you could do or say just about anything short of fomenting treason, vandalism and murder. It was THAT simple!