Soemthing about the new Massachusetts bill that you may find of interest; Somebody elses' message followed by a few comments from me.
You can get a full copy of the bill at the House or Senate Clerk's office
at the State House.
I'll be glad to summarize some of the worst features.
The bill combines a broadening and tightening of the sex offender registry with life-time intensive parole for ALL sex offenders, and potential life-time civil confinement for "sexually dangerous predators" (which may only be reviewed every 10 years!)
The registry is broadened to include as sex offenders all the current categories (which include rape and actual child molestation, but also solicitation, public sex, exhibitionism, sex with someone under the influence of drugs or alcohol, kidnapping a child for any reason, any touching of a child perceived as sexual by the child or by authorities, any sexual activity between or among children and others), plus new categories: posing a child in a state of nudity, child pornography, incestuous marriage, any sex with a retarded person or among retarded persons, organized prostitution, profiting from prostitution, etc.
A child is defined as any person under 16, except with regard to nudity and pornography, and then a child is any person under 18.
Sexually dangerous predator is defined as any person convicted of rape or ANY sexual act involving a child (under 16 or under 18 as above) or a retarded person, or among minors or retarded persons.
All sex offenders (in all the above categories) must register at a police station every year for at least 15 years, giving address, employment information, phone number and many other personal details. All sex offenders from now on must be put on intensive life-time parole, which may never be lifted! (This may include wearing global positioning bracelets, curfews, avoiding people under 16 or 18, avoiding certain places like playgrounds and malls, allowing entry to parole officer at any time, etc.)
Sexually dangerous predators (as indicated above, this will include two 14 year olds convicted of sex play or a 19 year old convicted of french kissing a 14 year old, etc.) must report to the police every 90 days for the rest of their lives, and their private information and photo will be made available by police to the public - anyone can request it and get it, and it may be published in the newspaper or put on hand bills in the neighborhood, or posted on the door of the offender, etc.
These "predators" will also be subject to a hearing after serving their prison sentence which could confine them for life, with a review every 10 years. If not confined, they will be on parole as above.
Under these definitions, there are at least 16,000 sex offenders, of whom at least 10,000 are sexually dangerous predators, who will be subject to these laws. My own estimation is that at least 1/3 and probably more of these are gay men and gay youth.
The bill is retroactive to 1981 as the date of culmination of state custody for an offense prior to that time. In other words, a 19 year old put who ended parole for public exposure in 1981, would have to register and be on parole. A gay man who touched or kissed a 15 year old boy - whether or not the 15 year old wanted it - in 1976, served 5 years in prison for that act, was released and on probation until 1985, will now have to re-register, be placed on lifetime parole, and be subject to life-time civil commitment - even if he has never been arrested again.
Unregistered sex offenders (and who in his right mind would register if not actually in custody? about 12,000 are currently counted as unregistered) are subject to warrantless arrest (Police can go into any dwelling to look for them without a warrant!), and will be subject to 5 years in prison for non registration (10 years on a second offense).
These laws are driving some to suicide - and in other states, some have been murdered by vigilantes- and many people are simply hiding or fleeing the state.
A few of my own words on the subject:
The issues of child sex and such are quite separate, one should define what is child, what is rape, etc. - most marriages in developing countries would fall under this law, and we would have to put most of their population to jail for the severe psychological damage these things didn't cause, etc.
Also, if we want to castrate child rapists and publish their whereabouts - maybe we want to do it with murderers as well?
That's not the point though.
The point is that the State is trying to bundle into one package with serious and rare offenses something entirely different - wide practices that constitute basic human freedoms.
If this law is accepted, it would expand the number of sex offenders to just about everybody. How many child rapists do you know? Now, how many people do you know who fooled around when they were 14 or had their naked pictures taken when they were babies, or having ever been [partially] nude or overly sexual in a public place, or had sex with anybody under an influence of anything?
Every Fucking Body can go to jail under this law.
I am personally guilty of multiple counts of the these "crimes".
Now, how the hell prostitution is related to raping babies?
Or taking your own child home in a contested divorce custody case which is also considered kidnapping - even if the child is smarter than the parent who s/he is supposed to live with, and is actually trying to flee the abusive home, in complete presence of their mind?
What about incest? Is consensual fooling around between two adult [step/half] _brothers_ going to make their offsprings retarded? Gimme a break! (And if it did, then we'd have to prohibit all sex acts that may lead to unhealthy babies - that is, institute the worst version of eugenics, with persecution for disobedience).
They are just trying, under the flag or protecting babies, to prohibit harmless, consensual, normal activities among both healthy adult people and kids.
If anything is a crime, then an attempt of putting the majority of population in jail for actions considered normal in just about all societies, is it.
Do they mention that an 18 year old who french kisses a 15 year old, will be raped continuously in jail by criminals twice his age?
Do nudists go to jail now?
Is the girl I saw last August in Coupley square mooning her friends going to jail - and get registered for the rest of her life? How about two girls dancing topless in Paradise? What about all strip joints?
So you have a bunch of religious conservatives here who are trying to persecute everybody for the things they don't approve, and dirty politicians ready to put the majority of their votes in jail to please an influential lobby.
Maybe we should castrate all conservatives, and put them in jail, and after they come out, register them for the rest of their lives, and put a sign up, saying "this person tried to rape your freedoms, don't let them near your children, under any circumstances".