Democrat NJ Gov. Phil Murphy sides with Republicans in vetoing bill for mental health diversion programs because it may help a Person Forced to Register

Here is Phil(-led with BS) Murphy illustrating how much intelligence was used in this decision

I think it is odd how people like to say everyone on the registry needs professional help but they make it an exclusion to a program that does just that. 

https://newjerseymonitor.com/briefs/governor-in-veto-recommends-barring-sex-offenders-from-mental-health-diversion-programs/

"Governor, in veto, recommends barring sex offenders from mental health diversion programs"

BY: DANA DIFILIPPO - NOVEMBER 29, 2023 11:36 AM

Gov. Phil Murphy this week conditionally vetoed a bill that would expand an intervention program to divert some nonviolent criminal defendants to mental health programs, with Murphy recommending lawmakers bar people arrested for sex offenses subject to Megan’s Law.

Lawmakers narrowly passed the bill in June along party lines, with Republicans warning it would push violent offenders onto the street.

Murphy issued a statement on Monday supporting the spirit of the bill, saying: “Mental health issues should not be unnecessarily criminalized.”

“This bill ensures that individuals whose criminal behaviors are a result of mental disorders are provided therapeutic services while still being held accountable for their actions,” Murphy wrote.

But he objected to its language that excludes only first-degree crimes from the program, leaving second-degree and violent crimes, including offenses that trigger Megan’s Law, “presumptively ineligible, subject to prosecutor review.” He recommended lawmakers revise the bill to make Megan’s Law-triggering crimes “categorically ineligible.”

Murphy noted that bill sponsor Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex) requested the change to the bill.

“If in fact there was any appearance of a loophole, this secures the intent of the bill,” Ruiz told the New Jersey Monitor.

The legislation would expand mental health diversion programs that exist in five New Jersey counties to three new court jurisdictions. The programs function like recovery court, allowing criminal offenders with mental health disorders to avoid jail time and, if they graduate from the program, have their charges expunged.

Phil Gianficaro claims 40% of Registered Persons will commit sex crimes within a year of release

 In addition to posting the intentional "sex offenders are 4 times as likely to reoffend" myth as well as an impliit endorsement of vigilante violence, Phil Gianficaro claims 2 out of every 5 registered persons commit a sex offense within a year of release from prison. What a complete tool!

This has to be some kind of new record for outlandish claims about Registered Persons. 

https://www.burlingtoncountytimes.com/story/opinion/2020/09/17/gianficaro-prison-sentence-child-predators-must-pack-more-punch/3460005001/

Gianficaro: Prison sentence for child sex predators must pack more punch

Phil Gianficaro

Burlington County Times

As the parent of a teenage daughter we love more than life itself, the child sexual predator’s prison sentence feels more like a jab to the chin than the iron-fisted haymaker it requires.

Four years? Only four years for attempting to lure 14-year-old girls to meet him for sex? Only four years for 25-year-old William Singleton of Pemberton Township who, but for the invaluable work of New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal’s multi-agency undercover operation, may have committed the unthinkable on someone’s young daughter and gotten away with it? Only four years for changing a young girl’s world forever? Maybe next time he would’ve remained undetected behind the cloak of social media and lured your neighbor’s daughter into his dark lair. Or maybe your daughter. Maybe mine. Only four years? For God’s sake!

Singleton was among 24 men arrested in September 2018 during “Operation Open House.” Detectives with the New Jersey Regional Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force posed online as underage girls. The defendants, believing the undercover detective was a 14-year-old girl, asked the "girl" to meet him at a Toms River house for sexual activity. 

Singleton last week agreed to a guilty plea to avoid trial and was sentenced to four years in state prison. In New Jersey, second-degree child molestation or child sex abuse of a child 13 to16 years old is punishable by a prison sentence of 5 to 10 years. So, Singleton gets a light sentence only because he was caught by the law before getting the chance to carry out his heinous crime. Four years? He shouldn't get points for that.

Fathers of teenage daughters have a completely understandable and contrary view. In a father’s eyes, the attempt is seen as egregious as the act. A father's meting out of justice is this: Throw the book at the perp, and throw away the key.

Sex offenders are at least four times more likely than other criminals to be rearrested for a sex crime, according to the US Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics. Know this: Singleton will be released from prison before he’s 30 and, statistically, there’s a 40 percent chance he’ll commit or attempt to commit the same crime within one year of discharge from prison. Maybe next time, he slips through the cracks of law enforcement. And when it comes to a next time, there’s unlikely to be a maybe.

Opportunities for predators like Singleton have increased this year, with the COVID-19 pandemic closing down schools and leading to children spending increased time on the internet. According to Grewal, from March through July, there was a 50 percent increase in tips to the task force that nabbed Singleton compared to the same months last year.

When asked what he might due if one of the William Singletons of the world lured his young daughter into a hotel room or apartment and did the unthinkable, a friend didn't hesitate.

"If I ever found him, I'd introduce the sweet spot of my Louisville Slugger to the back of his head," he said. "Prison is too good for these dirt bags."

As I look at a photo of our daughter, I understand. Don't know a father who wouldn't.

When child sex predators like Singleton are arrested, the punch of justice should be haymaker instead of jab. You get caught luring underage kids for sex, you sit in prison for a minimum of 10 years. No plea agreement, no early parole, no nothing. Prison. For a decade.

Where young girls would be safely away from a predator.

And the predator safely away from their dads.

Phil Gianficaro can be reached at 215-345-3078, pgianficaro@theintell.com, and @philgianficaro on Twitter. 

Smear by New Jersey GOP State Chairman Doug Steinhardt claims Democratic legislator opposed the Adam Walsh Act (like that is a bad thing)

This is a political smear against a pol that once worked in the Human Rights Watch, but had nothing to do wit HRW's opposition to the controversial Adam Walsh Act. But even if he was, that opposition was good because the AWA is somplete shiitake. 

https://newjerseyglobe.com/congress/steinhardt-says-malinowski-opposed-2006-bill-to-create-national-sex-offender-registry/

Steinhardt says Malinowski opposed 2006 bill to create national sex offender registry, but official disputes that

Former Human Rights Watch official says GOP is wrong, that Malinowski was not involved in lobbying effort on federal crime bill

By David Wildstein, August 06 2020 6:33 pm

The state’s top Republican today accused Rep. Tom Malinowski (D-Ringoes) of trying to derail the formation of a national sex offender registry while working as a lobbyist fourteen years ago, but one of the freshman congressman’s former co-workers strongly disputed the claim.

In the harshest attack so far in what may be New Jersey’s most competitive congressional race, GOP State Chairman Doug Steinhardt charged that Malinowski lobbied against a section of a 2006 crime bill that forced sex offenders to register as part of a national database while working at Human Rights Watch.

“Tom Malinowski’s roots are rotten, and his values are hollow,” Steinhardt said.  “That he was bought and paid for to lobby against protecting children from sex offenders is emblematic of his self-serving nature.”

Human Rights Watch opposed the legislation, suggesting that while sex offender registration was warranted, there was “no legitimate community safety justification for the provisions in this legislation that require offenders to register for the rest of their lives, regardless of whether they have lived offense free for decades.”

But the Human Rights Watch attorney who signed a statement urging Congress to reject the bill said that Malinowski had no part of it.

“He was not involved in this issue at all,” said Jennifer Daskal, who was the advocacy director for the group’s U.S. Program. “He was working on foreign policy issues.”

Daskal, who later served as Assistant U.S. Attorney General for National Security in the Obama administration and is now a law professor at American University, said that Malinowski did not attend any meetings on the topic and not involved in any discussions involving the stance Human Rights Watch would take on the bill now known as the Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act.

“It was a long time ago, but I have no recollection of him being involved,” Daskal told the New Jersey Globe.

Steinhardt rejected assertions that Malinowski should not be held accountable for every position taken by an organization he worked for.

“There is no possible good explanation for his lobbying record, therefore it isn’t even worth demanding one,” said Steinhardt.  “Tom Malinowski makes me sick.”

Malinowski had worked for the U.S. Department of State in the 1990s and later joined the Clinton White House staff as a senior director of the National Security Council.  He later spent twelve years at Human Rights Watch before President Barack Obama nominated him to serve as Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in 2013.

Republicans sought to tie Malinowski to issues related to Human Rights Watch when he challenged incumbent Leonard Lance (R-Clinton Township) in 2018.

In that race, Steinhardt sought to tie Malinowski to another colleague who was suspended in 2009 for collecting Nazi memorabilia.  That individual, Marc Garlasco, worked in the New York office while Malinowski was in Washington.

Lance labeled Malinowski as anti-Israel for Human Rights Watch’s opposition of the construction of settlements in the West Bank and for Gaza to continue receiving U.S. military aide.

Malinowski shot back that Lance’s effort to make Israel into a campaign issue could damage its relationship with the United States.

A super PAC tied to then-House Speaker Paul Ryan aired TV ads in 2018 alleging that Malinowski lobbied for the rights of terrorists.

Malinowski and Human Rights Watch lobbied for access to courts and Habeus Corpus rights for detainees in Guantanamo Bay between 2006 and 2008.

While the Malinowski campaign pointed to his backing the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, a bill outlawing the use of torture that was authored by U.S. Sen. John McCain, the ad does not directly refer to the bill, and it cites lobbying disclosures dated to 2007, after the bill had already passed.

McCain’s former chief of staff, Mark Salter, defended Malinowski on Twitter.

“Tom worked with Republicans and Democrats who believed American ideals are worth protecting in war and peace,” Salter said. “That’s a reason to vote for him not against him.”

While there is no evidence that Malinowski personally supported or opposed the 2006 legislation – his name appears on a lobbying report filed by Human Rights Watch, something Daskal said was routine — it’s possible that his opponent in the hugely competitive 7th district race, Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean, Jr., will the issue to attack the incumbent.

“As far as an ad writer is concerned, everything is fair game,” said Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. “But there were several problems with the national registry, including state approaches like New Jersey, were tougher and more comprehensive.”

Rasmussen said that when he teaches his students about federalism, he looks at how conservative state legislatures like Arizona opposed the federal registry.

“Could Malinowski suffer a negative mailer about it?  Absolutely,” he said.  “But it is certainly not going to be a defining issue in an election that’s going to overwhelmingly be about the top of the ticket.”

Jeff Edelstein applauds the fact the US will mark passports like the Nazis and Soviets used to do

What's one of the recurring themes at the Shiitake Awards? Those who use the term "convicted pedophile" is generally reason enough to get a nomination. Well, here we are.

http://www.trentonian.com/article/TT/20171118/NEWS/171119808

Over 23 years later, Megan’s Law is still expanding, this time worldwide 
(JEFF EDELSTEIN COLUMN)
By Jeff Edelstein, The Trentonian
POSTED: 11/18/17, 12:37 PM EST

It’s hard to believe it’s been 23 years since the death of Megan Kanka, the Hamilton 7-year-old who was raped and murdered by a twice-convicted sex offender. It is, without question, the most heinous and brutal crime in modern Mercer County history. It’s something no one who lives around here will ever forget.

Of course, the tragedy eventually led to the creation of Megan’s Law, first here in New Jersey, and then across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. The premise of the law is simple: When a convicted child sex offender moves into town, they have to register with local authorities and people in the neighborhood are notified by their presence.

I’m all for the law, for the record. It’s just a shame we need it. Because if it was up to me, anyone convicted of molesting a child would never get a chance to “move into town.” Life imprisonment is fine by me. Heck, you could convince me of the death penalty in certain cases. My rationale is simple: If a society can’t effectively protect its children from predators, it has little business calling itself a society. I harbor no love in my heart for any human who would sexually molest a child. As such, I don’t care about the rights of these people. I don’t care about the fact they’re forever marked wherever they go. They should be marked. The end. (NOTE: OK, maybe not “the end.” I’m writing this part after original publication, after it was pointed out to me I’m painting with a broad brush. Who I’m talking about specifically, and who I’m talking about after this note, is the true scum, the true pedophile. I’m not talking about 18-year-olds who hooked up with a 14-year-old and are branded sex offenders. That’s not right, and they don’t belong on any list. I’m talking about evil predators. Moving on, then.)

But not everyone agrees. Like the United States Senate. How else to explain the nine years(!) it took Congressman Chris Smith to pass International Megan’s Law, a bill introduced six times before finally being signed by President Barack Obama in 2016. And how else to explain why it took over a year for the passport identifier portion of the program — in which convicted child molestors have the following imprinted on their passports: “The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor and is a covered sex offender pursuant to 22 United States Code Section 212 (c) (i)” — to finally happen?

“We got our foot in the door in New Jersey, and now we’re worldwide,” said Richard Kanka, Megan’s father, a statehouse news conference Friday. “This is a very important day, and I’m excited we’re taking another step forward. It took nine years, and it’s something that’s long overdue.”

In short: Megan’s Law is now a worldwide phenomenon.

If a convicted child sex offender is seeking to travel overseas, they must register with the State Department so they can be vetted and so that the State Department can, at their discretion, warn the country the offender is seeking to travel to.

Since the signing of the law, the United States has warned over 100 countries that over 3,500 convicted pedophiles were trying to get in their country, and over 2,000 of those people were denied entry.

Foreign countries have reciprocated 100 times.

And that’s the next step for Smith and Kanka: To get the rest of the world on board with the plan.

“We’re trying to get other countries to replicate the passport process,” Smith said.

As well they should. We’ve got enough American sickos as it is. We don’t need any foreign pedophiles.

“This is a big step in protecting the children of this great country, as well as the children of the world,” Kanka said. “When we started this back in 1994 we just didn’t stop there. We worked on this. And now this train is rolling again, and it’s rolling quicker.”

I can’t imagine what it would be like to lose a child, nevermind to lose a child in such a horrible way. Tremendous credit to Richard and Maureen Kanka for spearheading Megan’s Law, and even more credit for not stopping, some 23 years later.

Geez, will Rep. Chris Smith just go on a permanent vacation already?

Look, we at the Shiitake Awards have seen many familiar faces come back time and time again-- Nancy Grace, John Walsh, Ron & Lauren Book, etc., but Chris Smith sticks around like that gum someone planted under the desk a decade ago that is fossilized.

Does this idiot not understand you can't be convicted of "pedophilia"?

https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=400752

Smith’s Law Results in Important New Protections for Children Against Predators

Washington, Nov 17, 2017 | Matt Hadro ((202) 226-6373)

A new passport identifier for convicted pedophiles will help protect children from pedophiles looking to travel abroad, possibly to abuse children, said Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), author of legislation to create the identifier.    

“Child predators thrive on secrecy—a secrecy that allows them to commit heinous crimes against the weakest and most vulnerable,” Smith stated at a press conference on Friday in Trenton, N.J., about the passport protections included in his International Megan’s Law, which had several other provisions aimed at protecting children.

“We know from law enforcement and media documentation that Americans on U.S. sex offender registries are caught sexually abusing children in Asia, Central and South America, Europe—everywhere,” Smith said. “Again, we have a duty to protect the weakest and most vulnerable from abuse.” To read Smith’s full remarks, click here.

The new passport protections from the U.S. State Department were mandated by Smith’s International Megan’s Law, which passed the House three times before finally being enacted in February of 2016.

The law is named after Megan Kanka, a resident of Smith’s home town of Hamilton, N.J. who, at seven years old, was sexually assaulted and killed in 1994 by a repeat sex offender who was a neighbor, but whose offender status was unbeknownst to residents of the community.

Smith spoke alongside Megan’s family, who have been fighting for legal protections for children from predators at the state, federal, and international levels. “This is a big step in trying to protect the children of the country and the whole world,” Rich Kanka, father of Megan Kanka, stated on Friday.

“Megan was a wonderful little girl. She loved everybody,” Kanka said. Both he and Smith on Friday advocated for a version of Megan’s Law to be enacted in every country in the world.  “We have to stop the trafficking and the exploitation. I am here and I am not going anywhere,” Kanka said.

Megan’s Law, originally passed in New Jersey, required public notification of convicted sex offenders living in an area. Now all 50 states have such laws protecting children against predators at home. International Megan’s Law was drafted to create a system of notification between countries so that foreign countries – as well as the U.S. – would know when a convicted sex offender is looking to enter their boundaries.

Child predators have tried to evade detection when traveling, by misreporting the countries they are traveling to in naming their transit countries rather than their destination countries, Smith said.

Now, as a result of Smith’s law, countries including the U.S. are being notified when convicted pedophiles seek to enter, and they are being turned back at the borders of the U.S. and these countries. The law empowers many of the destination countries for convicted pedophiles to turn them away or monitor them while they travel within their borders.

According to Smith, the U.S. has been alerted by foreign countries of at least 100 of their convicted pedophiles trying to enter the U.S. Almost 100 other countries have been warned by the U.S. of over 3,500 convicted pedophiles trying to enter, and almost 2,000 convicted pedophiles from the U.S. have been turned away from their destination country since the law’s enactment.

In addition to improving and speeding up this notification process, International Megan’s Law directed the State Department, in conjunction with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), to set up an identification for passports of convicted pedophiles who are on states’ public offender registries, so that destination countries have another opportunity to screen pedophiles when they attempt to enter.

According to a 2010 report by the Government Accountability Office, at least 4,500 U.S. passports were issued to registered sex offenders in FY 2008. There were 797,094 registered sex offenders in the U.S., according to FBI numbers from September 30th, and almost 17,000 offenders in New Jersey, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Now, U.S. passports of convicted pedophiles who are on a state’s public sex offender registry will be stamped with the identifier: “The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor and is a covered sex offender pursuant to 22 United States Code Section 212 (c)(I).”

NJ Assemblyman Robert Auth uses Predator Panic to attempt to repeal a law. Well, that's a first...

Something smells in New Jersey. Oh wait, New Jersey always smells. Well, something smells worse than usual in NJ.

I see Predator Panic used to pass bad laws, but how often do you see Predator Panic REPEAL laws?

Well, if NJ Assemblyman Robert Auth has his way, a law putting red decals on drivers ages 16-21 will be removed from car tags. His justification? This is the Shiitake Awards, so take a wild guess what he is using to repeal the decal law.

http://nj1015.com/a-move-to-do-away-with-nj-learners-permit-decals/

Are the red decals young drivers have to put on their license plates an invitation to potential sex offenders? Are they advertising that there’s probably a teenager in the car?
Some people think so, while others say they’re a valuable tool for law enforcement.

Kyleigh’s Law has been controversial since it was first enacted in the Garden State in 2009. There is now another move to repeal the decal requirement and hold parents and guardians responsible if their kids don’t obey the Graduated Drivers License law.

“These decals identify youthful drivers to the public and while most of the public is rational and sane there are people who have nefarious thoughts for youthful drivers, youthful people in general and have sinister thoughts with regard to interacting with them,” said Assemblyman Robert Auth (R-Cresskill).

Legislation (A-822), introduced by Auth, would repeal the requirement that the holders of GDLs display a decal on the car they are driving and require parents and guardians of graduated driver licensees under the age of 21 to enforce restrictions that apply to these young drivers.

“There’s no empirical evidence that any of the problems they seek to correct in this legislation are real. I see no point in entertaining legislation that accomplishes nothing,” said Assembly Transportation Committee chairman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville), who sponsored Kyleigh’s Law.

Under New Jersey’s GDL program, drivers under the age of 21 are allowed to have one passenger allowed with the exception of a parent, cannot use of cell phones even if they’re hands-free devices and they have a nighttime curfew of 11 p.m. Under Kyleigh’s Law, they must also display a red decal so that law enforcement can easily identify them.

Under Auth’s bill, a young potential driver would not get a permit or license unless their parent or guardian pledges, in writing, to accept responsibility for enforcing the GDL laws and conditions. The measure would increase the penalties for GDL drivers who violate the restrictions and also impose penalties on the parents or guardians of these drivers.

“How will anyone figure out whether or not kids did not abide by the law? Will the parents turn them in so that the parents themselves could then be penalized,” Wisniewski asked.

The GDL law is valuable and important, Auth said and he pointed that that he has no problem with the statute itself. The decals were his only concern.

On Aug. 6, 2012, the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously upheld Kyleigh’s Law in a ruling that said the statute did not make young drivers vulnerable to pedophiles which meant it did not run afoul of the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act.

“The young drivers subject to (Kyleigh’s Law) have no reasonable expectation of privacy in their age group because a driver’s age group can generally be determined by his or her physical appearance,” the court wrote.

According to Paul Loriquet, communications director for the Attorney General, Highway Traffic Safety is aware of only one reported incident in which a teen driver was stopped by someone who was not a police officer. The incident, Loriquet said, happened within the first year that the law went into effect.

“It involved an individual impersonating a police officer who stopped a vehicle with a teenage driver. No details were provided,” he said. “Apparently the teenage driver drove away without any further incident.”

If at first you don't succeed, find a better internet meme to pimp your bad law

US Representative Chris Smith has been trying to PIMP this so-called "International Megan's Law idea for many years-- in fact, it has reared its ugly head many times on this very awards show over the years (International Megan's Law was voted dumbest law of 2010, and Chris Smith was a nominee for the 2013 awards but was not in the finals).

Well, Chris Smith has found a new way to PROSTITUTE his stupid bill. "Human Trafficking" (or "sex trafficking" or simply "trafficking") is becoming the new buzzword, and it is quickly becoming the new wave of Predator Panic. So now Chris is SOLICITING support for International Megan's Law by using hashtags. Really? A stinking hashtag? (It is a pound sign or a tic-tac-toe board, by the way).

Well I have a hashtag for you, Chris. #KissMyAss

http://www.nj.com/mercer/index.ssf/2015/01/house_passes_international_megans_law_notifies_for.html

House passes International Megan's Law, notifies foreign countries of traveling sex offenders
By Mike Davis
on January 27, 2015 at 6:24 PM, updated January 27, 2015 at 8:07 PM

HAMILTON — A version of the sex offender registration and notification laws rooted in the murder of a 7-year-old Hamilton girl could soon be implemented across global borders.

The House on Monday night passed “International Megan’s Law,” a bill sponsored by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-4th Dist.) that would “take away the secrecy” and notify law enforcement agencies in other countries about the travel plans of convicted and registered sex offenders.

About 4,500 U.S. passports were issued to registered sex offenders in 2008, according to the Government Accountability Office, which Smith said was a sign that many sex offenders look to prey on victims in foreign countries.

“It’s all about very good vigilance,” Smith said in an interview on Tuesday. “It’s secrecy that enables all of this. Secrecy is how these people exploit and, unfortunately, we’re seeing a growing amount of sex tourism. They hop on planes and go to places for a week or two and abuse little children.”

The bill strengthens “Operation Angel Watch,” an arm of the Department of Homeland Security, and authorizes it to create a communications strategy with other countries.

Smith said the bill urges the president to reach bilateral agreements and memorandums of understanding with other nations on training and procedures upon notification, including the denial of a visa.

The new “Angel Watch Center” would focus on sex offenders who are likely to commit another sex crime, usually those ranked as second- or third-tier offenders, Smith said.

“If you do a data dump, nothing gets done. You want people to say, ‘he’s not coming in,’” Smith said. “We’re talking about people who have a likely propensity to recommit these crimes.”

Smith began trying to apply Megan’s Law across international boundaries in 2008 he met with a group from Thailand on human trafficking, an issue he has tried to combat throughout his time in Congress.

“If we told you a convicted pedophile was coming to Bangkok, what would you do,” Smith asked them.

“We wouldn't let them in,” the Thailand activists responded, and Smith realized that such a framework needed to exist.

“The idea behind this is to get Megan’s Law stirred up in countries around the world,” Smith said. “A few have something close to it, but most do not.

"Pedophiles from the U.S. can travel to those countries and pedophiles from those countries can come to the U.S. and abuse our children,” he said.

The bill is modeled after Megan’s Law legislation already in place throughout the United States, which requires convicted sex offenders to register in national and statewide databases and notify law enforcement of any changes in residence or employment.

The laws were passed in reaction to the 1994 rape and murder of 7-year-old Megan Nicole Kanka of Hamilton, who was lured in by neighbor Jesse Timmendequas, a twice-convicted sex offender whose past the Kankas were unaware of. Timmendequas was convicted in 1997 and sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to life in prison without the possibility of parole after the state abolished the death penalty in 2007. 

New Jersey was the first state to pass Megan’s Law, which requires convicted sex offenders to notify law enforcement agencies of any change in residence or employment upon their release from prison.

Two years later, former President Bill Clinton signed into law the first nationwide Megan’s Law, an amendment to the Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act.

“Had the Kankas known the guy living across the street, who had been to their home many times, there would have been a different outcome,” Smith said.

Maureen and Richard Kanka, a Hamilton school board member, were on hand when Smith introduced an earlier version of the International Megan’s Law later that year but the Senate never voted on the bill.

The House also passed the bill last year but the Senate did not vote on it.

“This could be exploited by all kinds of people. We want to make sure we keep out of this country those who would exploit it,” Smith said.

International Megan's Law was one of Smith's two human trafficking bills passed by the House on Monday. The other bill, the Human Trafficking Prioritization Act, would ramp up American anti-trafficking efforts by creating the "Bureau to Combat Trafficking in Persons" within the State Department.

By turning the State Department's human trafficking office into a bureau, it ensures an equal voice in any discussions — a direct line to the Secretary of State, instead of going through intermediaries.

"They get to be at the table and fight inside those important conferences," Smith said. "They have diplomatic capabilities within the State Department to fight for an honest appraisal of a country's human trafficking network as well as what the penalties should be for egregious behavior."

Chris Smith of NJ is using a backdoor policy to ban registrants from obtaining passports

Chris Smith of New Jersey tried pushing International Megan's Flaw to the populace a couple of years back, but it stalled. Now Smith is trying to attach this bad piece of legislation to a current bill, H.R. 2848. I wonder how deep he dug in his ass to pull this out.

http://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=344968

Int’l Megan’s Law Amendment to Protect More Kids 
Smith Provision Made Part of the State Department Bill 

Washington, Aug 1 - A legislative effort by U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) to restrict the passports of U.S citizens who have been convicted of sex crimes against children took a leap forward today when it was unanimously approved by the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

    Smith wrote an amendment which is now part of the U.S. State Department authorization bill, H.R. 2848, which is expected to be on the House floor in September. It grants the Secretary of State discretion to limit the valid duration of passports for convicted sex offenders listed on the National Sex Offender Registry, or to revoke the passport of an individual convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction in a foreign country of a sex offense.

    “The amount of travel by known predators is staggering,” said Smith, who has worked for years with the family of Megan Kanka to promote legislation that would protect children from sex offenders. “A report released by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that nearly 4,500 registered sex offenders apply for U.S. passports each year. Since a passport is valid up to 10 years, some offenders can remain unwatched for years. According to the Protection Project of Johns Hopkins University, sex tourists from the United States who target children make up a significant percentage of child sex tourists around the world.” Click here to read Smith’s statement to the full committee.

    “Authorizing the State Department to restrict the passports of registered sex offenders has the ability to deter and protect,” said Smith, a leader in Congress on human rights issues, including sex trafficking of women and children. “Predators who have been convicted for sexually exploiting children have used long-term passports to evade return to the United States and have moved to a third country where they continue to exploit and abuse children. By requiring child sex offenders to renew their passports, more regularly, we can curtail the current 10-year window of unchecked travel and offer greater protection for vulnerable women and children around the world.”

    Megan Kanka, a seven-year-old from Smith’s district in Hamilton, N.J., was kidnapped, raped, and brutally murdered in 1994. Her assailant was a convicted, repeat sex offender living across the street, unbeknownst to families in Megan’s neighborhood. Due to public outcry in response to the tragedy and to hard work by Megan’s parents, Richard and Maureen Kanka, the New Jersey State Legislature passed the original Megan’s Law (NJSA 2C: 7-1 through 7-II) to require public notification of convicted sex offenders living in the community. Smith supported a federal Megan’s Law which became law in 1996 and other child protection measures.

    “In order to better protect children, this amendment would allow the Secretary of State the discretion to revoke the passport of an individual who has been convicted by a court of competent jurisdiction in a foreign country of a sex offense,” Smith said. “It also allows the Secretary the ability to determine the appropriate period of validity of any passport that is issued to a sex offender.”

    Smith authored similar legislation to protect children in 2010 called The International Megan’s Law. That bill would establish a model framework for international law enforcement notifications when convicted child sex offenders pose a danger to children in a destination country. The bill passed the full House in 2010, but the Senate failed to act on the bill.

NJ Sen. Bob Menendez can't catch a break

What a crazy past couple of months it has been for the senator for New Jersey. First, one of his interns was allegedly both an illegal immigrant and a registered sex offender (not that I have a problem with that, but the public blasted him for this. And now, he's under investigation for possible sexual solicitation with underage prostitutes offshore. Well, we will see how this plays out. Granted, he has not publicly pandered to victim industry advocates as much as some others, but he has been pro-sex offender law, including authoring a mandatory reporting law ("Caylee's Law"). We'll just have to wait and see how this plays out.

http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/25/emails-show-fbi-investigating-sen-bob-menendez-for-sleeping-with-underage-dominican-prostitutes/


Emails show FBI investigating Sen. Bob Menendez for sleeping with underage Dominican prostitutes
Posted By David Martosko On 1:52 AM 01/25/2013

Documents published online for the first time Thursday indicate that the FBI opened an inquiry into New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez on August 1, 2012, focusing on repeated trips he took to the Dominican Republic with longtime campaign contributor and Miami eye doctor Salomon Melgen. TheDC reported in November that Menendez purchased the service of prostitutes in that Caribbean nation at a series of alcohol-fueled sex parties.

The documents, which The Daily Caller had obtained hours earlier from an anonymous source, also indicate that Carrie Levine, research director at Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), was alerted on April 9, 2012 to Menendez’s habit of paying for sex while outside the United States. (RELATED: Read the tipster’s dossier on Sen. Menendez)

ABC News senior investigative producer Rhonda Schwartz was aware as early as May 2, 2012, the documents show, when Levine wrote a source in the Dominican Republic to say that she had “shared your allegations, but not your identities, with a respected, trusted journalist with whom we have worked on other stories.”

In another email two days later, Levine identified that journalist as one who “works for ABC News.” By May 16, Schwartz was emailing Levine’s original source with questions.

Information made available to Schwartz and Levine at that time included allegations that some of Menendez’s prostitutes were as young as 16. The source also alleged that Sen. Menendez was taking “non-authorized trips” to the Dominican Republic, suggesting that he may have been evading Senate Ethics committee rules covering disclosures when third parties pay for a senator’s travel. (RELATED: NRSC says Menendez may have broken Senate ethics rules, federal campaign finance laws)

Those rules require senators to secure approval from the committee before allowing a private person or company to provide transportation or lodging related to official business. But the Senate’s “gift rule database,” available online, contains nothing related to a Menendez visit to the Dominican Republic.

The rules also allow senators to accept free lodging or travel as gifts from friends. Those transactions must also be documented on an annual financial disclosure report, and approved in advance by Senate Ethics committee if the value is more than $335. Menendez’s disclosures since the mid-1990s, when he was a member of the House of Representatives, include no mention of such gifts.

On Sept. 11, 2012, the documents indicate, the same source who provided information to Levine and Schwartz also sent an FBI Special Agent in Miami what he described as “the testimony of one of the girls.”

“I have in my possession the original written in her own hand,” the source wrote. “She’s 19 now, but took part in private parties with Senator Menendez being only 16.”

That testimony-style interview was published online along with the other Menendez-related documents on Thursday.

New Jersey wants to be the next Miami- Julia Tuttle colony

Here is the backstory-- A few years ago, New Jersey Supreme Court struck down a number of local residency law ordinances as unconstitutional. So now the idiots at Jersey Shore (the legislature, not the reality show) want to pull a Miami and pass 2500 foot residency restrictions. Maybe New Jersey has geographical penis envy? They should look at Iowa instead.

http://www.northjersey.com/news/159001495_Town_wants_tougher_residency_restrictions_for_sex_offenders_.html


West Milford’s town council backs proposed bill that would restore residency restrictions for convicted sex offenders


THURSDAY, JUNE 14, 2012
BY DAVID M. ZIMMER
STAFF WRITER
SUBURBAN TRENDS
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Township officials are backing proposed state legislation that would restore a local law deemed illegal by the state Supreme Court in 2009.


The legislation, state Senate Bill 380 (S380), would make it illegal for convicted sex offenders with a high risk of re-offense to reside within 2,500 feet of an elementary or secondary school, playground, or child care center. Modeled after legislation recently enacted by the State of Florida, S380 was named for Jessica Lunsford, a 9-year-old Florida resident who was sexually assaulted and murdered by a convicted sex offender in 2005.


West Milford officials adopted municipal ordinance 2005-021 later that year. The local law restricted convicted sex offenders (who are four times more likely to be arrested for a new sex crime than released non-sex offenders, according to the federal Bureau of Justice) from residing within 2,500 feet of any school, park, playground, or day-care center in the 80.4-square-mile exurban community until it was repealed begrudgingly by township representatives in the fall of 2009.


Months earlier, in May 2009, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that state municipalities cannot restrict convicted sex offenders' residency rights by barring them from living near libraries, parks, playgrounds, day-care centers, and schools.


As noted by Mayor Bettina Bieri, the state is now just one of eight without residency restrictions for registered sex offenders. Bieri said she is in full support of state legislators crossing New Jersey off that list. Eight registered sex offenders have West Milford addresses, according to the New Jersey State Police database.


While some representatives wanted to keep ordinance 2005-021 on the books in 2009, the threat of potential lawsuits and the loss of liability insurance coverage ultimately led to the ordinance's elimination. Township officials initially refused to support proposed legislation that would create new residency proximity standards for convicted sex offenders, claiming the 500-foot restriction for sex offenders more than 21 years old was too permissive. The council had inquired about drafting its own proposed legislation to deal with its objections. However, Township Attorney Fred Semrau recommended allowing state representatives to take the lead given the legal intricacies and potential expense involved.


In addition to the 2,500-foot limit that has exemptions for those residing in correctional institutions, mental health facilities, or existing residences prior to the construction of a school, playground, or child care center, S380 would increase penalties for harboring or concealing a sex offender and committing sex crimes against minors. The latter would include the requirement to be electronically monitored by the state via global positioning system technology.


Email: zimmer@northjersey.com

I shudder to think what the NJ Bookville will look like.