Notice anything different? Check out our brand-new and improved website; we hope you like what you see!

This has been a work in progress for some time now, and we are very excited to get it up and running. The tech committee and some very talented volunteers have been working diligently, and thanks go out to the site www team for a job well done.

As you can tell, this is a complete makeover of our website.

The logo is new but you can still see our trademark eclipse with the sun peeking out, showing hope in the face of darkness. It is designed to be usable in many different sizes and locations. Our previous logo was often challenging in this regard. The new colors are calming, harmonious, and peaceful as well. You’ll see the new theme displayed across all of our sites, including Tales from the Registry, Resources, and our State Wiki.

The appearance is more streamlined, clean, and easy to navigate. Some of our Resources site lists have been brought right into the main site, such as blogs, books, and podcasts; and our site content has been reviewed and updated to largely eliminate the term “sex offender” in favor of person-first language.

We hope you’ll take the time to wander through the pages. You may find a real gem!.

The post Check out NARSOL’s new look! first appeared on NARSOL.

By Brenda . . . On behalf of NARSOL’s board of directors, I wish to offer a very fond farewell to Richard who has stepped down from his successful leadership responsibilities for NARSOL. Richard has been a tireless worker for NARSOL since before his service as a director on the board. For several years, he has played an integral role in planning and implementing our national conferences and webinars.

In case all of that wasn’t enough, Richard also contributed his time and talents as a regional coordinator for state volunteers in NARSOL’s northeast region where he facilitated the organizational efforts of new and veteran advocates. Richard’s good humor and dedication to our cause will be sorely missed, and we wish him the very best for the future.

Additionally, I want to clarify that everyone on our board and in our leadership (Richard included!) remains in good standing, with no scandals, personal issues, or other concerns. Apparently, some of our members and supporters were worried; have no fear though! We are going strong!

We remain a strong, vital, functioning board. Yes, Richard will be sorely missed, but we will carry on with all of our duties as well as picking up those that were his. Soon other volunteers will step up to take on some or all of Richard’s responsibilities, and a new board member will be seated, either now from those already approved by our nominating committee or at election time.

This is a good time to emphasize that, just as no one person in our organization defines the organization, no one person or group defines the advocacy movement that NARSOL represents. People come and go. Even organizations come and go. But the need for serious criminal justice reform is a constant. The need for the abolition of shaming registries is a constant and so will remain until they are gone.

The post A fond farewell and a reassurance first appeared on NARSOL.

By Brenda . . . We’ve all seen the ads, the memes, the commentaries bashing “those people.” No matter what your particular persuasion is, there’s some group out there telling you that you’re all washed up, totally wrong, and that all of “your people” are haters of the worst kind and are destroying life as we know it. Yes, it’s gotten that bad. We all are feeling it.

Haters come in all colors, all political parties, and all religions. There will always be haters. But I firmly believe that the majority of Americans of all colors and parties and religions do their best NOT to hate.

Please, don’t buy into the media hype that gives hate all the attention and sucks every ounce of love out of any space we occupy. It creates a skewed picture of our world, our country, our neighbors… even our own selves.

Hating and bashing (aka “demonizing”) is juvenile and unhelpful, whether it comes from the left or the right, from liberal or conservative, black or white, religious or agnostic. Ignore it. Please! And don’t engage in it yourself.

Demonizing is what fuels the public registry. Demonizing is what makes our advocacy so difficult. I am filled with despair when I see registrants and advocates of various stripes refusing to vote because “politicians are useless.” I also despair when an advocate or registrant complains bitterly about unjust laws then turns around and votes for the very people who are making them worse.

Yes! Our political system is screwed up and needs fixing. Yes! Our justice system has damaged or even broken nearly everyone it has touched. But HATING and demonizing to the point that you throw away the ONE thing you can do — and nowadays most can, even with records —  the simplest thing you can do to possibly improve your life and the lives of those present and future is self-destructive. Hating to the point of voting for candidates with proven track records of harming our cause and obstructing those most willing to help is not only self-destructive, it is a slap in the face to the thousands of us putting our lives on the line fighting for change.

Please, think carefully if you find yourself bashing “the other side” or throwing up your hands and declaring you hate “all of them.” Cut out the hate-mongering sources from your life and find something positive instead. If we cannot get rid of demonization within our OWN hearts, how do we expect to get rid of the demonization that is registration?

The post ENOUGH with the hate, already first appeared on NARSOL.

By Brenda . . . Today I cancelled a membership for a state member, at his request. Cancellations happen, and we don’t question, grateful for whatever they have been able to give. But this time, we got a little note along with the request.

[Your] actions have never been in accordance with my goals, which is freedom from the burden of lifetime registration. I hope the burden on lifetime registrants will one day come to an end, but since there are no organizations fighting for this cause, there is no need for me to support any organizations.

He’s entitled to his opinion, of course. But this message floored me. He really thinks that our organization, or any affiliates of NARSOL … or indeed any of the many other organizations battling against these insane laws … are not fighting for an end to lifetime registration?

Words failed me for a few days. I got over it.

What I think is really going on is that our erstwhile friend has not heard us constantly shouting about his particular issue. He gave us some money, and he has still not been removed from his registry burden. In other words, he has no concern for anyone but himself. And for that, I can only pity him.

What our friend has clearly missed is the monumental task before us. For lifetime registration to come to an end, there must be a number of deep, systemic changes: changes that begin within each person’s heart and mind. Minds and hearts are changed through a clear, impactful message that reaches beyond those of us “in the choir.” Those changes continue through ACTION in the halls of town and county councils and state and national governments and through a steady barrage of litigation that pushes back against excesses at every level.

It’s NOT all about “ME”

This is a war – arguably one of the largest civil rights battles ever. Indeed, almost certainly rolled into this war are racial and LGBTQ+ disparities that have been fought throughout the entirety of United States history. The groups fighting those issues have become aware of how sexual offense laws are impacting their communities and are beginning to apply some resources to the fight.

Whether on the front lines or waiting at home, in wartime we must all move beyond our personal struggles and focus on the larger goal. For NARSOL, and likely every other advocacy group in our movement, that larger goal is to end public shaming registries. Period. Reaching that goal will require huge efforts by many people: people on the front lines in courtrooms and legislators’ offices, people sending letters and making phone calls demanding change, people “back home” talking to neighbors and offering encouragement and support. The battles we fight may result in small wins or large defeats, but we push forward in the hope that collectively we are moving closer to victory.

We must change hearts and minds

The message that all of us in this movement must constantly present to our neighbors, friends, and family is that persons forced to register are HUMAN BEINGS. They and their families and friends deserve the same opportunities for happiness, love, and success as any other human being. Sometimes a human being is broken or sick, and that person needs to be under more careful supervision. But registries do NOT provide any protection for either the public or for the registered human.

If we stay hidden, our friends, family, and neighbors will never come to see that persons forced to register are human beings. And if we sit around (as our friend did) just hoping for our situation to change… it won’t.

ACTION takes many forms, and it takes TIME

There are many different battle fronts. In addition to humanizing, of course there are many civil rights battles to fight. Some are smaller, such as when law enforcement overreaches in a community or when a town council institutes a distance restriction on all registrants. We can show up at meetings to make a case, speak privately to those in power and encourage change, or respond to inaccurate and misleading news reports and blog posts with facts and a HUMANIZING story.

Sometimes it’s a solitary advocate standing before a legislative committee or town council that will change hearts and prevent a new, worse law. Other times, a legal action in progress results in a change to existing law and a better understanding of the problems with public registration.

Though our erstwhile friend might wish it otherwise, there is no single action that is going to fix everything, nor one single action that can even fix ONE thing (such as lifetime registration). Our big goal of no more public shaming registries will come through hundreds of smaller and larger victories – most simply taking out a piece here, or correcting an excess there. Legal challenges are also accumulating at local and state levels and will continue until sufficient case law is built up to force change at the national level.

It is our hope at NARSOL, echoed I am sure through the entire movement, that someday the war will be won and public shaming registries will be no more. And at that time, we will focus on preventing them from ever returning – because humans always look for a boogeyman to fear. I hope you’ll stay with us.

The post A battle for all of us first appeared on NARSOL.

Negative Consequences of Public Registration

 By Brenda and Sandy . . . In 2009, Nebraska adopted the tiering system of the Adam Walsh Act, overnight essentially doubling its public database by pulling previously non-public registrants onto its published sexual offender registry, individuals who had already paid their debts to society and were moving forward with their lives.[1] Many had married, started families, built or rebuilt meaningful careers, and were contributing, tax-paying members of Nebraska society. All of this came to an abrupt halt when their names were put on the public list.

The Adam Walsh Act does not make any actual assessment of risk, instead simply lumping all persons with particular offenses into its three tiers. In the years since AWA was first introduced, there has been no evidence that published registries have had any significant benefit to public safety. In fact, Nebraska found that after the transition was made to everyone being publicly listed, sexual recidivism actually increased: “Specifically, the pre-LB 285 classification system resulted in a 2-year recidivism rate of 1.7% and a 1-year recidivism rate of 0.6%. In comparison, the post-LB 285 classification system resulted in a 2-year recidivism rate of 2.6% and a 1-year recidivism rate of 1.7%.”[2] In addition, many studies have appeared indicating the societal harm registries cause, not only to former offenders but also to their families and to their communities who are deprived of a stable, contributing member.

No Reduction in Offenses 

Registries have been promoted from their beginning as a way to reduce future offenses, especially sexual abuse of children. Studies are simply not proving them to be effective at this for several reasons. Registration imposes such severe costs, such as stigma, limitations to housing and employment, and psychological stress, that this can actually hinder rehabilitation.[3]

Review of other statistics found that there simply has not been any significant decrease in arrests as a result of registration, either for new offenses or via stopping recidivism, which is already quite low. One analysis in Washington DC stated, “Knowing where a sex offender lives does not reveal much about where sex crimes… will take place.”[4]

Although some have observed a slight decrease in new crimes, this may actually be due to fewer people reporting. One of the greatest fears of a victim is of being disclosed as a victim. An overwhelmingly high majority of sexual assault is committed by persons known to the victims. The younger the victim, the more likely this is to be the case. Studies show an average of 96% of child sexual abuse involving minors ages one through sixteen occurs between a victim and someone within the family, a peer, or an adult authority figure.[5] As a result of the close proximity between victim and offender, many persons choose not to report at all, rather than risk exposing their abuse. As one police officer explained in testimony to the House Committee on the Judiciary, “Victims tell us that their greatest concerns are their family knowing about the assault (71%), and people outside the family knowing about the assault (68%). The last thing we want to do is create disincentives to victims and their families to report.”[6]

Public Shaming, Physical Harm, and Murder

 Regardless of the severity of their crimes, persons on the registry are consistently targets for public shaming, harassment, and even violence. A 17-year-old boy who had had consensual sex with a 13-year-old who had claimed to be 16 was kicked out of school due to being on the registry.[7] A man convicted for consensual sex with a 15-year-old he later married, remarked, “My wife and I get pulled over constantly because our license is registered to a sex offender.” He has “…received telephone calls from people calling him a child molester and threatening his life.”[8] Another young man convicted at 17 for having consensual sex with his age-14 girlfriend reported having feces left at his door and a stone thrown through his window with a note saying he should watch his back.[9]

The violence certainly does not end with rocks. For example, in 2006, the news reported two registrants murdered in Maine.[10] Again in 2012, two more registrants in Washington state were shot and killed, and the perpetrator explained that he hated sex offenders and “…it had to be done.”[11] Just a year later, a registrant and his wife were murdered by a man who had randomly selected him from the registry. The murderer had planned to kill more.[12] And these are simply several examples of this recurring problem.

Inability to Become a Productive, Tax-Paying Citizen

 According to the US Department of Justice, “Meaningful employment can provide a stabilizing influence by involving offenders in pro-social activities and assisting them in structuring their time, improving their self-esteem, and meeting their financial obligations,” and is likely to help prevent recidivism.[13] But with the registry publicly proclaiming a person’s past conviction and very often listing the person’s employment address, the challenge of finding and keeping employment is far worse than that of any other convicted person’s. One study in New Jersey reported that 52% of those publicly registered had lost jobs as a result of community notification.[14] It should go without saying that a person who is unemployed or underemployed is not going to be able to contribute to his or her community through income or property taxes.

Collateral Harm to Families

 The impact of the registry on individuals, their families, and society is powerful and negative, interfering for a lifetime with their ability to earn, to provide safety and security for their families, and to participate in many expected parental duties.

The incredible stigma and ostracization placed on persons required to register deeply impacts their families. Spouses, parents, and children of registrants experience the same fear and financial insecurity as do their loved ones. Studies are consistently showing that the instability caused by public registration increases fear, anxiety, depression, and anger in families of registered persons.[15] When a family must deal with such struggles, often with little money or personal resources, the community ends up shouldering the burden through services of various sorts.

Providing a Path Off

 One ray of light in this otherwise bleak landscape is being allowed to petition for removal from the registry requirement. Slightly over half of our states have a statute in place addressing this issue, but close inspection reveals that few registrants are eligible to apply for this relief, and even fewer are able to succeed. Furthermore, a significant number of states, at least fourteen, deny it outright to all who are registered.[16]

 West Virginia is one such. There are no codified paths for removal from either the requirement to register or from the registry itself. West Virginia has no risk level assessments; thus, those moving to West Virginia are assigned the requirement, a lifetime requirement for most, with no due process, assessment of risk, or provision for relief. West Virginia is not the only state for which this holds true.[17]

One West Virginia registrant describes the impact of this on his life.[18] “I must relive my worst day and my worst act for life. I am unredeemable for life. I may never prove that I am not a risk. I may never work towards redemption. Those I love and who love me are condemned with me as long as they are with me. I feel like a modern-day leper, a scarlet letter recipient without any hope of redemption. My crime, for which I completed all court-ordered punishment years ago, was over twenty years ago, but it might as well have been yesterday.”

As a contrast, North Carolina provides a relief process for registered citizens who are not otherwise designated as aggravated, recidivists, or sexually violent predators by allowing registrants to petition for removal ten years after being placed on the state’s sex offender registry.

Robin was originally convicted in Virginia but returned to his home state of North Carolina in 2009.[19] He successfully petitioned for removal from the registry in August, 2019, and is no longer burdened by any of the onerous requirements imposed by that state’s registration and notification scheme. “I am certainly very thankful to be living in a state where it’s still possible to be removed. But it’s not something I crow about because there’s nothing to prevent North Carolina’s legislature from going back in the statutes and imposing a lifetime requirement. I’m very cognizant of this, and I don’t want to do or say anything that might encourage North Carolina to adopt the same lifetime model that exists in other states. As an advocate who opposes sex offender registries entirely, I’m also sensitive about how my fellow advocates may feel about my successful removal, especially if they’re stuck living in a state where no such removal process is available,” Robin said.

The negative impact on individuals, families, and society as a whole as a result of publicly listed sexual offender databases is severe. Even more egregious are situations where those with past sexual crime convictions have been fully rehabilitated and are well established as responsible, law-abiding, contributing citizens only to be pulled back into the morass of the registry with the retroactive application of registry requirements. A clear path off of the registry is essential to the redemption of registered citizens, but even that is denied them in many of our states.

Such negative impact to so many, and with no redeeming or beneficial elements to help offset the negativity, is something America must not allow to continue.

[1] Nebraska Sex Offender Registry Study, Final Report, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Ryan Spohn, PhD., Director. At 9 (July 31, 2013).

[2] Ibid at 2

[3] Jill S. Levenson, David A. D’Amora & Andrea L. Hern, Megan’s Law and its Impact on Community Re-Entry for Sex Offenders, 25 BEHAV. SCI. & L. 587, 598 (2007) (“[S]ocial policies that ostracize and disrupt the stability of sex offenders are unlikely to be in the best interest of public safety.”);
Amanda Y. Agan, Sex Offender Registries: Fear Without Function?, 54 J.L. & ECON. 207, 213 (2011).
Elizabeth J. Letourneau, Jill S. Levenson, Dipankar Bandyopadhyay, Debajyoti Sinha &Kevin S. Armstrong, Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Sex Offender Registration And Notification Policies For Reducing Sexual Violence Against Women 4, 9–10 (2010), available at https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ nij/grants/231989.

4 Amanda Y. Agan, Sex Offender Registries: Fear Without Function?, 54 J.L. & ECON. 207 (2011).

5 Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Statistical Briefing Book (2008).

[6] Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA): Barriers to Timely Compliance by States: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Sec. of the H. Comm. on the Judiciary, 111th Cong. 89 (2009) (statement of Robert Shilling, Seattle Police Dep’t, Sex & Kidnapping Offender Detail, Sexual Assault & Child Abuse Unit, Seattle, Wash.)., at 91–92.

[7] Dan Gunderson, Sex Offender Laws Have Unintended Consequences, Minn. Pub. Radio News (June 18, 2007), http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2007/06/11/sexoffender1

[8] Libby Lewis, Murders Put Focus on Sex-Offender Registry Policies, NPR (Apr. 21, 2006, 3:33 PM), http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5355980.

[9] Human Rights Watch, No Easy Answers: Sex Offender Laws In The U.S. 9, 9–10 (2007), available at http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/us0907webwcover.pdf

[10] Ibid, at 91.

[11] See Doug Esser, Two Sex Offenders Shot to Death on Olympic Peninsula, The Seattle Times (June 4, 2012, 10:13 AM), http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/ 2018353214_apwasexoffenderkillings1stldwritethru.html

[12] Jeremy Moody, S.C. Man, Killed Registered Sex Offender, Planned to Target Other Offenders, Police Say, CBS.COM (July 25, 2013), http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-504083_162-57595477-504083/jeremy-moody-s.c-man-killed-registered-sex-offender-planned-to-target-otheroffenders-police-say.

[13] Ctr. For Sex Offender Mgmt., U.S. Dep’t Of Justice, Time To Work: Managing The Employment Of Sex Offenders Under Community Supervision 1 (2002), available at www.csom.org/pubs/timetowork.pdf.

[14] Wayne A. Logan, Knowledge As Power: Criminal Registration And Community Notification Laws In America 25 (2009).

[15] Jill Levenson & Richard Tewksbury, Collateral Damage: Family Members of Registered Sex Offenders, Am. J. Of Crim. Justice 54, 62–64 (2009), available at http://www.opd.ohio.gov/AWA Information/AW Levenson family impact_study.pdf (data from 584 family members living with a registrant on the impact of registration laws).

[16] http://ccresourcecenter.org/state-restoration-profiles/50-state-comparison-relief-from-sex-offender-registration-obligations/

[17] Ibid.

[18] Philip is a registrant from West Virginia and member of NARSOL’s Board of Directors.

[19] Robin Vander Wall is a former registrant from North Carolina and member of NARSOL’s Board of Directors.

The post Testimony for NE Judiciary Committee hearing first appeared on NARSOL.

By Brenda . . . The annual international conference for the Association for the Treatment of Sexual Abusers (ATSA) was held this year in Vancouver, British Columbia. This is a very large conference – over a thousand people there. NARSOL decided to staff a booth at the event for the first time, and I was joined by Cindy Prizio from Connecticut. The first day (Wednesday) was taken up by intensive half- or full-day workshops attended by several hundred people and spanning two hotels. The dual hotel situation continued on Thursday and Friday, with nearly a dozen workshops during each session. There was one keynote presentation each morning on Thursday and Friday. On Saturday there were no workshops: just two big-name keynotes. Many, many people stayed to hear them.

On the first evening, Cindy and I attended a special working group session for ATSA participants who are interested in direct community action. There was not much time to mingle, but during round-robin introductions we had a chance to encourage those in attendance to find ways to put their research efforts to direct use in efforts to affect public policy.

For such a large conference, there were surprisingly few booths. This might in part be due to the fairly steep cost of renting one. Our booth was along one side of a wide “hall” along with booths for a residential facility, a risk assessment facility, and a patient care software vendor. At the far end of the hall was a bookseller – definitely the most popular exhibit! Across from us were booths for the SMART office and the BC department of corrections. The SMART office (that’s the US office for Sex Offender Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking) was by far the least popular. We were surprised to see them at a conference for treatment providers, actually. But there certainly were quite a few attendees who worked for their state/territory SO management programs.

On Wednesday and the first part of Thursday, food tables were out in our hall area, too. Between that and the bookseller, that made for excellent foot traffic. Thursday afternoon and Friday, the food moved out into a general area and traffic dropped off. But people continued to stop by as they came and went to the bookseller.

Cindy and I focused on encouraging people to attend our June conference, and collected business cards (and pseudo business cards) to give away a couple of free conference passes. Altogether, we collected 40 names with contact info. For such a large group, this seems smallish, but even with the traffic going to the bookseller, I think a lot of people just didn’t make it to the vendor area. And of course, not everyone left a card.

Walk-up response was very, very positive. I can’t tell you how many times somebody walked up and asked, “So what’s rational about sexual offense laws?” My stock response became, “When they are fact-based instead of myth-based,” which people really liked. We described what NARSOL does, discussed bad laws and horror stories (usually our visitors had one or two of their own involving a client), and we encouraged everyone to find a way to get involved.

What garnered the most interest, I think, was the Fearless material we had. People loved the fact that Fearless groups are “peer-led” and follow a familiar structure, but there are no state employees allowed, which provides total confidentiality. Both pieces I was handing out had contact info for our website, so we shall see if that bears any fruit.

We have sent everyone who left us their information a follow-up email thanking them for stopping by, letting them know they’ve been added to our email list, and encouraging them to stay connected and watch for our conference announcements. All in all, I think the effort was positive and I hope we will start building some bridges.

The ATSA 2019 conference will be in Atlanta.

The post Building bridges first appeared on NARSOL.

By Brenda . . . We were excited to see our own evaluation and expectations of our Fearless support group project confirmed in a genuine academic study! Authors Lisa L. Sample, Brooke N. Cooley, and Tusty ten Bensel recently published “Beyond Circles of Support: ‘Fearless’ — An Open Peer-to-Peer Mutual Support Group for Sex Offense Registrants and Their Family Members” in the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. 

They found that Fearless participants have a strong need for a group like this that offers community and a sense of family to people who so often feel marginalized and alone. This is equally true whether the person is a registrant or a supportive loved one — and unlike many support groups, Fearless allows BOTH to participate. The authors also spoke highly of the sense of safety and security experienced by participants since no “officials” such as mental health, probation, or other mandated reporters are allowed to participate. Outcomes included improved sense of self-worth, better family communications, and (yes) some increased levels of advocacy.

All our Fearless groups  follow exactly the same model as the Nebraska “Fearless” group that was tracked for two years in this study. Indeed, one of our mentors is the original facilitator! And the Nebraska Fearless model was built on the solid foundation created by our own Mary Sue Molnar of Texas Voices for Reason and Justice, whose several groups have been going strong now for many years.

The post “Fearless” validated as important and valuable first appeared on NARSOL.

By Brenda . . . It has often been said that until we can start changing the public’s perception of what “sex offender” means, we have an uphill battle. The best way to do that is to help folks encounter people who are living with public registration and see that they are ordinary, even EXTRA-ordinary, human beings.

This is the motive behind Humans On the Registry.

Lawmakers and policy makers all across the country hear only the fear-mongering stories about monsters, predators, and bogey-men. They find little reason to question the many false assumptions brought to them by their constituents. And their constituents are of course just as frightened, for all the wrong reasons.

But meeting just ONE person, one genuine, decent human being who happens to be on a public registry, can plant a seed of doubt — a thought that maybe those assumptions are wrong. And if more and more persons step forward with a story, those seeds will grow and a new story will replace the false ones.

The public needs to hear stories from registrants from all walks of life, sharing the things that bring them joy, fill them with pride, and make them glad they are alive. Yes, there is a time from your past that gave you a label you’d like to shake, but you have found a way forward now, in spite of the over-reaching laws that try to keep you down.

Come share that story on Humans on the Registry ​ — https://humans.narsol.org​

Help us break those stereotypes and put a human face on this difficult issue.

The post Stories About Humans Needed Now! first appeared on NARSOL.

By Brenda….

NARSOL is proud to announce a new project: Registered Humans.

As advocates, we are daily faced with stereotypes of “sex offender” that are completely inadequate to show the broad range of persons who are required to register. These stereotypes create monsters instead of flawed human beings trying to turn their lives around. This flawed public opinion is at the root of our flawed laws and also creates huge challenges for persons on the registry, who often feel hopeless and alone.

Registered Humans is an opportunity for persons who are on the registry to show their better side — their humanity — and share how they have built new lives for themselves, found support, and overcome many hurdles.

We encourage people on the registry from all walks of life who have been offense free for a year or more to participate in the Registered Humans project by writing a short “snapshot” of their life: the contribution they make to society; their family life; what brings them happiness now; and their accomplishments, hopes and dreams. Our goal is to provide encouragement to other registrants and break the stereotypes that hold registrants down. We hope such stories will help outside readers see who people on the registry really are and at the same time help other registrants who might benefit from their journey and vision for the future.

We will screen and post the stories that seem to most advance the goals of the project. All stories must include either a full or partial true name and a candid photo. The reason for this is that we are hoping this will be just phase one of the Registered Humans project. Phase two would involve creating video vignettes which are used as public service announcements.

To learn more or to share your story, please go to humans.narsol.org.

The post Seeking Registered Humans! Tell Your Story! first appeared on NARSOL.

By Brenda . . .

On Saturday, October 31, RSOL set up a booth at the Expo along with a number of other agencies. Most were state groups, or state chapters of national organizations such as Amnesty International and the Prison Society. The Expo was hosted by DeafCAN (Community Action Network) PA, but was not exclusively focused on the Deaf Community. Plenty of people from that community were present, however, and it was certainly an eye-opening experience for us, and for other national groups. We were invited to attend this event because a high percentage of deaf persons currently in prisons are there for a sexual offense.

With me at the booth were John and Sheri Tynes (member and board member of RSOL respectively) who drove all the way from Ohio to assist. John put together a nice self-playing powerpoint which we had running non-stop at the booth, and we also played a YouTube video – a very multimedia experience! Richard Earl from New Hampshire also drove down to join us for the day. His special focus was on connecting with any RSOL members who wanted to come and talk to us as long as we were in the area. He did connect with several folks while there.

Our main goal at the conference was to educate the wider criminal justice reform community about our particular issue, especially regarding the broad brush applied to registrants and the many difficulties faced by registrants and their families. And of course we also discussed constitutional and civil rights violations. My panel presentation specifically laid out our Assertions.

The bulk of the organizations and attendees were focused on ending mass incarceration, on improving prison conditions in general, and on ending the death penalty and life sentences.  Interwoven throughout were stories of the extreme difficulties faced by persons with disabilities. Many of us have heard that we incarcerate far too many people with mental illness who would do much better getting treatment and management within their communities. What we hear less about is the unique problems faced by persons with disabilities who enter the justice system.

As a quick introduction, we learned that police get very little training in dealing with a deaf person. Say someone is pulled over for a traffic violation. He wants to get the officer’s attention to try to show or explain something. You or I would say “excuse me?” but a deaf person taps you on the shoulder or arm. That is Assault. Then you are put into handcuffs. Your hands are what you use to speak! You cannot make a phone call because there is no special phone available. Even if you scribble a number down the officer may just dial it for you and walk away and you are unable to communicate. Writing notes back and forth is not the same, because English really isn’t your native language – Sign is.

In prison you are picked on, your requests for help laughed at, and you are totally isolated because nobody speaks Sign… nor would anyone be allowed to learn because the guards can’t have secret communication going on around them. You again are unable to call home, or if you do the already very expensive call is made more so by the fact that you must type back and forth, with no extra time for that. You can end up in Solitary because you don’t stand for Count… because you cannot HEAR the call to stand up for Count.

As far as RSOL’s efforts, we spoke to a number of other groups about our issue, and hopefully made some connections. My personal hope in attending meetings with other justice reform advocates is two-fold: first is to make sure they are aware of the myths and realities surrounding registered citizens, and second is to do my darnedest to make sure that former sexual offenders are not LEFT OUT of reform efforts.

This seems like a very modest goal, but the potential is huge when you think about it. We all know that the “sex offender” issue is a very toxic one. If you have not been personally impacted, you would probably still be thinking that anyone on a registry “deserved” it, is highly dangerous and you have every right to know who they are.  So the educational angle is absolutely critical. Other criminal justice groups need to understand the TRUTH or they will understandably shy away from including former sexual offenders in their reform efforts.

What I am telling these new potential allies, or will when I get the chance, is that we are looking for a seat at the table; an opportunity to help out behind the scenes; and for any reform they put forward, that they NOT EXCLUDE former sexual offenders.  We do not need to be out in front screaming about equal rights. Such noise would almost certainly kill any effort they are putting forward. But we can quietly help behind the scenes as they push for Equal Opportunities for ALL convicted persons.

Our presence at this Expo is I hope the first of many such opportunities to join forces with the larger criminal justice community. Keep an eye open for such opportunities in YOUR state, and we will do what we can to assist.

The post Report from the Bars, Barriers, or Justice Expo in West Chester, PA first appeared on NARSOL.