SAY WHAT?!?
MEMORABLE QUOTES FROM CELEBRITY ADVOCATES, LEGISLATORS, AND OTHERS ON “SEX OFFENDERS”
List compiled by Derek W. Logue of OnceFallen.com
First Compiled 27 Aug. 2009, Updated 9 Mar 2024
Below are a number of memorable quotes from a number of resources from across the web. Some quotes may not be available elsewhere on the Internet.
STEREOTYPES & VIEWS OF THE “SEX OFFENDER”
“Adults project the eroticized desire outwards, creating a monster to hate, hunt down and destroy…What happened to me is a perfect example of the hysteria my book is about.” — Judith Levine, author of the book Harmful To Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex
“These are a group of people who are the sickest of the sick. They are truly perverts and it’s not curable. Instead of civil detention, we ought to make sure…these pedophiles…are locked up forever.” — Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, who planned on running for President in 2012
“We cast the net widely to make sure we got all the sex offenders. Now, 15 years on, it turns out that really only a small percentage of people convicted of sex offenses pose a true danger to the public.” — Ray Allen, former Texas legislator and former chairman of the Texas House Corrections Committee– who once helped push tougher “sex offender” registration bills into law – admitting that he and his colleagues went too far.
“We feel like we have to rely on some list that can’t differentiate between a drunken mooner and a pedophile to make a determination on a person’s character. You can’t judge my character based on a list.” — Derek Logue on CBS 42, Birmingham
“Sex offenders come from all walks of life. Some grew up in the ghetto, some grew up in Beverly Hills. They’re like everybody else.” — Janice Bellucci, attorney and founder of California RSOL
“That man did not look like a scary, creepy man. He looked like a regular man. A regular man who could work at Publix or a regular man who works in an office. That’s another piece that I really want people to see and understand. They don’t look like lizards,” she said. “He looked me in the eye the whole time, shook my hand — was very kind — he said ‘I’m very sorry for what happened to you and I thank you for sharing with me.’ He clearly had the empathy; clearly kind and soft-spoken. He seemed genuinely gentle.” — Lauren Book, Victim Industry Advocate
“Not all sex offenders who target children are pedophiles, and not all pedophiles are sex offenders.” — Researcher Michael Seto [Laura Kane. “Is pedophilia a sexual orientation?” Toronto Star, Dec. 23, 2013]
“We’re trying to correct the loopholes and at the same time protect the innocent people in our community, the children and seniors, from these horrible bad guys who have an awful type of disease that can’t be cured.” — FL Sen. Eleanor Sobel (D-Hollywood) [Dana Williams and Sally Kestin. “Lawmakers file sex predator legislation.” Sun Sentinel, Dec. 17, 2013. http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-sex-predators-legislation-filed-20131217,0,4192051.story, Retrieved Dec. 24, 2013]
“These are real monsters and we’re going to put the monsters away for a long, long time. I don’t want to read about anymore of these kids dying because of sexual predators attacking and maiming and killing these kids in the most dreadful way.” — FL Senator Eleanor Sobel [Tonya Alanez and Dana Williams, “State senators pass sex offender legislation.” Sun-Sentinel, March 4, 2014]
“To me, if you have a plague, and that’s what sexually violent predators are, they are a human plague, if you have a plague, you want to know where it is and contain it.” — Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville [Tonya Alanez and Dana Williams, “State senators pass sex offender legislation.” Sun-Sentinel, March 4, 2014]
“These are human beings who made a mistake. If we want them to succeed, we’re going to need to build a place for integrating them into our culture. Right now, you couldn’t walk into a church or community meeting and say, ‘I was a sex offender, but I’ve gone through treatment. I now have this lovely family, and I am so grateful to be a part of this community.’ There is no place for success stories. Nobody believes them.” — Patty Wetterling [Chanakya Sethi, “Reforming the Registry.” Slate.com, August 15, 2014. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2014/08/sex_offender_registries_the_best_ideas_for_reforming_the_law.html, Retrieved August 15, 2014]
“We need to stop frightening people with the word ‘predator’ because it causes us to look right past the men or women with smiles on their faces.” — Jim Clemente, retired FBI special agent [Elizabeth Kulze, “Have Teacher-Student Sex Crimes Become A National Crisis?” Vocativ, Jan. 30, 2015. http://www.vocativ.com/usa/education-usa/teacher-student-sex-crimes-become-national-crisis/, Retrieved May 11, 2015.]
“Pedophilia is a lifelong affliction for which there is no treatment. Coupled with the particularly devastating consequences of their conduct, these offenders pose a unique – and perhaps insurmountable – challenge for conventional law enforcement techniques.“ — Judge Richard Posner, 7th Circuit Appeals Court, in Belleau v. Wall, No. 15‐3225 (7th Cir Jan. 29, 2016):
ON “GET TOUGH” SEX OFFENSE LEGISLATION
“Sometimes what happens is lawmakers don’t want to know the facts, or the facts don’t make any difference. There really are two things that affect public policy. One is the facts. The other is the feelings and political pressure. There are legislators who will say, ‘Don’t confuse me with the facts. I’ve made up my mind.'”– North Dakota state Senator Tim Mathern
“The attorney general at the time was, ‘I’m going to be tough on crime, the governor is soft on crime and soft on sex offenders.’ The governor was declaring he was not going to allow any sex offenders out on his watch. The message patients in the program got was, ‘It doesn’t matter how hard you work or whether you might recover, you’re not getting out.’ So if you want to undermine a program, that’s the best way to do it. Get the chief executive officer of your state to tell them that no matter how hard they work, they’ll never get out. At that point I said, ‘I can’t do this work anymore.'”— Michael Farnsworth, who stepped down as head of Minnesota’s sex offender program amid a political tug-of-war during the 2003 elections [Dan Gunderson. “Laws based more on myth than fact.” MPR News, 19 Jun 2007. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2007/06/11/sexoffender2]
“I think this is an open invitation for any pedophile or sex offender to molest any kid they want in Massachusetts because, you know what, its open season. And the courts, time and time again, send that message.” — said Laurie Myers, president of Massachusetts Community Voices, responding to the Mass. Supreme Judicial Court’s 2009 ruling the GPS law could not be applied retroactively
“There is so much money to be made scaring the hell out of Americans about sexuality that no one on the gravy train can afford to slow it down. Any outsider who questions this juggernaut is immediately labeled insensitive, anti-family, immoral, or a pedophile.” — Dr. Marty Klein, from “America’s War On Sex,” p. 47
“Everybody wants to out-tough the next legislator. ‘I’m tough on crime,’ ‘No, I’m even more tough.’ It’s all about ego and boastfulness.” — Patty Wetterling [Dan Gunderson, “Sex offender laws have unintended consequences.” NPR News, June 18, 2007]
“My first term, I was pretty much a hard-liner. I said, ‘Put (sex offenders) in outer space. Put them all on an island.’ But I changed my mind after a (police) sergeant came in and said, ‘If they go underground, we can’t find them.’ ” — New Hampshire State Rep. Larry Gagne in response to a concern by a fellow Republican [Annmarie Timmons, “House committee passes bill prohibiting restrictions on where sex offenders can live.” Concord Monitor, Jan. 29, 2014. http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/10425897-95/house-committee-passes-bill-
prohibiting-restrictions-on-where-sex-offenders-can-live, Retrieved Feb. 1, 2014]
“One thing is correct; we’re throwing the kitchen sink at violent sexual predators. That’s an accurate characterization of the bill” — FL State Rep. Matt Gaetz, Florida House Judiciary Committee Hearing, March 3, 2104
“The prosecution process is about depriving someone of their liberty, putting them in prison, labeling them a sex offender for the rest of their life.” — Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. [Howard, Jim. “McCaskill criticizes ‘Greek’ organizations for backing ‘misguided’ campus sexual assault bill.” St. Louis Public Radio. USML. 29 Oct. 2015. Web. <http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/mccaskill-criticizes-greek-
organizations-backing-misguided-campus-sexual-assault-bill>]
“Whatever the fad of the day is what will lead people to jump on the bandwagon. Senator Pansing Brooks just hitched her wagon to a bad horse.” — NE State Senator Ernie Chambers, in response to a bill increasing mandatory sentencing for certain sex crimes [Shumway, Julia. “Nebraska lawmakers move to clamp down on sex traffickers.” AP. 29 Mar 2017. Web. <https://apnews.com/d19cfa92d115412e8feffac88aeade50/Nebraska-lawmakers-move-to-clamp-down-on-sex-traffickers>]
“Whether you are a sexual predator or an 80-year-old gay man caught having sex in a park in 1958, you are treated the same. You are on that registry the rest of your life.” — California Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), who introduced SB 421 to reform the CA registry. [McGreevy, Patrick. “Criminal justice leaders seek to end lifetime registry for low-risk sex offenders in California.” LA Times. 18 June 2017. Web. <http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-sex-offender-registry-20170618-story.html>]
“Earlier I paraphrased Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes and observed that if the people of NE wanted to go to hell, it was my job to help them get there… I can only help Nebraskans get to the figurative hell that Holmes spoke of if they follow a constitutional path. For three sections of Nebraska’s new SOR law, Nebraska has violently swerved from that path… these statutes are rife with other constitutional infirmities, and the blatant willingness of the Nebraska Legislature to violate the Constitution is strong evidence of animus. These laws gut the First and Fourth Amendment and the Due Process Clause. These statutes retroactively render sex offenders, who were sentenced prior to the effective date of these statutes, second-class citizens. They are silenced. They are rendered insecure in their homes. They are denied the rudiments of fair notice. In Nebraska’s ‘rage’ and ‘revulsion,’ they are stripped of fundamental constitutional rights. In short, sex offenders who were sentenced prior to the enactment of these laws are punished.” US District Judge Richard Kopf, in Doe v. Nebraska, 898 F.Supp.2d 1086 (D. Neb. 2012)
INTENT OF SEX OFFENDER LEGISLATION
“I know some folks think it is great that you can go online today and see where these monsters live, block by block – but I look forward to the day when you can go online and see that they all live in one place – in Angola – far away from our kids.” – Louisiana Governor Piyush “Bobby” Jindal, during a television address
“We want those people running away from Georgia. Given the toughest laws here, we think a lot of people could move to another state. If it becomes too onerous and too inconvenient, they just may want to live somewhere else. And I don’t care where, as long as it’s not Georgia.” — Georgia state Representative Jerry Keen
“My intent personally is to make it so onerous on those that are convicted of these offenses . . . they will want to move to another state.” — Georgia House Majority Leader Jerry Keen (R) [Source: Peter Whoriskey. “Some Curbs on Sex Offenders Called Ineffective, Inhumane.” Washington Post, 22 Nov. 2006. Accessed at https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2006/11/22/some-curbs-on-sex-offenders-called-ineffective-inhumane/22348bfa-87e6-46b9-83c9-2d00d4866fa7/]
“Is there anything left we can do to sex offenders with a few days left in the session?” — Louisiana State Rep. Danny Martiny, R-Metairie, during the closing days of a 2006 legislative session
“They want to make as many [offenders] homeless as possible and then they want to make it so difficult to be homeless that they violate and go back to jail.” — Bill O’Leary, a licensed social worker with a doctorate in clinical psychology who works with sex offenders as well as sex crime victims, on Long Island, New York’s residency restriction laws
“And if they don’t like it, then they know where they can go.“– Kate Browning, Suffolk Co NY legislator. “Another county.” — Steve Bellone, Suffolk County Executive, in an exchange after passing a local ordinance to shut down shelters
“Even one predator slipping through the cracks, reoffending, and destroying the life of a child and his or her family is too many… I’m pleased we can come together as a united Senate to make Florida the most unfriendly place in America for sexually violent criminals.” –FL Sen. Majority Leader Lizbeth Benacquisto (R-Ft. Myers) [“SENATORS FILE AGGRESSIVE LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE TO PROTECT FLORIDA’S CHILDREN FROM SEXUALLY VIOLENT PREDATORS (Press Release).” FL Senate, Dec. 17, 2013, http://www.flsenate.gov/Media/PressReleases/show/1671, Retrieved Dec. 24, 2013]
“Protecting the most vulnerable among us is one of the most basic functions of government…Together these bills will make Florida scorched earth for those who seek to harm our children.” — FL Senate President Don Gaetz (R-Niceville) [“SENATORS FILE AGGRESSIVE LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE TO PROTECT FLORIDA’S CHILDREN FROM SEXUALLY VIOLENT PREDATORS (Press Release).” FL Senate, Dec. 17, 2013. http://www.flsenate.gov/Media/PressReleases/show/1671, Retrieved Dec. 24, 2013]
“I wouldn’t characterize my feelings towards those folks as hatred, I don’t think it rises to that level, but I can guarantee you I darn sure have a bias against them, and I admit it, because they’re raping our children, and the mentally disabled, and the elderly. How can we not have a bias against them? That’s ridiculous.” – FL State Rep. Ross Spano, at Florida House Judiciary Committee Hearing, March 3, 2014
SORA imposes myriad restrictions and reporting requirements that affect many aspects of registrants’ lives. Ambiguity in the Act, combined with the numerosity and length of the Act’s provisions, make it difficult for a well-intentioned registrant to understand all of his or her obligations. Moreover, law enforcement officers’ disparate answers to survey and deposition questions about what SORA’s reporting requirements and prohibitions highlight SORA’s imperfect ability to provide fair notice to all persons who it covers. The frequency with which SORA is amended, as well as today’s highly mobile population, make a knowledge requirement even more
important to ensure due process of law. — — U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland [Doe v Snyder et al., Case No. 12-11194 (E. MI 2015)]
“We’ve heard terms like ‘plans,’ ‘research’ and ‘studies.’ These words bring very little comfort to a community that’s facing a Level 3 sex offender being placed.” — Minnesota State Rep. Jim Newberger, R-Becker [Vezner, Taz. “This bill would bar sex offenders from living nearly anywhere in the Twin Cities.” Twin Cities Pioneer Press. Digital First Media. 31 March 2016. Web. <http://www.twincities.com/2016/03/31/bill-would-bar-sex-offenders-from-living-near-parks-or-almost-anywhere-in-the-twin-cities/>]
REGISTRY LAWS ARE PUNISHMENT, NOT REGULATORY
“She will have to register as a sex offender and that’s a big ticket item obviously because that’s a life sentence. That’s the community notification; that’s quarterly registration; that’s restrictions about employment and where she can live so that’s a huge part of this agreement.” — Chris Conolly, Lauderdale County AL District Attorney.
“…When you are convicted as a sex trafficker you will also be subject to sex offender registration, the FULL HARASSMENT PACKAGE, that is the ankle bracelet monitoring, the having to register as a sex offender at the sheriff’s department, whenever you move, you have to update it, your neighbors are notified.” — North Carolina state Senator Thom Goolsby, in a Youtube address supporting a sex trafficking crime bill [Senator Goolsby. “Sex Trafficker/Sex Offender Registration.” Youtube. 10 Apr 2013. https://youtu.be/4KutB6QRU3U]
“We’ve all seen escape artists risk death before, but tonight, I’m going to risk something even worse. Becoming a registered sex offender for life.” — TV Reality star/ Comedian Nathan Fielder “Nathan For You,” on performing a stunt that, if failed, would cause him to expose himself and thus charged with indecent exposure [Ross Liuppold. “‘Nathan For You’ Claw Of Shame Stunt Risks Sex Offender Status For Life (VIDEO). HuffPost, 8 Apr 2013. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nathan-for-you-claw-of-death-sex-offender-stunt_n_3038437]
“While protection of the public is the avowed goal of R.C. Chapter 2950, we cannot deny that severe obligations are imposed upon those classified as sex offenders. All sexual predators and most habitual sex offenders are expected, for the remainder of their lives, to register their residences and their employment with local sheriffs. Moreover, this information will be accessible to all. The stigma attached to sex offenders is significant, and the potential exists for ostracism and harassment, as the Cook court recognized… Therefore, I do not believe that we can continue to label these proceedings as civil in nature. These restraints on liberty are the consequences of specific criminal convictions and should be recognized as part of the punishment that is imposed as a result of the offender’s actions.’” — Majority opinion from State v. Williams, 129 Ohio St.3d 344, 2011-Ohio-3374. p.7
“For those who say Heimlich has, ‘Paid his debt to society’ or ‘Been punished for his crime,’ and should be left alone — huh? An important part of his punishment is that he has to register as a sex offender. There’s a reason a felony crime is a felony crime. The punishment is supposed to act as a deterrent.” — John Canzano of The Oregonian [Canzano, John. “Canzano: A deep dive on Luke Heimlich; a sex offense should not split the public.” Oregon Live. 10 June 2017. Web. <http://www.oregonlive.
com/sports/oregonian/john_canzano/index.ssf/2017/06/canzano_a_deep_dive_on_why_the.html>]
“All of the defendants in this case basically have life sentences. After they get out of jail or prison they will be on the sex-offender registry for the rest of their lives. That’s a life sentence in and of itself.” — Nashville Criminal Court judge Criminal Court Judge Monte Watkins [Barchenger, Stacey. “The plea deal Brandon E. Banks didn’t take in Vanderbilt rape case, and why.” The Tennesseean. USA Today Network. 24 June 2017. Web. <http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2017/06/24/plea-deal-brandon-e-banks-didnt-take-vanderbilt-rape-case-and-why/426268001/>]
“He turned it down because he decided 10 versus 15 was not as important as being under supervision and being on the registry for the rest of his life… That’s like being in prison itself. He wanted to the opportunity to someday to get off that thing. And they would not give it to him, even though he’s not a threat.” — Mark Scruggs, defense attorney for Brian Banks, a man accused of rape at Vanderbilt U., on turning down a plea bargain in order to fight the label of “violent sex offender” [Barchenger, Stacey. “The plea deal Brandon E. Banks didn’t take in Vanderbilt rape case, and why.” The Tennesseean. USA Today Network. 24 June 2017. Web. <http://www.tennessean.com/story/news/2017/06/24/plea-deal-brandon-e-banks-didnt-take-vanderbilt-rape-case-and-why/426268001/>]
SEX OFFENDERS AS A DEGRADED CLASS
“By their voluntary acts, sex offenders have surrendered certain protections that arguably are afforded to other citizens. Their conviction of felony offenses puts them into a class that has already been deemed to have no expectation of finality in the consequences of the judgments against them … The fact that Sewell belongs to a class that has voluntarily surrendered certain protections and rights makes the conclusion that Senate Bill 10‟s tier-classification and registration requirements are constitutional even more certain.” – Sylvia Hendon, First District Appellate Court of Ohio presiding judge in Sewell v. Ohio. She is the mother-in-law of Joe Deters, Hamilton County, Ohio Prosecutor, who was the defendant in the case.
“You are a sex offender and there are rules, and whether you like them or not, you’ve got to follow them. You’re a second-class citizen and will be for the rest of your life.” — Judge T. Jordan Gallagher, 16th Judicial District court judge, Illinois
“He’s got a target on his back as a registered sex offender, and you know people are going to try to set you up.” — Kern Co. (CA) Court Commissioner James Compton, speaking in favor of a Registered Citizen who had gained custody of his child, facing more claims by non-custodial parent. [Gaspar, Jose. “JOSE GASPAR: Sex offender dad keeps custody of child.” The Bakersfield Californian. TBC Media Family. 28 Dec 2015. Web. <http://www.bakersfield.com/columnists/2015/12/28/jose-gaspar-sex-offender-dad-keeps-custody-of-child.html>]
“Some of our readers may say that Heimlich paid for his crime and completed his sentence. Others may argue that mistakes made by a minor should be forgiven, considering that studies show juvenile sex offenders rarely commit additional sex crimes after sentencing. Some will contend that we are undermining both Heimlich and his team as the Beavers embark on a quest to win a third College World Series title and with the major league draft just days away. We considered all of these factors. Our society decided long ago that sex offenders should carry the burden of their conviction well after their sentences end – and that juvenile sex crimes should follow offenders into adulthood. Oregon wrote into statute that sex offenders cannot be released from their obligation to register with authorities unless they show a judge “by clear and convincing evidence” that they no longer pose a threat to public
safety.” — Mark Katches of the Oregonian [Katches, Mark. “Why we published Oregon State pitcher Luke Heimlich’s felony conviction (Editor’s Notebook).” Oregon Live. 8 June 2017. Web.<http://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/index.ssf/2017/06/why_we_published_the_story_abo.html>]
“We have to balance punishment with fairness.” — Nebraska State Sen. Brad Ashford [Paul Hammel. “Sex-offender list too inclusive?” Omaha World-Herald, 23 March 2011. Accessed 9 Mar 2024 at https://web.archive.org/web/20110326123924/http://www.omaha.com/article/20110323/NEWS97/703239876]
ON MEGAN’S LAW / REGISTRIES / COMMUNITY NOTIFICATION
“Something like 2% of all sex offenders are on the registries. That’s a problem, that number should be much higher…The problem is not the registry, its that he was convicted of a sex crime which is a public record and who are you to tell the public they can’t judge rapists harshly? If they want forgiveness and redemption, it would be awfully good if when they get out, they can do something other than hide and pretend they never committed the crime, because you can never be forgiven if you put it under a rock. Registries are good because they allow for some possibility of social forgiveness, and honesty helps.” — Wendy Murphy, TV analyst
“Widespread dissemination of offenders’ names, photographs, addresses, and criminal history serves not only to inform the public but also to humiliate and ostracize the convicts. It thus bears some resemblance to our shaming punishments that were used earlier in our history to disable offenders from living normally in the community.” — Supreme Court Justice David Souter, Concurring opinion in Smith v. Doe
“When you’re looking at a sex offender registry online, and you see a pedophile with several arrests and many, many victims, right next to a picture of the 19-year-old with the 15-year-old girlfriend. It becomes very difficult for the public to differentiate and know who’s truly dangerous, and how to protect themselves from those people.” — Researcher Jill Levenson [Dan Gunderson, “Sex offender laws have unintended consequences.” NPR News, June 18, 2007]
“Well, the affirmative steps –it — that has never been the test. The test has been whether it rises to the level of punishment. Yes, the affirmative step of filling out one side of one page with the sort of information that you’d — would put on your application to join the Price Club requires. There’s nothing burdensome about that. It must be in their argument the use that that information is put to.” — John Roberts during oral arguments for Smith v Doe, before he became chief justice of SCOTUS
“Here, SORA subjects registrants to criminal sanctions if they do not comply with the registration requirements, but SORA’s vagueness leaves law enforcement without adequate guidance to enforce the law and leaves registrants of ordinary intelligence unable to determine when the reporting requirements are triggered.” — U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland [Doe v Snyder et al., Case No. 12-11194 (E. MI 2015)]
“Zach [Anderson]’s case was very timely because now we’ve got national attention to [Michigan’s] registry. “People are starting to understand how bad this is…“It’s like a cancer. It just grows and grows and they add more and more things.” — Retired Van Buren County Circuit Court Judge William Buhl, speaking about a teen landing on the registry for consensual sex [Black, Virginia. Retired judge: Michigan sex offense registry ‘like a cancer’. South Bend Tribune. Schurz Communications. 8 Sept. 2015. Web. <http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/publicsafety/retired-judge-michigan-sex-offense-registry-like-a-cancer/article_8a492487-9b46-51c9-b8ff-9a1a60680170.html>]
JUVENILES / KIDS ON THE SEX OFFENSE REGISTRY
“The only thing that comes close to this is dueling.”— Utah Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Michael Wilkins, regarding a case involving a 13 year old girl who was considered both a “victim” and “perpetrator” in a sex crime. Her 12 year old boyfriend pled guilty to the same offense, unlawful sex with a person under age 14
“Kids are being threatened with being put under Megan’s Law if they’re caught sexting. That’s not what the law was ever designed for.” — Maureen Kanka, mother of Megan Kanka, for whom “Megan’s Law’ is named
“This is one of the most morally compelling pieces of legislation that I have ever filed. We rarely have the opportunity to do something that takes people out of a living hell.” — Texas state Representative Todd Smith, when passing the “Romeo and Juliet” bill in 2009.
“[The Romeo and Juliet Bill] was intended to more narrowly define who could seek a court’s exemption from sex offender registration, I believe the bill fails to adequately protect young victims.” — Texas Governor Rick Perry, in vetoing the 2009 Romeo and Juliet law
“Current youth policy and parenting advice teeter between high anxiety child protection and high anger child punishment. It would appear that children are fragilely innocent until the moment they step over some line, at which point they become instantly, irredeemably wicked. One striking pair of contradictory trends: as we raise the age of consent for sex, we lower the age at which a wrongdoing child may be tried and sentenced as an adult criminal. Both, needless to say, are ‘in the best interests’ of the child and society.” — Judith Levine, “Harmful To Minors,” p. xxxi-xxxii
“My opinion is this is the best thing that could’ve happened to the kid…”It is not vague to say, ‘If you do this kind of activity, we don’t care what age you are, you are liable for prosecution.’ “” — Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce Ferg, on prosecuting a 10-year-old boy as a sex offender in Federal Court. [Zusha Elinson (Oct. 7, 2013). Federal Youth Case on Trial: Prosecution of 10-Year-Old on Sex Charges Stokes Debate Over Juvenile Justice. WSJ]
ON RESIDENCY RESTRICTION / PROXIMITY LAWS
“They don’t work. They don’t work, and they actually make things more dangerous rather than make them safer” —Kansas Corrections Secretary Roger Werholz, when asked why the state doesn’t have laws restricting where sex offenders can live
“You had to see it to appreciate the juxtaposition of this horrible poverty — shanties with signs saying ‘Help’ — right under the bridge on the way to glamorous Miami Beach. No one wanted to do anything about it because it was political suicide to ask for help for sex offenders.” — Julie Brown, Miami Herald reporter, on the Julia Tuttle Causeway camp caused by Residency Restriction laws
“The biggest concern that people have is where are they gonna go? I don’t know. I would suggest they go back to their families and I know where I don’t want them to go. I don’t want them in my neighborhood.” — Alabama State Rep. Kurt Wallace, in support of an anti-clustering law
“When you propose a law restricting sex offenders to 1,000 feet from any bus stop, that’s just not going to work. You have to reasonable.” — Laura A. Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan’s Law and the Crime Victims Center
“The Ordinance appears to attempt to ensure public safety, in certain parts of Allegheny County, by isolating all Megan’s Law registrants in localized penal colonies of sorts, without any consideration of the General Assembly’s policies of rehabilitation and reintegration.” — Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justice CJ Castille, Fross et al. v. County of Allegheny, No. 17 WAP 2010, on residency restrictions
“I am hopeful we can do something about the residency restrictions in the coming year… We know they don’t work. Other states have tried them, and they have the unintended consequence of driving people underground so we have no awareness of where they are or what they are doing. That does not enhance public safety.” — Mark Leno, California State Senator [Marisa Lagos, “Sex offender residency ban on lawmaker’s agenda.” San Francisco Chronicle, December 27, 2010.]
“There is a perception that this bill is being soft on crime. All of us who have heard (this debate) know the benefits of the bill. But we’re going to need to explain it.” — Connecticut State Rep. Steve Vaillancourt (R) [Annmarie Timmons, “House committee passes bill prohibiting restrictions on where sex offenders can live.” Concord Monitor, Jan. 29, 2014. http://www.concordmonitor.com/home/10425897-95/house-committee-passes-bill-prohibiting-restrictions-on-where-sex-offenders-can-live, Retrieved Feb. 1, 2014]
“SORA does not provide sufficiently definite guidelines for registrants and law enforcement to determine from where to measure the 1,000 feet distance used to determine the exclusion zones, and neither the registrants nor law enforcement have the necessary data to determine the zones even if there were a consensus about how they should be measured. Accordingly, due to SORA’s vagueness, registrants are forced to choose between limiting where they reside, work, and loiter to a greater extent than is required by law or risk violating SORA.” — U.S. District Judge Robert Cleland [Doe v Snyder et al., Case No. 12-11194 (E. MI 2015)]
“Except for the incarceration of persons under the criminal law and the civil commitment of mentally ill or dangerous persons, the days are long since past when whole communities of persons, such as Native Americans and Japanese-Americans, may be lawfully banished from our midst.” — Justice Geraldine S. Hines, Massachusetts Supreme Justice Court [JOHN DOE et al. vs. CITY OF LYNN, No.
SJC-11822 (MA Sup Jd Ct, Aug. 28, 2015)]
“I don’t think you can find any experts — or a person who actually deals with sex offenders — who thinks residency restrictions are effective. It’s amazing and quite uniform. That goes from Departments of Corrections to county attorneys and prosecutors to state task forces. Everybody says it’s a bad idea. It inhibits re-entry. It inhibits stability. It inhibits supervision. And most likely it increases recidivism… It hasn’t been unanimous, but there’s been a bit of a tipping point. Ten years ago, the courts more or less always upheld these laws. Now they look at them much more carefully.” — Eric S. Janus [Mosedale, Mike. “Janus: No experts support residency
restrictions for sex offenders.” Minn Lawyer. 31 March 2016. Web.<http://minnlawyer.com/2016/03/31/janus-no-experts-support-residency-
restrictions-for-sex-offenders/>]
“Offenders living in run down hotels on the bad side of town is a problem in every area, in every state. But what do you expect when they have been banned and ran out of every other neighborhood because of the hate and harassment from their neighbors? Some states do not allow offenders to live near churches, playgrounds and schools, which makes renting an apartment near impossible. Also, with the job restrictions that some of them have with being labeled as a registered offender or a felon, make it difficult to afford long term housing.” — Family Watchdog (a private registry). (“Offenders Staying at Hotels & Motels.” Family Watchdog Blog, 3 March 2019. Accessed 10 July 2023 at https://www.familywatchdog.us/blog/BlogView.asp?ID=86)
ON THE ADAM WALSH ACT
“We decided we’re not going to go into full compliance. We’re going to look at it over the summer, because we’ve been told to expect some changes to Adam Walsh… If they’re off the registry, as far as we’re concerned, they’ve met their requirements. We’re not going to go back and punish them a second time.” — Utah Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clinton, on Utah’s response to the controversial Adam Walsh Act
“We couldn’t afford the national program. The local law enforcement doesn’t have the money, and the state doesn’t have the money.” — Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, chair of the Senate Criminal Justice Committee. Texas determined it would be cheaper to lose $2 million than spend $39 million to become compliant with the AWA [Renée C. Lee, “Texas won’t participate in national sex offender registry.” Houston Chronicle, Oct. 5, 2012. http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Texas-won-t-participate-in-national-sex-offender-3923910.php, Retrieved Feb. 1, 2014]
“It’s like using an Atom Bomb when a stick of dynamite would do the job… A 19-year-old and his 15-year-old girlfriend have consensual sex…He gets labeled as a sex offender for life. He should be punished for violating the law [the age of consent is 16 years old in Ohio], but he’s not necessarily a predator.” — Cuyahoga County (OH) Common Pleas Judge Michael Donnelly [Editorial Board. “Sex-offender registry requires reboot in Ohio and the nation: editorial.” Cleveland.com. Northeast Ohio Media Group LLC. Web. <http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/11/sex-offender_registry_requires_reboot_in_ohio_and_the_nation_editorial.html>]
“All right. I’m trying to understand it. It is a jurisdiction that is involved in a special way. It is a jurisdiction that used to be a residence, and it is no longer a residence. And that creates an involvement even after they’re no longer a residence. You know, the more I explain it, the less I understand it.” — SCOTUS Justice Stephen Breyer, Oral Arguments, discussing whether or not a registrant moving overseas is still required to registered under SORNA. Nichols v. US (2016)
ON CIVIL COMMITMENT
“Once a person is caught in the spotlight of a predator commitment, everything an individual says or does is subject to interpretation… Some aspects of these trials are Kafkaesque. If a person acknowledges there is a risk he will offend, this is taken as an admission of his dangerous propensities. But if he states he will not re-offend, this is taken as a lack of insight and is counted as a risk factor.” Good behavior is actually considered a risk factor, i.e., “manipulation” — Eric S. Janus, “Failure to Protect,” p. 33-34
ON SEX OFFENDER LICENSE PLATES/ ID TAGS/ LICENSE MARKS
“I’m not quite sure what a law abiding Ohioan is supposed to do when he sees a green license plate. After all, the sex offender driving the car has already done prison time, has gone through counseling, has been judged OK to live in society, is not allowed to live close to schools, playgrounds, etc. Do you ignore the license plate? (In which case, what’s the point of it?) Do you give the driver the finger? Ram his car? Give a polite nod? Or What?” –Peter Tannen, “Ohio challenges Florida for ‘Most Bird-brained State’ Title.” Long Island Press, March 22, 2007. Editorial regarding Ohio’s proposal for green sex offender car tags.
“I worry about casting the Scarlet A, instead of on Hester Prynne, around Hester Prynne’s family.” –Republican Bill Seitz, majority whip in Ohio’s House of Representatives, who helped pass Ohio’s 1000 foot residency restrictions, on Ohio’s green sex offender car tag proposal.
“This designation is a tool that we as community members – from law enforcement officers to TSA agents to teachers, daycare workers, doctors, nurses and everyone in between – can use to further protect the children and families of Florida. I believe a statutory reference is too benign. This is a scarlet letter that clearly states ‘WARNING! Keep this individual away from children!’ They are a clear and imminent danger, and parents and families have a right to know.” — Lauren Book of “Lauren’s Kids,” as she discusses a Florida bill that would mark the Driver’s Licenses with the words “Sexual Predator” in scarlet letters [Staff Report, ‘Florida Lawmakers Pass Bills to Create “Sexual Predator’ Designation on Driver’s Licenses.” The Bradenton Times, May 6, 2014.]
ON THE ANTI-REGISTRY MOVEMENT (ARM)
“Each party in this case is a vocal advocate for opposite positions on sex offender laws. Despite Petitioner (Lauren Book)’s complaints, Respondent (Derek Logue)’s Tallahassee protest was by all accounts peaceful—even if unpleasant to Petitioner in its scope and message—and non-violent. The parties’ opposing viewpoints on such laws are widely debated within what Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes once described as the “free trade in ideas.” True, one side of this debate has far greater public support than the other, but that does not make the Respondent’s advocacy illegitimate.” Logue v Book, 297 So. 3d 605 (Fla. Ct. App. 2020)
“UNINTENDED” CONSEQUENCES / NEGATIVE IMPACT
“I think this is a clear example of an unintended consequence, which can occur when we go beyond what we call police protocol when handling sex offenders. I understand the concern of parents for their children. But we must not allow hysteria to take place.”— Marion County, Florida Sheriff Ed Dean, responding to the suicide of a handicapped Former Offender after flyers picturing him with the words “CHILD RAPIST” printed in big bold letters were plastered all over the community
“Once you’re on a publicly accessible registry, you’re life is pretty much shot.” — US Representative Bobby Scott, during the March 10, 2009 Congressional SORNA Hearing
“When we face it in this situation, why is it so wrong? Let me tell you why it’s so wrong. It’s so wrong because in these situations, until and unless the lady in Shrewsbury and people of her ilk have the opportunity to do away with the right of confrontation, which I’m sure they’d like to, that 6-year-old’s going to sit in front of me, or somebody far worse than me, and I’m going to rip them apart. I’m going to make sure that the rest of their life is ruined, that when they’re 8 years old, they throw up, when they’re 12 years old, they won’t sleep, when they’re 19 years old, they’ll have nightmares. And they’ll never have a relationship with anybody. And that’s not because I’m a nice guy. That’s because when you’re in court and you’re defending somebody’s liberty, and you’re facing a mandatory sentence of those draconian proportions, you have to do every single thing you can do on behalf of your client. That is your oath and obligation as a trial lawyer, to confront the witnesses against your client, which in this instance will always be a child, who will
undoubtedly be permanently dreadfully scarred.”— Massachusetts State Representative James Fagan, on why mandatory sentences could
backfire
“We’re making it impossible for them to live anywhere, we’re making it impossible for them to work anywhere, we’re making it impossible for them to go anywhere. We need to take a step back.” –Illinois State Rep. Elaine Nekritz. [Kevin McDermott (2011). Is Illinois reaching the tipping point on its sex-offender registration rules? St. Louis Today.]
“You ban somebody from the community, he has no friends, he feels bad about himself, and you reinforce the very problems that contribute to the sex abuse behavior in the first place. You make him a better sex offender.” — Robert Freeman-Longo
“Current predator policy—to identify, stigmatize, and exclude—distorts the true nature and extent of sexual violence, focuses on a small fraction of the problem, ignores the great majority of victims and their trauma, and does little or nothing to deal with the root causes of sexual violence.” — Eric S. Janus, “Failure to Protect,” p. 146
“It’s become a national preoccupation, this fear of sex crimes. It’s almost like the Salem witch trials. But where is the fear coming from? I don’t think it’s about sex so much as some deep-seated sense that we’ve failed to protect our children.” — Russell Banks, author of “Lost Memory of Skin,” a fictional novel based on the Julia Tuttle Causeway sex offender colony [McGrath, Charles. “A Novelist Bypasses the Middle to Seek Out the Margins.” NY Times. 14 Oct 2011. Web. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/15/books/russell-banks-talks-about-lost-memory-of-skin.html?pagewanted=all]
“He’s constantly watching his back. He doesn’t know if the next person who walks up on him is going to know he’s a sex offender, and what they’ll do or what they’re going to say…He won’t date. He won’t talk to girls. A girl says ‘Hi’ to him in the store — and I have seen him twice bail out of the store and lock himself inside our pickup. He just says, ‘I’m scared,’ The damage that’s being done by making him register as a sex offender is long term. This will always haunt this kid.” — Mary Duval, speaking about her teenage son, who landed on the registry for consensual relations [Gunderson, Dan. “Sex offender laws have unintended consequences.” NPR News. 18 June 2007.
Web.]
“The fact is that we have no idea of who is going to offend or re-offend. The ironic part of all this is that some of the factors that might potentially lead to a greater risk [of re-offense] are the factors that are imposed as a result of registration and notification.” — Professor Heather Ellis Cucolo—an attorney, adjunct professor, and director of New York Law School’s Online Mental Disability Law Program. [DaSilva, Jessica. “Sex Offender Registration: Driven by Fear or Real Risk?” Bloomberg BNA. The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. 14 June 2016. Web. <http://www.bna.com/sex-offender-registration-n57982074168/>]
“You can’t work where you want. You can’t live where you want. It makes it virtually impossible to live a normal life. It can make you bitter.” — Frank Lindsay, registered citizen in California. [McGreevy, Patrick. “Criminal justice leaders seek to end lifetime registry for low-risk sex offenders in California.” LA Times. 18 June 2017. Web. <http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-sex-offender-registry-20170618-story.
html>]
COMMENTS FROM OR ABOUT CELEBRITY VICTIM ADVOCATES
“I said I was kidding when I was talking to the Senate and I said they were talking about electronic monitoring, which is big and unwieldy for the sex offenders, and that some of these guys, no matter what the law in their state was, would have to wear one for 20 years or whatever. I said implant it in their anus and if they go outside the radius, explode it and that would send a big message. It was a joke. Nobody thought it was funny.”— America’s Most Wanted host John Walsh, in a 2006 press conference to promote his Fox TV show
“You can’t paint sex offenders with a broad brush.” — John Walsh in USA TODAY
WALSH: “I think my inability to deal with my problems — I never went to a therapist for 20 years. I think it just — my own selfishness, my own stupidity, my own ego, all of those things, and I hurt my children, and I hurt my wife, and she’s a good woman, and she, you know, we’re working very hard at this I do — I think [therapy] helps. I think especially crime victims, and it’s not an excuse, people that have been through an awful traumas, I think therapy is a terrific thing, and I thought, you know, I’m the tough guy, I’m the toughest guy, I mean, I can deal with this myself — I couldn’t deal with it. And you know, you thinking not hurting somebody, you know, women
can be an addiction, and you have to deal with it…”
KING: “So you understand men who have that problem?”
WALSH: “Oh, I had it for years and didn’t think I had it.”
— John Walsh admitting he has a sexual addiction on Larry King Live, July 15, 2003
“My focus is on tougher laws for predators. If you don’t like me because I look at naked women, I don’t care. I’m not putting a black mark on my daughter’s name.”— Mark Lunsford, in a Citrus County Chronicle article which stated child porn was found on his computer. Not surprisingly, the article was suppressed online)
“I can’t get my hands on the guy that murdered my daughter so I’ve made it my job to make the rest of these sexual offenders and predators’ lives miserable, as miserable as I can.” — Mark Lunsford
“We’re talking about Romeo and Juliet here, not some 36-year-old pervert following around a 10-year-old.” — Mark Lunsford, responding to his son’s arrest for a sex crime
“Well, I think what is going to happen–alright. If we back up because it is too hard, the children will pay the price. If we move forward and continue to try to figure out how we fix this problem, you might have a few people on the registry that might not belong there. So weigh it out. Do we register a man that might not be as guilty as we think he is, or do we let a child die? I mean, I think we have to go with going to go with more reg–better registration and notification when we have to. The only person that is going to make a sacrifice is maybe somebody who doesn’t belong there. But if we don’t get tougher registration and better notification, another child will die.” — Testimony of Mark Lunsford. “SEX OFFENDER NOTIFICATION AND REGISTRATION ACT (SORNA): BARRIERS TO TIMELY COMPLIANCE BY STATES. HEARING BEFORE THE SUBCOMMITTEE ON CRIME, TERRORISM, AND HOMELAND SECURITY OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION. 10 Mar 2009. Accessed 15 Oct 2023 at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-111hhrg47923/html/CHRG-111hhrg47923.htm)
“Fuck Mark Klaas! Yesterday Texas Equusearch found our 102nd victim. Unfortunately, he’d drowned, but we used our sonar and equipment and brought closure to another family. How many missing people has Mark Klaas found? All he’s done is live off his daughter’s name.” — Tim Miller, founder of Texas Equusearch
“We have what I think of as a victim industry in this country, and industry populated by Nancy Grace and Dr. Phil and Gloria Allred and all those who make money by manufacturing outrage. I’ve been part of it. If you spent years reading about yourself in the papers with the moniker ‘Sex Victim Girl,’ you’d have a lot to say about this issue, too. But for now I’ll leave it at this: It is wrong to ask people to feel like victims, because once they do, they feel like victims in every area of their lives. I made a decision: I wasn’t going to be a victim of anyone or for anyone. Not Roman, not the state of California, not the media. I wasn’t going to be defined by what is said
about me or expected from me.” — Samantha Geimer, excerpt from her book, “The Girl: A Life in the Shadow of Roman Polanski.” (pgs. 9-10)
“California and Pete Wilson can suck my dick! / And if you didn’t already know / that you couldn’t trust his ass/ just look how he did Polly Klass / Used her death, and her family’s name / so he can yank more votes, and political fame / It’s a shame, that I’m the one they say is a monster.” — Shawn “C-Bo” Thomas, lyrics from the song “Deadly Game,” from his 1999 album “The Final Chapter”
“The trauma of the ordeal that followed was so great that, you know, the brief encounter with him that evening that was unpleasant just faded and paled. It just wasn’t as traumatic for me as everybody would like to believe it was.”I implore you to consider taking action to finally bring this matter to a close as an act of mercy to myself and my family…a 40-year sentence which has been imposed on the victim of a crime as well as the perpetrator…If I was standing here saying, ‘Throw the book at him, I want him in jail for life,’ my opinion would count. When I’m standing here saying, ‘I’m fine and nothing you can do to him will help me or anybody else,’ suddenly it’s the state not me that counts. It’s a really hypocritical view.” — Samantha Geimer, addressing the court to drop the charges against Roman Polanski. [Melley, Brian. “Polanski’s victim pleads to end case: ‘He owes me nothing’. AP. Virginian-pilot Online. 9 June 2017. Web. <http://pilotonline.com/news/nation-world/national/polanski-s-victim-pleads-to-end-case-he-owes-me/article_6a450930-89aa-5486-bed4-be157d938ce3.html>]
“One Thursday Night, I came from the gym and found a group of strangers in my living room, standing in a circle, holding hands with their eyes closed. These strangers were so strange: strangely dressed, behaving strangely. They were so engrossed in what they were doing — what in the hell are they doing? — that they didn’t notice me. It’s some kind of cult, I thought, and then I saw Jane was one of them, and I remembered. Two weeks ago she’d joined a support group for survivors of satanic ritual abuse. She told me this morning — I must have repressed it — that they’d be meeting here tonight. I backed out of the room, tiptoed up the stairs, closed
myself into my bedroom, and sat, dazed, on the edge of my bed. How had my life gotten this crazy?” — Meridith Maran [Maran, Meridieth. “My Lie: A True Story of False Memories. Josey-Bass Wiley. San Francisco. Book. p.158-159]
THE MARK FOLEY SCANDAL
“Congressman Mark Foley’s resignation is a great loss to Florida is a great loss to Florida and the nation. He has been a hard working, dedicated and effective Congressman. He will be missed.”— The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, on the announcement of Foley’s resignation after the Congressional page scandal broke. The statement was revised within the day after harsh criticism
“[Foley] kept his shame to himself for almost 40 years. Specifically, Mark has asked that you be told that between the ages of 13 and 15 he was molested by a clergyman. [Foley] does not blame the trauma he sustained as a young adolescent for his totally inappropriate e-mails and IMs. He continues to offer no excuse whatsoever for his conduct Mark was the under the influence of alcohol at the time he sent the alleged e-mails and IMs that I have been informed of… Any suggestion that Mark Foley is a pedophile is false, ctegorically false. Mark Foley denies ever, ever having any sexual contact with a minor. Finally, Mark Foley wants you to know that he is a gay man.”— David Roth, attorney for Mark Foley
“One of the things that we have learned is that people seek help for drug use or alcoholism because it is far more socially acceptable. But what’s usually lying underneath are sexual behavioral problems. They are not dealing with the root cause.”— Yvonne Cournoyer, Program Director of the Minnesota chapter of Stop It Now!, on the Mark Foley scandal
“I think the story behind the story is that this is something that everybody in every walk of life seems prone to doing, no matter what your position.”— Nancy Sabin, executive director of the Jacob Wetterling Foundation, on the Mark Foley Scandal
TO CATCH A PREDATOR/ PERVERTED JUSTICE
“We have gotten people fired, we have gotten people kicked out of their homes, we’ve broken up relationships and friendships. The reward in Perverted Justice is peeling back the curtain on these fuckers, we do that. And as we grow (and we’re growing, oh boy, are we growing) we continue to have greater successes in making lives a living hell.”— Philip von Eide, aka., “Xavier Von Erck,” leader of the cyber-terrorist organization Perverted-Justice.com
“It’s actually more work for us than if we find the leads ourselves because we have to go back and redo everything they did to confirm what they did…”\We’ve had them hit on undercover operations we were going on. Law enforcement has gone back to them and said ‘Hey, we’re working this site. Back off.’ They basically go, ‘Screw you. We’re doing what we want.'” — Sgt. Dave Jones of the San Diego Police Department’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, commenting on Perverted-Justice
“But, you should know that I intend to fight as hard and as long as I can to prevent other people from becoming victims of such reckless actions as those taken by your employees, which were set in motion by a self-appointed group acting as judge, jury and executioner that was encouraged by an out-of-control reality show.” — Patricia Conradt, sister of Bill Conradt, who committed suicide during a botched arrest attempt during the Dateline NBC show “To Catch a Predator”
VIGILANTES
“Sex Crimes against children is ZERO TOLERANCE, offenders need no mercy….Death is the only resolution….Prison??? Our tax dollars…I can think of better ways to spend our money…what about death for the predators and put the money that would of been used supporting these sickos and rehabilitate the survivors…”— Judy Cornett, notorious Florida vigilante
“Save a child- Hang a Pedophile.”— Patches sewn onto the jackets of “Jessie’s Rider’s” biker gang, run by Mark Lunsford, motto he adopted from a T-shirt
“What Mr. Troyer should be thinking is that if everybody went out and beat up a sex offender, we might have a lot less sex offenders. This is the point. Home run and bravo to Ms. Gibson.” — 590 KLBJ radio personality Lisa Fritsch, a “Christian,” applauding an unprovoked vigilante attack in 2008
“This country is based on vigilantism.” — Patrick Drum, a man who murdered two registered citizens, during his sentencing hearing. [Paul Gottlieb (Sept. 19, 2012). ‘Country based on vigilantism’: Double-murderer not sorry for killing sex offenders. Peninsula Daily News.]
“We think that very long sentences are warranted; in fact, we’d like longer sentences. And I would just say in closing that with respect to smart justice that maybe what we ought to really be doing is thinking about giving the victims’ families an opportunity to have visitation with the perpetrators and a pair of scissors. That’s our idea of smart justice, Mr. Chairman, not anything short of that.” — Barney Bishop III of Florida Smart Justice Alliance, at Florida House Judiciary Committee Hearing, March 3, 2014
“To have people outside your house every single day, screaming the most obscene, threatening, violent things at you, would wear on anybody’s soul.” — Christopher Yuen, Santa Clara Co. Public Defender (Gerber, Marisa. “California’s laws test whether sexual predators can ever be rehabilitated.” LA Times. 9 Jan 2016. Web. <http://graphics.latimes.com/sexually-violent-predator/>]
RANDOM COMMENTS
“I hope they bring these grubs to justice. We find out how much guts they’ve got … as one of them committed suicide yesterday and another one had a big go, but he must not have had the courage to do it properly. If they all went and did it first up, we wouldn’t have this problem. They must be guilty if they commit suicide … maybe I am too harsh but I’ve got no time for that.”— Central Queensland, Australia, politico Vaughan Johnson, addressing the state Parliament
“I whole heartedly support mandatory sentencing as well lifetime monitoring with strong restrictions and regulations. And as for as I am concerned these people should be thankful we allow them out of prison at all. You can play this card that politicians only do this because they are trying to be tough on crime line but again this discounts the fact they are working to make our communities safer… And I personally don’t believe their is any such thing as a “first time offender”, I believe its just the first time the have been caught. And once they have been caught, then we should refer to them as Registered sex offenders! Have a great day.”— Georgia Republican Steve Davis, addressing a blogger on his personal site
“I feel bad for him. I know it’s cold outside, but we have to enforce the law. There is no constitutional right to warmth.”— Hamilton County, Ohio Prosecutor Joe Deters, responding to a lawsuit by a homeless Former Offender to stay at an emergency shelter within 1000 feet of a school
“Truly, I don’t care if we stomp on his civil liberties. I truly don’t.”— Howell, New Jersey, Councilman Mike Howell, in addressing a pending lawsuit over residency laws in his state
“I never, ever met a false rape claim, by the way. My own statistics speak to the truth.”— Wendy Murphy, adjunct professor at the New England School of Law and alleged “legal analyst,” commenting on the “Duke Lacrosse case,” later discovered to be a case of malicious and false prosecution
“I want you to know, I have a new book coming out Jane. You want another title? ‘Parents Guide to How to Rape a Pedophile with a Pitchfork’; I’m going to publish it tomorrow. You know what I’m saying?” — Wendy Murphy, TV Legal Analyst, (“Issues with Jane Velez-Mitchell.” 11 Nov 2010. http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1011/11/ijvm.01.html)
“I would expect the courts will make us pay dearly for this pious bit of posturing…I think you need to ask [GA state Sen. Jerry Keen] if he thinks there is a Constitution of the United States and a Bill of Rights. His comes out of the King James version of the Bible, maybe Leviticus” — GA State Sen. Seth Harp, on discussing a federal court ruling striking a law preventing registered citizens from working/volunteering at churches. [R. Robin McDonald (Apr. 8, 2009). GA Senator attempts to fix sex offender law: “I would expect the courts will make us pay dearly for this pious bit of posturing”. Fulton County Daily Report. http://www.schr.org/so_dailyreport09, Retrieved Oct. 20, 2013]
“It’s not that I wouldn’t be for it because offsetting the costs to the taxpayers is a good thing. I just don’t think the majority of them can afford to pay, and they’ll quit paying, quit registering and quit showing up and be a bigger problem.” — Polk Co. FL Sheriff Grady Judd on why registry fees are a bad idea. [9 Investigates uncovers proposed plan to make sex offenders pay yearly fee. WFTV9. Cox Media Group. July 6, 2015. Web. <http://www.wftv.com/news/news/local/9-investigates-uncovers-proposed-plan-make-sex-off/nmsMj/>]
“You wanna rape us John Mark Karrs? You wanna rape us Debra LaFaves? Fuck you.” — Seung-Hui Cho, the man responsible for the 2007 Virginia Tech massacre. John Mark Carr was a person who falsely confessed to killing JonBenet Ramsey, and Debra LaFave was convicted of having a sexual relationship with a teen. [Kevin Poulsen. “Cho’s Madness: ‘You Forced Me Into a Corner’ — Update.” Wired. 19 Apr 2007. Accessed 31 Jan 2024 at https://www.wired.com/2007/04/chos-madness-je/]