http://www.oncefallen.com/internationalmeganslaw.html
Read my article on International Megan's Law to better understand it. Below is a summary o what IML means to you:
Specifically, Smith’s legislation will:
Authorize and expand the Angel Watch Center, an office within the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and authorize it to notify destination countries of intended travel by registered sex offenders;
Coordinate the work of the Angel Watch Center with the Sex Offender Targeting Center of the US Marshals Service so that the best information is getting to the right people in the shortest amount of time;
Make it a crime, for the first time, for a sex offender to travel abroad without giving 21 days advance notice so that law enforcement has adequate time to vet the traveler and warn the destination country, if needed;
Mandate that the State Department, in consultation with the Departments of Homeland Security and Justice, establish, within 90 days, a program for placing a unique passport identifier on the passport of a traveling sex offender with an offense against a child and current duty to register, thereby preventing circumvention of the notification system by travelers who misreport which countries they will visit;
Collect notification response data to understand which countries are working with the U.S. on preventing re-offense by child predators;
Provide the authority for both the Angel Watch Center and the US Marshals Service to receive information from other countries about pedophiles intending to travel to the U.S.;
Clarify the receipt and sharing within U.S. law enforcement of incoming notifications on known sex offenders traveling to the U.S.; and
Direct the Secretary of State, in coordination with the Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security, to seek agreements and use technical assistance with other countries so that the United States is notified in advance of incoming foreign sex offenders.
Registered Former Offenders Restoration Movement (ReFORM), restoring hope, rehabilitation, and reintegration to Alabama's registered citizens
Showing posts with label International Megan's Law. Show all posts
Showing posts with label International Megan's Law. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Sunday, January 31, 2016
ACTION ALERT! International Megan's Law is due up for suspension of the rules 2/1/16 @ 6:30pm!
Paul Rigney of the Registrant Travel Action Group (a subsidiary of Narional RSOL), urgently requests that everyone please help with the following:
1. Everyone, call and have others call The Speakers office THIS Monday morning. 202-225-600, 202-225-3031.
David: We need to tell them that they must not vote on H.R. 515 under RULES OF SUSPENSION because the bill received an amendment from the Senate that is SUBSTANTIVE and HISTORIC. (U.S. passports have never been branded with criminal convictions of citizens before)
I would like to see 500 phone calls. Please put this up on Affiliates websites. Lets leave hundreds of messages on 202-225-0600 for them to sort through Monday morning
(202) 225-0600
(202) 225-0600
(202) 225-0600
(202) 225-0600
(202) 225-0600
(202) 225-0600
(202) 225-0600
2. Spread Josh Graven’s petition that should go directly to their representative.
(This site will look up your Congressman for you! How convenient, right?)
3. Sign the Change.org petition at:
For those with Twitter accounts, tweet this , “Are you familiar with International Megan’s #Law, or IML? http://ow.ly/WITZv” sends to David Post’s article. Also, please TWEET the following image and message which can be found here (simply right-click and save the image to your hard drive and then insert it, along with the text message, into new Tweets):
Also, you could help further by re-tweeting Tweets already sent to House members which have been sent from that Twitter account.
5. Continue to call and email congressional members.
Use the banner at the top of the screen.
__________________________________________________________________Below is my letter to Congress. You can use it as a template if you want.
On 2/1/16, the CONTROVERSIAL International Megan's Law is up for "suspension of the rules." This must not pass! IML as written will place a "unique identifier" on the passports of ALL registered citizens and will establish a new bureaucracy for expanded government control.
International Megan’s Law is an attempt at imposing the American way of thinking on the rest of the world, an act of arrogance that will lead to disastrous results if implemented. IML will attempt to force other nations to create a registry and raise the age of consent to conform to the American standards. This is a blatant violation of international law and a show of contempt for the governments of all nations who do not maintain close ties to the US.
Victim industry advocates have tried to justify International Megan’s Law using anecdotal examples, assumptions, unsourced statistics and non sequiturs to attempt to justify this bad piece of legislation. In reality, various government agencies have reported they have found very few examples of actual sex tourism, and even fewer examples of sex tourism from a registered citizen. It is estimated only about 10 convictions a year occur from Americans engaging in sex tourism annually. The GAO, the US Dept. of Justice, ICE, and the now defunct NDIC have all stated they have found few, if any, examples of Americans traveling abroad specifically to engage in sex tourism or sex trafficking. Key researchers studying sex crimes have repeatedly warned their own research or the research of others have been misinterpreted or distorted by those trying to promote human sex trafficking as America’s next social panic.
International Megan’s Law will be a costly and ineffective measure. It will cost millions just to establish a new bureaucratic agency and to revise the passports of registered citizens. It will cost millions more to enforce the various proposed changes to passports proposed by Congress. Passport limits run afoul of international law, particularly the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), by interfering with the free movement of citizens. The ICCPR was signed, ratified, and enforced by the US. In addition, 22 U.S. Code § 217a has been narrowly tailored to limit passports only to those registrants convicted in a court of law for sex tourism, thus nullifying the perceived need to pass IML passport provisions. As previously noted, very few cases of sex tourism/ trafficking are confirmed by government agencies, so the cost of investigating and prosecuting a mere handful of cases do not justify the need for a new bureaucracy, especially if the SMART office is passing IML notification provisions without the authorization of Congress.
The proposal to mark the passports of registered citizens is unprecedented in American history and is offensive enough that even mass media have made parallels between International Megan’s Law and Nazi law. In 1938, the Nazi government required all Jews to surrender their passports and have new passports issued with a scarlet “J” stamped on them. If IML passes, registered citizens will be forced to surrender their passports and have new passports issued with a “unique identifier” on them. In addition to the obvious parallel to Nazi law, this practice will obviously lead to travel impediments and denials of entry across the globe for all registrants regardless of offense. This mark of infamy could potentially lead to travel problems domestically as states struggle to fall into compliance with the so-called “REAL ID” system and thus requiring passports to fly within the boundaries of the US. Furthermore, IML could have an effect described as “humiliating” and “devastating” for individuals whose passports may be falsely marked as belonging to a registered citizen and would lead to costly litigation.
While certain provisions of IML imply that these provisions would be limited to “high risk/ interest” registrants, the harsh reality is this law will be applied to every registered citizen regardless of offense, even teens who engaged in consensual relations with other teens. The law is especially difficult for juveniles on the registry, who are assumed to be less likely to reoffend, more amenable to rehabilitation, and far less likely to become a “sex tourist.”
Finally, International Megan’s Law violates a number of constitutional safeguards, including the 1st (freedom of association) and 14th (Due process) Amendments, as well as the Ex Post Facto clause. In addition, protecting the reputation of American travels and their privacy is of great governmental interest, especially given the attitude of much of the world regarding American tourists. Unconsidered in this report was the potential chilling effect IML could have on ALL American tourists as the US gains a reputation for being a country full of “sex traffickers.” International Megan’s Law will ultimately do far more harm than good, not just in regard to registered citizens, but for the reputation of this nation as well.
For the full report and references for my assertions, go to http://www.oncefallen.com/internationalmeganslaw
Monday, December 28, 2015
ACTION ALERT: Stop International Megan's Law NOW!!!!
This isn't an Alabama issue, but if you travel internationally, this is of key interest. This is a copy of a letter on International Megan's Law (HR 515), which is on the fast track to passage. This is an ACTION ALERT and we need action NOW! CLICK HERE TO FIND YOUR CONGRESSMAN!
On Dec. 18, the U.S. Senate amended and unanimously passed HR 515, which would also include placing unique passport identifiers on passports issued to sex offenders. The House had previously passed HR 515. It is very likely this will go to the President to sign in January.
See the bill here: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr515
CONTACT YOUR U.S. REPRESENTATIVE BEFORE JANUARY 4, 2016
HERE ARE THE TALKING POINTS YOU SHOULD INCLUDE IN YOUR LETTER:
The Senate passed HR 515 formerly known as "International Megan's Law" with another NEW title "International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders" and added a section about passports.
Essentially, all current passports for folks CONVICTED of a sex offense/s MUST be reissued, with the words "SEX OFFENDER" prominently displayed on the passport. And all new passports for folks convicted of sex offenses will be issued with same wording.
The Senate also added a section for appropriating funding ($6,000,000) for each of these years (2017-2019) to implement International Megan's Law.
Advocates and their families and others need to immediately contact their U.S. House Representatives and object to the entire IML bill (and concept), and any other similar bills that may arise.
The FULL bill may be found HERE and the Senate Amendments HERE (The Corker amendment [Sen Bob Corker R-TN] in the Federal Register).
Here's why we should oppose the legislation.
1. The bill is yet another fear-based, punitive proposal that is absolutely void of empirical evidence that it will promote public safety or reduce child sex trafficking.
2. The threat to children is proved to be largely (93% according to Department of Justice) from someone they know - a parent, relative or friend – neither a registered sex offender nor a stranger. Placing travel restrictions on convicted sex offenders 1) does nothing to protect society, 2) adds more restrictions on a group of already-marginalized citizens who have paid their debt to society, and 3) adds another punitive requirement in federal law that is valueless. According to Bureau of Justice Statistics, “... sex offenders are more likely to be rearrested for nonsexual crimes than sex offenses.”
3. Citizens across this country have been convicted of single offenses involving someone known to them, have otherwise unblemished records, but are categorized for life as violent offenders. This punitive proposal targets all convicted offenders. They currently live and move freely in society without incident, yet somehow they are presumed by this flawed legislation to present a threat in international travel. Last year, only 18 other countries had enacted any sex offender registration laws, yet Congress is proposing to label its citizens with a past conviction without providing any public safety risk assessment.
4. Many countries, such as Mexico, don't even have sex offender registries. Still, U.S. registrants holding valid U.S.passports are routinely being denied entry to Mexico because the U.S. government shares its citizens' criminal histories with other countries. This punitive bill restricts registrant travel further, causing more collateral damage for family and friends traveling with registrants.
5. The Angel Watch Center described in the bill is a cute name for more government intrusion into citizens’ lives for absolutely no research-based public safety purpose. A small minority of states comply with the heavily-referenced Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 and for good reason. It is another failed memorial policy based on a single tragic event involving one child, not on evidence of improved public safety.
6. Like its numerous predecessors, this bill is doomed to failure as described by Dr. Richard Wright's book, Sex Offender Laws: Failed Policies, New Directions. He states,
...American policy responses to prevent or address sexual offending, particularly those enacted within the last twenty years have largely failed. They have not reduced sex offenders recidivism rates, not provided safety, healing, or support for victims, not reflected the scientific research on sexual victimization, offending, and risk, or not provided successful strategies for prevention. ... these policies have failed by choice. Policymakers choose to focus on the most heinous sex offenders while ignoring the most common sexual threats that people face.
7. It’s time for Congress to write laws based on empirical evidence and stop dredging up decades-old memorial laws that have proved themselves to be equally flawed.
As RSOL puts it -
IML will violate the travel rights and due process rights of traveling Americans, may have dangerous collateral consequences for affected citizens, and is not supported by any evidence that it will achieve a reduction in international sex trafficking. There exist proven methods of combating international sex trafficking that are worthy of support by the United States Congress. The International Megan’s Law is not among them. We strongly urge this legislation not be enacted into law.
On Dec. 18, the U.S. Senate amended and unanimously passed HR 515, which would also include placing unique passport identifiers on passports issued to sex offenders. The House had previously passed HR 515. It is very likely this will go to the President to sign in January.
See the bill here: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/114/hr515
CONTACT YOUR U.S. REPRESENTATIVE BEFORE JANUARY 4, 2016
HERE ARE THE TALKING POINTS YOU SHOULD INCLUDE IN YOUR LETTER:
The Senate passed HR 515 formerly known as "International Megan's Law" with another NEW title "International Megan's Law to Prevent Child Exploitation and Other Sexual Crimes Through Advanced Notification of Traveling Sex Offenders" and added a section about passports.
Essentially, all current passports for folks CONVICTED of a sex offense/s MUST be reissued, with the words "SEX OFFENDER" prominently displayed on the passport. And all new passports for folks convicted of sex offenses will be issued with same wording.
The Senate also added a section for appropriating funding ($6,000,000) for each of these years (2017-2019) to implement International Megan's Law.
Advocates and their families and others need to immediately contact their U.S. House Representatives and object to the entire IML bill (and concept), and any other similar bills that may arise.
The FULL bill may be found HERE and the Senate Amendments HERE (The Corker amendment [Sen Bob Corker R-TN] in the Federal Register).
Here's why we should oppose the legislation.
1. The bill is yet another fear-based, punitive proposal that is absolutely void of empirical evidence that it will promote public safety or reduce child sex trafficking.
2. The threat to children is proved to be largely (93% according to Department of Justice) from someone they know - a parent, relative or friend – neither a registered sex offender nor a stranger. Placing travel restrictions on convicted sex offenders 1) does nothing to protect society, 2) adds more restrictions on a group of already-marginalized citizens who have paid their debt to society, and 3) adds another punitive requirement in federal law that is valueless. According to Bureau of Justice Statistics, “... sex offenders are more likely to be rearrested for nonsexual crimes than sex offenses.”
3. Citizens across this country have been convicted of single offenses involving someone known to them, have otherwise unblemished records, but are categorized for life as violent offenders. This punitive proposal targets all convicted offenders. They currently live and move freely in society without incident, yet somehow they are presumed by this flawed legislation to present a threat in international travel. Last year, only 18 other countries had enacted any sex offender registration laws, yet Congress is proposing to label its citizens with a past conviction without providing any public safety risk assessment.
4. Many countries, such as Mexico, don't even have sex offender registries. Still, U.S. registrants holding valid U.S.passports are routinely being denied entry to Mexico because the U.S. government shares its citizens' criminal histories with other countries. This punitive bill restricts registrant travel further, causing more collateral damage for family and friends traveling with registrants.
5. The Angel Watch Center described in the bill is a cute name for more government intrusion into citizens’ lives for absolutely no research-based public safety purpose. A small minority of states comply with the heavily-referenced Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 and for good reason. It is another failed memorial policy based on a single tragic event involving one child, not on evidence of improved public safety.
6. Like its numerous predecessors, this bill is doomed to failure as described by Dr. Richard Wright's book, Sex Offender Laws: Failed Policies, New Directions. He states,
...American policy responses to prevent or address sexual offending, particularly those enacted within the last twenty years have largely failed. They have not reduced sex offenders recidivism rates, not provided safety, healing, or support for victims, not reflected the scientific research on sexual victimization, offending, and risk, or not provided successful strategies for prevention. ... these policies have failed by choice. Policymakers choose to focus on the most heinous sex offenders while ignoring the most common sexual threats that people face.
7. It’s time for Congress to write laws based on empirical evidence and stop dredging up decades-old memorial laws that have proved themselves to be equally flawed.
As RSOL puts it -
IML will violate the travel rights and due process rights of traveling Americans, may have dangerous collateral consequences for affected citizens, and is not supported by any evidence that it will achieve a reduction in international sex trafficking. There exist proven methods of combating international sex trafficking that are worthy of support by the United States Congress. The International Megan’s Law is not among them. We strongly urge this legislation not be enacted into law.
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