It's been a while since the last post, but I just came across it today. Mr Alton calls himself a constitutionalist. If that were true, he could not possibly support Rick Perry. Perry's policies and agendas, along with our AG have trampled on the rights of citizens left and right. He's what I would call 'smarmy', meaning that he may look good on the surface, but that's not the real Rick Perry. It's time for Texas to have new leadership. Bill White may not be the perfect candidate for governor, but he's better than what we've had for the last 8 years. I encourage everyone to really consider the issues and get out and vote your conscience. If enough people get out and vote, the people will have spoken. If those people want Perry again, so be it. I love Texas and I want to see it improve. I don't believe Perry will do that.
Kevin,
Are you speaking from your own research? Or is it coming from your own troubled past? Or maybe someone said so at some bar, so it must be true? Whatever your situation may be, you couldn't be further off the mark.
Just a note to RUKIDDINGME: You cannot tell what the actual crime was by looking at the registry. All you can tell is which one of perhaps 20 broad categories into which all offenders are grouped. The specifics of each incident are not disclosed, so all you can actually do is guess, and that is a dangerous approach. Yes, you can know where they live and even where they work, but that's not enough to make a fair assessment of their risk to your safety or lack thereof, which is usually closer to the truth.
That is why TXVoices exists. Its goals are to educate with facts and to work within the system to effect change in the laws that give the public a false sense of security. The registry needs reform before it can be a useful tool. Laws need to be changed to keep children off of the registry. And the public needs to be made aware of the dangers presented to society by things such as excessive restriction on the SOs (Sex Offenders).
For example, among the many conditions of probation and/or parole is the requirement that the offender maintain "gainful employment". That becomes an enormous hurdle they must continue to jump. Finding work becomes even more difficult when the employer's name becomes part of the public records associated with the offender. Those that have families must continue to provide for them, even if they can't see their own children. It makes no difference what their offense was, many of them are prohibited from having any contact with minors. Many cannot attend religious services on Sunday because the church offers a child care program during the week. Restrictions like these, coupled with restrictions on where these individuals can live actually make it more likely that subsequent offenses may occur.
A brochure from Texas Voices contains the following: "Our Statement:
Texas Voices supports the prevention of child sexual abuse through carefully structured laws that target violent, forced, and/or dangerous predatory acts of sex against children. Existing laws encompass a wide range of offenders and require the exact same resources be used for both violent, dangerous offenders and those whose offenses were neither violent, forced, or dangerous.
Current laws, as structured, are not keeping our children safe. They are, in fact, costing the taxpayers millions of dollars to prosecute, monitor, incarcerate, and severely punish many individuals who are of no danger to children, society, or the communities in which they live.
We believe that laws which will truly benefit the safety of our children, and society in general, must differentiate between those who are dangerous offenders and those who are not."
To find the facts and more information about this important issue, visit www.txvoices.com or email info@txvoices.com or write to: Texas Voices P.O. Box 23539 San Antonio, Texas 78223
I hope everyone will take time to seek out the truth before embarking on a "witch hunt" that will inevitably produce undesired results.
I would like to encourage Ms. Pfenninger and txgal to calm down, take a deep breath, and relax. Do some research into the situation, and you will find that most pedophiles are not the people on the registry, but are family members who never get reported. Are there pedophiles on the registry? Of course! But the vast majority of those on the registry are ordinary people who let things get out of hand on one occasion. There are many juveniles on the registry because they had consensual contact with their girlfriend (or boyfriend - it goes both ways, but the boy is usually the one who ends up paying the price). Or they may have been chatting on the internet with a police officer pretending to be a 14-year old girl. Or perhaps someone send a risque photo to a friend's cell phone and they both wind up on the registry for possessing and distributing child pornography. The courts and the police don't make any distinction between them and punishment is terribly inconsistent. I agree that some of them should be locked away for life, but they are few in number. If only there were a registry for drunk drivers, murderers and drug dealers, then we might be making our communities safer. Please, don't overreact. Get the facts. Learn about some of the actual cases and think about the long-term effects of what you are proposing.
Newsletter
It's been a while since the last post, but I just came across it today. Mr Alton calls himself a constitutionalist. If that were true, he could not possibly support Rick Perry. Perry's policies and agendas, along with our AG have trampled on the rights of citizens left and right. He's what I would call 'smarmy', meaning that he may look good on the surface, but that's not the real Rick Perry. It's time for Texas to have new leadership. Bill White may not be the perfect candidate for governor, but he's better than what we've had for the last 8 years. I encourage everyone to really consider the issues and get out and vote your conscience. If enough people get out and vote, the people will have spoken. If those people want Perry again, so be it. I love Texas and I want to see it improve. I don't believe Perry will do that.
Kevin,
Are you speaking from your own research? Or is it coming from your own troubled past? Or maybe someone said so at some bar, so it must be true? Whatever your situation may be, you couldn't be further off the mark.
Just a note to RUKIDDINGME: You cannot tell what the actual crime was by looking at the registry. All you can tell is which one of perhaps 20 broad categories into which all offenders are grouped. The specifics of each incident are not disclosed, so all you can actually do is guess, and that is a dangerous approach. Yes, you can know where they live and even where they work, but that's not enough to make a fair assessment of their risk to your safety or lack thereof, which is usually closer to the truth.
That is why TXVoices exists. Its goals are to educate with facts and to work within the system to effect change in the laws that give the public a false sense of security. The registry needs reform before it can be a useful tool. Laws need to be changed to keep children off of the registry. And the public needs to be made aware of the dangers presented to society by things such as excessive restriction on the SOs (Sex Offenders).
For example, among the many conditions of probation and/or parole is the requirement that the offender maintain "gainful employment". That becomes an enormous hurdle they must continue to jump. Finding work becomes even more difficult when the employer's name becomes part of the public records associated with the offender. Those that have families must continue to provide for them, even if they can't see their own children. It makes no difference what their offense was, many of them are prohibited from having any contact with minors. Many cannot attend religious services on Sunday because the church offers a child care program during the week. Restrictions like these, coupled with restrictions on where these individuals can live actually make it more likely that subsequent offenses may occur.
A brochure from Texas Voices contains the following:
"Our Statement:
Texas Voices supports the prevention of child sexual abuse through carefully structured laws that target violent, forced, and/or dangerous predatory acts of sex against children.
Existing laws encompass a wide range of offenders and require the exact same resources be used for both violent, dangerous offenders and those whose offenses were neither violent, forced, or dangerous.
Current laws, as structured, are not keeping our children safe. They are, in fact, costing the taxpayers millions of dollars to prosecute, monitor, incarcerate, and severely punish many individuals who are of no danger to children, society, or the communities in which they live.
We believe that laws which will truly benefit the safety of our children, and society in general, must differentiate between those who are dangerous offenders and those who are not."
To find the facts and more information about this important issue, visit www.txvoices.com or email info@txvoices.com or write to:
Texas Voices
P.O. Box 23539
San Antonio, Texas 78223
I hope everyone will take time to seek out the truth before embarking on a "witch hunt" that will inevitably produce undesired results.
I would like to encourage Ms. Pfenninger and txgal to calm down, take a deep breath, and relax. Do some research into the situation, and you will find that most pedophiles are not the people on the registry, but are family members who never get reported. Are there pedophiles on the registry? Of course! But the vast majority of those on the registry are ordinary people who let things get out of hand on one occasion. There are many juveniles on the registry because they had consensual contact with their girlfriend (or boyfriend - it goes both ways, but the boy is usually the one who ends up paying the price). Or they may have been chatting on the internet with a police officer pretending to be a 14-year old girl. Or perhaps someone send a risque photo to a friend's cell phone and they both wind up on the registry for possessing and distributing child pornography. The courts and the police don't make any distinction between them and punishment is terribly inconsistent. I agree that some of them should be locked away for life, but they are few in number. If only there were a registry for drunk drivers, murderers and drug dealers, then we might be making our communities safer. Please, don't overreact. Get the facts. Learn about some of the actual cases and think about the long-term effects of what you are proposing.
txguy