[FAC COMMENTS INSERTED IN CAPS AND BRACKETED]

A criminal justice advocacy group is prepared to sue the federal government if President Obama signs into law a measure requiring child-sex offenders to be identified as such on their passports — a move they say is as hypocritical for a president pushing for broad criminal justice reform. [THIS IS THE LAWSUIT THAT WE HAVE BEEN POSTING ABOUT – ATTORNEY JANICE BELLUCCI AND A WASHINGTON DC FIRM WILL BE REPRESENTING REGISTERED CITIZENS]

The House and Senate this week resolved differences in versions of the bill, known as the “International Megan’s Law,” which is meant to make it harder for pedophiles to travel abroad. [EXCUSE ME?!?!? PEDOPHILES?!?!?! THIS MAKES IT HARDER FOR ALL REGISTERED CITIZENS TO TRAVEL ABROAD AND MOST ARE NOT PEDOPHILES] The final version requires that individuals convicted of sex offenses involving minors obtain a “unique identifier” on their passports that would alert immigration authorities in other countries of their prior convictions. [YES, LIKE THE NAZIS DID TO THE JEWS]

“It is imperative and long overdue that the United States take the child protection lessons it has learned domestically with the successful notification systems first created by Megan’s Laws and expand them globally to prevent convicted U.S. sex offenders from harming children abroad,” said Mr. Smith in a statement released Monday following the passage of the law. [MR. SMITH; HOW SUCCESSFUL IS MEGAN’S LAW? CAN YOU POINT TO ANY REPORTS SHOWING THE BENEFIT OF THE REGISTRY OR ANY OF THE ANCILLARY PUNISHMENTS IMPOSED UNDER IT? RESIDENCY RESTRICTIONS? PROXIMITY ORDINANCES?]

The law is named for Megan Kanka, a 7-year-old New Jersey girl who in 1994 was sexually assaulted and killed by a convicted sex offender who lived across the street from her family.

Over the last decade, lawmakers and courts have had a mixed take on sex offender laws. Several states, including Florida, Oklahoma and Louisiana require sex offenders to obtain a special driver’s license that identifies them as such. Meanwhile restrictions on where offenders could live have been struck down by courts in California, Massachusetts and New York.

Given the commitment that both Congress and the president have professed over the last year for criminal justice reform, advocates see the passage of the federal sex offender law as backsliding. [HUGE BACKSLIDING]

For 29-year-old Josh Gravens, who said he was placed on the Texas sex offender registry for an incident that occurred when he was 13, the stigma has already led to bouts of homelessness and trouble keeping a job. He fears that a “scarlet letter” on his passport will only marginalize him further when he travels.

“I believe that if the president really means what he says about criminal justice, he will veto the bill,” said Mr. Gravens, who through his advocacy group Organize Justice, has pushed for broad criminal justice reform. “And I’m watching with anticipation that he keeps his promises.”

An official from the State Department, which would oversee the passport demarcation, declined to comment Wednesday on the legislation.

But according to a 2010 Government Accountability Office, the State Department in 2008 issued 4,500 passports to sex offenders of all categories. The State Department noted at the time however that there was “no evidence that the offenders used their passports to commit sex offenses abroad.”

[LET’S REPEAT THAT… NO EVIDENCE THAT THE OFFENDERS USED THEIR PASSPORTS TO COMMIT SEX OFFENSES ABROAD.]
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