Congratulations Guy Hamilton-Smith!!!
We are starting this week with some incredible news that we hope will inspire you.
Guy Hamilton-Smith Passed the Bar Exam!!!
For those who don’t know, I’ll back up a few steps… Like many of you reading this, Guy is required to register as a sex offender. More than a dozen years ago, when he was 22, he was convicted of a child pornography offense. Rather than letting it end his life, his experience on the “other side” of the law inspired him to become a lawyer. Facing a mountain of adversity, he ultimately attended the University of Kentucky, where he graduated in the top-third of his law school class!
Despite that achievement, Guy was far from the finish line. The State Supreme Court sought to block Guy from taking the bar exam. As with his conviction, Guy didn’t let this set-back stop him. Since graduating in 2011 Guy has been fighting to one-day take the bar. But in the mean time he didn’t shrink into his shell waiting and hoping like so many others. He went out there and did something. He did a lot!
For the last decade, Guy has devoted his life to writing and speaking about the injustice in the justice system, particularly in the area of sex offense registries. He previously served as the Legal Fellow for the Sex Offense Litigation Policy and Resource Center at the Mitchell Hamline School of Law. He has been a regular speaker at not only advocacy conferences, such as NARSOL and ACSOL, but he has spoken at conferences for the American Bar Association and Harvard’s Law School. He has been quoted as an expert in Rolling Stone magazine, among several other places, and has developed a significant following on Twitter (@G_Padraic), where we happen to get notified on many of the happenings in our advocacy movement.
This past Friday I received a text from Guy letting me know he passed! The news is still sinking in because it’s that significant. As an advocate for those who are required to register, I’ve become used to hearing about all the doors being slammed in people’s faces. As a registrant, I know how deflating it is to keep trying, not knowing if one day you’ll come across that door that will open. As someone whose gone down the same road as Guy (though he is much braver than I for doing it so publicly), I know what a treacherous and seemingly insurmountable mountain this has been to climb… But I also know that it is possible! Nobody reading this should ever give up.
I wanted to start off this week by acknowledging the achievement of my friend and colleague Guy Hamilton-Smith. It’s been a very tough road. It will still be a very tough road ahead, but I look forward to navigating it with you so that we can one day open doors for the hundreds of thousands of others who are hopefully coming up the mountain behind us!
CONGRATULATIONS GUY!!!
Discover more from Florida Action Committee
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Maestro, We are all here to congratulation someone that has achieved good status considered he was once caught up in all this and he did graduate with top honors. Should we say more about his accomplishes or just talk about … well I can’t chat on Twitter or face book.
One just has to understand what sort of book one is reading or is anyone got top honors at a spelling bee before getting a B – “sting” from an unknown wasp.
Well I’m sure we wish Guy good luck in his pursuit for true justice isn’t that what America is all about or is Twitter the master race of America.
Kentucky is in the 6th Circuit which ruled that much of Michigan’s registry is unconstitutional. If Guy takes up this challenge in Kentucky, this could get interesting.
Trying to find out how he got past the KY State Supreme Court case which barred him from taking the exam. Great that he finally got to take it and passed but how that became possible seems to be a glaring omission from the story given our purpose for being here.
Congratulations Guy on your achievement. Well deserved for your determination and tenacity. Now you can do even more. A great victory and example of never give up.
Wishing you continuous success.
Congratulations Guy
I had porno that was made 12 yrs before I was born have been registration 2 times a year for over 32 years it’s ruined my life I’m proud that it didn’t stop you Tom parrella
Congratulations! Now he can become an attorney for those who want to stand and fight the injustices of the registry machinations. He knows what it’s like. That should make him a formidable opponent in court.