Thursday, December 31, 2015

Our Best to You!


2015 in Review: One Last Look Back

Wrapping up our look back at 2015:

August 21, 2015: Word spreads on how the U.S. Supreme Court used lies to expand laws targetting Registered Citizens. Revisit the post here.

September 14, 2015: Another reason it is a good idea to abolish residency restrictions. Revisit the post.

November 1, 2015: The Associated Press shines a light on law enforcement sex crimes. Revisit the post.

Wednesday, December 30, 2015

Are You Looking for Reliable Employees?


Are you an employer seeking reliable employees? There is a massive pool of talent available among Nebraska's Registered Citizens, who have difficulty finding jobs. The irony is that Registered Citizens, when they do find work, tend to be exceptionally good employees -- productive, industrious and responsible.

If you would like Nebraskans Unafraid to refer job-seekers to you, let us know by emailing us at nunafrd@gmail.com or by calling (402) 403-9250. Tell us about the particular skill-set you seek, and chances are we'll be able to refer a really good prospective employee to you. Be sure to include good contact information and specific information about your job openings.

2015 in Review: How the Nebraska Public-Shaming Website Makes the State More Dangerous

On July 27, 2015, we told you about a research study that shows how the Nebraska public-shaming website targeting Registered Citizens makes our communities more dangerous. No one -- especially ambitious politicians -- pays any attention to this work. But the study is more than 10 years old. Revisit the post here.

Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Monday, December 28, 2015

2015 in Review: Omaha Church Hires Formerly Registered Citizen as Pastor

2015 in Review: In May, an Omaha church hired a formerly Registered Citizen as its pastor. Revisit the post here.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

Blessings to You


2015 in Review: The L.A. Times Takes a Bold Stance

Continuing our review of top posts from 2015: In April, the Los Angeles Times editorializes against sex-offender laws. Revisit the post.

Wednesday, December 23, 2015

2015 in Review: Futility and Stupidity of Residency Restrictions

In March 2015, the battle to end residency restrictions came to New Hampshire. A panel on public radio talked about the futility and stupidity of the laws. Revisit the post.

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

2015 in Review: New York's Highest Court Strikes Down Residency Restrictions

Continuing our review of Calendar 2015, in February we heard the good news that the highest court in New York State struck down residency restrictions. Revisit the post.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Repeal the Adam Walsh Act

Join the push to repeal the Adam Walsh Act. Click here.

Federal Judge Strikes Down North Carolina Presence Restrictions

A federal judge in North Carolina has permanently enjoined all North Carolina district attorneys from enforcing a law that was intended to prohibit certain Registered Citizens from being at places where minors gather for regularly scheduled educational, recreational, or social programs. Read more.

Year-End Flashback

Today we begin our year-end flashback to the best of the NebraskaFACTS blog from Calendar 2015.

January 20, 2015

A Registered Citizen's Manifesto

I refuse to believe there is nothing I can do. I refuse to whine. 

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Job Posting

Wanted: A responsible, hard-working Registered Citizen interested in employment as a Nebraska entry level painter. Please contact Nebraskans Unafraid at nunafrd@gmail.com for more information.
Thanks.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Mary and Joseph Were Forced Into Homelessness at Bethlehem TO BE REGISTERED. What Is the Registry Doing to Your Family This Season?

Join us at FEARLESS at 7 p.m. Monday, December 21, 2015 at Saint Michael Lutheran Church, 13232 Blondo Street, Omaha, Nebraska.


Monday, November 16, 2015

Be FEARLESS Tonight

FEARLESS meets tonight, 7 p.m. at Saint Michael Lutheran Church, 13232 Blondo Street, Omaha. Park in the east lot and come in through the east entrance.

Our discussion topic: Prevent the Registry from Sucking Joy From Your Life -- How to Keep the Happy in "Happy Holidays."


Thursday, November 12, 2015

Bangor Daily News on Backlash Against Residency Restrictions

The nationwide backlash against residency restrictions is the subject of a decent story in the Bangor Daily News. Read it here.

FEARLESS Meets on Monday, November 16

FEARLESS -- a safe gathering for Registered Citizens, their friends and loved ones -- meets at 7 p.m. Monday, November 16 at Saint Michael Lutheran Church, 13232 Blondo Street, Omaha, Nebraska. Join us.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Beginning of the End of Public Shaming Websites?

Is this the beginning of the end of public shaming websites?

A lawsuit in California should eventually spark similar actions across the nation. Read more here.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Court Blocks R.I. Attempt to Impose New Residency Restrictions

Rhode Island's attempt to impose new residency restrictions on Registered Citizens is being blocked in court. Read about it here.

Wednesday, November 4, 2015

AP Info on Nebraska Law Enforcement Sex Crimes

The Associated Press spotlight on sex crimes committed by law enforcement includes this information from Nebraska:
The Nebraska Police Standards Advisory Council decertified 45 officers, eight for sex-related misconduct. Nebraska doesn't require agencies to report officer misconduct. Officers can lose their licenses for convictions or noncriminal misbehavior.
50-State Look at Officer Decertification for Sex Incidents 

Sunday, November 1, 2015

Associated Press Shines a Light on Law-Enforcement Sex Crimes

Next time your local law enforcement agency touts something like a Halloween sex-offender patrol, you better hide your kids from those cops.

A year-long Associated Press investigation finds that you are at risk of sexual assault from law enforcement itself.

A key excerpt:
In a yearlong investigation of sexual misconduct by U.S. law enforcement, The Associated Press uncovered about 1,000 officers who lost their badges in a six-year period for rape, sodomy and other sexual assault; sex crimes that included possession of child pornography; or sexual misconduct such as propositioning citizens or having consensual but prohibited on-duty intercourse.
The number is unquestionably an undercount because it represents only those officers whose licenses to work in law enforcement were revoked, and not all states take such action. California and New York - with several of the nation's largest law enforcement agencies - offered no records because they have no statewide system to decertify officers for misconduct. And even among states that provided records, some reported no officers removed for sexual misdeeds even though cases were identified via news stories or court records. 
"It's happening probably in every law enforcement agency across the country," said Chief Bernadette DiPino of the Sarasota Police Department in Florida, who helped study the problem for the International Association of Chiefs of Police. "It's so underreported and people are scared that if they call and complain about a police officer, they think every other police officer is going to be then out to get them."
Here are links to The AP's reporting on law enforcement sex crimes across the U.S.:

Hundreds of Officers Lose Licenses Over Sex Misconduct

 A Look at Some Recent Cases of Sex Crimes Involving Officers

AP Investigation of Law-Enforcement Sex Crimes by The Numbers

Thursday, October 22, 2015

How Much of That State Patrol Overtime is Registry Make-Work?

The Nebraska State Patrol has found it necessary to rein in overtime due to scrutiny from the news media.

While the governor's travel appears to be getting most of the attention, we have to ask again: How much of the overtime is due to useless make-work that was created when Nebraska in 2010 decided to throw all Registered Citizens regardless of risk onto the public website?

The Patrol is not being forthcoming when it is asked about how it is spending taxpayer dollars.

Nebraskans Unafraid thinks it would be instructive for all taxpayers to know how much it costs to track former sex offenders who (research proves) are not dangerous and do not represent significant reoffense risks.

We are spending a lot of money on "seeming" to protect our communities. What we're actually doing is making our communities more dangerous because we're focusing on people who are not going to reoffend.

Read the Nebraska Watchdog on Nebraska State Patrol overtime.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

We Must Stop This

On August 7, 2015, the United States Sentencing Commission introduced a proposed amendment, "crime of violence" to include non-contact CP offenders. The Commission is currently reviewing criminal research data and federal sentencing statistics. The proposed amendment would then be promulgated to amend Section 4B1.2(a)(2) of the sentencing guidelines, which would be submitted to Congress NO later than May 1, 2016.


WE MUST STOP THIS!!!


This would have the most detrimental effects on CP offenders, including exclusion from programming credits earned in prison, stiffer Supervised Release conditions and placement as a Tier 3 Violent Offender on the Registry. This proposal would be retroactive if it becomes law, regardless if you are incarcerated or on release.


The Sentencing Commission is accepting public comment on this issue until November 12, 2015. Our friends at Caution Click have launched a letter writing campaign to challenge this proposed amendment. WE ALL need to get involved on this and send in those letters. You can write your own, or use the formatted letter included from Caution Click, but send them snail mail as well as email to the address provided. As an insider, I have set a goal for us to get in a minimum of 100,000 letters. I won't back down and neither should you.


HERE IS A SAMPLE LETTER:


United States Sentencing Commission

One Columbus Circle, NE, Suite 2-500

Washington, DC 20002-8002

Attention Public Affairs


RE: Proposed Amendment to Section 4B1.2, Sentencing Guidelines


Dear Commission Members,


This letter is in response to the Commission's request for public comment. It is my personal belief that possession of child pornography should be excluded from the definition of a "forcible sex offense". Non-production possession, receipt, transportation or distribution of child pornography does not meet the criteria of being a sexual act or of having sexual contact. Therefore, it should be excluded as a violent Sexual Offense.


Using the classification of violent offender is placing the otherwise non-violent offender under the same label as someone who has had actual, physical contact with a child. This distorts the truth and is very misleading.


We are all very passionate about protecting our children, however, we have taken this passion to an unforgivable level of applying a definition to an offender that does not relate to the actual crime he/she committed, and using this term to perpetuate a life time punishment. Therefore, I would like this letter to be entered as public comment to item 4(D) in the "Issues for Comment" section of the United States Sentencing Commission proposal to Section 4B1.2(a)(2) of the Sentencing Guidelines. Thank you.


Sincerely (your name)

address

phone

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Please Help Us Update Our Job and Housing Reference Lists

Nebraskans Unafraid is updating its resources and requests your kind assistance.

Do you know of employers who will hire Registered Citizens? Are you aware of landlords who will rent to Registered Citizens? If you do, please let us know who these people are, so that we may refer Registered Citizens and others to them. Thank you.

Email us at nunafrd@gmail.com or use the comment feature below.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Witch Hunt

"Classic witch hunt" claims one of the nation's best classroom teachers. Read more.

Be FEARLESS Tonight

FEARLESS meets tonight, 7 p.m. at Saint Michael Lutheran Church, 13232 Blondo Street in Omaha.

Join us for a discussion of Nebraska's mandatory reporting laws -- the laws that require therapists to turn their clients in to the police.

Resurfacing work is being done on the west parking lot, so you might have to enter from 132nd street. Park in the east lot and come in through the east entrance.


Thursday, October 15, 2015

FEARLESS Topic: Mandatory Reporting Laws

If you know your therapist is required by law to report you to the police for what you're thinking, are you going to honestly seek help from your therapist?

That's one of the questions we will explore at FEARLESS on Monday, October 19, 7 p.m. at Saint Michael Lutheran Church, 13232 Blondo Street in Omaha.

The topic is Nebraska's mandatory reporting law, which requires that therapists and others report to the police about their clients. Sounds like something out of  North Korea, doesn't it?

Join us for FEARLESS. Park in the lot east of the church and come in through the east entrance.


Monday, September 21, 2015

Teen Charged With Crime for Having a Picture of Himself on His Phone

A teen-ager is charged with a crime because he has a picture of himself on his phone.

“It’s dysfunctional to be charged with possession of your own image,” said Justin Patchin, a professor of criminal justice at the University of Wisconsin.

We agree. Read the story.

Be FEARLESS Tonight

Join us tonight for FEARLESS: 7 p.m. at Saint Michael Lutheran Church, 13232 Blondo Street in Omaha. Special guest is criminal defense attorney Marc Lund, speaking on: Shining a Light -- Is There Hope to Change a Criminal Justice System That Is Intent on Victimizing You?



Friday, September 18, 2015

FEARLESS Topic -- Shining a Light: Is There Hope to Change a Criminal Justice System That Is Intent on Victimizing You?

Criminal defense attorney Marc Lund -- special guest at FEARLESS on Monday, September 21 -- will talk about what all of us must do to change a criminal justice system that is geared to harm us. His topic:

Shining a Light:  Is There Hope to Change a Criminal Justice System That Is Intent on Victimizing You?

FEARLESS will meet at 7 p.m. on Monday, September 21, at Saint Michael Lutheran Church, 13232 Blondo Street, Omaha, Nebraska. Park in the east lot and come in through the east door.

FEARLESS exists to counteract the damage inflicted on individuals and families by Nebraska's hatred-inspired sex-offender laws, which deprive people of homes, jobs and social support networks. Research shows that such laws increase the likelihood of reoffense. By providing a support community and making Nebraska a safer place despite the law, FEARLESS takes responsibility where politicians will not.

FEARLESS is open to Registered Citizens, their loved ones and their invited guests.

Monday, September 14, 2015

Want to Protect Children? Then Abolish Residency Restrictions

The recent Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling striking down residency restrictions should be required reading for anyone who claims to want to protect children.

The high court accepted evidence that shows that residency restrictions DO NOT protect children and that children in fact ARE NOT AT RISK from Registered Citizens. Click here for a good summary story.

Saturday, September 12, 2015

Special Guest at FEARLESS on September 21

Special guest at FEARLESS on Monday, September 21, will be criminal defense attorney Marc D. Lund, who specializes in sex-offender cases and is in the process of moving his practice from St. Louis to Omaha. Learn more about Marc by viewing the video below.

FEARLESS will meet at 7 p.m. in Saint Michael Lutheran Church, 13232 Blondo Street, Omaha. Park in the east lot and come in through the east entrance. FEARLESS is for registered citizens and their friends and loved ones. It is an antidote to Nebraska's state-sactioned hate laws that deprive Registered Citizens of their jobs, homes and families.


One Small Victory

A judge will order that a teen-ager be removed from the hatred-inspired hit lists that they call sex-offender registries.

It is one small victory in the larger fight to have all such registries abolished. Read about the Zach Anderson case.

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

New York Times and a Retired Judge Condemn Sex-Offender Laws

The New York Times says it is time to get rid of laws that attempt to limit where Registered Citizens live. The Times rationale is that the laws are pointless.

Here is an excerpt from the Times' just-published editorial on the topic:
It is understandable to want to do everything possible to protect children from being abused. But not all people who have been convicted of sex offenses pose a risk to children, if they pose any risk at all. Blanket residency-restriction laws disregard that reality — and the merits of an individualized approach to risk assessment — in favor of a comforting mirage of safety.
The fact of the matter is that this rationale applies not just to residency restrictions -- it applies to the sex-offender registry itself. The registry should be abolished so that we may begin to invest our time, energy, money and other resources into initiatives that actually protect children.

Click here to read the entire Times editorial.

Meanwhile, a retired judge from Michigan calls sex-offender laws "a cancer" that needs to be cut out. Click here to read more about that.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Massachusetts High Court Strikes Down Residency Restrictions

The Massachusetts Supreme Court rules against laws restricting where Registered Citizens may live.

"The days are long since past when whole communities of persons, such (as) Native Americans and Japanese-Americans may be lawfully banished from our midst,” Justice Geraldine Hines wrote for the court. Read more.

Reasons for Hope and Courage

Almost everywhere you look, you will see news that inspires hope and courage. Three recent examples:

1. Registered citizens challenge Alabama law.

2. Registered citizens challenge Nevada law.

3. Research shows SO laws damage kids and families.

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Send This Information to Your State Senator

Read the essay at this link, and then send it to your state senator, as well as to anyone else who needs to have this information.

THE U.S. SUPREME COURT'S HUGE MISTAKE
 DAVID POST IN THE WASHINGTON POST ON THE SO LIE
This work proves that the U.S. Supreme Court used lies to justify our harsh former-sex-offender laws.

This brief essay reveals that the sources relied upon by the Supreme Court in Smith v. Doe, a heavily cited constitutional decision on sex offender registries, in fact provide no support at all for the facts about sex offender re-offense rates that the Court treats as central to its constitutional conclusions.

This misreading of the social science was abetted in part by the Solicitor General’s misrepresentations in the amicus brief it filed in this case. The false “facts” stated in the opinion have since been relied upon repeatedly by other courts in their own constitutional decisions, thus infecting an entire field of law as well as policy making by legislative bodies. Recent decisions by the Pennsylvania and California supreme courts establish principles that would support major judicial reforms of sex offender registries, if they were applied to the actual facts.

This paper is scheduled to appear in Constitutional Commentary during Fall 2015.  Revised 8/11/15

FIND YOUR STATE SENATOR

FIND YOUR CONGRESSIONAL REPRESENTATIVE


Friday, August 21, 2015

Word is Spreading About How the U.S. Supreme Court Used Faked Stats to Justify SO Laws

Worth noting: Vox: Policy & Politics now is aware that the two major U.S. Supreme Court decisions upholding our current sex-offender laws were based on fabricated statistics. Read the story here.

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Share This With People Who Are Frightened by Former Sex Offenders

The 5.3 percent number comes from a U.S. Department of Justice study. Individual state studies have found lower reoffense rates. In Nebraska, for instance, the University of Nebraska-Omaha found a year-to-year reoffense rate of less than 1 percent.

Monday, August 17, 2015

Happy Birthday, FEARLESS!

FEARLESS is one year old! Join us tonight to celebrate: 7 p.m. at Saint Michael Lutheran Church, 13232 Blondo Street, Omaha. Park in the east lot and come in the east entrance.

Here's more info.

Sunday, August 16, 2015

Wisconsin Proposal Would Roll Back Residency Restrictions

State lawmakers in Wisconsin are considering a bill that would eliminate most residency restrictions. Read more.

NY Times on Our Failed Sex-Offender Policy

The New York Times has a great editorial on the abject failure of current sex-offender policy.

Here is the concluding paragraph:
Public safety would be better served if resources were directed toward community supervision and other services for those leaving prison, rather than toward skirting the edges of the Constitution to keep them locked away.
Read the entire editorial here.

Friday, August 14, 2015

Join Us at FEARLESS

FEARLESS takes responsibility where our politicians will not. You don't have to live like a refugee. Join us Monday, August 17, at 7 p.m. in the lower level of Saint Michael Lutheran Church, 13232 Blondo Street, Omaha. Park in the east lot and come in through the east entrance.


Thursday, August 13, 2015

Sanity Makes a Slow Comeback

News from the courts:

Ruling in an Indiana case, a federal appeals court upholds the constitutional rights of a sex-offender. Slowly, slowly sanity is returning. Read about it here.

In Minnesota, a federal judge pushes hard on cowardly state lawmakers who are afraid to fix that state's unconstitutional system that results in sex offenders being locked up for life with no chance of getting out. Read more here.

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Law Professor: High Court Rulings Premised on a Study That Does Not Exist

All of our sex-offender laws are premised on a statistic that is wrong.

Professor Ira Ellman at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, Arizona State University, writes:
Proponents of criminal justice reform never talk about sex offenders. They’re political untouchables subject to lifelong restrictions that continue long past their confinement, restrictions justified as necessary to protect the public from their propensity to re-offend. Two Supreme Court decisions established that justification. But they rely on a scientific study that doesn’t exist.
Read more here.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Abolish Registries

The headline in the Bronx Chronicle says it all: "Abolish the sex offender registry." Read the story.

Monday, August 10, 2015

National Work

The National Reform Sex Offender Laws organization was represented at the recent National Conference of State Legislatures convention in Seattle, Washington. Click here for more info.

Sunday, August 9, 2015

The Atlantic on Mandatory Reporting Laws

Mandatory reporting laws (Nebraska has one) require therapists to turn their clients in to police, just like the church used to require that unbelievers be turned over to the Inquisition.

Among the multitude of problems with such laws is the fact that they discourage people from seeking the help they need.

The Atlantic recently took a good long look at this ridiculous state of affairs. Read it here.

Saturday, August 8, 2015

Registries Guarantee That Children Will Continue to Be Harmed

All of the laws restricting the activities of former sex offenders are nothing more than distractions that guarantee continued victimization of children.

Focusing on Registered Citizens means that we are not focusing on the true threat to children: People in their own homes and people who have authority over them.

The blog With Justice for All recently published an open letter to people who advocate for tougher sex-offender laws. Here are a few significant exceprts:
Statistics and studies tell us that virtually all children who are sexually abused are not random victims of offenders already registered. They are overwhelmingly victims of those in their lives with whom they are comfortable: their family members, their peers—fully a third of those who molest children are themselves children and juveniles—and their authority figures.
* * * 
Every dollar spent registering, tracking, monitoring, and legislating against registered citizens is a dollar not spent educating and empowering parents and victims against the overwhelmingly greater threat.
* * *
Every minute focused on those on the registry is a minute not focused on those who are victims of sexual abuse in their own homes and other places in their everyday lives.
Read the post here

First They Scare You, Then They Take Your Money

The sex-offender industry works like this: They scare you and then take your money by pretending to protect you.

Slimy politicians enact laws that guarantee former offenders will somehow run afoul of the myriad complicated rules and regs put in place under the guise of protecting the public. This supplies our overcrowded prisons with an unending supply of inmates, who are maintained by public funds (your tax dollars).

Whether the prison system is run by the state or a private contractor, it's a neat way to siphon off the cash that you earned and paid to the government in taxes.

In many places there are systems that keep former offenders locked up long after they have completed their sentences. You can read about what they do in corrupt Kentucky by clicking here.

Thursday, August 6, 2015

FEARLESS Topic for August 17: All About Family

We all know that family support systems are key elements of successful reintegration into society for all former offenders.

Do you participate in your kids' lives in spite of misguided laws and policies? Is your family an important source of emotional support? Have you been rejected by your family? Has Nebraska law damaged your family?

Questions like these and others will be fodder for discussion at the next meeting of FEARLESS on Monday, August 17, at 7 p.m. in the lower level of Saint Michael Lutheran Church in Omaha. The church is located at 13232 Blondo Street. Park in the east lot and come in through the east entrance.

FEARLESS is a collaboration of Nebraskans Unafraid and the University of Nebraska-Omaha that counteracts dangerous Nebraska law. Research has shown that isolating Registered Citizens, depriving them of jobs and homes, increases the chances that they will reoffend. Current Nebraska law does exactly that. We live in a state where (research has shown that) sex-offender law makes communities more dangerous.

FEARLESS provides an opportunity for Registered Citizens and their loved ones to connect and learn from one another and support one another. Establishing such social networks reduces the likelihood of reoffense. Even though the reoffense rates for sex offenders are extremely low to start with, there is no excuse for grandstanding politicians who make the state more dangerous with their showboating laws.

FEARLESS takes responsibility where our politicians will not.

Please join us at 7 p.m. Monday, August 17, at Saint Michael Lutheran Church, 13232 Blondo Street, Omaha. Park in the east lot and come in through the east entrance. FEARLESS is exclusively for Registered Citizens and their invited guests.

Friday, July 31, 2015

State Patrol Overspends Overtime Budget

The Nebraska State Patrol is $400,000 over budget on overtime, and it doesn't want to say why.

How much of the overage, do you suppose, is accounted for by the useless make-work created by LB 285 of 2009, the Nebraska version of the discredited Adam Walsh Act?

Read about the budget overrun here, and remember that these are your tax dollars we are talking about.

Thursday, July 30, 2015

New Mexico Radio Program Is Worth a Listen

Listen to the interview of Barry Porter and Sheila Lewis, attorneys from New Mexico, as they discuss reentry barriers and collateral consequences facing those with felony convictions. The show was aired on July 29, 2015 on public radio in Santa Fe and is available online by clicking here.

The hour-long show covers many topics with an emphasis on:

 · barriers to reentry;
 · lack of housing/employment opportunities;
 · excessive sentencing; and
 · the need to enact legislation that would expunge some arrest records.

Both attorneys discuss sex offender registration in detail and the need to move away from the “one- size fits all approach” that is used in New Mexico and most other states. Mr. Porter attended the RSOL national conference and mentioned some of what he learned regarding practices in other states.

Mr. Porter is a regular contributor to the RSOL monthly newsletter in New Mexico.

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

July Issue of Ninety-Five% Looks at How SO Laws Harm Everyone

The July issue of Ninety-Five%, our newsletter for friends and donors, is on its way to your mailbox.

This issue looks at how sex-offender laws harm everyone -- not just those targeted on registries.

Ninety-Five% is sent to individuals who donate $5 per month or more to Nebraskans Unafraid. If you want to donate, click here.