CO - Colorado law allows sex offenders to remove name from State’s registry

Original Article (Video available)

04/06/2014

By Eric Ross

If you believe a sex offender remains on the State's registry for life, think again.

News 5 learned by simply filing a petition, offenders can ask a judge to have his or her name removed.
- As it should be!

Marilyn Spittler is upset, and angry after learning her ex-husband and convicted sex offender, _____, filed a petition in Douglas County Court to have his offender status wiped away.

"We need to do something about this law," Spittler said.

Spittler is referring to a Colorado law that allows sex offenders to erase their name from the registry. Her ex-husband was accused of assaulting not one, but two of her daughters back in the 1990's. For their protection and at Spittler's request, we are not releasing their names.

The abuse was alleged to have been going on for 8 years. After one of Spittler's daughters came forward, _____ was arrested and charged with a laundry list of sex crimes.

It's important to note _____ was not convicted on all the sex crimes he was originally charged with committing.

_____ was sentenced to seven years in prison.

He served time in prison through the Colorado Department of Corrections from Aug. 27, 1996 until Nov. 12, 1996.

He was not released on parole.

His sentence was converted by a judge to a community corrections sentence.

After being released from prison, _____ registered as a sex offender.

Now, he wants his name removed.

Spittler says as long as she's living, she'll be fighting to make sure he remains on the list for life.

"His victims have permanent memories and permanent damage," she said. "They can't go petition the court to remove those memories. It's permanent in their lives and it should be permanent in his life as well."
- As long as someone sees themselves as damaged goods, then so shall they be!

Since 2006, more than 2,300 hundred convicted sex offenders were able to remove their name from the registry.

Below are statistics provided to News 5 by the Colorado Bureau of Investigation regarding the number of sex offenders across the state who have successfully removed his/her name from the registry:

• 2006: 152
• 2007: 221
• 2008: 261
• 2009: 314
• 2010: 321
• 2011: 469
• 2012: 508
• 2013: 459
• 2014: 102 through March, 14, 2014

"The overall theory of our criminal justice system is that you do your time, you should be able to move on with life," attorney Christopher Braddock said.

Braddock has helped a handful of sex offenders win their case.

"I think you have to look at if they (the offender) has done their time, you have to consider how much time is enough," Braddock said.

Susan Walker, executive director for Coalition For Sexual Offense Restoration, an advocacy group for sex offenders, says the public doesn't understand the life-long harmful effects this list creates.

"People are kept from housing and jobs," she said. "They are sometimes persecuted."

The registry removal law was created as a second chance opportunity, rewarding those who have served their time and haven't re-offended.

Laws like this are fairly common.

Oklahoma, Texas, and Missouri are just a few states that allow offenders to get off the registry.

However, Spittler refuses to be sympathetic with offenders, especially ones who prey on children.

While _____ hasn't been in trouble with the law since serving his time, Spittler believes he is still a risk.

"This particular offender works in an industry where he needs access to buildings," she said. "If you remove him from the list, there's nothing stopping him from applying for computer and technology installation contracts at schools, civic centers or daycares."

Sex offenders convicted of molesting children can no longer petition the courts to have his or her name removed. In _____'s case, he's eligible to appeal his registry requirement since his conviction took place two years before that law was changed.

There was legislation drafted last year to make it harder for offenders to remove their names. That ultimately failed due to a discrepancy. It was not reintroduced this legislative session.

_____'s case will be reviewed on April 10.

A judge will likely decide at that time whether to allow _____'s name to be removed.

Calls placed to _____ for comment were not returned.

GA - Albany organization lobbys for ex-offenders

Dr. Charles Ochie

Original Article

03/06/2014

By Nicole Rosales

ALBANY (WALB) - Albany Second Chance hopes to bring attention to the hundreds of people in Dougherty County who are having a tough time creating a stable lifestyle. Members say its partly because a their criminal record holds them back.

President of Albany Second Chance, Dr. Charles Ochie, feels the meeting will allow them to communicate to lawmakers how important it is to address the issues that ex-offenders face. He says it's not only a member's concern but a community concern, because it involves the safety of Dougherty County citizens.

Dr. Ochie feels in order to get to the root of our crime problem have to find a way to break the cycle. They hope to bring awareness, generate a support system and develop solutions to get those previously imprisoned back on track.

"We try to get them back into the community, find them jobs, connect them with their families, with the church, so they feel they are part of the community again," Dr. Ochie said.

Vice President, Dr. Patrick Ibe, says some of these people are family men, brothers and uncles, they have paid their dues and need to be given a chance.

Albany Second Chance says that is what they will be fighting for during Thursday's meeting at the state capitol. Members feel grateful and are excited for the opportunity to be a part of something that is very important to them.

KY - Sex-offender registry misguided thinking

Guy Hamilton-Smith

Original Article

02/10/2014

By GUY HAMILTON-SMITH

I am a sex offender.

I know well the tremendous power of those words. In 2007, I pled guilty to possession of child pornography.

Nothing here is meant to defend what I did or to minimize the gravity of my actions. I had a major problem with pornography, and I was far too deep in denial and too scared to reach out to anyone.

Help eventually came when my girlfriend discovered child porn on my computer and went to the police. I was then and remain grateful to her for taking that step.

As I went through the legal process after my arrest, I developed a keen interest in the law, and a sincere desire to advocate on the behalf of those who are hated, who are lost, and who are forgotten. With luck, I managed to win acceptance to law school despite my conviction. I worked harder than I'd ever worked in my life, because I knew I'd have a lot to do to overcome my past. I did well in school, graduated, secured a job at a law firm after disclosing my past, and applied to take the bar exam.

Recently, the Kentucky Supreme Court ruled that I will not be allowed to take the bar exam until I am no longer on the sex-offender registry, which will be another 18 years from now.

But the point I want to make is not about me. It isn't about my case. I am not here to say whether the court's decision was right or wrong. The principles at play are much larger than me.

Strange as it may sound coming from a felon and a sex offender, I believe in the necessity of punishment. How else, after all, are people supposed to make amends for the harm that they cause?

Indeed, my experiences as a criminal defendant, my experiences in law school and by working in criminal defense inform my belief in the ideal that our justice system. That it can work to the benefit of, not only the state and the victims, but the perpetrators, as well.

After all, I believe in many ways that my life was saved by virtue of my arrest.

I am sensitive to the fact that my crime, and the crimes of others on the sex offender registry, are serious. I do not mean to denigrate the plight of victims, as I was also a victim at one point in my own childhood.

My point, rather, is simply this: punishment that becomes unmoored from considerations of proportionality, redemption and reintegration becomes poison, and we — society, victims and perpetrators — become diminished by it.

Nowhere is this more evident than the sex-offender registry. Those who find themselves constituents of the registry are routinely and uniformly denied the same second chance afforded to so many other criminal defendants after they have served their sentences.

The impetus behind the registry is the popular belief that sex offenders always commit new sex crimes. That view, however, is at odds with data from the Department of Justice and others.

For instance, a Justice study examining the records of nearly 10,000 sex offenders found that only 3.5 percent committed a new sex crime. Other studies indicate that most instances of sexual abuse are perpetrated by someone known to the victim, such as a family member, as opposed to a stranger.

There is also no evidence to suggest that sex offenders who live close to schools or playgrounds reoffend at a rate higher than other sex offenders.

The consequences of such a system are not just borne by the offenders, either. One of the common criticisms of the registry, in light of the evidence, is that it provides a false sense of security to parents.

If that is so, then invariably placing the problem of sexual offending onto just those already convicted helps in great measure to perpetuate the very evil the registry was intended to eradicate.

I know that I am not a sympathetic figure by virtue of my crime. I know that I can never change the past or undo the things that I have done.

My hope here is that we can have a discussion in this country that is long overdue — namely, what it is that we hope to achieve from our system of criminal justice.

GA - New business owner looking for employees just out of jail

Original Article

02/06/2014

By Jim Wallace

ALBANY (WALB) - An Albany businessman hopes to fill his new business with employees who are on probation.

Willie Ross says if more businesses hire folks getting out jail it will reduce crime.

Ross said he knows men and women getting out of jail have a hard time finding a job. He thinks giving them a chance will improve the community.

Fredric Barnes said finding a steady job since getting out of jail has been tough.

"I want to work. Because that's the only way you are going to have something," said Barnes. "I done been down that road over some years, and I'm just trying to do better."

Willie Ross, in the process of opening his new business at 313 West Broad Avenue, said when Barnes came in asking for work, his story touched him.

"He was in tears," recalled Ross. "Saying he didn't want to rob nobody or he didn't want to steal nothing from nobody. So why not give him a chance."

A chance to rebuild their lives is what most people coming out from behind bars want, but a job can be the toughest part of starting that process.

Willie Ross said he understands their problem, and believes if these people get jobs they will not return to crime. So he is putting his new business and money on the line, to give some folks that chance.

"I have 9 positions open, and I'm going to try to fill as many of them as I can with people who are on probation," said Ross. "That can't be hired nowhere else."

Ross said he calls his new business "It's About Time Vegetables and More", because his father George Ross tried decades ago to open a vegetable stand downtown, but no one would rent him a store because of his race. Barnes said he is glad that Ross is providing an opportunity for him.

"The Lord finally just blessed me, when Mr. Ross came, talked to me, and said are you ready to go to work," said Barnes "And I said, yes sir."

Ross challenges other business owners to do the same.

"I think if everybody pulled together like I'm trying to, then we'll have a better Albany," said Ross.

Ross will open his new store March 1st.