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Urgent Action Items in Virginia:36) March 4, 2010 Call the Obama White House Comment Line, 202-456-1414 In regards to John Walsh’s meeting today about the Chelsea King case in California. Chelsea King Case: Outrage Over Sex Offender Monitoring Reaches White House John Walsh Said President Obama Vowed to Fund Federal Sex Offender Law Obama featured on milestone America's Most Wanted
WAIT to speak to a live operator, do not go into voicemail! OR Fax a ONE PAGE Outline summary sheet on why not to fund the Adam Walsh Act, why it’s failing and how it violates your constitutional rights as well as your families. Send the fax to 202-456-2461. Make sure your subject line clearly states Adam Walsh Act, that it’s in outline form and that it is NO MORE than one page.
35) February 2, 2010 34) January 26, 2010 33) January 15, 2010 HB1004 is a VERY Dangerous Bill ! 32) January 14, 2010 Phase IV, the Final Phase of our Book Project has been Completed! We hand-delivered a copy of Dr. Richard Wright’s book Sex Offender Laws: Failed Policies, New Directions to the members of the three 2010 G.A. House and Senate Committees, http://www.rsolvirginia.org/2010committee.html Please take the time to write a letter, an e-mail or call these legislators acknowledging that we gave them a copy of this very important book and that you hope as a citizen of our Commonwealth and of our country that they will take the time to read the book, before they consider passing or proposing one more Sex Offender, Sexting, Sexual Assault, Internet Chat or Civil Commitment law in our state. 31) December 23, 2009 The 2010 Virginia General Assembly begins in Richmond on January 13, 2010. The Book Project is a Great Success, but we need YOU to contact those who received a copy of the book. Also note Dr. Wright’s response to RSOL of Virginia. 29) December 18, 2009 Special Elections for the 37th and 8th Senatorial Districts will be held on January 12, 2010. 28) November 19, 2009 Take and Stand and Be Heard! 27) November 5, 2009 Violation of Civil Liberties and Human Rights in Farmville, VA 26) November 2, 2009 Onesimus Ministries this Holiday Season 25) November 2, 2009 Contact Senator Jim Webb. 24)October 15, 2009: Election Day, Tuesday November 3, 2009 We’ve been tracking the candidates voting records and newspaper and television articles in our Election page, http://www.rsolvirginia.org/elect_2009.html . We’ve also written to the Virginia Board of Elections and the Virginia ACLU because if you were only convicted of a misdemeanor offense you still have the right to vote. If you are a registered voter you also have the right to be on school property on Election Day to cast your vote, (Bulletin Board Posting #150) Please get out and vote on November 3! 23)October 11, 2009: On Halloween, the state of Virginia only has restrictions for registered sex offenders who are still on probation. Even though newspapers and local news channels state otherwise EVERY year. 22)October 10, 2009: Two items about S.O Re-registration. The restricted mail re-registration paperwork that the VSP mails out only 2 weeks before you are due to re-register has thrown us all into a panic. Why? The mail usually comes while we are at work, so then the letter sits at the post office for you to pick it up but the post offices closes at 5:00pm and restricted mail only allows the receiver to sign for it not a family member. We have personally experienced our local postman not bothering to leave a card in our mailbox notifying us that the paperwork is sitting at the post office. Well this is time sensitive paperwork and failure to re-register on time is a Class 6 Felony. Throw in a three day holiday weekend when the post office is closed and the stress level skyrockets. We have learned that you can give permission to another person who also resides at your address to sign for the restricted letter from the VSP saving you from a runaround, saving you time and from serious stress. See Bulletin Board Posting #139 for the details on how to submit this to the USPS. The second item is the Virginia State Police Barracks where re-registration takes place are only open Mon-Fri 8:00-4:30pm. As we all know this is during working hours making it difficult for those who are required to re-register every 90 days and even for those of you who only re-register once a year or just have to update a new bit of information. Per the VSP Lieutenant for the Sex Offender Task Force you do not have to wait for your paperwork to arrive via restricted mail from the US Postal Service. If you know you must register in the next 14 days and your letter has not arrived and you will in fact be unable to make it to a VSP barracks during operating hours in the next two weeks to meet your required deadline, you can go re-register a week or so before the due date without your mailed paperwork. Let us know of your success or issues that arise with both of these actions. 21) September 3, 2009 We have received the agenda for the September 16 VCC meeting and public comments have been pushed off. The RSOL of Virginia will arrive to the Richmond General Assembly Room Senate Room A one hour before the 10:00 AM meeting begins. We need you to come up to us and introduce yourself, your family members and friends. You will be able to select one of our many visuals to hold during the meeting. We will need you to return the visual before you leave so that we can reuse them at another time. We look forward to meeting you in Richmond on September 16, 2009! August 18, 2009 Virginia Supporters, There are MANY of you that have contacted us and then there are those of you who just check our web-site but have not written directly to us and we now need all of you to take a stand, now! There was NO New Registered Sex Offender Legislation that passed during the 2009 Virginia General Assembly. This was a first, EVER! We truly believe it’s because we spoke out against the proposed legislation with valid arguments and actual facts and statistics that prove the Virginia Registry is failing and because of that there are no new restrictions or regulations for you to submit to this year. This was accomplished with just two of us speaking, stating facts, and making logical arguments. There are thousands of you on the Virginia Sex Offender Registry and an insurmountable quantity of those indirectly affected who need to step up and be seen. When the 2010 General Assembly convenes next January we will keep watch on the sub-committee and committee meetings and we will be at each and every one of those meetings to speak out against any proposed legislation that would make any of our lives more unbearable than they are today. We will continue to try to help YOU. We hope that many of you will attend these 2010 G.A. meetings and either make a statement or just stand up and make the simple statement “I do not support this legislation”. Unfortunately the General Assembly meetings are scheduled with very little notice, sometimes with less than 24 hours and you must monitor the schedule on-line. We know most of you will not be able to schedule a trip to Richmond on such short notice, but we do hope you will try. The Legislators interpret no statement of opposition as encouragement to pass whatever bill is before them. The State has full time employees whose job is to talk about the benefits of the proposed bill, and they are quite good at doing so. The RSO Bills that did not advance this year have been sent to the Virginia Crime Commission for review this summer and could be resubmitted at the 2010 General Assembly. RSOL of Virginia attended both the May and June 2009 Virginia Crime Commission meetings. We believe the mere fact that we were present created a small debate amongst the Legislators that we had previously met with and those that we had not. This prevented any real conclusions to be met about how to go forward. An actual quote from the co-chairman to the State of Virginia officials regarding the Sexually Violent Predator Act was “When you sold us on this bill you had us convinced that 70 percent of those convicted would re-offend, now we come to find out that its more like 30 percent of those evaluated to be the most dangerous of this group”. Please see http://www.rsolvirginia.org/blog_106.html where Civil Commitment, the Violent Sexual Predator Act and the Static 99 Assessment Tool were discussed, at these meetings public opinion was not allowed. At the September 16, 2009 Virginia Crime Commission meeting they will be discussing the S.O. bills that did not advance during the 2009 G.A. Now, we need YOUR help. We need you to attend this upcoming meeting in September. We need a presence to be made while showing we are professional and knowledgeable. We want you to bring your spouse, your significant other, your children, your parents, your neighbors, your clergy person. It is of vital importance that the Legislators see just who they are hurting. We need the members of the Virginia Crime Commission to see that Registered Sex Offenders are human beings, who deserve to be treated so and given the opportunities that everyone else has been given. The Virginia Legislators find it quite easy to harshly punish those they cannot see, those they think they know, they live in denial that the punishment affects not only those on the Registry, but anyone and everyone whom they love. They believe this does not hurt the wives, the finances, the mothers and the children of those who are forced to register. They think that we are uneducated and are ill behaved. We need to make a presence not a spectacle. We have a time where our voice will be heard and we can plan ahead for this date and time unlike with the Virginia General Assembly. Please rearrange your schedules, find the time and the finances to cover the cost of fuel and stand with us in Richmond at the September 16, 2009 Crime Commission Meeting. Bring your family, your friends and any children that have been harmed by these laws. We now need your help; you must stand up to be seen and to be heard. You may think that your presence is unnecessary, but this is your ONE chance. Believe us when we say the State of Virginia knows what our mission is and they know our web-site. They will be aware of this call to action and they will expect that this call will fail and if it does the Virginia Legislators will see it as a sign of anything goes with new S.O. Legislation, we cannot and will not let this happen. We need to step things up as our State is not going to let us any of us live on quietly as good contributing citizens. Join us on September 16, 2009 at 10:00 AM at the General Assembly Building on Broad Street, Richmond VA behind the State Capitol in Senate Room A on the First Floor. The General Assembly Bldg is on Capitol Square, at 9th and Broad Streets (building address is 910 Capitol St.) Entrance is from Capitol Square, kind of facing a big statue. 20) The Virginia General Assembly is convening for a Special Session on August 19, 2009. (See Bulletin Board Posting #122 for more information) 19) Everyone needs to write to their one Virginia Congressman about Proposed Bill HR-2674 – Protect America’s Children Act, it MUST NOT PASS! U.S. Rep. Promotes Tough Predator Bill, June 15, 2009: See Bulletin Board Posting #95 for details about HR-2674 and the letter RSOL of Virginia has already sent out. Virginia Congressman J. Randy Forbes is a co-sponsor on this bill
18) May 20, 2009 - RSOL of Virginia had an issue receiving the re-registration notice in 2008, see Bulletin Board Posting #26. Then we received information from a second supporter having an issue, see Bulletin Board Posting #84. We need EVERYONE that has had an issue with the delivery of their re-registration letter to contact us; your information will remain private. RSOL of Virginia will be taking steps to get the Virginia State Police and/or the Virginia Legislators to ensure the delivery of ALL re-registration notices.
17) May 18, 2009 - Attention All Virginia Supporters So far we have more than 15 supporters looking for employment and 7 looking for housing (that have asked for our assistance). If anyone knows of a landlord or an employer that would be willing to support someone on the registry, please have them contact us. We will not put their name or information on our web-site if that is a concern. In these economic times we want to do everything we can to keep help you, your families and all that support our efforts. Thank you all for your support.
16) June 9, 2009 is the Virginia Primary for the 2009 Elections for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General and all 100 seats of the House of Delegates. Visit our Election 2009 page to learn more.
15) Delegate Albo has announced the 2009 Virginia Crime Commission meeting schedule. Monday, May 11th, Senate Room B The Crime Commission will be discussing the four "sex offender" bills that did not advance through the 2009 General Assembly and possibly other issues in regards to the regulations and restrictions that the State imposes both today and in the future. We suggest all supporters attend these meetings to witness this process and to show your support against these laws and the registry.
14) The Today Show on the morning of April 15 featured, Vermont Moves to Reduce Teen ‘Sexting’ Charges: New Law Would Carve out an Exemption from Prosecution for Child Porn, http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/30224261/ Donna Rice Hughes the "expert on internet safety" for Enough is Enough, a group in Great Falls Virginia, http://www.enough.org/inside.php?id=MCT58HEYO We have since written the Today Show today@nbcuni.com , Enough is Enough and the Vermont State Senator who is supporting/sponsoring this bill. We would like everyone to write the Today Show and Donna at Enough is Enough to deliver the correct information regarding "Sexting" and being listed on a public Sex Offender Registry. (See Bulletin Board Postings #63 and #83)
13) Contact the Virginian members of the US House Judiciary Committee regarding the SORNA and the Adam Walsh Act and the July 2009 deadline for state compliancy. Robert (Bobby) C. Scott Rick Boucher Randy J. Forbes Bob Goodlatte Keep Watch on the US House Judiciary Hearing Schedule: Watch the March 10, 2009 SORNA Hearing Video: http://www.sdp123a.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=707&Itemid=58 Read the Testimony of the Witnesses at the March 10, 2009 SORNA Hearing: RSOL of Virginia handed out Are Americans Aware to everyone in the audience at the March 10, 2009 SORNA Hearing:
12) Please read the below link and contact Congressman Robert (Bobby) Scott http://www.solresearch.org/~SOLR/rtcl/DebateAWA.asp In consideration of the Adam Walsh Act in the US Congress on July 25, 2006, 20 senators and 17 representatives spoke in support of the bill and one lone representative rose to oppose it, Robert (Bobby) Scott of Virginia. Robert (Bobby) C. Scott
11) Please read the below article and contact Senator Jim Webb America's Shame: Can Jim Webb (Virginia) Fix the Prison Gulag? February 16, 2009: Jim Webb
10) A supporter sent us this on February 11, 2009. “I would like to point out that those convicted of "sexually violent" offenses, who want their civil rights restored, should make that request at http://www.commonwealth.virginia.gov/JudicialSystem/Clemency/clemency.cfm
9) New 2009 General Assembly Proposed Bill’s that needs to be addressed.
8) 2009 General Assembly Proposed Bills that need to be addressed.
7) This request came from a supporter, it is URGENT! Please write your Delegate, Senator and the Governor. Gov. Kaine has also pledged to “propose other measures that will help slow the growth of the DOC population by reducing the vast numbers of “technical violators” who are imprisoned every year not for committing crimes, but for violating a technical condition of their parole.” Many of these offenders violate their probation by using alcohol or drugs and are denied opportunities for treatment and are, instead, given jail or prison time. This is costly for taxpayers and ineffective for offenders. Jail time doesn’t stop alcohol and drug use – treatment does. In his statement, Governor Kaine asks the question: “why does Virginia have an incarceration rate that far outpaces the national average?” I believe the answer to that question is simple. In the last General Assembly session, several lawmakers were joking about there not being any misdemeanors left because they had changed them all to felonies. This isn’t something to laugh about. The presence of vocal “tough on crime” legislators has created a situation where Virginia is locking up more offenders for longer periods of time while eliminating treatment programs and opportunities for rehabilitation and successful community integration. Mandatory minimums are increasing these numbers as are increased penalties for technical violations (i.e. violation of a probation condition – not a law). New sex offender laws also have contributed to this over-population with people spending significantly more time behind bars for their original offenses as well as for violating their probation. Extensive regulations and registration requirements that apply to most offenders for a lifetime make it almost impossible for former offenders to not slip up somehow and get prison time – again, I’m not talking about committing a new crime, but violating some regulation such as being in the wrong place, breaking curfew, not getting a job, or having a drink. I think Governor Kaine’s view on this is interesting in the face of another bill that would prohibit employers from hiring anyone who would regularly work in homes (plumbers, electricians, painters, AC repair, etc) if they had EVER had a felony. Given that having a job is a requirement of probation and not having one is a violation, this seems a bit counter-productive. Don’t even waste time thinking about how financially devastating this would be to the thousands of currently law-abiding citizens who had felony offenses years ago and will be out of a job if this passes! Please encourage the governor and legislators to support another look at nonviolent offenders and those with technical violations. These policies are not protecting the public and are not promoting rehabilitation for any type of offender.
6) Keep an eye on 2009 General Assembly Proposed Bill HB1281 - http://www.richmondsunlight.com/bill/2009/hb1281/ (Update- Bill HB1281 died in sub-committee) It failed in 2008 and if it passes in 2009 you can guarantee there will be a similar bill in 2010 for registered sex offenders.
5) The 2009 Virginia General Assembly begins on January 14, 2008. The next update to the RSOL of Virginia web-site will be after the session has begun.
4) The 2009 election for Virginia Governor If you have not written to Bob McDonnell, we urge you to contact him and advise him how the current laws in Virginia that he has sponsored need to be changed. Bob supports chemical castration; see the two recent articles below. Rising GOP star Jindal stumps for McDonnell, December 11, 2008: La. Governor Jindal lends endorsement in Virginia Governor's Race, December 11, 2008: If Bob McDonnell becomes the Governor of Virginia in 2009, the laws and restrictions for RSO's will become more restrictive than they already are. Mark Warner, Senator (Former Virginia Governor) Gerry Connolly, Congressman Glenn Nye, Congressman Tom Perriello, Congressman 2) Write to the legislator’s, tell them your story and the injustices you have experience under the current laws that they have passed. 1) The 2009 Virginia General Assembly begins January 14. Keep a watch on the bills, http://www.richmondsunlight.com/bills/introduced/14/ |
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