Comments on: URGENT CALL TO ACTION: INTERNATIONAL MEGAN'S LAW

By: Laurie Solomon

Laurie Solomon — Mon, 01 Feb 2016 18:35:17 +0000

In reply to fac-admin. Thank you very much. This is a big help.

By: Randy

Randy — Fri, 01 Jan 2016 22:34:43 +0000

I would also recommend everyone e-mail president Obama here: https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

here are 2 recent letters i found that have been written to him:

1). Additionally, you can print your letter and mail it to

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

Here is my letter.

Dear Mr. President,

I am writing to you with regards to HR 515, “International Megan’s Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders’”. Specifically, I am writing this letter to provide you with some facts surrounding the intent of this bill, as well as to urge you to veto it upon receipt to your office.

Unfortunately, far too often, our elected officials exaggerate facts and, in at least one case, completely make up “facts” to justify their position. For example, a common myth is that there are 300,000 children at risk for sexual exploitation and another 100,000 children in the sex trade. These “facts”, together, earned a coveted “Four Pinocchios” by the Washington Post, and landed themselves on the Post’s “Biggest Pinocchios of 2015” list.

Another common myth used to perpetuate public fear and fan the flames of anger is that sex offenders have a high rate of recidivism. In fact, sex offenders have one of the lowest rates, hovering around 5.3%. Amongst all offenders, this is the lowest rate, second only to murderers.

Far too often, politicians exploit the fears and unease of the general public to easily target a group of persons who, virtually no one is willing to stand up for. Sex offenders have no friends on Capitol Hill, allowing lawmakers in search of votes, to viciously attack their rights for the easy points they can score. In a recent interview with NPR, you accused republican presidential candidate Donald Trump of taking advantage of “…potential anger, frustration, [and] fear”. I urge you, please do not lower yourself to the likes of Mr. Trump. You are better than that. Please, review the facts, see through the smoke created by our lawmakers, and veto this bill.

Thank you for your time Mr. President, and I wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas.

Very truly yours,

Sources:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/12/14/the-biggest-pinocchios-of-2015/?tid=pm_politics_pop_b

http://www.cdcr.ca.gov/Adult_Research_Branch/Research_Documents/2014_Outcome_Evaluation_Report_7-6-2015.pdf

http://wlrn.org/post/opinion-sex-offense-recidivism-rare-shouldnt-determine-policy

2). (This quote from President Obama appeared in an article about British Muslims being denied entry into the United States to visit Disneyland: “We betray our most noble past as well if we were to deny the possibility of movement, the possibility of progress, if we were to let cynicism consume us and fear overwhelm us,”)

Mr. Obama, you can live up to your noble words, you can now halt the process of restricting US citizens from traveling, who have committed certain crimes and have served their debt to society by vetoing “International Megan’s Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders”. We must not deny the possibility of movement and the possibility of progress to those who have been through our justice system and are now integrated back into society, simply on the basis of popular fears and myths and the unfounded cynicism that these former convicts can not be rehabilitated.

By: Randy

Randy — Sun, 27 Dec 2015 23:36:50 +0000

In reply to Laurie Solomon. If there is a will there is a way! If you really wanted to write like i did than you would find a way! I searched googly for the Rep i my zip code, went to the website and used the contact link; it was not that difficult! I would like to thank FAC for the alert regarding this!

By: fac-admin

fac-admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 18:37:13 +0000

By: Laurie Solomon

Laurie Solomon — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 17:39:17 +0000

Posting a link to the House of Representatives general website makes it very confusing and difficult to contact your representative(s) to oppose this law. FAC is right to oppose this misguided legislation, but should make it easier for its members to contact the right person. I am computer literate and am having a hard time figuring it out. This is so important, perhaps you can post a list of representatives before the deadline?

By: fac-admin

fac-admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 12:37:40 +0000

In reply to Cindy.

Cindy, your comment, “Someone explain to me why after 25 years, the humiliation and punishment for a one time offender is now harsher than it was the day he was released?” is compelling – can you please contact legal@floridaactioncommittee.org?

By: Cindy

Cindy — Wed, 23 Dec 2015 22:12:39 +0000

Even though we took 7 cruises last year while living in NJ, my husband has been banned from Walt Disney World and by Royal Caribbean cruise line. He has been told that he can’t take another cruise with them, simply because of Florida Registered Sex offender Laws., not because of anything he has done. If Florida had announced how unwelcome they would make us feel before we had purchased a home here, we never would have subjected ourselves to the ridicule and humiliation we now experience in the sunny state of Florida. ‘Nice place to visit but you don’t want to live here’ or some other type of notice would have been helpful. We don’t want to live in a state where we are not welcome, nor do we want to be judged as a group, but as an individual. I never thought it was legal to prevent a US citizen from doing a legal activity simply because they “might” commit a crime in the future! That’s just nuts and is a complete violation of the 15th Amendment of the Constitution. Someone explain to me why after 25 years, the humiliation and punishment for a one time offender is now harsher than it was the day he was released? Does Florida have so little faith in their criminal justice system that they don’t believe any one can change or be rehabilitated? How many millions of $$ of taxpayer money is being wasted on our prison systems if jail doesn’t really solve the problem or prevent someone from reoffending? In 1995 the state of NJ spent an average of $45,000 (a year! it’s more now) on each incarcerated person in the system, so why people complain about how much is spent on welfare services when it is miniscule compared to what is spent annually by the Department of Corrections. In WWII Japanese/American citizen were imprisoned unlawfully in internment camps simply because they were of Japanese ancestry, not because they were a threat. Our government “dehumanized” those people to make it appear they deserved punishment simply for being “Japs”, and now the USA is doing the same for registered sex offenders. We haven’t come very far since then…. sad day!