Would you have taken the plea had you known… ?
One of the comments that irritates me the most is “well you should have thought of that before you…”.
It was once said to me by a police officer who had just denied every single one of the proposed residences on the list I provided her because it ran afoul of their city’s residency restriction. It had been my third list of more than a dozen rentals, generated after my third trip going around the city with a realtor trying to find a compliant place to live that didn’t look like it was too close to a “place where children congregate”. I was quickly realizing the effort was pointless, because EVERYWHERE was too close to a school bus stop or place where children congregate. As I pleaded with her for guidance because I was days away from being homeless. She just looked at me and said, “well you should have thought of that before you looked at what you did.”
No, actually, I couldn’t have though about the residency restriction because it didn’t exist until years after my offense. At the time I took my plea, nearly 20 years ago, it was completely unforeseeable that someone would come up with that! Had I known that every year the screws would be tightened and new restrictions would be added to the list, I would have never taken my plea.
Which brings us to a poll (which you can answer by clicking on the “Yes” or “No” below). Results will be shared after we have collected a meaningful sample.
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By 2007 it was well-established that registration had many unpredictable consequences, and it could not simply be negotiated away in the Federal plea bargaining process.
So, yes. What other choice did I have?
What I did NOT realize was that the state you register in matters greatly, and as a Federal inmate you have some flexibility as to the state to which you are released (where you must register).
Had my family relocated, during my term of incarceration, to, say, Washington State, as someone pointed out below, their quality of life upon my rejoining them might have been better.
So, yes, while I obviously had to register as a result of my plea, registration implies different things depending on where you are.
I like my attorney, I consider him a friend. I do feel that he failed to specify that the registry would be a requirement in perpetuity for the remainder of my naturally life with ever increasing margins for error and violation.
If I knew then what I know now, I would have fought it.
Hello No – I am innocent and was intimidated throughout the entire process. I had simply took it 19 years ago to make it go away and there was no online registry…or anything like that.
You received a letter in the mail once a year that you filled out and mailed back to show you still lived where you registered.
The rest of this shit has all been added on as is clearly a violation of the contract. I keep my end and then some but they keep adding conditions which I did NOT agree (nor ever would have) to!
This is NOT justice in America and it is unfair and truly unAmerican!
Time to change and restore rights that have been STOLEN from us!
Lee
Not only would I not have taken a plea but the registry didn’t exist then where I lived.and I had never heard of it. I was told my offense was the same as a traffic ticket. Police are the biggest liars in the world. They are the ones we need to be protected from. We need registries for them.
Interesting that this topic would be highlighted today…my partner is a registered citizen. We briefly lived in NY, and he was designated a Tier 3 offender — and did not challenge the ruling at the time (2013).
Now, we have been investigating what it takes to remove that designation in NY where we no longer live, but who still maintains him on the registry as if he did. The New York State Unified Court System itself defines “Collateral Consequences” of a plea bargain as follows:
A criminal conviction ends with sentencing that can include many different kinds of punishments. See Sentencing to learn more. A conviction also brings other consequences that affect your life in many other ways. A conviction, or even an arrest can take away your rights, impose sanctions and disqualifications that affect your job, housing, government benefits, citizenship, student loans, and more. These are called Collateral Consequences or Invisible Punishments. The big problem is that you may not know about these consequences when you are Plea Bargaining or pleading guilty.
Collateral Consequences = Invisible Punishment.
Only it does not seem real invisible to me!
I voted yes because had I fought it I certainly would have faced prison time over probation. There are definitely variables to this question that are unaccounted for.