AUGUSTA, Maine — Lawmakers have preliminarily approved a bill that would create a three-tiered system for registered sex offenders but could not agree on a viable risk assessment tool to categorize offenders.
Members of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee on Monday unanimously approved a carry-over bill, LD 1514, that seeks to overhaul the Maine Sex Offender Registry and Notification Act. The bill now goes to the House and Senate for approval.
The centerpiece of LD 1514, sponsored by Rep. Anne Haskell, D-Portland, seeks to create a three-tiered system for registered offenders and employ a risk assessment tool to classify offenders into those tiers.
Under the proposal, offenders would be separated into 10-year registrants, 25-year registrants and lifetime registrants based on the offense.
That tiered system remained in the bill, but Haskell said members were not prepared to include a risk assessment model because risk assessment for offenders is still an evolving issue.
“It’s something we’ll continue to look at. We’re certainly not giving up on it, but it won’t get done this session,” she said.
Rep. Gary Plummer, R-Windham, the House chair of the Criminal Justice and Public Safety Committee, said he was glad his committee voted unanimously on a bill and, like Haskell, he wasn’t ready to give up on risk assessment.
“I think as time goes on and around the country as other legislatures grapple with this, it will become clear that either there is a reliable tool or there isn’t,” Plummer said.
Maine’s Sex Offender Registry and Notification Act was passed in 1999 and has been tweaked but not significantly changed since then even though the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and some lawmakers say it contains inequities.
Last summer, Maine learned that it was one of many states that failed to comply with a federal law, the Adam Walsh Act, that requires states to adopt certain restrictions.
That law, named after a Florida boy who was killed 30 years ago by a sex offender, calls on states to work toward changing their registries in a way that feeds into a national sex offender database. States have voiced concerns about the federal act’s requirements, including how it addresses retroactive punishment.
According to the Department of Justice last summer, states that failed to comply could lose 10 percent of their Byrne Justice Assistance Grant. Maine received more than $1.3 million in funding for 2011 under that program.
By creating the tiered system and including a spot on the registry for juvenile offenders who are tried as adults, Haskell said she believes her bill will bring Maine into compliance with the Adam Walsh Act.
Plummer said juveniles often offend for different reasons than adults, so it’s difficult to justify putting them in the same category. That’s why the committee only supported adding juveniles who are tried as adults.
Here is a suggestion-
Establish a board that develops criteria in order to evaluate the risk of these people. Make the board members include sexual abuser treatment professionals, and members of law enforcement as well as other mental health professionals.
Massachusetts does this.
Maine is always ten years and lousy ideas behind the rest of the country. Good idea though
Before spending even more money on a failing system, why not evaluate the reasons that the registry and related legislation hasn’t accomplished reduction or prevention of new sex crimes?
Among others, a major reason includes overcrowding. A child rapist, a person who urinates in public, and everyone in between are NOT the same and to classify them as such is illogical, not to mention dangerous. I understand the tier system is attempting to address the differences between offenses, but this is like using a toothpick to dam the ocean. 10 years on the registry versus 25 years on the registry isn’t going to make a whole lot of difference when a registrant may have already missed significant opportunities in their life over that 10 year period. It’s not going to delete the knowledge from the community’s minds that at one time that person was on the registry. This is not the answer.
Instead of piling more legislation on top of laws that have proven to be ineffective, let’s REMOVE the emotion- and fear-driven legislation and replace it with facts and research. Stop forcing law enforcement to divide their resources equally among dangerous predators, and those who are highly unlikely to ever commit another crime. Only through education will we achieve a truly safe society. Shana Rowan http://www.endsexcrime.org
I wholeheartedly agree. The older Megan’s Law SEEMED to be working as it was intended and proposed. The AWA is being shown for its true worth (not really worth it) daily in ALL the courts. Ex-Post-Facto abuses, and straight out Unconstitutional parts of it.. Ohio and other Supreme Courts already are showing these unforeseen problems with the original legislation. Nebraska, NY and others seem to see the problems with complying with the federal (read:bribes) funding losses. Even NJ which is the state where Megan actually lived, is stating the ineffectiveness of even Megan’s Law. As I keep saying “The one size fits all mentality only works if all are the EXACT same size.” Ohio has many problems with the Tier system, and I hope that Maine researches the problems that other states are presently having, and have already had. The only thing I can suggest is to use the Ohio Public Defenders (Amy Borrors:) http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/Borror090310.pdf report on the problems with the AWA to “guide” themselves in a conservatively rated Tier system with the possible provision of increasing the statutory Tier levels rather than forcing the majority into a higher Tier level with no hope of removal. Even Ohio’s Tier system is wrong because it only does major crime codes. If it specifies down to the subcodes, less offenders will be deemed high risk. Some subcodes are more worrisome than others. Adult victim crimes which are consensual, but just statutory should never be in Tier 3, they shouldn’t even be ON a listing for that matter, but they are there in Tier 3 with community notification for life, simply by a code of a law. Only certain offenders we need to be worried about, and personally I think those should be seriously and closely monitored, if even let out of custody in the first place. The majority of other offenders, with non-sexual, non-child offenses, or simply non-violent (statutory) offenses, we needn’t fear some/all of them, (for instance, fear of peeing on our children,) as Shana states above. The real question is: Who actually profits monetarily from these laws?? That’s why things aren’t changing, or the truth forthcoming. Even the National Registry software presentation perpetuates a false quoting of a DoJ statistic of recidivism of 50% which is actually FIVE percent. But, do they fix this FACTOR OF TEN ERROR? NO! Some Sheriffs have taken it on their own to be ACCURATE on their page with the correct value of 5%. These are the sheriffs you should continue to vote for. Those that actually pursue Truth, and Justice.
What? The Department of Justice reporting false numbers? You must be Extremely Disgruntled if you are spreading lies like that.
I think you missed the point, Offender Watch is misquoting the DoJ numbers by a factor of 10. The DoJ numbers are pretty close to on the money from other more reliable sources, so am giving them the benefit of the doubt. Basically I stand that “Errors on top of errors shall not be tolerated.”
If you want statistics, go here: http://www.endsexcrime.org/education.html
Seriously, there are more studies, statistics and research on sex crime legislation than you have ever seen. Our legislation is based on emotional reactions and the furthering of political and lawmaking careers. It’s sick.
see link for full story
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/paul-duggan/46-months-in-prison-for-former.html
Jail for former FBI worker from Va.
Washington Post Editors
A 65-year-old former FBI employee from Prince William County was sentenced to nearly four years in prison Friday for possessing child pornography.
Samuel I. Kaplan, of Gainesville, who pleaded guilty June 2 in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, was sentenced to 46 months behind bars.
Kaplan was an information technology program manager at an FBI facility in Chantilly when authorities discovered that he had used the FBI’s computer network to “facilitate sexually explict communications,” the Justice Department said.
Investigators said they later found 10 to 20 images on Kaplan’s home computer showing juveniles involved in sex acts.
I think that you weren’t replying to me, and this WP story you quote is about 1½ years old. He’ll actually be released probably about a year from now if he serves his 8month-14day Federal time. He actually should be held to a higher standard by the Courts because he was a Public Worker, and in Enforcement.
Nope I wasn’t replying to you.
Who do you think should hold the perp to a higher standard, Ann Haskell?
see link for full story
http://www.fox8live.com/news/national/story/Appeals-court-upholds-judgments-in-Bulger-case/K1PLYnEAPEuVjki9V87M3Q.cspx
Appeals court upholds judgments in Bulger case
Published: 1/21 2012
The
U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld awards of $1.3
million, $350,000 and $1.1 million for the families of Debra Davis,
Deborah Hussey and Louis Litif, respectively.
The court affirmed a
trial judge’s decision that the FBI showed “wildly reckless behavior”
in using Bulger and his associate, Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi, as
informants and shielding them from prosecution.
Bulger, who was arrested last year after 16 years on the run, is awaiting trial for participating in the murders of 19 people.
I see the moonbats are in their “protect Maine taxpayers” mode
Ask Ann the hack Haskell :
1. What standards are in place to measure the success or failure of this law
2. What are the goals of this law and how do you report and measure them?
3. Why did you create this law?
4. Can you demonstrate this law was able to accomplish anything and what was it?
5. What does this cost the Maine taxpayer?
6. How does this law stop someone from committing a sex crime?
7. How does this law make our communities safer and where is the proof.?
Folks, we need a volunteer police civilian review board with subpoena power now!
The inmates are running the Asylum LOL
see the video to see how your tax dime is spent
see link for video and story
http://www.ticklethewire.com/2012/01/23/70706/
DEA agent loses appeal over video of him accidentally shooting himself during gun safety demo
January 17 2012