Posting #55 –Congressman Poe of Texas

By:  RSOL of Virginia
Date:  03/22/2009

Dear Tabatha,

We met following the March 10, SORNA hearing, Congressman Poe introduced you as a Victim's Rights Coordinator.

During the March 10 hearing Mr. Poe's opinions, beliefs and incorrect data on recidivism in regards to "sex offenders" were obvious early on.

Prior to the SORNA hearing I was not aware that Mr. Poe is a prime example of the politicians that have beat the drum against "sex offenders" and warned the parents of our country "we must protect the children". 

This weekend I began tracking all the current bills in Congress that affect "sex offenders" only to learn that Mr. Poe is sponsoring four bills, HR1375, HR731, HR1422 and HR1623 (there may even be more).

I became the RSOL Organizer last autumn for many reasons but the main reason was that I knew change would not occur without my story and my support.

Mr. Poe's old ideas about "sex offenders" and incorrect data on recidivism rates may still be acceptable in Texas but not in Washington. There are too many people that have been unjustly convicted and stigmatized as a "sex offender" in this country. Their families and friends are reading the reports and studies that contradict what Mr. Poe is still selling and they know he has not done his homework.

• No Easy Answers: Human Rights Watch Study, September 11, 2007
• The Adam Walsh Act: Scarlet Letter by Lara Geer Farley, April 17, 2008
• Fact Sheets Examine Impact of Sex Offender Registries: Justice Policy Institute, September 2, 2008
• Collateral Damage: Family Members of Registered Sex Offenders by Jill Levenson Ph.D. January 2009
• Enhancing Child Safety and Online Technologies: Final Report of the Internet Safety Technical Task Force to the Multi-State Working Group on Social Networking of State Attorneys General of the United States.  December 31, 2008
• Residential Proximity to Schools and Daycare Centers: Influence on Sex Offense Recidivism, An empirical analysis by Jill Levenson Ph.D. December 23, 2008
• New Jersey DOC Study on the Effectiveness of Sex Offender Registration, February 11, 2009
• Registering Harm: How Sex Offender Registries Fail Youth and Communities, Justice Policy Institute      November 21, 2008
• New York State Division of Probation and Correctional Alternatives Research Bulletin: Sex Offender Populations, Recidivism and Actuarial Assessment 2007

As a Victim's Rights Coordinator you shouldn't be creating new "victims" by bucketing all sex offenses together. Allowing an accusation alone to convict, imprison and stigmatize a citizen under the "victim’s rights and rape shield" laws is unacceptable. I am a "victim" of a lying teenager and our Government allowed it to happen.

I hope that you and Mr. Poe will do the research before sponsoring any more "sex offender" legislation.

Sincerely,

RSOL of Virginia