UPDATED -Guilt by Association: Labeling Research-Based Policy Suggestions as “Pro-Offender”
UPDATED – Dr. Lisa Anne Zilney was our Guest Speaker for the Monthly Membership call Thu Oct 1 at 8pm ET.
Click here to listen to Dr. Zilney.
Dr. Zilney discussed this article on “Guilt by Association: Labeling Research” and introduced her latest book “Impacts of Sex Crime Laws on the Female Partners of Convicted Offenders: Never Free of Collateral Consequences.” An Associate Professor of Justice Studies at Montclair State University in New Jersey, she teaches a course on Sex Crimes (Sex Crimes Course Syllabus). She earned her Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Tennessee; an MS in Criminal Justice from Eastern Kentucky University, and a BA in Psychology from the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada. Her primary research interests are in the area of sexual offending legislation and its collateral impacts on the partners and families of sexual offenders. She has authored or coauthored five books and has published widely in journals.
In the current political climate, keyboard warriors are out in full force: tossing rude insults, stigmatizing and labeling individuals, and posting adversarial disagreements to almost every social media post that crosses my desk. I recently stumbled across a Facebook post that advocated letters and petition-signing in the hopes of banning those required to register for a sex offense from yet another venue in life. A little more Facebook digging and I found numerous pages dedicated to labeling both convicted individuals and those only suspected of sex crimes. These pages (which do not violate Facebook’s Community Standards) are replete with hate, threats, and violence.
Laws across the United States restrict where registrants can both reside and congregate, restrict participation in activities, restrict attendance at school functions for children or grandchildren, restrict travel both national and international, provide employment and licensure restrictions, provide designations on passports and driver’s licenses, allow for mandatory minimum sentences, and use a public registry to identify many individuals for life. Such legislation merely serves to create a public that feels safer; these laws do not empirically decrease sexual violence. But does that matter to most Americans?
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Alaska Edit
On 25 July 2008, the Alaska Supreme Court ruled that the Alaska Sex Offender Registration Act’s registration violated the ex post facto clause of the state’s constitution and ruled that the requirement does not apply to persons who committed their crimes before the act became effective on 10 August 1994.[12]
Has anyone ever seen any statistics on those on the registry as to how many fit into the many different groups that are included in it.
Like , Romeo and Juliet, indecent exposure, pornography, urinatiion in the wrong place, child abuse like spanking a child when your spouse doesn’t believe in spanking, possibly false charges from a angry spouse, charges from minors who have since admitted they made it up. How many actual violent sexual assaults and of those how many were against an ex-spouse and how many were against a consenting minor ( though they had no legal right to consent) or a consenting adult who may have had too much to drink and consented but later regretted it and filed charges. I’m sure there are many other situations that could be added.
We really need some statistics on these matters to make further arguments exposing the hypocrisy of the registry. If anyone has seen any of these statistics from a none biased source I would like to see it.
Unfortunately those statistics are hard to come by in any cohesive form. States have different statutory definitions and record keeping is not consistent between states. It may be possible to develop such statistics from a single jurisdiction. However, doing it globally will be nearly impossible.
We have all the stats we need to expose the hypocrisy of the registry. Our problem is not getting the right statistics, but incorporating those statistics into the law, overcoming bad law.
Part II of the NPR report is out. Has the reporter learned anything?
https://www.npr.org/2020/09/08/910586895/npr-probe-even-before-pandemic-authorities-lost-track-of-sex-offenders
Here is a recent email to L.A. Zilney per her recent aforementioned article!
Good Day
thank you once again for your recent article….Again, so ON POINT!
One thing, to mention, is the Definition of the word, Pedophile.
The Term is used like a wash rag…..The Term Pedophile is a Medical Term, of which would need to be defined on a person by person basis; Typically, through a 3 Doctor Medical Analyses.
I do not and have never condoned such behavior! All, I ask for, is the education of using the proper terminologies.
The Media, at large, seems to want to use the term on anyone. Take for example, the gross quasi-billionaire, who is now deceased, Epstein….the Media used the term on him at every stage…he was actually a buyer of prostitution of Minors and an alleged trafficker of Minors; however in this case, Government officials were paid off at every turn, which never led to the proper Justice; and consequently, caused a Media Frenzy and his untimely death!
Personally, Epstein, was a Hugh-Hefner like Image. He was a disgusting pig, as most reasonable people would agree; especially, if one witnessed his behaviors; He was more like a ‘controlling vision’; so, maybe, a more intensive study of his behaviors, would have been more beneficial. I, personally, witnessed the appalling behavior, as a person who is forced to register, and to this day, I am baffled why he never was questioned,; never ‘checked in’ as required by law and was allowed to just ‘do his own thing’
In my case, I chose to plea out to a Fictitious Victim, an Ungendered Minor….which could be Minnie Mouse, Flipper, Mighty Mouse, Speed Racer, Felix the Cat, etc!
Again, terminologies, must be defined correctly, in order to use such!
Thank you again so much for your persistence and Classic Analyses.
This dude knows what it means lol. The courts know this is punishment.
FAC and NARSOL,
Perhaps L.A. Zilney, could be a voice of REASON and INTELLECT, with regard to your responses, to the changes in AWA. She always, appears to be on point, and someone that can EDUCATE, a very indignant, tarnished, and IGNORANT Populous!
Right Now, WE are not JUST fighting Washington D.C., but we are NOW fighting the Anarchists who think that it is their RIGHT to take over Governments. Please remember, most of these Anarchists grew up just pushing buttons on their smartphones..most have never ever swept a floor, mopped it, really had to work a REAL JOB, such that their Perspective of Reality is Highly Warped and is Highly Disrecptful to not only their parents, but to their Elderly Relatives.
THIS IS ONE BIG CONUNDRUM!
SCIENCE AND EMPIRICAL DATUM, USED TO BE THE STANDARD OF MEASURE…now, it is being pushed to the side, based on the ‘stranger danger’ concept of NO RETURN!
This is exactly why there should be no public registry of any kind for anyone. The world is full of crazy people and you are wasting your time trying to reason with crazy. They don’t care about facts or logic or humanity. They have made up there mind from lies and false information because it’s what they want to believe. There are people that believe the Corona virus is a fake. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Things people believe and would continue believing to there grave in spite of all the facts in the world makes any sane person want to leave this planet.
To put out a list to this bunch of maniacs is criminal to say the least, legislation needs to be passed making this Rederick illegal And listed as hate punishable as hate crimes. That’s exactly what it is. News media and politicians are just as guilty for fanning the flames of all the lies. Judges are even afraid to be ostracized if they don’t go along with it.