Court blocks release of sex offenders due out of jail

[strollingbones]

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act passed by Congress in 2006 included a provision allowing indefinite confinement of sex offenders. A federal appeals court in Richmond, Virginia, ruled lawmakers had overstepped their authority, prompting the emergency appeal to the Supreme Court.

The law was named after the son of "America's Most Wanted" host John Walsh. The boy was kidnapped and murdered by a suspected child molester in 1981.

Four inmates brought suit against the law. They were serving sentences of up to eight years for sexual abuse of a minor or possessing child pornography. Their detention was to have ended two years ago, but corrections officials and prosecutors determined they remained a risk for further sexually deviant behavior if freed. The inmates argued such continued imprisonment violates their constitutional right of due process.

The justices' actions means the men remain behind bars for now.

Court blocks release of sex offenders due out of jail - CNN.com

the way i read this...the men have served their sentence but have been ruled too dangerous to get out of jail...

and your opinion on this would be?



as parents or just as people... know who lives near you:

Federal Bureau of Investigation - Crimes Against Children - National/State Sex Offender Registry

 

[del]

we have a similar law here. after completion of sentence, an offender can still be confined. i don't know how the federal law is structured, but here there is a full jury trial to determine if the person should continue to be incarcerated.

i think it's a good idea.

 

[Ravi]

Sure, if the perp is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. But it's kind of ironic, since no one was ever convicted of Adam Walsh's murder...so, "The boy was kidnapped and murdered by a suspected child molester in 1981," isn't technically proven...but it was what the cops decided when they closed the case.

Something was always fishy about that case.

 

[Article 15]

I don't like it. IMO, once you should serve the time you are sentenced to you should be released though I understand why folks get emotional because of the nature of the crime. Shit, I do too but I would much prefer they handle this by dishing out much harsher sentences for sex offenders than this alternative.

 

[del]

I don't like it. IMO, once you should serve the time you are sentenced to you should be released though I understand why folks get emotional because of the nature of the crime. Shit, I do too but I would much prefer they handle this by dishing out much harsher sentences for sex offenders than this alternative.

i understand what you're saying, but i disagree. as long as they are afforded due process, i don't have a problem with it.

full disclosure- my wife was on a jury for one of these review hearings (i forget the proper name for them). the evidence presented kept her from sleeping through the night for about a month. i know it affected my POV on this issue.

 

[Article 15]

I don't like it. IMO, once you should serve the time you are sentenced to you should be released though I understand why folks get emotional because of the nature of the crime. Shit, I do too but I would much prefer they handle this by dishing out much harsher sentences for sex offenders than this alternative.

i understand what you're saying, but i disagree. as long as they are afforded due process, i don't have a problem with it.

full disclosure- my wife was on a jury for one of these review hearings (i forget the proper name for them). the evidence presented kept her from sleeping through the night for about a month. i know it affected my POV on this issue.

I'm sure the details were horrific that's why I ask myself, "why are these guys not getting sentence to life?"

Wouldn't a life sentence with the chance for parole accomplish the same goal?

 

[strollingbones]

so we let murders out of jail but not sexual offenders....i have to wonder how violent they were...

as for the walsh case...a man confessed but has die...

College OTR: Murder of Adam Walsh, John Walsh's Son, Solved After Otis Toole Admits Guilt

want to hear something wicked? of course you do....i have often wondered if given the choice....
what would john walsh choose...to give up all that adam's death has brought him or would he want the high profile life he has now...and yes as a parent i feel low even thinking about that...

i just have never really cared for parents who exploit the deaths of their children...many parents have gotten laws passed but he is the only one who has elected to stay so high profile...

i could not imagine the horror of losing a child...it is a cruel trick of nature to allow you to outlive your child

 

[Ravi]

so we let murders out of jail but not sexual offenders....i have to wonder how violent they were...

as for the walsh case...a man confessed but has die...

College OTR: Murder of Adam Walsh, John Walsh's Son, Solved After Otis Toole Admits Guilt

want to hear something wicked? of course you do....i have often wondered if given the choice....
what would john walsh choose...to give up all that adam's death has brought him or would he want the high profile life he has now...and yes as a parent i feel low even thinking about that...

i just have never really cared for parents who exploit the deaths of their children...many parents have gotten laws passed but he is the only one who has elected to stay so high profile...

i could not imagine the horror of losing a child...it is a cruel trick of nature to allow you to outlive your child

Yes, it is a horrible thing. The guy that confessed, though, he confessed to all kinds of things, and most of his confessions the police labeled lies. And, IIRC, there was no actual evidence, just this confession.

Maybe it's the exploitation and star power his father got that bothers me, or maybe it's because I used to shop at that Sears in question...I dunno, something isn't totally right.

But on the topic, Article makes a good point. Why not just give a stiffer sentence?

 

[strollingbones]

if they give stiffer sentances to sex offenders they wouldnt have room for pot heads

 

[foggedinn]

Who was that guy who said that the devil is in the details? In other words, it depends on the individual circumstance.

A sex offender can be anything from someone who rapes and murders a child, to an 18 year old who has consenual sex whith his 17 year old girlfriend. In the first case, I have no objection to keeping them inprisoned indiffinitely. In the second case, I believe both should serve equal prison sentences; of whatever duration.

Whatever happened to just good old fashioned shotgun weddings?

 

[strollingbones]

Who was that guy who said that the devil is in the details? In other words, it depends on the individual circumstance.

A sex offender can be anything from someone who rapes and murders a child, to an 18 year old who has consenual sex whith his 17 year old girlfriend. In the first case, I have no objection to keeping them inprisoned indiffinitely. In the second case, I believe both should serve equal prison sentences; of whatever duration.

Whatever happened to just good old fashioned shotgun weddings?

for the young ones ..you should define a shotgun wedding:

when a young lady was preggies or the parents were aware of sexual intercourse taking place..the couple got married..the father or male relatives of the bride would bring shotguns to make sure the grooms didnt start talking crazy...as in..that aint my baby

basically a forced marriage....

i havent heard of one of these in a long time..we thought palins' daughter would be a shotgun wedding but little levi ran like hell.

 

[Cecilie1200]

so we let murders out of jail but not sexual offenders....i have to wonder how violent they were...

as for the walsh case...a man confessed but has die...

College OTR: Murder of Adam Walsh, John Walsh's Son, Solved After Otis Toole Admits Guilt

want to hear something wicked? of course you do....i have often wondered if given the choice....
what would john walsh choose...to give up all that adam's death has brought him or would he want the high profile life he has now...and yes as a parent i feel low even thinking about that...

i just have never really cared for parents who exploit the deaths of their children...many parents have gotten laws passed but he is the only one who has elected to stay so high profile...

i could not imagine the horror of losing a child...it is a cruel trick of nature to allow you to outlive your child

I think the problem here is that released murderers have a much lower recidivism rate than released sex offenders do, so they're actually deemed less of a danger to society. And child molesters have the worst recidivism rate of any sex offender, as I understand it, making them a huge source of danger to one of the most vulnerable segments of society.

I agree that there's a high level of emotion involved here, but I also think there are logical reasons behind this.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

I don't like it. IMO, once you should serve the time you are sentenced to you should be released though I understand why folks get emotional because of the nature of the crime. Shit, I do too but I would much prefer they handle this by dishing out much harsher sentences for sex offenders than this alternative.

I hate to agree ( not because of who you are by the way) but the simple fact is keeping them is Unconstitutional. Like it or not, we have a Constitution and laws. The laws have to conform to the Constitution. And the Bill of Rights is clear.

This is nothing more then cowards unwilling to create the needed laws and make the needed decisions. Easier to just ignore the fact that our punishment for certain crimes is ignorant and does not do what it is supposed to do, which is protect the citizenry.

Simple solution, make the punishment indefinate with release subject to review by competent medical and legal authorities. BUT for these people currently they must be released or retried.

 

[Agnapostate]

Sure, if the perp is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. But it's kind of ironic, since no one was ever convicted of Adam Walsh's murder...so, "The boy was kidnapped and murdered by a suspected child molester in 1981," isn't technically proven...but it was what the cops decided when they closed the case.

Something was always fishy about that case.

The problem is that when it comes to furthering fears and panics about "pedophiles," "child molesters," or other persons of a similar nature, the mass media isn't interested in proof. Belief in a widespread "stranger danger" and similar booms in child molestations are a Holy Doctrine of the mass media and the punditry that cannot be challenged without retribution...in its most extreme manifestation, ideology completely obliterates any attention that might otherwise be paid to factual accuracy, as with the satanic ritual abuse fears of the 1980's or the McMartin preschool case, for instance.

want to hear something wicked? of course you do....i have often wondered if given the choice....
what would john walsh choose...to give up all that adam's death has brought him or would he want the high profile life he has now...and yes as a parent i feel low even thinking about that...

i just have never really cared for parents who exploit the deaths of their children...many parents have gotten laws passed but he is the only one who has elected to stay so high profile...

i could not imagine the horror of losing a child...it is a cruel trick of nature to allow you to outlive your child

He's certainly profited enormously from his son's death, without much consideration as to the ethical status of such gains. It's people who have a greater interest in furthering ideological ambitions through a media noise machine than presenting accurate facts (i.e. the average American child is about as likely to be struck by lightning as to be abducted by a stranger), who are the truly perverse, in my opinion, not the dimwitted clowns that Chris Hansen lures in.

Who was that guy who said that the devil is in the details? In other words, it depends on the individual circumstance.

A sex offender can be anything from someone who rapes and murders a child, to an 18 year old who has consenual sex whith his 17 year old girlfriend. In the first case, I have no objection to keeping them inprisoned indiffinitely. In the second case, I believe both should serve equal prison sentences; of whatever duration.

Whatever happened to just good old fashioned shotgun weddings?

I think close-in-age exemptions need to be established to protect the consensual activities of youth; it's actually rather repugnant that some claim to take some moral high ground in prosecuting consensual and private relationships. It certainly gives cause to be wary of the expanding powers of the state and their minions in the mass media, IMO.

 

[Ocean56]

I don't like it. IMO, once you should serve the time you are sentenced to you should be released though I understand why folks get emotional because of the nature of the crime. Shit, I do too but I would much prefer they handle this by dishing out much harsher sentences for sex offenders than this alternative.

It depends on whether these people were truly VIOLENT PREDATORS or not. Too often, prosecutors want to keep those in the prison industrial complex happy by lumping ALL "sex offenders" together, including people who actually hurt or harmed NO ONE, and the offense involved no grievous bodily harm or injury at all.

There are also innocent people wrongly in prison because malicious and spiteful false accusers were very "convincing" in court, but there was no case to begin with. Anyone who really believes "there's no such thing as a false accusation of sex offenses" believes that at their own risk.

 

[Ocean56]

so we let murders out of jail but not sexual offenders....i have to wonder how violent they were...

as for the walsh case...a man confessed but has die...

College OTR: Murder of Adam Walsh, John Walsh's Son, Solved After Otis Toole Admits Guilt

want to hear something wicked? of course you do....i have often wondered if given the choice....
what would john walsh choose...to give up all that adam's death has brought him or would he want the high profile life he has now...and yes as a parent i feel low even thinking about that...

i just have never really cared for parents who exploit the deaths of their children...many parents have gotten laws passed but he is the only one who has elected to stay so high profile...

i could not imagine the horror of losing a child...it is a cruel trick of nature to allow you to outlive your child

I think the problem here is that released murderers have a much lower recidivism rate than released sex offenders do, so they're actually deemed less of a danger to society. And child molesters have the worst recidivism rate of any sex offender, as I understand it, making them a huge source of danger to one of the most vulnerable segments of society.

I agree, but would also add that many innocent persons have been falsely accused by spiteful false accusers when in fact NO crime was committed at all. There are private investigators and even attorneys who specialize in defending against such false accusations cases, IF one has the money to hire them.

In many of these cases, the accuser had a decided grudge against the accused, such as an ugly divorce or marital separation, a nasty child custody dispute, or even a non-marital relationship breakup, where one party was angry because she (or he) was the one who got dumped. And any accused person who does not have the big bucks to hire such an investigator or defense attorney is screwed big time, as the false accuser already knows.

That being said, I know that many cases of child molestation are in fact true, but IMO police need to make it a standard procedure to investigate BOTH parties thoroughly before arriving at any conclusions. Currently, that is not being done.

 

[mightypeon]

If you want a group of criminals to serve longer, than change the law, not say "Hahah you never get out!". Apart from that, the American term "Sex offender" can be anything from a 18 year old sleeping with his 17 year old girlfriend to a mass rapist.
There is a Urban myth of a guy who peed in the park and became a Sex offender because of that I dont know if this is true though.

 

[Agnapostate]

If you want a group of criminals to serve longer, than change the law, not say "Hahah you never get out!". Apart from that, the American term "Sex offender" can be anything from a 18 year old sleeping with his 17 year old girlfriend to a mass rapist.
There is a Urban myth of a guy who peed in the park and became a Sex offender because of that I dont know if this is true though.

That's not an urban myth, actually. Those convicted of public urination are eligible for classification as Level I sex offenders in some parts of the U.S.

 

[Article 15]

Simple solution, make the punishment indefinate with release subject to review by competent medical and legal authorities. BUT for these people currently they must be released or retried.

Ayup. That's what I'd do if I were King.

 

[Ocean56]

Sure, if the perp is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. But it's kind of ironic, since no one was ever convicted of Adam Walsh's murder...so, "The boy was kidnapped and murdered by a suspected child molester in 1981," isn't technically proven...but it was what the cops decided when they closed the case.

Something was always fishy about that case.

The problem is that when it comes to furthering fears and panics about "pedophiles," "child molesters," or other persons of a similar nature, the mass media isn't interested in proof. Belief in a widespread "stranger danger" and similar booms in child molestations are a Holy Doctrine of the mass media and the punditry that cannot be challenged without retribution...in its most extreme manifestation, ideology completely obliterates any attention that might otherwise be paid to factual accuracy, as with the satanic ritual abuse fears of the 1980's or the McMartin preschool case, for instance.

want to hear something wicked? of course you do....i have often wondered if given the choice....
what would john walsh choose...to give up all that adam's death has brought him or would he want the high profile life he has now...and yes as a parent i feel low even thinking about that...

i just have never really cared for parents who exploit the deaths of their children...many parents have gotten laws passed but he is the only one who has elected to stay so high profile...

i could not imagine the horror of losing a child...it is a cruel trick of nature to allow you to outlive your child

He's certainly profited enormously from his son's death, without much consideration as to the ethical status of such gains. It's people who have a greater interest in furthering ideological ambitions through a media noise machine than presenting accurate facts (i.e. the average American child is about as likely to be struck by lightning as to be abducted by a stranger), who are the truly perverse, in my opinion, not the dimwitted clowns that Chris Hansen lures in.

Who was that guy who said that the devil is in the details? In other words, it depends on the individual circumstance.

A sex offender can be anything from someone who rapes and murders a child, to an 18 year old who has consenual sex whith his 17 year old girlfriend. In the first case, I have no objection to keeping them inprisoned indiffinitely. In the second case, I believe both should serve equal prison sentences; of whatever duration.

Whatever happened to just good old fashioned shotgun weddings?

I think close-in-age exemptions need to be established to protect the consensual activities of youth; it's actually rather repugnant that some claim to take some moral high ground in prosecuting consensual and private relationships. It certainly gives cause to be wary of the expanding powers of the state and their minions in the mass media, IMO.

I definitely agree with statements concerning the "predator/pedophile panic" that is too often deliberately inflated by those interested in keeping that panic alive for self-serving purposes. I have also done quite a bit of reading about the McMartin cases in Los Angeles during the 1990's and the shocking travesties of the notorious Bakersfield, CA "ritual child molestation" cases during the 1980's.

In both those terrible cases, prosecutors deliberately hid facts from both defense and the local media, and used threats against anyone who either questioned law enforcement or "worse" openly disagreed with them. In McMartin, no one was wrongly convicted, although one person was held in jail for five years without any trial before finally being released. The unfortunate folks wrongly accused in Bakersfield, CA weren't nearly so lucky. Some served more than ten years for being a so-called "child molester" when they had in fact done no such thing. But you can never get back ten or more years of one's life that has been literally stolen away, so IMO police and prosecutors need to know all the facts before deciding they have a real case strong enough to take to trial.