Sex Offenders and Supporters Rally in Ohio

December 22, 2007:

What some are calling the first public demonstration in America for sex offender rights took place last week. More than 50 sex offenders and their families as well as other civil liberties advocates rallied on Saturday, Dec. 1, on the steps of the state capitol in Columbus, Ohio. The groups present were protesting what they call, "Draconian, unconstitutional laws that undermine the whole American legal system," commented one participant in response to an email interview question.

In particular, the demonstrators singled out public sex offender registries where offenders must post their photographs and personal information online, leading to humiliation and sometimes to vigilante actions that result in injury or death to the offenders. They also opposed new Ohio laws that severely limit sex offenders' movements and residence, so that there are very few places offenders can live in the state - like the laws recently exposed in Florida where sex offenders could only live under a bridge in the middle of a river.

"Such laws do nothing to protect children," said Tom Madison, founder of Soclear, an organization supporting rights for sex offenders. "But they harm thousands of family members, including children, and they undermine the rights of all citizens. Only parents can protect children. And when offenders have served their time, they should be left alone," continued Madison - himself a registered sex offender from Oregon.

For more than three hours, speaker after speaker exposed the humiliation and public harassment suffered by offenders and their families. Speaking to another law the groups want to reform, the public registration of children for alleged sex with other children, 16-year-old Ali Metz spoke on behalf of her older brother, currently serving a prison term for sex with his slightly younger girlfriend when he was himself under age, and specifically for "pandering explicitly sexual material" with her. "He's just a teenager, and even when he gets out of prison, he'll have to be publicly registered for at least fifteen years. The laws have to be changed so people like him can live a normal life. All he did was fall in love with a girl!" Ali told the rally, according to the Columbus Dispatch.

For weeks before the rally was held, opposing groups urged a counter demonstration. Absolutezero, a group that says it "fights pedophiles on the web," said the rally was organized by sex abusers and their supporters who are "cognitively distorted." Among other groups opposing the sex offender rights rally was "Women Against Sexual Predators."

Altogether, fewer than 25 people were in the counter demonstration. One of the speakers carried a sign saying, "Cry me a river, sex offender." She told her crowd, "Sex offenders should have no rights!" She expressed surprise that so many came out to support the rights of the more than 16,000 registered sex offenders in Ohio.

Though state after state, including Maryland, has rushed to make sex offender registries more punitive, more comprehensive and more invasive of privacy, there may be some change coming. The Supreme Court of Maine recently allowed a sex offender there to challenge posting of his picture and address on the web in the light of a recent vigilante killing of a sex offender in that state. The Court noted that such laws harked back to the public humiliation putting people in stocks in colonial Puritan New England.

Meanwhile, as reported recently in OUTloud, sex offenders detained for lifetime civil commitment in California, continued their protest inside Coalinga State Hospital. According to their support group, a public rally will be held outside the hospital in early January. At Coalinga, a survey of about 600 detainees has indicated that more than half are gay men convicted of nonviolent offenses.

Jackie Sparling, chief operational officer of Soclear (www.soclear.org) was pleased with the crowd. Though she praised police attitudes and helpfulness before the rally, some felt there were far too many police. "There were eight cruisers at one point, encircling the demonstrators. This intimidated some sex offenders and their families, with several people not braving the police line," a participant told this reporter.

Three different groups had speakers at the rally: Soclear, SOSEN (a group which works with families of sex offenders) and Roar for Freedom, which is an anti sex abuse organization that also opposes what it feels are counterproductive sex offender laws. Although the counter-demonstrators booed loudly, speakers could be clearly heard by those who watched from the capitol and nearby streets. ..more.. by Alex Marbury writes for Reformsexoffenderlaws.org.