Below is the content of a letter to Judge Jeanine Pirro, who appeared on FOX News and presented totally inaccurate recidivism rates for sex offenders.
Dear Judge Jeanine Pirro,
I am a loyal follower of yours as well as Fox News.
I was listening to your program Saturday night September 22, 2018 and it was during the segment regarding Judge Kavanaugh when you stated “sex offenders recidivate 70% of the time”. This is just not a fact. I am the president of an organization which does not support sex offending in any manner shape or form, but we do advocate for equal protection under the law and our constitution. One of our main focuses is to educate the public, the legislature and the media to get the truth out. If those we respect and listen to do not take the time to be truly informed on an issue especially something as high profile as offenses of a sexual nature we cannot expect those in the general population to react and respond to an issue in a rational way.
I’m including for your information the actual statistics and additional research on this population. These are not opinions they are the empirical studies by the experts in the field from both the US as well as Canada. What I have included is a renowned expert on risk and a recent Amicus Brief submitted to the US Supreme court by experts regarding this very issue. These are the people whose work are accepted globally. When will the media begin to speak the truth and not just inflame the public to believe things which are simply just not true?
I’m truly hoping you take this information and correct your statement.
Should you require additional information I will gladly provide or connect you directly to the experts.
Respectfully your loyal viewer and American voter..
Gail Colletta
President, Florida Action Committee
www.floridaactioncommittee.org
[email protected]
I like the letter. Could you please include the statistics – either in the email or a website link? It may prove useful later on.
They say never discuss politics in mixed company. And for the most part I agree because it is very personal. Our political beliefs are deeply rooted in how we think we should live as a society. But in my opinion, it is precisely, no matter how uncomfortable, why we need to talk politics. Doing it in a respectful way, with no preordained beliefs that we are right and the other side wrong. But rather in a constructive dialogue of ideas with a sincere willingness on BOTH sides to be open to ideas.
The officials in Tallahassee are politicians and they pass the laws the laws that have so negatively impacted us. So, when we think of politics, I suggest we need to think single issues (ours) and not vote for your “team”, whether Dem or Reps or Independents. I will have the opportunity for a face to face talk with one of the Gubernatorial candidates about our issues and hear what he says. I will look for the opportunity to speak with his opponent as well. For those that cannot do the same I strongly encourage you to visit their websites and see how thy talk about justice reform and decide for yourselves. And please VOTE. If not, you can complain all you want but you are no longer part of the solution.
While on their website sing up for their emails! You will be told when they will be in your area and go talk to them!!! The more they hear your concern the more they realize we have a vote and it motivates them to take us in consideration. They do not know if you can vote or not and if one of them challenges you on whether you can vote (highly doubtful by the way) and you want to be truthful and can’t votte, say no, BUT, remind them you have family, you have friends, and maybe you talk to your local pastor who sympathizes and maybe you tell the challenger that you are going to ask the pastor to speak on behalf a politician that follows the religious tradition of forgiveness, of redemption. Remind him in a non-combative tone by telling him this that you can be an influencer. They will know the message. It is “you want my vote, then represent me and my issues”.
Someone commented that it is not Just Fox that misinforms. So true. As a newcomer to the fight I have no historical perspective but from what I hear most media was biased in the past. Key word “past. I personally have seen articles (and many have been published here) from reputable new sources informing about the facts and even championing for our cause. I ask the readers this: If you see a journalist (from any source you currently use. I am not singling out Fox), that does not respond to your inquiry, what type of journalist are they? Are they catering to their readers, regardless of what the truth is? If they misinform about this issue, that we probably know more about then they as we live it, what other issues they discuss, that you do not have the time nor resources to fact check, do you take at face value? My humble opinion is that if they are wrong on this issue and after providing feedback, the do NOT self-correct or counter argue with reputable facts, then I question their fact checking capabilities and their point of view in other topics they write about. I would consider other new sources that have become enlightened. In my humble opinion, just as in persons, there are media outlets that are more opinionated than others. I will share a news report I recently read on this.
I sincerely hope this journalist becomes enlightened and does what journalists are meant to do. Report the facts. They would be a great ally as they reach more minds than we can. If they do not, then to me they are not valid journalists. They are either writing Op Ed pieces disguised as journalism and based on false facts, or they are cynically catering to their listeners constituents who rather feel good about a stance that matches their “gut” feeling than to hear a truth that does not match their belief.
We more than most are a tuned to “fake news”. I urge you to face to face with the Gubernatorial candidate you are leaning to vote on and share it with us.
I believe in our slogan “With Unity comes change!”
Let’s unite to make our voices heard!
I believe that Judeo/Christian principles guided those who established this nation. Also, God is not a Republican or Democrat. We need discussion on what is best for our society. I have just this week started a subtopic in my blog series “Politics and the Church- The Politics of God”. I stick to facts and challenge all to make decisions for themselves on what I write. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are this nation’s founding principles. God’s priority is ‘life’. ‘Liberty’ is earned and not granted. ‘Pursuit of happiness’ is not a guarantee of happiness. I believe one way to achieve happiness is in the way we treat others. We see all the time that money does not bring us happiness. On ‘judgment day’ we will be judged not on what we did for ourselves but what we did for others. See my blog at geezerpolitics.com.
FAC thank You again for all you do . I to feel presenting the facts to others even to the officers we have to check in to would be helpful. You have presented many fact and listed many turn case decisions here in your comments over the past months. Would it be possible for you to write up a list of many of these on this sight in as brief a way as possible and in a form so that it could be printed off to use as notes when discussing it with others and to hand to officers when appropriate. It would be best if it could be printable on one page.
Well, I’m not a fan of hers and never have been. I’ve always seen her as a Trump shill on a television channel filled with Trump shills so I’m not at all surprised by her flagrantly disinformational statement nor disappointed by it. I need to add here, as I always do, that I am no fan of the channels who are widely seen as FoxNew’s competitors, either nor am I a Demoncrat just as I’m not a Republican. Neither of those parties are an alternative to the other. Both are deeply illiberal and contemptuous of the individual. If we occupy a community, of a sort, bound by our subjection to the “sex offender” registry, or marginalized by it by our association with someone who is on it, then I urge you to look beyond the failed ideologies of those two political parties.
She should at least tell where her erroneous stats were obtained. I am very disappointed in her. How can we take her seriously anymore?
Only thing I haven’t seen are the real numbers, not the judge’s made up ones
I’m a fan of Judge Pirro as well as Fox News in general. The Gipper and George Bush Sr. were my COC’s, and I still hold a world view that is anything but progressive. Having said that, I don’t believe in discrimination or disenfranchisement of any kind toward any group. One thing that has always irritated me about conservative voices is how they profess a love of the Constitution until it gets in the way of whatever is supposed to be scaring the masses at any give time. From the Patriot act, to the public registry (Signed into law by the Sexual Predator in Chief Clinton ironically enough) it seems the self-proclaimed Constitutional purists get mighty quiet when “public safety” is the selling point.
Duke, I agree with you. Too many conservative Republicans are constitutionalist until the Constitution gets in the way of their agendas. I would like to say more…and I could…but I must do some writing for my blog this evening…geezerpolitics.com.
I agree in part with what you’ve said about unfair discrimination and disenfranchisement but I also want to point out that former President Bill (prehaps a predator) Clinton was a liberal Democrat who signed neither the PATRIOT ACT nor SORNA into law. Those acts were signed into law by former President George W. Bush. Clinton did however sign into law the federal habeas corpus statute codified at Title 28 United States Code Section 2255, which greatly restricts a federal prisoner’s right to challenge their conviction and sentence on constitutional grounds. Some states followed suit in restricting prisoner rights to collaterally attacking their convictions and sentences based on the federal provisions under 2255. So, it is apparent that neither Republicans nor Democrats are to blame as a group but the politicians as individuals.
Thanks for that correction. I have always thought Clinton was the one who signed the public registration requirements into law. Indeed, individual panderers are the culprits in all unconstitutional laws handed down. Amazing what a political hack can do with some fear and misinformation.
Exactly.
When someone purported to be knowledgeable (or so she believes herself to be) as Judge Piro get something SO WRONG, how can we expect the public to know what to think?
A lot of people believe what she says as gospel, so I hope she does a bit of ACTUAL research and retracts her statement FOR ALL TO HEAR.
Great response FAC as always. Loved it. Fox news is always in the land of unicorns and rainbows.
Media 101: In television stories about sex sell and danger/fear sell so combine the two – even with the same OLD fake numbers and lies and you get people’s attention!
Television news is not about news or facts but rather just getting and holding your (the viewer/public) attention long enough to watch until the next set of commercials.
Going on television and telling people that over 90% of sex crimes are commuted by someone the child/family knows and NOT A STRANGER!
Excellent response. I watched that episode too and cringed when she made that statement. I couldn’t help but notice that some of the comments here seem to lean a bit political, but when it comes to enlightening the media and the public, I hope we can all overlook our individual preferences and continue to get the truth out. I plan to encourage Judge Jeannine to do her research by messaging her your letter and letting her know how much I agree with it.
Yes – we need to keep this OFF politics. We try to moderate out the political stuff, but if something slips in, our apologies.
This is NOT (by no means) and endorsement of one cable news channel over another.
I followed Ms. Pirro for many years when she made appearances on the old Court TV. She always had thoughtful, insightful opinions back then. However, she has sold out her values in order to land a high paying job at FOX News. They do have some good reporters there, but they also spew out a ton of propaganda based on false assertions, in order to fuel their ratings. I will be very surprised if she apologizes for her false statements, or if she even acknowledges that they were mistaken in the first place. For the record, I watch Shepard Smith’s news show on FOX every day, and I find several other reporters there to be fair and impartial.
Agreed. She has become a dark-haired Nancy Grace. If it was left up to them, we’d all be dead or civilly confined forever.
Tucker Carlson has made the claim that “sex offender recidivism is frightening and high” maybe you should send the same letter to him ! after all he claims that he is about the cold hard truths !
again last night Tucker Carlson made the claim about ” the dangerous and high re-offence rate of SO’s” when talking about Kavanaugh’s SCOTUS hearings
If I can find an address to send a letter to Tucker, I certainly will.
Wow, I totally missed her saying this. So thanks, as always, Gail, for staying on top of stuff like this, and the great letter.
Personally, I view Pirro as too egotistical (and protected by Fox News misinformation culture) ever to correct this misstatement, which probably is why I would have been a poor candidate to write this letter. Better that it come from a fan. And it absolutely has to be out there!
Very well said. I hope she listens and corrects her facts. A high recidivism rate only needs to be stated once to atttach itself to our conciousness, but it take repeated hearing the truth to dispel these damaging myths.
Thank You FAC . Without your diligence ignorance and further atrocities would continue to escalate. May the coarse of reason prevail.
Furthermore, if Fox News refuses to recant the false information they should be threatened with a law suit. For instilling bigotry and possibly violence against a certain segment of society by spreading lies and false statements. Judge Jeanine Pirro needs to be named to in the suit.
who would bring this suit?
Anyone on the registry or even a class action suit. Especially someone who has been physically injured. Or threatened.
An excellent attempt, but I doubt anyone involved with FOX and affiliates is interested in the TRUTH.
What research did you provide with the letter?
The part missing from her statement on air is that the vast majority of recidivism is due to inability to find work and housing and the high likelihood of inadvertently running up against the ever changing landscape of SORNA requirements. Actual sexual recidivism is extraordinarily low. And that doesn’t even begin to discuss the situational offender that didn’t intend to offend in the first place and wouldn’t have under fully informed circumstances.
Also worth pointing out that the overwhelming majority of registrant recidivism is for status offenses (i.e. completely innocent activity but for the status of the accused like parole, probation, or sex offender registrant).
Great letter. Loyal follower of fox news? In my opinion, fox misinforms the public every day.
As a loyal follower of FOX News I surely would like to know what that misinformation is. I will not hesitate to let them know about it.
Judge Jeanine Pirro suggested the recidivism rate of registrants is 70%. That is completely false.
I agree 100% that that is false but for anyone to say FOX News puts out only false information is just not correct. I have watched it over the years and I can’t remember the last time they got something wrong or if they were a bit off in their commentary they corrected it. I try watching other networks and it’s unbelievable what they broadcast as the truth. If it wasn’t for FOX News we would be basically void of the truth.
Respect your opinion but also respect that many don’t share it.
Not sharing my opinion is a freedom we all have. I would just like to know when FOX News says something that is not true. I would surely let them know. I come to the conclusion that If we can’t rely on FOX News for the truth then all is lost in finding truth in broadcast.
I too, do not share that opinion either.
That is the opposite of my view but also what helps give FAC its credibility— we represent all sides of the political spectrum, but we come together to fight for more evidence-based sex laws
The truth is all that any of us should be concerned with. When we come out against anything it should be armed with truth in doing so. We can’t let bitterness hide the truth from us as some have done…i.e. Lauren Book.
FOX is the only major news network I ever watched with any regularity. This was back when I was in the military. It’s sadly one of the favored stations in the service. Why do I say sadly?
Well, that was ten years ago and since then I have found FOX to be the most blatant in their willingness to neglect to tell truth through omission of clearly relevant context, or to lie about facts and data without remorse and with a 1/100 chance that they will later correct it. When I was young and impressionable in the service, it was always in the background, and very few of us ever stopped to question what they were saying. As I grew and, through no intention of my own, diversified my news intake, I discovered something was wrong, there was too much contradictory information, so I started digging for myself. I eventually concluded that I should never again let a single source of information dominate my news stream, and that the corporate-backed major news networks (FOX, CNN, MSNBC, etc.) are all full of sheisse.
Those old school major national broadcast news networks have been repeatedly bent to the will of their masters (some of us believe we live in an oligarchic state where the oligarchy has deep media control). This isn’t a recent phenomenon. This comes right from the Nazi-era playbook of propaganda and has been heavily utilized and evolved since the Cold War. Simultaneously, the “science” of propaganda entered the commercial sector in the form of modern marketing employing the same psychological tactics developed during Nazi-era, only in marketing it has been used to make us feel like we don’t just want products, we downright need them, and so consumerism as we know it today was born.
Back in the 80s “Manufacturing Consent” went over this growing and troubling set of practices. There’s also a quick infovideo about it on here
So, I’m not here to debate which news source is best or worst, but I will say without hesitation that FOX, CNN, and MSNBC deserve to be shut down. They shouldn’t be anyone’s source or set of sources. You can find much better on the Internet, we have convenient options these days that didn’t exist two decades ago.
Do not forget that many offenders are not allowed to use the internet so that isn’t an option for them. Also, when talking about news sources, many are opinion shows on the networks you mentioned. A person needs to know the difference between hard news and opinions. And yes, there is a lot of fake news.
70%! Unreal how people come up with false ideas like that. I’ve always felt that the reason there aren’t more recidivism studies about sex offenders is because the “experts” always knew that the real number is extraordinarily low. She needs to learn how to use Google search.