MO - My story Failure to register

The following was sent to us via the "Tell Us Your Story" form and posted with the users permission.

By SD:
In the State of Missouri those that predate January 1 1995 are not required to register under State law due to the States Constitutions 13th amendment. But they claim that there is a federal obligation to register with the State. So the State will charge and convict those that predate the law under state law due to federal obligation.

In 2010 I was charged with a State law of failure to register. By this time I had done my research and had only to put a few things together. I was ready. By 2012 my case was dismissed without a word. I can’t even find a clue as to why. But I do know why. I had forced my public defender to ask a couple of questions I wanted answers to.

My questions were simple. If I am not required to register under State law due to the State Constitution then why am I being charged under a State law? If I am required to register with the State under a Federal obligation thus a Federal law then why am I not charged with USC 2250 failure to register under Federal law?

I also gave my public defender research that I was working on. I will give you an idea as what this research consisted of so you can look things up.

According to the US Supreme Court when one case results in two upheld verdicts (both standing) that may conflict with one another the State is required to ensure that no one is charged within such a conflict. If the State fails to do so and the defendant is forced to correct the matter then the State must pay without argument.

This was the first bit of research that I gave out. So my questions were backed up by case law and were starting to cause trouble. So all I had to do was show that there was indeed conflict between the two verdicts to cause the court to try and figure out how to get around this whole issue. I knew there was only one way. That is if I didn’t bring it up formally in the court. At the time I had reason not to.

Back in the 1800s the Missouri Constitution had an amendment that required people to swear an oath that they had nothing to do with fighting against the Union Army. This amendment found its way into the US Supreme Court and the court was trying to figure out how to remove it from Missouri’s Constitution. When the court looked to Congress as a possible they found that the US Constitution had something to say on the subject. The result is that Congress can not pass a law nor be seen to have passed a law that violates a States Constitution.

That got me looking for more on the subject and I found plenty. I gave this to my public defender and the court was silent from there on. I had shown that there was indeed a conflict. So for almost a year it was just going in to get a new date to go back to court to get a new date.

I continued to give out other findings of my research each time I saw my public defender. I gave him little things that showed that I could indeed win a case against the State. There is no way I could post all my research on this matter here. But at least you got a basic idea where to start looking.

Child custody brings new charges

The following was sent to us via the "Tell Us Your Story" form and posted with the users permission.

By Rail Roaded:
I have a sex assault conviction in 1994 for pinching a nine year old girl inappropriately. Yes, I was messed up and high and yes, I did plea guilty to it in order to plea bargain and avoid jail time. I was naive.

I was sentenced to 4 years probation and classes. I was not required to register. There was no registration requirement in Colorado until three months after my conviction. A Year later I was required to register retroactively. That is additional, retro-active punishment.

I completed my classes, but failed probation and was revoked for drug use/failed urinalysis. I did use drugs. I readily take responsibility for that. I was sentenced to Six years in prison.

It get's so much worse. Read on.

After completing prison and still a level one offender now 14 years offense free, and one who's name did NOT show up on the internet, I met and fell in love with a woman in Arkansas I should have avoided. We birthed a beautiful baby boy and our relationship fell apart.

This woman has a known reputation for filing false charges and mental health concerns, although highly intelligent and manipulative.

When she began to act more and more toxic and insane around our baby, I did what any father would do. I filed for custody in the Arkansas family Courts.

She had a son whom I had contact with. He was fourteen. The week I filed for custody, the son claimed I had touched him inappropriately a year prior, not remembering when exactly. There was no date, no proof, no witness and he waited a year until he reported in conclusion of me wanting custody of his half brother- my new baby.

As a previous convicted sex offender I was arrested, held on a $1 million dollar bond and charged with a new sex offense as well as failure to register.

The young man would not show up on the day of trial. I was told I would get twelve years in prison for failure to register (statute allowed it) unless I plead to a non-sex class A misdemeanor for simple assault. Time served. I then took a plea bargain on the failure to register and did my one year in jail. I was in jail a month when SORSA came to the jail and said I had a new sex offense (remember I plead to a misdemeanor, non-sex offense for assault) and I was elevated to a class III sex offender requiring community notification and living restrictions. This is Arkansas and in that State there are 4 levels, not III like most States. I was now a level III. Not the highest.

I paroled to Washington State and because I was a level III ( unjustly) in Arkansas, second to highest level, Washington now had to put me as a level III (Highest Level!)

My life has been a living hell. I can't find a place to live. I live in a garage. I tried to open a business but I couldn't. I wear an ankle bracelet and I have more restrictions than you can count. It is now 21 years since my initial and only sex offense. I have lifetime, level III registration, my ex has blogged me and my business all over the internet. I am absolutely miserable and absolutely angry and bitter.

Those of you who are SO's know about sexual history polygraphs. I've taken six in the last 21 years and passed each and every one of them which limit my one offense in 1994 as the only thing I have EVER done that was inappropriate.

We have to rally together and repeal these registration laws and we also have to start filing civil charges against anyone who posts untrue, misleading or anonymous web blogs and posts about us. I need serious help in dealing with the injustices.

I read a great blog about the ridiculousness of registration and actual, hard data at www.thechurchthatgiveshope.org

FL - ARM Rally In Tally (Tallahassee, FL) April 22, 2015

This is Once Fallen's video and commentary on the Rally In Tally, a collaborative effort between various organizations within the Anti-Registry Movement (ARM).

The purpose of the rally was to bring a bold message to one of the strongholds of the war on Registered Citizens-- The state of Florida. In the past year or so, Florida pushed a "scorched earth" policy against Registered Citizens, a policy endorsed by Ron Book and his daughter, Lauren.

Lauren Book is using the charity "Lauren's Kids" as a front for a pending political campaign. She collected millions from various companies, including GEO Group, the private prison industry.

A dozen brave souls challenged the Books and the Florida Legislature at the finish line of a high-profile march across the state. Lauren Book challenged her critics to meet her face-to-face and when her critics arrived, she ran away like a coward.

Visit the Anti-Registry Movement website. WAR's picture gallery is here.

FL - Couple Gets 15 YEARS In Prison For Having Sex On Florida Beach

A couple in Florida is facing fifteen years in prison after they were caught having sex on a public beach. The incident happened at Bradenton Beach and apparently there was a number of witnesses including children. Ana Kasparian and Cenk Uygur of The Young Turks discuss. Do you think the couple should get jail time and be forced to be registered sex offenders?

Read more here, and here.

Sentence Extended

The following was sent to us via the "Tell Us Your Story" form and posted with the users permission.

By No Chance:
I was sentenced to 8 months for "Sexual Assault of a Child" 15 years ago. Since then I have had many people give me a chance. Even with being a Registered Sex Offender.

On here it says How the offenders and their families are persecuted. Will, they are not the only ones. All my friends have come to me saying how they are being harassed by people for being friends with me. Luckily enough they have hung in there for me.

I know I did a terrible thing. I have been paying for what I did for over a decade and sincerely believe I will be paying for it for the rest of my life.

I just wish my friends, family, and girlfriend didn't have to go through this too. The only thing they did was trust me. Why should they have to pay for that.

TN - The Insanity of the SOR

The following was sent to us via the "Tell Us Your Story" form and posted with the users permission.

By Freedom Lost:
I pled guilty to a charge of sexual battery in 2001. The "alleged" crime was against a women I lived with and had consensual sexual relations with. I pled guilty because of a little practice called prosecutorial blackmail. They used other charges with threat of maximum time to coerce a guilty plea. Nevertheless, that is not my story; In 2010 approaching the 10 year termination from the sex offender registry I contacted the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation requesting release from the registry. The first letter of response indicated all that was required was for me to go personally to a field office and submit fingerprints. I was incarcerated for unrelated charges and could not immediately comply. The following year pending my release I again wrote a letter requesting termination. I was informed that I would not be eligible for termination until April 20, 2020 more than 19 years after conviction. I have proof of registration and the State has stipulated in court documents that I was registered without violation in 2007 (ONLY BECAUSE I HAD A COMPUTER PRINTOUT FROM THE T.B.I. WEBSITE WITH MY PICTURE ON IT)

I began litigating this case pro-se in 2011 in Federal Court, that case is on hold pending state process. I filed a petition in State court in December 2013. I am still waiting for a decision. The states most recent position is that I was release without serving the one year sentence of my conviction. How could I be registered if I had never served the sentence? I now have an attorney and will continue to fight this case all the way back to Federal Court if necessary. If anyone has advice, resources, or input. Please post to this website. I have considered going to the media (20/20 or even Dr. Phil) This case needs media exposure so people will know the kinds of things the states are doing.

Thank you for you time and interest.

SC - Everyone not treated the same

The following was sent to us via the "Tell Us Your Story" form and posted with the users permission.

By Steven:
I was arrested in 2009 for touching a teenager while extremely intoxicated. No excuse but still it happened. It was never something that I intended to do or planned but still the same it happened. I plead to Lewd act and was given 6 years in prison and 5 years probation. I served 3 years in prison and took the 6 month course for sex offenders in prison. Upon release, I still had to take a year long course at $25 a week, Pay probation $20 a week and was put on a monitor which is another $40 a week. Total I had to pay $85 a week and just getting out of prison had no job. Thanks to family I was able to keep up the payments and after a year am still unable to get work due to the charge. I have finished the class and now only have to pay $60 a week. Of course if you do not pay they will violate you but no one will hire me. Now I have been told that the monitor that I am wearing will continue the rest of my life due to new South Carolina laws (or as long as I am on the registry). I don't mind the registry but the monitoring seems to me to go to far. The biggest thing is that several of the guys that were in my year long class had the same charge or worse charges, but they are not on monitoring .Most did not even get prison time. It all depends on how much money you have and what attorney you had and the sentence can be night and day! The law states that anyone with CSC1 or Lewd act must me on electronic monitoring but yet not all judges put them on it. I am fortunate in that I have family helping me, but not everyone does. And what happens when my probation is over? If I move out of state will I still have to have the monitor? I am 60 years old and this was the first time I have ever been accused of something like this. Sometimes I think that it would have been better if I had murdered someone, they don't have to register. It just sucks. But I am going to try and take it to court as my probation term nears its end. Any help would be greatly appreciated.