This effort was not without opposition.

The victim advocates and representatives from county prosecutors unsuccessfully attempted to table the vote and even accused members of the SOMB of not following protocols. Ultimately, the SOMB settled on the phrase, “adults who commit sexual offenses.”

This change does not go far enough.

In the words of one prosecutor who testified at the SOMB hearing, it was just a “longer way to say sex offender.” I agree. Furthermore, the phrase implies the SOMB clients are continuously committing offenses.

Victim advocates and prosecutors argued that replacing the term “sex offender” with different terminology “minimizes harm.” Victim advocates, including those currently on the SOMB, had argued they suffer lifelong consequences as victims and therefore those who have committed an offense should also suffer for life.

But this argument merely proves the intent of sex offense treatment schemes and post-conviction laws are to dehumanize and cause enduring harm to those who have committed offenses in the past.

The SOMB is “victim-centric,” and is heavily slanted in favor of those who want to use their position to cause harm to people convicted of sexual offenses.

Three of the 21 members of the SOMB are victim advocates and four others are members of various criminal justice agencies; not a single board member directly represents people convicted of sexual offenses.

And ultimately, it was those victim advocates and law enforcement agents that killed the push to humanize their clients.

So if we don’t have respresentation, and the board is full of cops & Lauren Books, then it is worthless.