Alabama is pushing legislation preventing Registered Persons from working as First Responders

To paraphrase Phil Collins:

"Well, if you told me Bama's drowning, I CANNOT lend a hand

You've seen my face before online, so I do know that you know who I am

Well, I was there and I saw what they did, I saw it with my own two eyes

So they can wipe off that grin, I know where they've been

It's all been a pack of lies!"

Alabama does not want Registered Persons saving lies, so don't complain when I see you in need of rescue and all I can do is grab some popcorn and soda if this bill passes. 

https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdfdocs/SearchableInstruments/2024RS/SB188-int.pdf

https://alison.legislature.state.al.us/files/pdfdocs/SearchableInstruments/2024RS/HB222-eng.pdf

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:

Section 1. Sections 15-20A-13 and 15-20A-31, Code of

Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows:

"§15-20A-13"

(g)(1) No adult sex offender shall accept or maintain employment or a volunteer position as a first responder.

(2) For the purposes of this section, a "first responder" means a paramedic, firefighter, rescue squad member, emergency medical technician, or other individual who, in the course of his or her professional duties, responds to fire, medical, hazardous material or other similar emergencies, whether compensated or not.

(3) The prohibition in this subsection does not create liability for any employer or volunteer organization of first responders.

Democratic Alabama Representative Juandalynn Givan uses castration of Registered Persons law as a prop for abortion battle

I'm very disappointed by Alabama State Rep. Juandalynn Givan. On Wed. Feb. 27, 2013, the Alabama House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing on HB 85, a proposed anti-clustering law. I testified in person on behalf of ReFORM-AL, and was among the half dozen there to oppose the bill.

There to promote the bill was State Rep. Kurt Wallace, who sponsored the bill, and a prosecutor in his district named CJ Robinson. Robinson in particular spouted many distorted statistics. While claiming people on the registry have a 90% recidivism rate, he admitted the registrants in his county have not been accused of a new sex crime. 

Note also Robinson received far too much time to speak, while I was cut off before the two minute mark. I was disrespected by the old white men on that committee. Rep. Givan met me out in the hallway after the meeting, hugged me, thanked me for speaking out, and told me that there needs to be more folks like me speaking out and that we need to change the status quo in Momtgomery. 

Fast forward to today, and this a completely different message than what was told to me in person. And to make matters worse, her bill is simply a Lauren Book-esque pro-abortion political stunt. I'm not your prop, Givan. 

https://lawandcrime.com/abortion/men-need-to-be-held-to-the-same-level-of-responsibility-as-women-lawmaker-counters-abortion-ban-with-castration-law/

Alabama Democratic state Rep. Juandalynn Givan made good on her promise to increase penalties for sex offenders by introducing a bill to punish child rapists with castration.

Givan was clear that her proposal was connected to Alabama’s near-total ban on abortion. In a statement to Newsweek, Givan called the bill “simple,” and said if a young girl has been the victim of rape or incest, then a man found guilty of the crime should be forced to have a vasectomy or another form of castration.

“In recent years, the Legislature has passed laws restricting reproduction rights in the state and the penalties have been imposed only on women. It’s time for that to change,” Givan said. “The last time I checked a biology textbook, it takes a woman and a man to make a baby. Men in Alabama need to be held to the same level of responsibility as women.”

Following the United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, Alabama made all abortions illegal, regardless of stage of pregnancy, and with no exceptions for rape or incest. The state also took steps to give “preborn children” constitutional rights and is considering legislation that would allow women who terminate their pregnancies to be prosecuted for murder.

House Bill 80, as amended to include Givan’s suggested text, expands on a portion of Alabama’s abortion law that requires a child’s father to pay medical expenses associated with a pregnancy or an abortion if an abortion is necessary to preserve the health of a pregnant woman, unless the woman waives her right to collect the funds.

Under the revised language, a father required to pay for pregnancy or abortion expenses can petition the court for relief if he undergoes a vasectomy and submits proof to the court.

Despite Givan’s demand that it is “time for [ ] change,” castration of sex offenders is nothing new in the Yellowhammer State. The practice has been legal in Alabama for several years.

In 2019, Gov. Kay Ivey, a Republican, signed HB 379 into law, which requires anyone convicted of a sex offense against a person under age 13 to start chemical castration treatment at least a month prior to being released on parole and continue “until the court determines the treatment is no longer necessary.”

The same year, Divan challenged her legislative colleagues to do more to protect women after the story of “Jessica,” an adolescent girl who was repeatedly raped and impregnated by her uncle, made headlines. Though the man did serve prison time for a drug conviction, he sued Jessica upon his release and won the right to visit with the children.

“I think the Legislature is failing the women of Alabama,” Divan said at the time. “The justice system can do no more than what we enact into law.”

Other states, including California, Florida, Louisiana, and Wisconsin also have castration provisions in their laws. Proponents of forced castration argue it is a public safety measure; opponents say it has little value in reducing recidivism and raises serious ethical and constitutional concerns. A recent study of forced chemical castrations conducted in Korea concluded that the practice was largely ineffective in reducing recidivism.

Law&Crime reached out directly to Divan to clarify how, if at all, her proposal differs from the 2019 castration law, but did not receive a response.

Just days ago, Alabama became the first state to execute a prisoner via use of nitrogen hypoxia on Jan. 25 when it put Kenneth Eugene Smith to death for the 1988 killing of Elizabeth Sennett. Smith’s final execution occurred the third time Alabama attempted to inflict the death penalty on the 58-year-old. The Supreme Court declined to halt the execution despite Smith’s claim that the never-used method of inflicting death violated the Eighth Amendment.

AL Supreme Court candidate Debra Jones claims "liberals" prevented her from shooting accused SO from the bench in political ad

ADDENDUM: Jones lost the primary by ten percentage points LOL

There is no impartiality here. Debra Jones's entire court history should be reviewed. I'm so glad to be free from the cesspool of conservatism that is Alabama. 

https://www.ctpost.com/news/article/Offices-including-secretary-of-state-contested-in-17190348.php

Offices including secretary of state contested in Alabama

JAY REEVES, Associated Press

May 22, 2022, Updated: May 22, 2022 8:56 a.m

SUPREME COURT

One Republican candidate for the Alabama Supreme Court is trying to woo voters with a mix that includes his devotion to God and former President Donald Trump. The other is emphasizing her experience in the courtroom — and her gun.

Greg Cook, an attorney from metro Birmingham, and Debra Jones, a circuit judge who hears cases in Calhoun and Cleburne, are seeking the Republican nomination for the Place 5 Supreme Court seat held by Justice Mike Bolin, who is retiring.

Cook is portraying himself as a “Trump-tough” Republican who was a Trump delegate and represented conservative interests in the 2000 presidential recount contest in Florida between Al Gore and President George W. Bush. Aside from partisan and legal qualifications, Cook's campaign resume features his longtime church membership and leadership.

Jones released a commercial late in the campaign boasting of her support for Trump, her short stature — “She's 5 feet of concrete” — and a case in which she sentenced a person convicted of child molestation to more than 1,000 years in prison. The spot shows her firing a handgun and saying the only reason she didn't put the person “under the jail” was “the liberals" wouldn't let her.

All nine members of the court are Republicans, and the winner of the Place 5 race will be a heavy favorite over Democrat Anita L. Kelly, a judge in Montgomery, in the general election.

Allison Black Cornelius stalks Registered Person she accused of abusing her almost 50 years ago, lobbies to interfere with pardon

I have always disagreed that alleged victims should be allowed an opinion on the right to be pardoned. After all, what we are seeing with Ms. Cornelius's campaign is a prime example of abuse of that privilege. A man has served his time and yet is continuously unable to be given the chance to be restored because a person labeled a victim will not let go nearly 50 years after the fact.

I say alleged because an accusation that old is hard to prove, and knowing the conviction came during the height of the Satanic Panic scares, when many people were falsely accused of multiple rapes of children as part of some kind of underground Satanic cabal. This conspiracy theory was recently revived with the Pizzagate/ QAnon conspiracies, something completely fabricated by the online troll community 4Chan. I have to wonder if this alleged victim didn't fall for the SRA hoax as well. Plenty of people back then believed they were abused when they were not actually abused.

None of these things should be considered for Mr. Prince's pardon hearing. This hearing should be on the merits of Leon's time since his release and nothing more. Leon was already judged and convicted and served time. What has he done since that time? He at least tried to work to help others, which is more han I can say for Ms. Corneluis. She has stalked this man with the blessings of the state of Alabama for 14 years since Leon's release, including lobbying to have him placed on the registry through an unconstitutional ex post facto law.

Allison, if you read this, I sent MY OWN email to the pardon board in opposition to your campaign. I think you should be arrested for harassment. 

If my readers with to be a voice of reason against this campaign of unforgiveness and hatemongering, email pardons@paroles.alabama.gov

https://www.al.com/news/2020/10/you-destroyed-our-lives-alabama-woman-opposes-pardon-for-sunday-school-teacher-who-raped-her-in-1972.html

'You destroyed our lives’: Alabama woman opposes pardon for Sunday School teacher who raped her in 1972

Updated Oct 05, 2020; Posted Oct 05, 2020

By Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com

It’s been nearly 50 years since Leon Albert Prince raped a 7-year-old girl who was a student in his Sunday School class and now, 14 years after he walked out of prison, he is seeking a pardon from the state of Alabama.

However, the 76-year-old Prince, who served 15 years of a 30-year sentence, isn’t asking his victim or victims for forgiveness. Prince has requested a state pardon and will go before the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles in two weeks to plead his case.

It’s a move that infuriates his victim, Allison Black Cornelius, who has long been outspoken about the horrendous crimes committed against her and remains devoted to the fight for her abuser to be held accountable. "It seems to me the very first person he would want to get a pardon from would be me or one of his other 52 victims,'' Cornelius said. “It makes me angry.”

Repeated efforts to reach Prince for comment have been unsuccessful.

In an emotional Facebook Live video, Cornelius delivered a “message to my rapist” which she said she knew Prince would be watching.

A message to my rapist.... (please send your opposition to email below) and SHARE THIS! Join me in opposing Leon Albert Prince’s request for a pardon. His hearing is October 20, 2020 Please email your opposition to pardons@paroles.alabama.gov Alabama Board of Pardons & Paroles

Posted by Allison Black Cornelius on Thursday, October 1, 2020

“I wanted to say to you personally, I am so tired of having to monitor and babysit you," she said in the Facebook video. "I have heard from 52 of your victims since you were convicted in 1991. I don’t understand, why did you think it was a good idea to ask the state of Alabama for a pardon before you asked me, or my mom, or dad. You were my youth pastor at Tarrant First Baptist Church when you did that. My dad and my mom trusted you. When you did this, you destroyed our lives.”

It was the national attention surrounding Prince’s trial that brought out dozens of victims – both boys and girls – who told of similar abuse by Prince. Cornelius, however, was the only one to take him to court.

“If you really deserve a pardon it would seem to me to you would have the asked us first," Cornelius said on Facebook. "You’ve never once looked me in the eye and acknowledged what you did. I’m going to tell you something Leon and I hate to admit it, but you dropped a bomb in our family when you did what you did. And you dropped a bomb in a lot of other children’s lives when you did what you did to them.”

Cornelius, now the executive director of the Greater Birmingham Humane Society, was 7 years old in 1972 when Prince, her Sunday school teacher, molested and raped her. She has said in previous interviews that he headed the bus ministry at Tarrant First Baptist Church and told her if she did not do what he wanted her to, and if she told anyone what he was doing, he would kill her dog.

It wasn’t until 20 years later, when Cornelius could no long bear the thought that he could be harming other children, that she came forward. It became a landmark case that made national headlines when she testified against Prince in a Jefferson County court.

Prince was convicted, sentenced to 30 years and served 15, leaving prison in November 2006.

Just a year after his release, Cornelius discovered that Prince was working as a volunteer with Montgomery’s Frazer Memorial Baptist Church, and volunteering with youth male sex offenders at the state’s Mount Meigs Youth Center. A required background check was never conducted, and Prince had not been required to register as a sex offender under a loophole in the law.

Prince had been convicted of “carnal knowledge of a child” which was not explicitly listed as a crime under the Community Notification Act. Cornelius and lawmakers fought that, and won and, in 2008, a state administrative law judge said a state law that requires neighbors to be notified about a sex offender living nearby applied Prince. He is now registered as a sex offender and living in Deatsville.

Cornelius said she was recently notified that Prince had applied for a state pardon. All that is required to do so is to fill out a form on the agency’s website. Prince did so, and an Oct. 20 hearing was scheduled.

The Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles can grant a full pardon, or can grant a pardon with restrictions, such as the right to possess a firearm or registering as a sex offender. During Fiscal Year 2020, which began on Oct. 1, 2019 and ended on Sept. 30, 2020, there were a total of 509 pardon hearings. Of those, 210 pardons were granted and 299 were denied.

Cornelius said she was floored, and because Prince did not list a reason for his request on his application, she has no idea why he wants one now. "It set off alarm bells for me because there would be one reason he wants a pardon and that’s because he’s trying to something that he cannot do because he is a registered sex offender,'' Cornelius said.

"I asked the (board) is he applying for nursing school? Is he wishing to carry a firearm? We just don’t know why he’s up and asked for a pardon out of the blue,'' she said.

“I would think he would start with atonement of his victims and then once all of us were convinced of his incredible transformation, then we would all join him in going down to the parole board to ask to pardon it. I would think he would need a letter of support from us.”

Though Cornelius says she has forgiven Prince, she does not support a pardon.

"I don’t know if it’s a great idea if he’s walking around and nobody knows about his past,'' she said. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m not hoping that when someone who has abused a child gets out of prison they can’t move anywhere or walk around safely without people hurting them. I’m not wishing that on anybody, but I do think it’s important for people to know who these folks are and what their background is.”

Forgiveness, Cornelius said, doesn’t erase consequences. "President Nixon has been forgiven but he can’t be president anymore,'' she said. “There are some things you do in life that you lose the privilege of getting to do what you want to do.”

“Absolutely you’re forgiven, especially if you’re a person who believes in Christ, but I don’t know that Christ says, ‘I forgive you and yes you can now back and work with children.’ He can’t live his life in a way that puts him around children – that can never happen again. Everywhere he went, he left vast destruction.”

In her video, in which she asked that those opposed to a pardon voice their concerns by either writing a letter to the board or make a donation to their favorite charity, Cornelius addressed Prince directly.

“I’m not saying you don’t deserve forgiveness, because the one thing you didn’t take from during that entire time you were raping and molesting and torturing me over those three month in 1972, you did not kill my faith. I have always had a strong faith. You didn’t take that from me. I have always had a purpose and I live that purpose because I knew if I didn’t, then I would probably succumb to all manner of addiction and brokenness and that would be me living on your purpose and that wasn’t going to happen.”

She said the pardon request had drudged up the issue all over again – though it never strays far from her thoughts, unfortunately.

“It just wears me out and I wanted you to know from me that I will do everything in my power if you want to continue to go public then I’m going to go public and talk about what you did to me and those other children. As much as it pains me and as hard as it is to be this vulnerable on a medium like this, I will do whatever I have to do to keep you from going under the radar ever again.”

Alabama Republican Representative Steve Hurst says he wants registered persons to DIE

If there was ever any doubt Steve Hurst passed Alabama's chemical castration bill as an act of vengeance, then keep this Dumbest Quote nominee in mind.

https://www.al.com/news/2019/06/chemical-castration-authorized-by-new-alabama-law-rarely-used-in-other-states.html

Hurst said he's open to improvements in the law, and would like to see a university involved in a future study on effectiveness. But for him, it comes down to simple justice.

"If they are going to mark those children for life, they need to be marked for life. ... My real feelings are that they need to die," Hurst said.

This EGAD-sden Times OpEd is the the worst OpEd I've ever seen

Whoever wrote this couldn't even stand by their statements. Thus, the entire editorial board deserves this award.

https://www.gadsdentimes.com/news/20190613/our-view-message-to-naysayers---alabama-got-this-one-right

OUR VIEW: Message to naysayers — Alabama got this one right

Posted Jun 13, 2019 at 2:20 PM

Updated Jun 13, 2019 at 2:20 PM

   

We’ve never hesitated to chide Alabama’s lawmakers for actions that have been fruitless upraised middle fingers to the federal government, or have produced ridicule outside the state.

So to be fair, we’re going to offer them support for the latest thing that has landed them in the headlines, in cable news discussions and on partisan political websites or blogs.

Gov. Kay Ivey this week signed into law a bill requiring anyone convicted of a sex offense against a victim under age 13 to undergo “chemical castration” before he can be paroled from prison.

For every man who just winced at “that word,” no actual surgery is involved. The bill, by Rep. Steve Hurst, R-Munford, requires inmates to begin taking, a month before their scheduled release date, a drug that inhibits their production of testosterone, the hormone that powers the male sex drive.

They must continue taking the drug (and paying for it out of pocket) until a judge tells them they can stop. Otherwise, they go back behind bars to complete their sentences and could be charged with an additional Class C felony.

The idea is that reducing testosterone will make an offender less likely to repeat his crime. There is evidence — the director of the National Institute for the Study, Prevention and Treatment of Sexual Trauma Alabama shared some with the Washington Post — that the practice can lower recidivism rates.

Alabama is not out in the ether with this. Six U.S. states — California, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Montana and Wisconsin — and the territory of Guam also can impose the requirement as a condition of release, sentencing or supervision for a convicted sex offender.

However, it’s Alabama that’s being lambasted for “a return to the dark ages” in a headline on Salon, referencing a quote from a state ACLU official who opposes the law, saying it “presents serious issues about involuntary medical treatment, informed consent, the right to privacy and cruel and unusual punishment.”

Well, an inmate who doesn’t want to undergo the procedure absolutely can say “No.” He just doesn’t get parole.

The testosterone-reducing drug does carry side effects (anemia, bone loss, breast growth, depression, diabetes, hair loss, heart and kidney issues, and weight gain). We trust that will be stated up front — if not, it should be, and medical screening should be done before the drug regimen starts — so an inmate can balance those downsides against the upside of getting out of a cage when choosing what to do.

Anyone sentenced to prison for a sex crime against children generally goes on a permanent sex offender list even if he (or she, although this law is useless with that gender) serves every second of his term. Because society has judged that offense to be especially heinous and recidivism rates are so high, those folks basically forfeit, until death, any real right to privacy.

And again, nobody’s using a scalpel here, so we fail to see the cruelty and unusualness, unless someone’s going to stretch that definition to include inconvenience or not giving someone a break (who hasn’t exactly earned one — we’re talking about the convicted here, not the accused or suspects).

This isn’t a “give ’em the meds and be done with it” fix. The treatment only works on people who have a true sexual attraction to children — and that’s not everyone in prison. There are people with sick minds, filled with sick fetishes and fantasies that they turn into reality for assorted reasons, sometimes just out of sheer evil. This law won’t stop those types of predators.

The likelihood is that it will be applied judiciously if not rarely, given that the most vile sex offenders aren’t likely to have much success with the parole board.

Still, this could cut into some truly unacceptable numbers — the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network reports that more than 57,000 U.S. children were sexually abused in 2016, and we’ve reported the increased number of local cases requiring the James M. Barrie Center for Children’s services.

That’s why we think this effort is justified, even if the gains are small, and should be vigorously defended against the inevitable constitutional challenges. Alabama got this one right.

Because the state loves getting sued, Alabama passes mandatory chemical castration bill

Well, it only took Steve Hurst a dozen years but he finally got some kind of nonsensical castration bill on the books.

There's already a lawsuit in the works.

https://www.cbs42.com/top-stories/alabama-considers-chemical-castration/2050636492

Alabama considers chemical castration for child molesters
By:  Cory McGinnis
Posted: Jun 03, 2019 11:21 PM CDT

Updated: Jun 04, 2019 01:54 PM CDT

4.4K

An Alabama lawmaker has a plan to permanently and physically punish someone convicted of certain sex offenses against children.

The bill, known as HB 379, would make those sex offenders have to undergo chemical castration before they leave prison.

HB 379 was introduced by State Representative Steve Hurst, R-Calhoun County.

He said the bill will be for sex offenders over the age of 21 that committed sex offenses against children. "They have marked this child for life and the punishment should fit the crime," said Hurst.

This is not Hurst's first time introducing the bill.

"I had people call me in the past when I introduced it and said don't you think this is inhumane? I asked them what's more inhumane than when you take a little infant child, and you sexually molest that infant child when the child cannot defend themselves or get away, and they have to go through all the things they have to go through. If you want to talk about inhumane--that's inhumane," said Hurst.

Hurst is hoping this would make sex offenders think twice.

"If we do something of this nature it would deter something like this happening again in Alabama and maybe reduce the numbers," said Hurst.

Attorney Raymond Johnson says, "There going to challenge it under the 8th Amendment Constitution. There going to claim that it is cruel and unusual punishment  for someone who has served there time and for the rest of there life have to be castrated."

Johnson says child molestation is a serious offense and already has serious consequences such as time served in prison followed with probation or parole.

The bill is now on Governor Kay Ivey's desk for signature.

https://legiscan.com/AL/text/HB379/id/1987931

SYNOPSIS: Under existing law, certain criminal
9 offenses are classified as sex offenses. A
10 conviction for a sex offense against a person under
11 the age of 12 years is a sex offense involving a
12 child.

13 Under existing law, a person convicted of a
14 sex offense involving a child which constitutes a
15 Class A or B felony is not eligible for parole.
16 This bill would provide that a person
17 convicted of a sex offense involving a person under
18 the age of 13 years who is eligible for parole, as
19 a condition of parole, shall be required to undergo
20 chemical castration treatment in addition to any
21 other penalty or condition prescribed by law.
22 This bill would require the Department of
23 Public Health to administer any treatment given.
24 This bill would require the parolee to pay
25 for the cost of the treatment; provided, the bill
26 would prohibit a person from being denied parole
27 because of indigency.

1 This bill would also provide that if a
2 person is ordered to undergo chemical castration
3 treatment as a condition of parole and the person
4 refuses to undergo the treatment, his or her
5 refusal would constitute a violation of parole and
6 would result in the person being remanded to the
7 custody of the Department of Corrections.

Rep. Matha Roby declares children, "Our most precious responsibility". Where have I heard that before?

Whenever I hear the terms, "children" and "most precious" come from the mouth of a politician, it makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It is a scary quote considering that Hitler penned those words so many years ago--

"The folkish state must make up for what everyone else today has neglected in this field. It must set race in the center of all life. It must take care to keep it pure. It must declare the child to be the most precious treasure of the people." -- Adolph Hitler, Mein Kampf.

I'm sure you are familiar with part of this quote, but you've usually seen it with this statement added, "As long as the government is perceived as working for the benefit of the children, the people will happily endure almost any curtailment of liberty and almost any deprivation." That was not penned by the REAL Hitler, but a fictional Hitler in a CS Lewis Screwtape letters styled social commentary by Rabbi Daniel Lapin in 1999. However, the part aboyr declaring the child to be the "Most Precious" was indeed the quote by Hitler.

Yes, I can hear a couple of triggered folks whining, "OMG I can't believe you went there."Now, I'm NOT comparing Roby to Hitler. I AM, however, pointing out that her statement is flat out creepy and disturbing in using this statement to promote the type of legislation that is a better fit for 1980s Berlin than 2018 USA.

http://altoday.com/archives/26743-martha-roby-our-most-precious-responsibility

Martha Roby: Our most precious responsibility
BY GUEST AUTHOR ON SEPTEMBER 28, 2018

As a society, our children are perhaps the greatest, most precious responsibility given to us. They are vulnerable, innocent, and wholly dependent upon the adults surrounding them for protection. While horrible and unthinkable, the unfortunate reality is that not everyone takes this responsibility seriously, and there are even those who would do children harm.

The National Center for Victims of Crime reports that while the prevalence of child sexual abuse is difficult to determine because it is often unreported, experts still agree that the number of incidences is vastly greater than what is reported to authorities.

Children are the most vulnerable members of our society, and there is perhaps no greater responsibility before Congress than the call to protect them. I believe it is our job to provide the most effective tools available to confront, fight, punish, and ultimately prevent horrific crimes against children. Our legal protections for children and the punishments for those who harm them must be as strong as possible.

That’s why I was grateful that the House of Representatives recently passed my bill, H.R. 6847, the Preventing Child Exploitation Act of 2018, in the House where it recently passed. This bill combines four pieces of legislation in an effort to fight the abuse and exploitation of children and strengthen protections for them under the law. I’d like to take a moment to share with you more specifics on what this package of bills would accomplish.

First, my bill includes H.R. 1842, the Strengthening Children’s Safety Act, which makes our communities safer by enhancing penalties for sex offenders who fail to register in the national sex offender registry, and then commit a crime of violence.

Second, the bill includes H.R. 1862, the Global Child Protection Act, legislation I previously introduced to combat global sex tourism by closing loopholes that allow child predators to go unpunished for their abuse of children overseas.

Third, this bill includes H.R. 1761, the Protecting Against Child Exploitation Act, to add legal measures to strengthen protections for victims of child pornography.

Fourth, and finally, my bill includes H.R. 1188, the Adam Walsh Reauthorization Act, to continue our support for programs that help prevent child abuse by ensuring that the public has access to information about known sex offenders in their neighborhoods.

In addition to introducing the Preventing Child Exploitation Act, I was also proud to join my colleagues in cosponsoring the Victims of Child Abuse Act Reauthorization Act of 2018. As you may know, the Victims of Child Abuse Act was first passed in 1990, and it provides federal funding for the development of Children’s Advocacy Centers (CAC).

The primary mission of a CAC is to prevent further victimization of a child by ensuring that child abuse investigations are comprehensive and that intervention and healing services are age-appropriate for the needs of each individual child.

Congress unanimously reauthorized the Victims of Child Abuse Act reauthorization in 2014, but it is set to expire this year. I am hopeful that the House will take up this important piece of legislation soon to ensure that CACs have the resources necessary to serve the children who need them most.

In Congress, I am grateful to have the opportunity to serve on the Judiciary Committee where we have worked very diligently to combat crimes against children. In recent years, we have made remarkable progress in this fight – but we can, and we must, do more. I’m encouraged by House passage of the Preventing Child Exploitation Act, and I am hopeful that the Senate will act on this bill quickly to protect the most vulnerable among us. We must use every tool available to prevent horrific crimes against children.

Martha Roby represents Alabama’s Second Congressional District. She lives in Montgomery, Alabama, with her husband Riley and their two children.

Jessica Lessley of Birmingham is violating Alabama harassment law, but is getting a free pass by the police

The Alabama sex offender website states the following:

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON THIS SITE IS INTENDED FOR COMMUNITY SAFETY PURPOSES ONLY AND SHOULD NOT BE USED TO THREATEN, INTIMIDATE, OR HARASS.  MISUSE OF THIS INFORMATION MAY RESULT IN CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

Yet, the police is not going after Jesica Lassley of 400 10th St. Birmingham AL 35217-1433. She That is an injustice. This is why the registry needs to be taken offline.

Now, before  lets look at Jessica Lessley's Facebook page. Upon seeing the posts on her Facebook page, I find it hard to believe that she didn't start this war. 

http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2016/11/sex_offender_billboard_raised.html

Sex offender billboard raised in 'Hatfield and McCoy' neighborhood feud

By Carol Robinson | crobinson@al.com 

Email the author | Follow on Twitter 

on November 10, 2016 at 2:53 PM, updated November 10, 2016 at 3:01 PM

A feud worthy of the Hatfields and McCoys is brewing in one Jefferson County neighborhood, where a giant billboard now stands as the latest volley in a battle between a mother of six and a convicted sex offender who lives across the street.

On one side of 10th Street in Robinwood is Jessica Lessley, her husband Jeb and their half dozen children who range in age from 14 years old to just 2 weeks. Across the way, and one house over, is 27-year-old Raymond Kyle Martin. who lives with his mother, Tammy McCullers.

On Wednesday, Lessley and her husband erected the banner in their yard, on the side of the house that faces Martin's. It bears his photo, his address and notes his 2013 convictions for the second-degree rape and second-degree sodomy of a 15-year-old girl.

The Lessleys have lived in their home for 11 years, and said they had no problems until Martin moved in across the street about a year ago. Since then, they've said, Martin has terrorized the neighborhood children and their parents, threatening to call the cops, call DHR and even skin their cat. "It's just a nightmare,'' Lessley said.

Martin's mother, however, said they're not the problem. Their neighbors are the ones stirring the pot, all in an effort to get them to leave Robinwood. "They want us to move so bad,'' McCullers said. "I will see them mother (expletives) in hell before I move."

The Jefferson County sheriff's office was called to 10th Street Thursday morning. McCullers said someone flattened the tire on her car, and she complained about the billboard. "It's shouldn't be there,'' she said. "Robinwood has 50 sex offenders and my son is the only one they put up a sign for."

Martin was arrested in 2012, then 24, and accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl. His mother said the sex was consensual and that the girl told her son she was 18. "He was set up,'' McCullers said.

In 2013, he pleaded guilty to the charges and received a 10-year suspended sentence in each case. It's not his only brushes with the law. Court records show he has other convictions for criminal trespass, harassing communications, probation violation, violation of the state's sex offender notification laws, domestic violence and multiple counts of cruelty to animals. In one of those cases, authorities noted, he left one of his dogs without food and water, and the dog ended up hanging herself and dying while she was trying to get to her puppies.

A warrant for his arrest was issued Oct. 6 after Lessley filed a harassment charge against him. In that complaint, she said her neighbor yells nasty things to her when she walks her kids to the bus stop, threatens to burn down her house and kill her pets. She said she's found hotdogs in her yard that she fears have been poisoned and meant to harm her three dogs.

"I'm not the only family with kids he's messing with,'' she said. "It's an ongoing battle. We've talked to the landlord. We've offered to buy that house. I've put up a camera system and I can't let my kids play in the yard unless we're outside with them. I do a perimeter check when they do go out, and they know not to go close to the gate."

"We're trying to do everything we can the legal way,'' she said. "We don't know what else to do."

McCullers said deputies told her the billboard with her son's photo on it is legal because it's public information. She said she is furious about it. There are nine convicted sex offenders living in the neighborhood, and she said her son is the only one being singled out. "It's wrong for it to be broadcast like that,'' she said. "I want to get all of the sex offenders together and march to City Hall."

She said she's ready to take matters into her own hands. "I'll spray paint that son of a (expletive) sign even if it means I'll go to jail,'' she said. "We're having problems. Somebody's going to get hurt."

Both Tarrant police and sheriff's deputies are familiar with the problem. "We have responded to 23 calls related to Martin this year from different complainants, including one where he threatened his own family member,'' said Jefferson County sheriff's Chief Deputy Randy Christian. "It seems that other convicted sex offenders in the area have no issues so it's hard to buy that he is being singled out for that."

"It sounds more like he is purposely acting out, being a menace and provoking his neighbors,'' Christian said. "Hopefully when he gets to court on this latest arrest the judge will note that."

Alabama Republican State Rep Steve Hurst wants your 'wurst in the worst kind of way

Steve Hurst has been trying to get a mandatory SURGICAL castration bill passed since 2007. I think the legislature should pass a mandatory surgical lobotomy bill for people like Hurst.

I think this guy is pretty perverted, quite frankly. ecause this guy is completely obsessed with cutting penises.

http://wiat.com/2016/03/04/alabama-lawmaker-introduces-sex-offender-castration-bill/

Alabama lawmaker introduces sex offender castration bill
By Matt Fernandez
Published: March 4, 2016, 10:26 pm  Updated: March 4, 2016, 10:29 pm

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WIAT) — An Alabama lawmaker has a plan to permanently and physically punish someone convicted of certain sex offenses against children.

The bill, known as HB 365, would make those sex offenders have to get surgically castrated before they leave prison.

HB 365 was introduced by State Representative Steve Hurst, R-Calhoun County.

He said the bill will be for sex offenders over the age of 21 that committed sex offenses against children 12 years old and younger.

“They have marked this child for life and the punishment should fit the crime,” said Hurst.

This is not Hurst’s first time introducing the bill.

“I had people call me in the past when I introduced it and said don’t you think this is inhumane? I asked them what’s more inhumane than when you take a little infant child, and you sexually molest that infant child when the child cannot defend themselves or get away, and they have to go through all the things they have to go through. If you want to talk about inhumane–that’s inhumane,” said Hurst.

Hurst is hoping this would make sex offenders think twice.

“If we do something of this nature it would deter something like this happening again in Alabama and maybe reduce the numbers,” said Hurst.

Residents have some mixed emotions about it.

“Somebody that wants to mess with a little girl or little boy that age should be castrated, and they should not be able to mess with any other kids,” said Keith Dison.

“I understand prison and going to prison for a long time for some kind of crime like that, but to physical mutilate someone…that’s a little out there…it’s crazy,” Jessica George said.

The bill will have to pass the judiciary committee before it’s heard by the Alabama House and Senate.

Could this be the craziest consequence of sex offender legislation EVER?

I'm not going to get into a pro-choice vs pro-life debate. However, when legislators look to sex offender residency laws as a foundation for passing restrictions in other areas of life, THAT is Shiitake-worthy. It apparently has the support of the guv'nuh.

http://www.christianexaminer.com/article/pro.life.group.seeks.buffer.law.for.abortion.clinics.similar.to.sex.offender.requirements/47689.htm

Pro-lifers seek to shut abortion center using sex offender buffer provisions
by Vanessa Garcia Rodriguez | 26 November, 2014
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HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (Christian Examiner) -- Despite strong efforts of Alabama pro-life supporters to shut down North Alabama's only abortion clinic, a court ruling last week has allowed the Women's Center in Huntsville to remain open. Now the group will seek to establish new legislation instead of filing an appeal.

In September, James Henderson, executive director of the Christian Coalition of Alabama and 18 other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the Huntsville Board of Zoning Adjustment asking for a preliminary injunction to stop the clinic from operating while the case goes through the court system.

Madison County Circuit Judge Alan Mann rejected the efforts on the grounds that none of the plaintiffs were directly affected by the location of the clinic. The lawsuit, had argued that the clinic should not be allowed to operate on a previously granted building variance initially intended for a Huntsville Hospital outpatient facility before it closed in 2013.

According to Al.com Henderson would not seek to appeal the court ruling, but instead try to establish a new law requiring abortion clinics to establish themselves at a 2,000 foot distance from schools. The 2,000 foot buffer is similar to the minimum distance requirement as is placed on sex offenders and schools.

"If you look in terms of cost effectiveness, new legislation is a better way to go," he said. "There will be a lot of public input and I know it's something Republican legislators will support."

Henderson, a member of the Alabama Republican Party executive committee, claimed that a buffer zone law has been encouraged by Gov. Robert Bentley's office and that Chief Legal Advisor David Byrne Jr. offered assistance with the legislation, though he could not do legal work for a private entity.

Should the law pass, the Alabama Women's Center would have to shut its doors or relocate because its current campus is almost directly across from a middle school which is being remodeled.

The center opened at this location in October after clinic owner Dalton Johnson purchased the facilities from Huntsville Hospital. He previously relocated his abortion service because that plant did not meet the standards of the Alabama Women's Health and Safety Act of 2013.

AL: Madison Co. Schools try to set up an entrapment sting but ends up setting up an alleged rape

What do you do when the people entrusted to educate your kids are blithering idiots? I wonder if these "edumacators" got the idea from that idiotic Dateline NBC show, TCAP. If you can't trust police with conducting a proper sting, then how reasonable is a plot where school officials hire a mentally handicapped girl to be bait for a potential rapist?

http://fox13now.com/2014/09/20/plan-to-use-teen-as-bait-leads-to-rape-at-school-lawsuit-alleges/

Plan to use teen as bait leads to rape at school in Alabama, lawsuit alleges

POSTED 7:37 PM, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014, BY CNN WIRE, UPDATED AT 07:41PM, SEPTEMBER 20, 2014

By Victor Blackwell

CNN

(CNN) — It’s an unimaginable horror. A 14-year-old girl with special needs allegedly was raped at school after a teacher’s aide persuaded her to act as bait to catch an accused sexual predator, a fellow student.

“It has essentially devastated her life,” attorney Eric Artrip — who represents the girl and her father — said of the alleged January 2010 incident.

The Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Education filed an amicus brief Wednesday supporting her family’s federal lawsuit against the Madison County School Board in Alabama.

An amicus brief is a legal argument offered to the court by someone who is not a party to the case. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta will decide whether to accept the argument.

“School administrators knew the student’s extensive history of sexual and violent misconduct and were alerted to the substantial risk he posed” to other students, according to the brief.

About a week before the alleged rape, Sparkman Middle School vice principals Jeanne Dunaway and Teresa Terrell received a complaint that the boy had touched a female student inappropriately and was assigned in-school suspension, according to federal attorneys.

A few days later, June Simpson, a teacher’s aide at the Huntsville-area school, told the principal, Ronnie Blair, that the boy had “repeatedly tried to convince girls to have sex with him in the boys’ bathroom on the special needs students’ corridor” and had actually had sex with one student, according to the brief.

The boy and his alleged sexual partner denied having sex in the bathroom, but Simpson recommended the boy be “constantly monitored,” according to the brief. Blair said the boy could not be punished because he had not been “caught in the act,” the brief reads.

School policy requires allegations of student-on-student misconduct be substantiated.

Trying to “catch him in the act”

On January 22, 2010, the boy approached a 14-year-old girl with special needs who had already declined his “recent, repeated propositions” for sex, according to the brief.

“She was not physically or mentally handicapped, although she does qualify for special education classes,” Artrip told CNN.

When the girl told Simpson, she encouraged the girl to “meet (the boy) in the bathroom where teachers could be positioned to ‘catch him in the act’ before anything happened,” according to the brief.

The girl initially refused, but then agreed, according to Artrip.

Simpson and the girl went to Dunaway’s office to explain the plan. Dunaway “did not respond with any advice or directive,” according to the brief.

“If this was problematic for the administration it would have been better to express that on the front end instead of the back end,” said attorney McGriff Belser III, who represents Simpson.

The girl left Dunaway’s office, found the boy in the hallway, and “agreed to meet for sex,” according to the brief.

“Something went wrong,” said Artrip.

Instead of meeting in the boys’ bathroom on the special needs students’ corridor, the boy told the girl to meet him in the sixth-grade boys’ bathroom, in another part of the school, according to the brief.

“No teachers were in the bathroom to intervene,” the brief reads.

“She stalled for time. She continually tried to fight him off but ultimately was anally raped by this young man,” Artrip told CNN.

“It was evident that this had been a severe trauma for her,” said Artrip.

Police were called and the girl was taken to the National Children’s’ Advocacy Center in Huntsville, where a rape kit was taken, Artrip told CNN.

Medical personnel found evidence of trauma “consistent with (the girl) being sodomized.” The boy claimed he had only kissed her, according to the brief.

Attorneys: Boy had a long history of serious misconduct

The girl was uncommunicative after the incident, Artrip said. The district attorney in Madison County investigated the incident, but with a victim who was unable or unwilling to talk about the incident, the office didn’t think they had a good case, and did not pursue it.

Even after viewing photographs of the girl’s injuries, vice principal Terrell “testified that she didn’t know whether (the girl) had consented to the assault,” according to the brief.

The school listed the alleged rape as “inappropriate touching a female in boys’ bathroom,” on the student’s computerized disciplinary report. He was suspended for five days and sent to an alternative school, but later returned to Sparkman after about 20 days, according to the brief.

Vice principal Dunaway testified that the girl was responsible for herself once she entered the bathroom, according the brief.

DoJ and DoE attorneys claim the boy had a long history of sexual and other misconduct in school and Sparkman Middle School administrators knew it. Several pages of the 126-page brief detail years of disciplinary problems.

The boy had been involved in 15 violent or sex-related proven incidents of misconduct before the alleged rape, according to the brief.

Federal attorneys say details about the severity of the incidents are unavailable because school administrators shredded the boy’s disciplinary files.

The girl’s father filed the federal lawsuit in October 2010 against the boy, the three administrators, the teacher’s aide and the Madison County School Board.

“We felt, (that) the teacher putting her into this position, because of the policy as interpreted by the school board and the principal, violated Title IX,” Artrip told CNN.

Title IX is a federal law aimed at ending sexual discrimination in education. In part, it dictates how schools that receive federal funds must respond to claims of sexual harassment.

In 2010, a district court judge allowed the father’s claims of state violations, including negligence, against Simpson and Dunaway, while dropping the boy from the lawsuit because he was a minor. The judge tossed out the federal claims — that the school district violated Title IX and that Simpson and school administrators deprived the girl of her civil rights.

Both sides have appealed.

Fighting for a jury trial

According to the rare amicus brief, written in part by an attorney with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, the school, in its capacity as a recipient of federal funds is “liable for [its] deliberate indifference to known acts of peer sexual harassment.”

On the same day the federal brief was submitted, the Women’s Law Center, joined by 32 national and local organizations, submitted a joint brief supporting the family’s lawsuit. Earlier this month, the National Women’s Law Center and Artrip submitted a joint brief to the Eleventh Circuit.

Artrip told CNN his client deserves her day in court and a jury should weigh in on the Madison County District’s requirement of substantiation of allegations of student-on-student misconduct.

“We hope that the attention that this case is getting will spur a movement on these kinds of policies so that a girl can simply report sexual harassment without having a need to bring a witness with her or roll up her shirt and show bruises,” Artrip told CNN.

The girl was withdrawn from Sparkman Middle School and underwent extensive counseling. She went to live with her mother in North Carolina, but her mother died soon after. Instead of moving back to Huntsville, she and her brother were placed with Child Protective Services in North Carolina, the attorney said.

Geraldine Tibbs, the head of public relations for the Madison County Board of Education, said the board and school officials “are confident that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals will rule in favor of the Board and the administrators.”

“Our attorneys recommend that we not discuss ongoing litigation,” she said.

Ronnie Blair and Teresa Terrell are still principal and vice principal at Sparkman Middle School.

Jeanne Dunaway is now principal at Madison County Elementary School.

June Simpson resigned shortly after the incident.

“My client has gone from being a teacher’s aide to being a scapegoat,” said Simpson’s attorney.

When asked why his client thought it was a good idea to use a special needs teen as bait to catch a suspected attacker, Besler told CNN, “I don’t personally think it is a good idea. The events of this case have shown us that it was not.”

The-CNN-Wire

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Alabama State Rep. Kurt Wallace's political swan song sends registered citizens into exile

 For years, I have been battling Alabama State Rep. Kurt "The Segregationist" Wallace over a bid to pass a statewide anti-clustering bill. While ReFORM-AL was mounting opposition for a statewide anti-clustering bill, professed "Christian Conservative" State Rep. Kurt Wallace pulled out the politician playbook and called a trick play.

This is how they built typically passes to the Alabama Legislature. A bill is introduced and assigned to a committee. There is generally time allotted for the public to become aware of a pending bill. Before a bill passes committee, the public has a right to request a public hearing on the bill at hand. It is a narrow window, but an individual generally has at least a couple of weeks or so to catch a bill as it pops up before committee.

With HB 556, and anti-clustering bill just for Chilton County, the public was literally given a single day’s notice. On Thursday, February 27, 2014, HB 556 was introduced and read for the first time before the house legislature, and was assigned to the “LL” (local legislation) committee. By Tuesday, March 4, the bill had been read a second time and placed on the calendar, and the next day, it had been read a third time and put to a vote. Only 38 representatives voted, all of them “yea,” of course, and 47 representatives were not even present to vote on March 5.

In short, the public was never truly given adequate notice. ReFORM-AL  had been checking the Alabama state legislature (“ALISON”) website every Friday during the legislative season, and not a single notice of HB 556 was seen. A bill was literally introduced and passed through the house in five business days, but that a single notice given to those who were to be impacted by these laws.

Keep in mind at this point, once a bill goes before the full legislature outside of committee, the public cannot request a public hearing. The best hope is to attempt to stop the bill by convincing legislators outside of committee to vote against the bill. To be honest, how many people do you think actually read, debated, or consider the negative consequences of this bill?

Could we have stopped the bill in the Senate? Since no one was even aware of HB 556, no one realized that the very next day, the bill was read for the first time in the Senate. The following Thursday, March 13, the bill was read a second time, and on Tuesday, March 18, the bill was read a third and final time and was put to a vote. This time, 21 people voted yea, and three people voted to abstain from voting. It was “enrolled” and sent for the governor to sign.

In total, 18 days had passed between the time the bill was first read in the time the bill was sent to the governor's office, or rather, 12 business days. That is superfast by Alabama Legislature standards.

State Rep. Kurt Wallace has been pushing his segregationist policy for years, all just to shut down a transitional housing program in his home County. This time, he got what he wanted. ReFORM-AL has already received a number of phone calls from individuals negatively impacted by this countywide ordinance. It is amazing how Wallace and his stooge CJ Robinson pushed for this idiotic legislation while admitting that residency restriction laws were the cause of the problem in the first place, testifying that these laws lead people to take advantage of registered citizens.

It seems the “good old boy” network is alive in rural Alabama. I'm sure Jesus is just ecstatic that Wallace has made people homeless in his name. On the upside, Wallace just lost his bid for re-election, so at least this fight has become his political swan song.

Steve Giardini kicks off the campain for the 2013 Shiitake awards

First off a reminder, voting for the Shhitake Awards is running till December 31. http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/8L5CJLG

This means all new candidates from here on out are for next year's awards.

And what better way to kick off the campaign for 2013 by adding an early nominee for the Hardest Fall category? This nomination goes to former Mobile County Alabama Assistant DA Steve Giardini, who got away with online enticement of a child thanks to a "loophole in the law." I guess laws ignoring ex post facto only applies to those already convicted, or maybe just prosecutors?

http://www.local15tv.com/news/local/story/Charges-Dropped-Against-Former-ADA-Steve-Giardini/xioZtNv1SEm7M8k7YlQ6Ww.cspx


(MOBILE, Ala.)  Just a week before his trial was set to begin, the charges against a former Mobile County Assistant District Attorney have been dropped. Steve Giardini, who once prosecuted sex offenders, was charged with child sex crimes. 

Giardini's first trial ended with a hung jury May 2011. A judge Monday afternoon granted the defense motion to dismiss the charges and also granted the defense motion for judgement of acquittal.

Giardini may have thought he was chatting online and on the phone with a 15-year-old girl, but in reality, he was talking to a male, undercover FBI agent. Their conversations were extremely sexual in nature. But because there was no victim, the judge said there was no case.

"The statute under which Steve was charged is a decades old statute that was never designed for computer solicitation or anything of that nature," said Giardini's defense attorney Dennis Knizley.

Knizley says now there is a law that covers when perpetrators think they are soliciting minors, even if they're not. Giardini had been charged with that, too, but the charge was dropped because the law went into effect in May 2009, one month after Giardini's activity stopped.

We went by Giardini's  Midtown home for comment Tuesday. No one came to the door.

Knizely says it's been three years, nine months since this case began, and with the judge's ruling, it's finally come to an end.

"It's not something to be condoned, but just because we don't like the conduct does not necessarily make it criminal. And in this case it was not criminal," said Knizley.

Knizley says Giardini has an active law license and family in Huntsville, but he has not discussed what Giardini's plans for the future are. 

The Alabama Attorney General's Office prosecuted the case and emailed this statement Tuesday afternoon:

"We are disappointed in the ruling of the court. We feel that our case was strong and cogent. We have no further comment at this time." 

I don't know what his track record is on sex crimes, but I don't recall any dissenting votes when Alabama passed the Adamned Walsh Act. But a pol is a pol and we have a special place for them here at the Shiitakes.

http://blog.al.com/wire/2012/11/former_state_legislator_princi.html

Former state legislator, principal James Thomas convicted of sexual contact with student

By The Associated Press 
on November 02, 2012 at 12:14 PM

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Former state legislator James Thomas in the courtroom with his attorney Lewis Gillis in Camden, Ala., earlier this week. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

CAMDEN, Alabama — Former state Rep. James Thomas has been convicted of a charge of having sexual contact with a student. He was acquitted of a felony sexual abuse charge.
The 69-year-old Thomas was charged with having sexual contact with a 17-year-old honor student in his office at Wilcox-Central High School in Camden in November 2010.
The victim, now a 19-year-old college student, testified that Thomas kissed her and forced her to touch his "private parts."
Circuit Judge Jack Meigs ordered Thomas immediately taken into custody and set sentencing for Dec. 13.
District Attorney Michael Jackson said Thomas will have to register as a sex offender and won't be able to continue as principal. He has been on administrative leave for the past two years while he awaited trial.

Opinion column puts the DOH! in the Dothan Eagle

In DOH-than's defense, they ARE this close to Flori-DUH. 

The fact this opinion piece was ever written is so egregious I need a new category just because of it. So now we will have the "Dumbest Media Outlet" category. Thanks, DOH-than Eagle! Geez, only in Alabama.

 http://www2.dothaneagle.com/news/2012/jul/01/letter-modest-proposal-ar-4072284/


Letter: A modest proposal


By: Bill DeJournett, Dothan | Dothan Eagle 
Published: July 01, 2012


Jerry Sandusky, the convicted child molester, will spend the rest of his life in prison at taxpayers’ expense.  Why not just buy a 10-foot rope and toss it into his cell?  If he is on a suicide watch, let his own hand execute justice. 


Justification can be found in the Bible; see Mark 9:42.  Jesus said "And whosoever offends one of these little ones, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged around his neck, and he were cast into the sea." 


My interpretation of this Holy Scripture is that suicide is a better option for child molesters, not 40 years in prison. 


Let not your heart be troubled about the possible repercussions from the bleeding heart liberals, who would scream "inhumane cruelty."  God has specified exact judgment and he is not cruel.


Oh well, I know this is not going to even be considered because of our sin nature and the spiritual disobedience in our society. 


Am I wrong?


Bill DeJournett


Dothan



And here is a comment in the message board:


You damn straight you are wrong, Bill. Shame on the Dothan Eagle for even posting this vile filth! And to top it off, the man MISQUOTES SCRIPTURE!


2 Peter 1:20-- Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things.


So Bill's private revelation is invalid.


Next time, read the entire chapter. 


If you read Matthew 18, which also has the same verse, you'd understand Christ was speaking of any dissent and scandal within the church which led ANY BELIEVER astray, which is EXACTLY what Bill is doing. 


Another thing, Johnathan Swift's 'A Modest Proposal' was a satirical discussion of cannibalizing children for the sake of humankind. I can think of no better headline to describe the farce of Bill's entire stupid argument.

And


Nothing like using the Bible to justify hatred and violence. What about the verse in Galatians that says, "a man who says he loves God yet hates his brother is a liar?" 


No amount of hate, intolerance, or vile suggestions will help Sandusky's victims (or victims of abuse anywhere) heal. Perpetuating the cycle of pain makes you no better than those you wish death upon.


Well stated.

Guess what else passes for news in DOH-than?