4-23-2008 National:
Why does Congress continually ignores the holding of the U.S. Supreme court to provide therapy for sex offenders, and instead, spend money on grants to simply track former sex offenders. Tracking is not a preventative measure as is therapy.
U.S. Supreme Court: in McKUNE, WARDEN, et al. v. LILE the Court held that:
“States have a vital interest in rehabilitating convicted sex offenders. Therapists and correctional officers widely agree that clinical rehabilitative programs can enable sex offenders to manage their impulses and in this way reduce recidivism. See U. S. Dept. of Justice, Nat. Institute of Corrections, A Practitioner’s Guide to Treating the Incarcerated Male Sex Offender xiii (1988) (“[T]he rate of recidivism of treated sex offenders is fairly consistently estimated to be around 15%,” whereas the rate of recidivism of untreated offenders has been estimated (not a fact) to be as high as 80%. “Even if both of these figures are exaggerated, there would still be a significant difference between treated and untreated individuals”). …”
Further, civil commitment of sex offenders following a prison sentence would be illegal if there was no treatment program for them in civil commitment.
So, what does "tracking" mean to Congress? The answer, keeping track of where former sex offenders sleep, that is exactly what registries do, they provide an address of where the former sex offender will be at night.
As they say, "follow the money" to learn what the real intent is, so what have lawmakers done?
Grants Approved:
Alabama Purpose Tracking State receives approval of grant to track sex offenders
Iowa Purpose Tracking Grant to Improve Collection of Sex Offender Info
North Dakota Purpose: Tracking N.D. receives grant to track sex offenders
Maryland Purpose: Tracking (1 new employee) More than 60 new hires included in proposed Washington County spending plan
New York Purpose Tracking (GPS) Senate Restores Funding For Correctional Facilities
New York Purpose Smart Phones County makes ‘smart’ move
New York Purpose Tracking (GPS) $500,000 GPS to track sex offenders
Grants Denied/Insufficient Funding/Denied Access to Programs:
Virginia: Purpose Treatment Sexual predator program loses funding
Utah: Purpose Treatment Funds dry up for offender treatment in four counties
Congress: Purpose Reentry The Second Chance Act (Includes treatment programs)!
SEC. 212. RESPONSIBLE REINTEGRATION OF OFFENDERS.
(a) Eligible Offenders-
(1) IN GENERAL- In this section, the term `eligible offender' means an individual who--
(A) is 18 years of age or older;
(B) has been convicted as an adult and imprisoned under Federal or State law;
(C) has never been convicted of a violent or sex-related offense;
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that, preventing sex offenses is not the goal, the funding proves that. So, we are left with asking, what are the real goals of lawmakers? Anyone, anyone, does anyone have that answer?
PS: The Second Chance Act also excludes juveniles!
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