Politician Plays the Sex Offender Card - AGAIN
April 11, 2007
The Ithaca Journal - Ithaca, NY
By Monique Lewis
Gannett News Service
BINGHAMTON — U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer announced two proposed federal laws Monday aimed at eliminating Internet solicitation of children and youths for sexual acts.
Schumer, D-N.Y., stopped in Binghamton on Monday on a statewide campaign to promote the bills — the KIDS Act and SAFE Act, that combined via an enhanced Internet tracking system will thwart registered sex offenders and others from using the Web for transmitting child pornography and soliciting children.
The KIDS Act, or Keeping the Internet Devoid of Sexual-Predators Act, would require all levels of convicted sex offenders to provide their e-mail addresses, instant message screen-names and other Internet information to law enforcement for the National Sex Offender Registry. Violators will face significant jail time, Schumer said.
There are more than 900 registered sex offenders living in the Southern Tier, according to the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services.
“That’s a lot,” Schumer said. “But that’s just the registered ones. There are some who don’t register and other (offenders) who come from out of state. The Internet is the method of choice with which they find their victims.”
Therefore, a second bill coined Securing Adolescents From Exploitation-Online Act (SAFE Act), would require Internet Service Providers to report any user who is engaging in online sexual activity aimed at locating children and youths to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Schumer said.
The legislation will give law enforcement another avenue to fight the problem, Broome County District Attorney Gerald Mollen said.
Even if an Internet user or convicted sex offender changed their e-mail address and name with an ISP, or switched ISPs, they can still be caught because the legislation would require ISPs to report all illegal sexual activity aimed at children, according to Schumer’s office.
However, James Little, of Endicott, suggested the federal government mandate computer manufacturers install products that prevent children from accessing inappropriate Web sites and require parents to setup a password.
“There’s just a huge exposure to kids on the Internet and it’s going to be difficult to control that,” Little said. “It’s the parents that are going to have to prevent the trouble that their kids are getting into.”
But the government can’t fully rely parental responsibility, especially given the social atmosphere in which parents can’t be at home all the time to monitor their child’s Internet activity, Schumer said.
“The Internet companies who don’t cooperate get the book slammed on them too,” Schumer added.
ISPs who don’t report such activity would be fined $50,000 per incident per person for the first violation, and the fines increase per violation, Schumer said. ISPs will be absolved from any potential lawsuits, he said.
There would be federal funding issued to local law enforcement agencies to implement the law, he said.
Schumer said he expects Congress to approve both bills in the summer and be implemented by the fall.
http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070410/NEWS01/704100338
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11 April, 2007
Dear Senator Schumer,
Again, we find politicians attempting to recover from falling approval ratings (Associated Press-Ipsos poll on public attitudes about Congress, conducted April 2-4; showed that 57% DISAPPROVE of the way Congress is handling its job) by playing the “tough on sex offender” card. Your proposed KIDS and SAFE Acts are nothing more than smoke and mirrors.
We believe you not only know this, you should apologize to your constituents. Like previous laws, this one is rooted in myths, and misconceptions in place of facts and truths. Americans, especially our children deserve better.
Chris Hansen of Dateline quotes “1 in 5 online teenagers are approached about sex.” However, he never tells you the truth. The survey, a DOJ study, he uses shows that in over 70% of the time, other teenagers, not adults trolling the internet for sex, are approaching each other.
Recently, an FBI report charged that reporters were distorting the facts with fear-driven stories about monsters preying on children. The FBI, in fact, insists that child abductions by strangers actually have declined. In the 1980s, the number of such child abductions averaged annually about 200 to 300, according to the FBI. In 2000, the number of cases dropped to 93 compared with 134 in 1999 and 115 in 1998, when the FBI first began tracking these statistics.
A report to the Unites States Senate Judiciary Committee by SOhopeful International stated, “It is because of these misunderstandings about the real nature of sex crimes, victims of sex crimes and sex offenders that Federal and some State governments are spending large sums for ineffective policies that do not increase public safety.” If registration is the answer, why do we see an eight percent increase in the registry each year? If safety zones (banishment) are the answer, why are children still being abused? These measures are only feel good legislation, which have proven ineffective, and are continued punishment, not regulation.
The public needs to be more concerned about high-risk sex offenders and absconders, not the low risk offenders who are working hard to comply with their probation and therapy guidelines or the former offenders who have finished their sentence and have remained offence free since. Additionally, hysteria created by media misinformation and political hyperbole has a devastating and demoralizing effect on the families of low-risk offenders, including the unintended practice of revealing the identity of victims of intra-familial abuse, traumatizing children a second time.
The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 2007 Report of the Sex Offender Policy Task Force states, “The recent wave of sex offender legislation is based upon emotion and myths about sex offenders which are not supported by valid research or evidence. Legislation in this area should be based upon facts and valid evidence. The NACDL encourages criminal defense lawyers, prosecutors, and legislators to oppose legislation based upon myth and public emotion. In doing so we can ensure both public safety and due process.”
Why are we all in deep denial about this problem? As long as citizens rely on uninformed politicians, the misinformed media and myths about sex offenders, all children remain at risk. We need to come to terms with our denial and seek real solutions, and we need to do it today. How many more Christopher’s, Jessica’s, Dylan’s, Megan’s, Polly’s, and Jacob’s have to die before we WAKE UP?
If you really want to make children safer, then take the lead and call for a National Sex Offender Policy Forum. Forums should include mental health professionals, jurists, law enforcement and corrections personnel, victims and their families, offenders and their families. Then Federal, state and local governments can better formulate workable, cost effective laws that protect the rights of all citizens.
What’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong, in lieu of fostering a fearful witch-hunt mentality for votes, our elected officials should step up to this societal challenge. They should strive to dispel the myths and create the environment for policy and subsequent legislation to succeed, creating a safe society for all.
At the end of the day, we are all responsible; we are all involved in the safety of our families and have an investment in the outcome of this discussion. Educate yourself, protect your children, please have a staffer visit http://www.sosnet.pbwiki.com and report to you with their findings.
Sincerely yours,
The Sex Offender Solutions Network
