Wednesday, December 3, 2014

The New Puberty?

Article link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/12/02/367811777/how-girls-are-developing-earlier-in-an-age-of-new-puberty?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=freshair

A good portion of the Sex Offender Registry are young men who had to misfortune to be 18 with a 16 year old girlfriend. Some are even younger, with correspondingly younger girlfriends. Curiously, only the males in these "Romeo and Juliet" relationships are punished.

"It has been established that girls who enter puberty earlier are more likely to have symptoms of anxiety, higher levels of depression, initiate sex earlier and sexual behaviors earlier," Julianna Deardorff tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross.

Think about that for a moment. Young men, full of raging hormones, are being approached by young women, also full of raging hormones, who then initiating the sexual contact. And, as it turns out, it's happening earlier and earlier, when the emotional and intellectual development of these girls are not fully mature. And yet, the boy is at fault, locked away and subject to registration and restrictions.

Victim blaming? No. There are two victims here: the young woman who isn't equipped to deal with the changes and hormonal urges her body is experiencing, and the young man who is all too willing to help satisfy those urges with urges of his own.

These types of "crimes" need to be seen for what they are, and dealt with fairly. Ether both are convicted and put on the registry, or (more preferably), both are educated on the consequences of their actions and taught to deal with the changes their bodies are going through.

Saturday, November 22, 2014

Vigil

There are those who say that sex offenders deserve the "punishment" of the registry, because they get off free after serving their time, while their victims are "scarred for life". Those people have no idea what they are talking about.

Tonight, I sit in vigil. On this night, so many years ago, something happened that forever altered the course of two lives.

I will not sleep tonight. I can't. I haven't slept on this night for over twenty-five years. I can't sleep, because when I do, I see it happening again. And I am powerless to stop it. In the days and weeks leading up to this night, the nightmares build. I am tortured by them, haunted by actions I cannot prevent. On this night, they reach their peak, and I am at my breaking point.

"They", those who advocate for the registry, say that it is a just "punishment" and compensation for the suffering of the victim.

I say to you that no punishment, no time in prison, no threats can equal the torture I put myself through each and every year.


Saturday, November 1, 2014

Halloween Tally

Source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jimdalrympleii/three-trick-or-treaters-were-killed-friday-by-a-hit-and-run


5 children killed
5 children injured 
(Plus 2 adults) 

Thankfully, the police were otherwise occupied by making sure that sex offenders didn't have their lights on or passing out candy, because there were ZERO sexual assaults of children reported for Halloween (just like there is pretty much every Halloween). If the police hadn't been performing that oh so important task, they might have been available to patrol the streets and maybe prevent these tragedies.

The truth is, your child is more likely to be hit by a car than to be sexually assaulted on Halloween. And, if they are sexually assaulted, it's more likely to to happen at the hands of a family member, trusted adult, or a close friend than by the registrant down the street.

Halloween is a night of frights and fears, but the real threat to children isn't the imagined monster on the registry. The real monsters roam the streets in metal boxes, drunk, careless, or inattentive. They lurk inside your house, called "uncle", "dad", or "cousin". And you won't find their names, pictures, or addresses listed on the internet.

Fears based in facts are healthy. Unfounded fears kill. 

Saturday, September 20, 2014

Hater


You can't bring me down, already had my life turned upside down
I ride a downward spiral round and round
But I keep flying, I keep fighting
You won't ever bring me down

I'm good, I'm fine, this life's divine
No hate, no shame, no one to blame
You might despise your life with lies
I won't chastise, even if you think you can

Bring me down, already had my life turned upside down
I ride a downward spiral round and round
But I keep flying, I keep fighting
You won't ever bring me

Down (down, down, down, down), you won't ever bring me
Down (down, down, down, down), you won't ever bring me

I can't escape from the disdain; your heart, your pain
Your drama is lame, why can't you find
Some peace inside? I won't chastise
Even when you think you can

Bring me down, already had my life turned upside down
I ride a downward spiral round and round
But I keep flying, I keep fighting
You won't ever bring me

Down (down, down, down, down), you won't ever bring me
Down (down, down, down, down), you won't ever bring me

Hater (hater, hater), Hater (hater, hater)

I'm good, I'm fine, this life's divine
No hate, no shame, no one to blame
Why can't you find aome peace inside?

Hater (hater, hater, hater, hater)

You can't bring me down, already had my life turned upside down
I ride a downward spiral round and round
But I keep flying, I keep fighting
You won't ever bring me down

Hater (hater, hater, hater), you won't ever bring me down
Hater (hater, hater, hater), you won't ever bring me down
Hater (hater, hater, hater), 'cause I keep flying, I keep fighting
You won't ever bring me

Down (down, down, down, down), you won't ever bring me
Down (down, down, down, down), you won't ever bring me
Down (down, down, down, down), you won't ever bring me
Down (down, down, down, down), you won't ever bring me down

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Working the Beat

Is that a nightstick in your pocket, or...

Nah, the joke is too easy. The reality is disturbing: a police officer in New Jersey was caught masturbating at a Starbucks restaurant. To protect and (self) serve, indeed.

Once again, in case you're keeping score: not on any registry. Meanwhile, let's harass people for not living where they're supposed to, and let's haul out tape measures to find out that someone was living 18 feet closer to a school than they allowed.

Someone please explain to me how being 18 feet closer than 1000 feet puts children at risk. You can't, because it doesn't make sense. Meanwhile, you've got cops distributing child porn and masturbating at restaurants. Tell me, where does the real risk lie?

Wake up.

"Every society gets the kind of criminal it deserves.
What is equally true is that every community gets the kind of law enforcement it insists on."
— Robert Kennedy

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

A Joke

Stop me if you've heard this one before:

Two police officers, a rabbi, a registered nurse, a nanny and a Boy Scout den leader walk in to a bar get arrested for producing and distributing child porn.

Wait, what?

Yep. In what is being described as one of the largest roundups of its kind in New York City, 71 people were arrested and charged with child pornography. The punchline for this joke, though, is that of all those arrested only one - yes, one - has previously been convicted of raping a child. Another was on bail at the time of his arrest.

Remember, folks: sex offender laws keep children safe.

Many of those arrested are in positions that directly require their backgrounds be checked: A police chief and a police officer, a registered nurse, a nanny, a Boy Scout leader. All of them victimizing children. None of them on any registry.

(Edit: add a paramedic and a little league coach to the list.)

The distribution of previous offenders in this case bears out something that's been repeated often, both here and in countless blogs and studies on the topic: Sex offenders (as a whole) have the lowest recidivism rate of any class of criminal. In this case, 2 out of 71 arrested is 2.8%. But politicians and fear-mongers would have you believe otherwise, and call for even more laws that "get tough" on sex offenders. It's classic misdirection.

The joke here is that all of your tax dollars are going to fund a system of more laws, more restrictions, and more monitoring that does absolutely nothing to make children the slightest bit safer. Are you laughing, yet?

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Thought Experiment

A woman is walking alone at night, heading home from an evening with friends. She is slightly drunk. Suddenly, near a dimly-lit area, a man jumps out and attacks her, knocking her to the ground.

Later, the woman goes to the hospital for her injuries, is questioned by police, and evidence is collected. Eventually, she is taken home. For weeks (maybe months) afterwards, she is afraid of the shadows and dimly lit places. At night, she turns on all the lights in the house, and sleeps fitfully, waking at every noise. She is withdrawn, often breaking down into tears and wondering why this happened to her. While most of her friends are sympathetic to what has happened, some people blame her for what happened, saying that she shouldn't have been where she was, or that it happened because she was drunk.

Memories of this encounter force a change in her daily routine, and as a result, she not as outgoing and carefree as she once was. She is always on alert, looking for the next person who might attack her, and has purchased defensive weapons that she either carries with her, or has in her home. Her personal relationships begin to suffer, and eventually, she breaks up with her boyfriend. She begins to have difficulty trusting men, and often feels nervous to the point of a panic attack when she is alone with a man that she doesn't know (for example, in an elevator).

Question 1: Is the woman "damaged for life" by her encounter? Why or why not?

Several months pass, and the police finally catch the man who attacked her. She picks him out of a police lineup, and physical evidence links him to the crime. A thorough investigation shows that the man has never had a history of criminal conduct, and that this assault was an aberration in an otherwise spotless and upstanding life. The man expresses remorse over his actions, and the judge, weighing the options, sentences the man to one year in prison.

Question 2: Was the sentence too "lenient"? Why or why not?

After serving his time in prison, the man is released. He goes on to live a peaceful, productive life, marrying and having children.

Question 3: Should the man be forced to register where he lives with the local police? Why or why not?

Question 4: Did you assume the crime described above was a sexual assault? Why?

Question 5: Do your answers to questions 1-3 change if the crime was a mugging/robbery? Why?

---

Food for thought.