Registry Matters

Read Transcript of RM120: Nebraska Sheriff Still Requires In Person Check-Ins We’re proud to release RM120! We start off with the horrifying news about cities getting locked down, the spread of COVID-19 and what this will do to the economy overall. It is going to be something economists and other academics study for the next...

Read the Transcript of RM119: Potentially A Rapidly Spreading Epidemic In Prisons This weeks episode goes in depth into COVID-19 and the United States prison system. United States citizens are inside prisons that if the virus works it way behind the walls, it could run rampant and be a significant challenge to get under control....

Transcript of Transcript of RM118: Just Feed The Inmates Cockroaches and Pop-tarts [1:18] What does FYP stand for? [3:10] https://youtu.be/jsIUVa1eRB8 [4:03] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/supreme-court-temporarily-halts-execution-alabama-inmate-nathaniel-woods-n1150711 [22:23] https://theappeal.org/oregon-governor-commutations-harsh-sentences-clemency/ [27:38] https://theappeal.org/justice-in-america-probation-and-parole/ [30:50] https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/06/politics/jordan-osu-wrestlers-strauss-invs/index.html [39:30] https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/484928-ridiculous-laws-are-symptom-of-americas-overcriminalization-problem [45:57] https://filtermag.org/public-defenders-fired/ https://www.inquirer.com/opinion/commentary/montgomery-county-public-defenders-fired-philadelphia-20200302.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/03/02/pennsylvania-county-fired-its-two-top-public-defenders-doing-their-jobs/ [54:31] https://www.wbrc.com/2020/03/02/prison-reform-package-backed-by-ivey-promises-better-rehabilitation-oversight/ [59:01] https://apnews.com/73edb2d02d605155458a095fd43b4dfe [1:06:42] https://www.forbes.com/sites/walterpavlo/2020/03/04/handling-coronavirus-in-federal-prison/#47d79ff20940 https://papost.org/2020/03/03/coronavirus-could-pose-big-problem-for-pennsylvania-prisons-and-jails/ [1:11:48] https://www.crescent-news.com/columnists/syndicated_columnists/ohio-sex-offender-registry-needs-to-stay/article_b61e4ff4-fde7-5c8b-ae37-3f27d315ae46.html https://narsol.org/2020/03/sexual-offense-registries-need-to-go/   https://www.registrymatters.co/podcast/rm118-just-feed-the-inmates-cockroaches-and-pop-tarts Leave voicemail: 747-227-4477 Email us: [email protected] Support us on...

Read RM117: Another Renegade Sheriff Invents His Own Laws This weeks episode introduces us to the confrontation with the Cobb County, GA. The sheriff there is in essence harassing those on the registry by visiting them far more times than the required amount. As it turns out is only annually for lower offenses and then...

Read Transcript of RM116: Hypocrisy: Rod Blagojevich Becomes Enlightened We recorded a day late, but I promise it isn’t a dollar short! Call this the hypocrisy episode. It just seemed to be story after story with hypocrisy within it. Larry goes on a bit of a rant about the inconsistency of pardoning people with a...

Read Transcript of RM115: Michigan Explained Part Deux w/ Josh B Hoe On Episode 115, this week we won a huge victory in Michigan. A massive victory that is going to force the legislature to act instead of sitting back waiting for the ball to be played on their side of the court. Judge Cleland...

Read the transcript of RM114: Michigan Explained w Josh B Hoe

We are joined this week by Josh B. Hoe. Josh is a good friend of the podcast. He is a Policy Analyst at Safe and Just Michigan, he hosts Decarceration Nation, follow him on Twitter here and here. Super smart guy and we’re privileged to have him on the show.

Today’s episode takes place just a few days after the non-decision from Michigan. On February 5th, 2019, a hearing was held to see what path will be taken going forward in making changes to Michigan Sex Offender Registry. In the coming days or weeks, Judge Cleland will put his ruling in writing. Josh, Larry and Andy spend a huge chunk of time discussing all of the ins and outs of what is going on in Michigan.

[5:12] But before we get to the Michigan goodies, we have to go over the news of the week. Starting that Larry has some general rules about criminality. Don’t drive 95 miles an hour down the Interstate; don’t have the drugs marked with labels reading “drugs here”, etc. Not terribly complicated rules.

[8:17] Propublica has published a document of credibly accused clergy. Where is the due process for the “credibly accused” to defend themselves? Where is the right of innocent until proven guilty?

[12:11] A sting of sorts was conducted in Florida where handymen were hired to do odd-jobs. Then the jobs were escalated to where a licensed individual would be required. That’s when law enforcement saved the community by arresting the 118 individuals for not having licenses.

[26:29] A women who is jailed for a pretty small amount of money has been transferred out of the county jail to the state facility. Trouble is, she has been receiving cancer treatment. I can just about guarantee that she won’t receive the treatment in prison. I know, she should have thought of that before committing the crime. It was for $109.63.

[36:26] We have a couple articles about Megan’s Law. I guess in a sense, it is working if you change the definition of working as intended. Working, meaning, it is notifying other nations about the travel of those convicted of sexual offenses, then yes: it is working.

[52:48] In our mini-feature, we talk about having teens on the sex offender registry. This is correcting a non-existent problem. Just because you have a teen committing a heinous crime, does that mean you scrap the entire juvenile code?

[57:00] We dive into a deep, 30 minute long discussion about the whole situation in Michigan. Many months ago, Judge Cleland ruled in Federal court that “these things” were unconstitutional in the Michigan sex offender registry. He said that they’d return in 90 days for a followup. Those dates and times have passed. Which leads us to the hearing that was held on Wednesday, February 5th. We should have a ruling by the court in the coming days or weeks. How much, if any, of the law is severable. Maybe it is all of it and the whole thing comes down. But even if it does, will law makers will draw up a brand new bill that is roughly equivalent to the current one. Maybe even knowing it will be challenged again, and again. We will see.

Sources:

https://apnews.com/cd96d6bb10ac96567dcb287be31f10a2

https://projects.propublica.org/credibly-accused/

https://reason.com/2020/02/05/undercover-cops-hired-118-handymen-then-arrested-them-all-for-not-having-licenses/

https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2020/02/04/us/ap-us-jailed-woman-cancer-surgery-2nd-ld-writethru.html

https://wobm.com/ocean-county-lawmakers-have-megans-law-expansion-bill-move-ahead/

https://patch.com/new-jersey/middletown-nj/rep-chris-smith-says-intl-megans-law-working

https://fox17.com/news/local/tennessee-teen-rapists-to-be-charged-as-adults-added-to-sex-offender-registry-under-bills

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/oliver-law-group-p-c-193000734.html

https://www.reddit.com/r/SexOffenderSupport/comments/ey69s6/michigan_attorney_general_argues_that_registries/

 

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Read the transcript of RM113: Looking Back 40 Years To See The Future

Today’s episode tackles topics that are very disturbing. First, rock start attorney Ashley Cloud from New Mexico joins us to give us legal analysis and prosecutor perspective. Ashley is incredibly lively and passionate about her work as an attorney working on reducing the disabilities and restraints of the registry. We cover late breaking new out of Aurora, Illinois. We look back to the worst riot in US history to see the future (or present as it were). We cover exonerations using DNA. How to wreck the train on a bill. And much, much more!

[1:06] An injunction was sought to prevent the men living at the Wayside Cross Ministries halfway house from being forced out. A park is within 500 feet. The injunction was denied. Therefore the eighteen men living here are going to be forced to leave. An injunction is very difficult to get.

[6:19] We then have an excellent discussion about the pushback from the district attorneys in New York fighting to NOT have a review panel. The prosecutors do not want to be watched. Why wouldn’t they want to make sure that they don’t have bad eggs in their camp tarnishing their name and institution?

[13:57] We slide over to a deeply disturbing tragedy that easily could have been seen coming: That is of course the deaths at the prison in Mississippi. We could have learned lessons from the worst prison riot in US history, even to this very day. In New Mexico, 40 years ago, 33 people died in this riot. We have a remembrance where we read off the names of all of those who died on that day. Back to Mississippi: It is absolutely pathetic that the Governor of Mississippi blames this tragedy on cellphones. The deplorable conditions of the prison are similar to what they were back 40 years ago.

[41:59] Rafael Ruiz served a very long prison sentence: 25 years. He maintained his innocence through this whole time. This probably why he was not released earlier. Often, until admit your guilt, the prison system feels you haven’t accepted your crime and punishment. Therefore you should spend more time until you’ve thought about it some more. Finally, 10 years after being released, DNA evidence proves he didn’t commit the crime. I wonder if more rape-kit tests would exonerate more individuals that are behind bars?

[1:14:09] An officer has been charged in the death of man in Prince George’s County, Maryland. The man, William H. Green, was shot several times by Michael Owen while he was handcuffed in the patrol car. How does this keep happening? Even if he was being non-compliant and resisting the officer. The man was restrained with the cuffs. There are so many options available to the officer from waiting for backup. Or using non-lethal means. The officer is not the judge, jury and executioner. Under all but the most extreme of circumstances should an officer kill a citizen.

[1:20:25] An interesting opinion piece by Walter Pavlo from Forbes magazine discusses that the perp walk is one of the first steps that we should take in providing for a fair trial to a person. We do have the presumption of innocence don’t we? Having all of the media documenting that someone is in cuffs, walking to the police car, surrounding by a whole cavalry of officers puts an image in the head of the public that the person is dangerous. “They wouldn’t have him in a perp walk if he wasn’t guilty.” And this colors the trial before it even begins.

[1:26:30] A piece from the Los Angeles Times talks about a bill being proposed that would treat all teens as juveniles. What a strange concept. We don’t allow teens (under 18) buy tobacco, and misc other things. We know very well that adolescent brains aren’t developed well into their 20s. Why would we consider that a crime committed by these same teens that they would have the capacity to appreciate the severity of the crime, and then to hold them acc

On today’s episode, we’re doing three deep dives into recent updates and events. First up: NARSOL is putting Cobb County Georgia on notice of potential lawsuit. The sheriff in this county is inventing laws that gives them the authority to do home checks that they aren’t required to do. Second is Sheriff Gary Long of Butts County, also in Georgia, has filed a brief in the 11th Circuit. This is on the heels of the crushing defeat in federal court in October 2019 regarding posting Halloween signs in the yards of those on the registry. And last is a Federal Judge in Illinois issues permanent injunction for those being held past their release date due to the individual being unable to find housing.

[6:30] We start off with a small batch of news articles that tickled our fancy. An article from The Washington Post talks about why people plead guilty. Given the prospect of being found guilty of something…the prosecutor has immense resources available to them and the defendant has limited resources, is locked away in an unfamiliar place with mediocre food. Limited access to defend themselves or see and talk to family. It isn’t hard to figure out why someone would take a plea to end the misery as soon as possible.

[18:50] After that we talk about a prison job where you are a telemarketer making about 1/4 minimum wage. The company itself is still “paying” minimum wage, but the difference is going to the Oklahoma Department of Corrections. We bat around the concept and not really resolving if we are for it or against it. It seems that this would be a significantly better job, both in quality and in pay, than most jobs that you can find in prison. Is there an exploitative component here? Mostly it’s just a Hmmmm in the end.

[30:04] Our last news article for the night is to use the notion of Michael Avenatti as a proxy to talk about solitary confinement. It isn’t hard to see how you would take a very violent person and separate them from general population. Avenatti is definitely not this person. Solitary confinement is a horrible way to live. Especially since he is pre-trial. He hasn’t been convicted of any crime at all. He should be presumed innocent, until proven guilty, etc.  Like him, or dislike him. Your opinion is your own. But he shouldn’t be in solitary just because the Department of Corrections can’t handle it. He is having his civil liberties diminished.

[36:15] Our first main segment of the night is to talk about NARSOL is going to put Cobb County Georgia on notice for doing random checks at all hours of day and night; as late as 11:30pm and before sunrise in the morning. The Georgia statute doesn’t have a requirement to perform these checks (outside of special exceptions). Beyond that, they are requiring individuals to provide the hours of their work. These are things that are not in the statute. Sheriff Neil Warren was sworn in by putting his hand on the Bible swearing to uphold the law. But he doesn’t get to invent the law. The question is then will Sheriff Warren heed the notice and back off from doing these things, or will NARSOL have to go to the next step and file a court challenge forcing him to stop.

[51:00] In main segment number two we go into detail about Butts County Georgia, and Sheriff Gary Long, filing a 71 page brief to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals regarding the Halloween signs. We won an injunction for posting the signs in 2019. Which has a pretty high standard which means that are likely to prevail on the merits of the case. We get some description of the mootness doctrine which is a principle of judicial procedure whereby American courts will not decide moot cases that is, cases in which there is no longer any actual controversy.Butts County Appeal Brief 1-21-20

[1:13:55] Our final main segment of the evening is a permanent injunction fought by Adele Nicholas and Mark Weinberg out of Illinois. They won this case at

Read Transcript of RM111: We Can’t Have Movements That Strip Us Of Our Fundamental Rights

This weeks episode has us running all over the whole spectrum of issues. Of those issues, we talk about the attorney that is defending Harvey Weinstein. Donna Rotunno is defending Mr. Weinstein because she believes the evidence isn’t there to convict him. Ms. Rotunno also stands by the concept that we can’t have movements that strip us of our fundamental rights. We have something in United States Law called due process. This affords you the right, not the privilege, that you can defend yourself in court from an allegation. You have the right to face your accuser. You have the right to challenge evidence. You have the right to a trial by your peers. What we have is mob rule and if you are accused of doing an inappropriate act, you are tried and convicted in public opinion without any ability to defend yourself.

This episode covers the range of issues ranging from how evil and diabolical prison is. Over to a probation office in Philadelphia that seems almost like a party.  Then over to the economics of having jails in rural areas. Not exclusive to New Mexico, however, removing all contact visits from people in a jail there. We also talk about Microsoft develops technology to monitor chats looking for predatory behavior. A man on death row in Georgia is slated to execute a man for something no longer warrants the death penalty now. Volusia county Florida is trying to remove bail for certain sexual offenses. We quickly touch on an article in Reason magazine regarding women that are making changes for sex offenders. Parole and probationers are being denied legal medical weed. Davidson County sheriff’s deputy Tripp Kester says he will not enforce an unconstitutional law. I wonder if he’d have the same feelings about ALL unconstitutional laws. And does he even have the authority to make that determination? And last, but not least, out of Florida with the repeal of Amendment 4 barring felons from voting: The highest court in Florida has ruled that “all fines and fees, means all fines and fees” must be paid before someone can vote.

We continue our thread about doing advocacy work. We are at the time of the year when the legislative bodies are ramping up. This is the legislative season. Larry gives us some quick tips and tricks to searching your states website for bills and calendars. It’s impossible to cover each state, and to give a comprehensive look as they’re all different. All of the states do the same thing. Some better than others.

I have been toying with https://openstates.org/. At least it is the same thing for all states. Select your state. Then click on bills. You can then do a search (hint: look for filter bills on the right side, or else you’ll do a global search – not what you want).https://openstates.org/ga/bills/?query=sexual+offense&session=2019_20 for example. Then you have to do the work of reading the various bills and see what the impact might be. You can see where it is in the process of being passed. Some other key words that might be of interest are: parole, probation, aggravated, sexual offense. Using these other terms might help you find a bill that slipped through the cracks.

It is Larry’s opinion that we are in the bill killing business. Rarely will you be in a position that you’re supporting a bill. But you will often find yourself in a position to try and wreck the train of a bill.

[10:26] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/jan/13/us-states-move-to-stop-prisons-charging-inmates-for-reading-and-video-calls

[19:00] https://www.inquirer.com/crime/probation-nyc-new-york-neons-philadelphia-solutions-mass-incarceration-vincent-schiraldi-20200110.html

[24:50] https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/dec/13/rural-incarceration-hidden-scandal-us-criminal-justice

[31:30] https://apnews.com/40804cde022ec1fa77088da3988cc