Tudor Dixon, Michigan's Republican gubernatorial candidate, wants to reinstate sex offense laws previously declared unconstitutional by federal courts

One thing I've learned over the years is that politicians that use Predator Panic tend to have serious deficiencies in other areas of their campaign. Even fellow Republicans won't support her. Since Tudor doesn't understand the US Constitution prohibits some of the things she is currently suggesting, I can see why. 

https://www.michiganradio.org/politics-government/2022-09-15/michigan-gop-gubernatorial-candidate-calls-for-tougher-sentences-for-convicted-sex-offenders

Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate calls for tougher sentences for convicted sex offenders

Michigan Radio | By Steve Carmody

Published September 15, 2022 at 9:03 PM EDT

“It’s important to make sure that we are protecting the women in this state and that we’re identifying there is a problem out there," said Tudor Dixon, Republican nominee for Michigan governor

Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon says if she’s elected governor in November she’ll push for stronger penalties for convicted sex offenders.

Dixon is spending this week outlining her public safety plan.

In a Thursday speech, Dixon laid out a plan that would, among other things, create mandatory minimum sentences for sex crimes, though the state does already have mandatory minimums for some sexual offenses.

“Make no mistake sexual predators are going to prison and we aren’t going to think twice about that,” Dixon told supporters in Pontiac.

Dixon’s Proposal:

Introduce Mandatory Minimum Penalties for Most Sex Crimes

"Michigan’s current system gives judges too much flexibility in sentencing sex offenders," Dixon said. "Victims and the communities where they live deserve to know that rapists or molesters will be in prison for a minimum number of years."

Create a “Rocket Docket” for Sex Crimes

Dixon said she would work with the state Supreme Court "to create a 'rocket docket' system" to speed the prosecution of sex crimes.

Strengthen Michigan’s Sex Offender Registry Law

"Most Michiganders would be shocked to learn that our sex offender registry law does not include common-sense measures to keep our communities safe, such as prohibiting convicted sex offenders from living or hanging out around schools, day care centers, public swimming pools, and other places children congregate," said the Republican gubernatorial nominee. Dixon said she will "tighten the screws on Michigan’s sex offender registry law and make sure that it maximally protects innocent people from convicted predators."

A federal judge in Detroit ruled in 2015 that the state's law creating geographic exclusion zones for sex offenders was unconstitutional.

Launch a Governor’s Council on Strengthening Sexual Predator Laws and Improving Support Services for Victims

"Dixon would convene a council of experts including law enforcement leaders, victims’ rights advocates, legislative leaders, and others to research and recommend additional ways to improve investigation and prosecution capabilities, strengthen penalties, and better support victims," Dixon's campaign said.

The Michigan Democratic Party slammed Dixon, claiming her stance on abortion would force rape victims to give birth.

Earlier this week, in a speech in Grand Rapids, Dixon called for putting $1 billion toward hiring and retaining law enforcement officers.

But Democratic incumbent Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s campaign said Dixon’s budget plan would actually reduce money available for Michigan law enforcement.

Michigan lawmakers decided, If at first you don't succeed, pass the same unconstitutional, draconian law

This is a reminder Democrats are no more receptive to justice reform than Republicans. Vote them ALL out! 

Just remember that this dumbassed state also willingly poisoned their own constituents in Flint and trired to cover it up. While that wasn't on Gretchen DIMWITmer's watch, she signed a bill that will destroy just as many human lives.  

Millions of dollars will be wasted once again as the lawsuits will increase. 

https://www.mlive.com/public-interest/2020/12/whitmer-bill-signings-include-tightened-sex-offender-registration-protocols-boosts-in-medical-staffing.html

Whitmer bill signings include tightened sex offender registration protocols, boosts in medical staffing

Updated Dec 30, 2020; Posted Dec 30, 2020

By Samuel Dodge | sdodge@mlive.com

LANSING, MI - Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s major signing Tuesday was the partial approval of a COVID-19 relief supplemental equaling $106 million. Later on Dec. 29, though, she inked a series of other bills.

The governor ratified more than 80 bits of legislation to immediate effect, notably the tightening of registration protocols for sex offenders and the loosening of license restrictions to boost medical staffing to fight COVID-19 surges.

The approval of changes to the state’s Sex Offender Registration Act fulfills a 4-year-old mandate from the U.S. Court of Appeals, which ruled that it was unconstitutional to impose new restrictions on people convicted before the Act was updated.

House Bill 5679, sponsored by Rep. James Lower, R-Greenville, addresses that problem and was approved in the Senate by a 21-17 vote during the Dec. 16 session. The Michigan House approved the bill 80-24 on Dec. 2.

The proposed amendments to SORA in House Bill 5679 are:

Giving sex offenders no more than three days to register or report status changes in person with local law enforcement.

Requiring offenders to report all email addresses, social media names or other forms of “internet identifiers.” That would not apply retroactively to offenders prior to July 1, 2011, but anyone required to register after that date must comply.

Requiring all telephone numbers and vehicles used by the offender to be reported. Previously, they didn’t need to report those used on a less regular basis.

Allowing email addresses, social media usernames and other identifiers to be published on a public sex offender registry.

Removing prohibitions for offenders from living, working or loitering near school property or “student safety zones.”

No longer requiring an offender’s tier classification to be included on the public website. Law enforcement personnel who willfully fail to periodically report on offenders would face a penalty.

The state’s ACLU chapter urged Whitmer to veto the changes, calling them unconstitutional and ineffective at stopping offenders.

“This legislation ignores the judicial rulings, rejects the science and makes Michigan communities and families less safe,” said Miriam Aukerman, senior staff attorney for ACLU Michigan, on Dec. 20. “The research is clear: registries don’t work. As the courts have pointed out, registries are counterproductive and may increase offending because they make it extremely difficult for registrants to obtain a job, find housing, and rejoin their families, sabotaging their efforts to become productive members of the community.”

House Judiciary Chair Graham Filler, R-DeWitt, called codifying SORA changes a priority of the 2020 lame-duck session, along with COVID-19 preventative measures.

Read more: Mitigating COVID-19 surge at center of lame-duck session at Michigan Capitol

“If we don’t do anything as a Legislature, we’re afraid a federal judge could invalidate the entire Sex Offender Registration Act,” he told MLive prior to the start of the lame duck. “That’s not something we want. We want to be fair and proportional, but we also want to protect the public.”

Theresa Heller's campaign of harassment is allowed to continue, no thanks to the Michigan Court of Appeals

This lady was mad because she found out a funeral home owner was on the registry (despite not being involved with her child's funeral at all), then started a campaign of slander and harassment. She refers to registered persons as "convicted pedophiles" and blatantly abuses the registry.

Here is the actual decision:

http://publicdocs.courts.mi.gov/OPINIONS/FINAL/COA/20200528_C347505_38_347505.OPN.PDF

Why this piece of shit is not in prison for harassment is beyond me. But this is not a total victory. Only part of the case was overturned.

https://reason.com/2020/06/01/libel-lawsuit-leads-court-to-ban-even-true-statements-about-plaintiffs-sex-offender-status/

Libel Lawsuit Leads Court to Ban Even True Statements About Plaintiff's "Sex Offender Status"
Fortunately, the Michigan Court of Appeals has just reversed that injunction.
EUGENE VOLOKH |THE VOLOKH CONSPIRACY | 6.1.2020 8:02 AM

From Thursday's Redmond v. Heller (Mich. Ct. App.) (by Chief Judge Christopher M. Murray, joined by Judges Patrick M. Metter and Kirsten F. Kelly):

The origins of this case arose from the death of Theresa [Heller's] and Dennis [Wolf's] twelve-year-old son, Charles Wolf, in July 2015. The medical examiner's office released Charles's body to [Arthur] McNabb of Redmond Funeral Home on July 28, 2015…. [McNabb was one of the people who prepared the body for the funeral.] …

After Theresa discovered what she considered to be the "outright lies" involved with the investigation into her son's death, she decided to investigate every name associated with the handling of her son's body. She obtained documents from the coroner's office and discovered that McNabb signed for her son's remains, and subsequently discovered that McNabb was a convicted sex offender. Theresa called [Martha] Redmond in the fall of 2015, to warn her about McNabb, and according to Theresa, Redmond lied, and said that she did not know that McNabb was a sex offender.

Police reports associated with McNabb's conviction show that McNabb met a 15-year-old high school student at a computer game store. [The general age of consent for sex in Michigan is 16.-EV] McNabb admitted that he purchased items for the teen, and the teen told an investigating officer that McNabb performed oral sex on him. The reports also suggest that McNabb engaged in grooming behavior, as a witness described McNabb as repeatedly hanging out at an Arby's restaurant, and interacting with a teen. McNabb was convicted of two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct [apparently in 2006], and was sentenced to prison.

After his conviction, the Board of Examiners in Mortuary Science Report revoked McNabb's license in November 2007, but the Board reinstated his license in October 2015. At a meeting held in November 2015, Redmond Funeral Home's board of directors appointed McNabb as the funeral director for one of its branch locations….

Theresa and various of her family members started posting various things online about McNabb—but not just about his 2006 conviction:

Theresa's social media posts were not confined to relating details from past events; she explicitly and implicitly asserted that she had actual knowledge that McNabb had continued to violate the law consistent with her belief that sex offenders always reoffend, and that Redmond was facilitating his activities. Instead, each of the statements at issue relate to present time, and were assertions of supposed fact about plaintiffs' current activities.

Redmond, McNabb, and the Redmond Funeral Home sued for libel; the trial court granted summary judgment in their favor, and also issued an injunction (after which the plaintiffs voluntarily dropped their damages claim):

[1.] Defendant Theresa Heller … [is] restrained from speaking, delivering, publishing, emailing or disseminating information in any manner regarding Arthur McNabb's sex offender status, his address and employment status to anyone anywhere.

[2.] Defendant Theresa Heller … [is] enjoined and restrained from defaming, stalking, harassing the plaintiffs, in any manner whatsoever, including through postings on the internet, as well as though unconsented contact with any of the plaintiffs.


The court of appeals rejected (quite rightly, I think), this injunction. Narrow injunctions forbidding the repetition of "specific speech that has already been determined by a finder of fact to be defamatory," the court said, might be restrictable—there's a difference of opinion among courts on the subject, which the court didn't resolve. But this particular injunction "cover[ed] certain speech that would be protected by the First Amendment":

For example, Theresa could speak about whether certain criminal sexual conduct convicts should be working in funeral homes by using McNabb as an example, but relaying only the information contained in the public domain, yet be brought into court for potential contempt hearings. Additionally, Theresa could state other nondefamatory commentary about Redmond and McNabb, or engage in other undefined "harassing" behavior, and be subject to censure by the court. In other words, the injunction potentially covers much more than the specific four statements found to be defamatory, and therefore does not survive constitutional scrutiny under the general antiprior restraint law under the First Amendment, or under the narrow exception recognized by many courts.

The court of appeals concluded, though, that some of the statements were false and defamatory factual assertions, which presumably means that the trial court could possibly issue "a more narrowly tailored injunction" against repeating them (again, the Court of Appeals didn't resolve whether such narrow injunctions would be constitutional):

In their motion for partial summary disposition, … plaintiffs had the burden to show that there was no material factual dispute concerning the elements of their defamation claim, i.e., that Theresa (1) made a false and defamatory statement about plaintiffs, (2) that she was not privileged to make and communicated it to a third party, (3) that she published the communication with fault amounting to, at the least, negligence, and (4) that the statement was actionable without regard to special harm (defamation per se), or that plaintiffs suffered special harm….

[P]laintiffs identified several statements by Theresa that they claimed were false and defamatory. Specifically, in the trial court's decision it cited to plaintiffs' evidence that (1) on April 22, 2017, Theresa stated that she wanted "to spread the word about what happened to Charlie after he left us two summers ago," (2) on July 24, 2017, Theresa posted on Facebook that her son's "cousins and all his friends were exposed to this pervert at Charlie's funeral," and that "he didn't sodomize his customers' children? Some of your kids were at Charlie's funeral. How does that make you feel?", (3) on that same date she stated that McNabb "hunts at fast food places, video and gaming stores, and funeral homes", and (4) on August 13, 2017, Wolf published on the Internet that McNabb "targets young teenage boys who like video games and nice shirts." Plaintiffs also set forth specific allegations and evidence about the frequency of these and other statements, Theresa continually contacting the funeral home and police agencies, and other allegedly harassing behavior….

Upon review of the evidence submitted to the trial court, we conclude that as to the four statements listed above, no reasonable juror could conclude other than that the statements Theresa and Wolf posted to social media were defamatory…. [Theresa] did not couch these accusations as opinions and, even if she had, they clearly implied an assertion of fact that could be proven false. A reasonable fact-finder reading these statements could only conclude that Theresa was asserting that she had knowledge that McNabb was actively and presently hunting for teenaged boys in order to commit criminal sexual conduct, and that he was doing so at Redmond's funeral home with Redmond's knowledge and support….

On appeal, Theresa argues that her statements that McNabb is a pedophile are true because he has a 2006 conviction of criminal sexual conduct involving a 15-year-old boy. She also asserts … that everything she stated came from police reports or the website maintained under the [Sexual Offender Registration Act], and is therefore true. However, all of the documents she cites describe acts that occurred more than 10 years earlier—none of the reports or documents she cites involve present activity. For that reason, evidence as to what is contained on the registry or in police reports is not evidence creating a material issue of fact that her statements were true.

{In MCL 28.721a, the Legislature stated its determination that "a person who has been convicted of committing an offense covered by this act poses a potential serious menace and danger to the health, safety, morals, and welfare of the people, and particularly the children, of this state." This legislative policy does not provide private citizens with the unfettered right to assume that all convicted sex offenders were in fact reoffending and, on the basis of that assumption, publicize false accusations of criminal conduct. The same is true of the court decisions that Theresa cites, as they do not stand for the proposition that private persons may make false and defamatory statements about a sex offender's current conduct on the basis of the sex offender's past conduct.} …

[But e]xcept for the statements noted above, the remainder of Theresa's statements were strongly worded, and suggested that McNabb posed an imminent danger to children. The nature of the remarks might justify a reasonable fact-finder in finding that Theresa's remarks were defamatory, or that Theresa was merely expressing her strong belief that a convicted sex offender should not be employed at a funeral home. In other words, a reasonable fact-finder could find that these remaining statements, which were undoubtedly offensive to ordinary sensibilities, were nevertheless hyperbolic, or amounted to exaggerated commentary. Consequently, on those statements, there was a question of material fact as to whether the statements were defamatory, which precluded the trial court from granting plaintiffs' motion for summary disposition in its entirety….

Thanks to Prof. Eric Goldman for the pointer.

Aaron Savage lives up to his last name by threatening village councilman over registrant at Xmas Parade

I experienced a fire last year, so obviously I hold firefighters in high regard. But not all firefighters are heroes. This guy is anything but.

https://www.lenconnect.com/news/20200106/clayton-village-council-meeting-attendees-support-santa

Clayton Village Council meeting attendees support Santa

Man in final year on sex offender registry portrayed Santa Claus in village Christmas celebration

By Dmitriy Shapiro
Daily Telegram Staff Writer

Posted Jan 6, 2020 at 11:26 PM
Updated Jan 6, 2020 at 11:26 PM
 
CLAYTON — In a well attended Clayton Village Council meeting Monday, Clayton residents and council members expressed support for village streets commissioner John Ernest Lee, who became embroiled in controversy for appearing as Santa Claus in the village’s Christmas parade, despite being a registered sex offender.

Lee was convicted of fourth degree criminal sexual conduct in 1995, at age 23, requiring him to register as a Tier 2 sex offender for 25 years.

According to records from Lee’s appeal, which was denied by the Michigan Court of Appeals, the complainant accused Lee of grabbing her from behind, touching her breasts over her clothing and lowering his hands to unbutton her pants until she broke free.

Near the close of the meeting, village President Mark Jeffrey read a statement, backing the board’s decision to have Lee, 47, dress as Santa while riding on a village fire truck driven by Clayton Assistant Fire Chief Joe Garrow, then receiving children at the fire department’s building, giving them presents.

“When you hear this story on the news or read it online, it sounds bad. If you’re not from the village or you don’t know the people that sit on this board, it sounds horrible. But if you live here and you know the board, you see the good that they do and the good that John does, it doesn’t seem that bad,” Jeffrey said. ”... Most of us that live here know the story and many of us were here when it happened. They put him on the list and he was to stay on that list for 25 years. This November he gets off the list. Over the last 24 years the council’s felt that he has earned our trust. ... John is not a sexual predator. He’s a public servant, a father and a friend.”

Jeffrey’s statement received applause from the majority of the audience.

Prior to his statement, Jeffrey nominated Lee to serve as street commissioner for 2020, which was unanimously approved by a board vote.

Aaron Savage, a firefighter who brought the issue to light, spoke at a public comment session following Jeffrey’s statement, accusing the board of not doing its due diligence when deciding to appoint Lee as Santa Claus.

“This isn’t about John. It has been spun about John. This is directly to you the council. This is a gross misconduct to allow anybody ... on an offender list, to be ... dressed as a Santa, and ... placed into a fire department,” Savage said. “You say that it sounds bad, because if you go anywhere else, it is bad. Nobody in the general public outside of this area would agree with this.”

Savage’s statement was met with disbelief from audience and board members.

Board member Stephen DeLine II, a fire board liaison, responded to Savage’s claims by accusing Savage and another firefighter of dragging Lee’s name through the mud by bringing publicity to the situation. DeLine claimed that Savage had been at the fire board meeting when it discussed appointing Lee, but did not raise the issue at the meeting.

Savage denied that the issue was brought up at a fire board meeting.

DeLine’s earlier reading of minutes from the Dec. 19 fire board meeting did not include mention of the department’s Christmas festivities.

Board member Cathy Brown asked Savage why he did not say anything during the previous year when she recalled telling him who was in the Santa Claus suit.

Savage also denied speaking to Brown the previous year, instead he argued he spoke with a different board member.

DeLine continued, accusing Savage of threatening to kill him when he went to the fire station Friday.

“You flew off the handle and had to be held back by three other people. Threatened myself, threatened to kill me multiple times,” DeLine said. “And you threatened to kill every single one of these council members sitting at this table that made the decision to put John Lee on the fire truck as Santa Claus.”

Clayton Fire Chief Steve Nichelson, who attended the meeting, nodded his head in agreement to DeLine’s accusations.

Savage denied that he made any threats, saying that he had evidence to prove it but would not go into detail into the nature of the evidence, saying that he may need it in the future.

At the request of the council, the meeting was attended by two deputies from the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Office to ensure tensions didn’t escalate.

Lee said after the meeting adjourned that he was thankful for the support he was receiving from the meeting attendees and that he had put the conviction long behind him.

“You would probably have a hard time getting any one of these people in here to agree or disagree that I was wrongly done and accused to start with in this manner,” Lee said. “As you’ve heard numerous times throughout this, this is a 24-year-old deal. How long do you be crucified for something?”

Lee, who also served as a firefighter from the early 1990s to early 2000s, said that after serving his probation, his restrictions included that he could not loiter or live within 1,000 feet of a school.

Clayton resident Chris Timmerman said he believed Lee was a good man.

“They’re rochambeauing him ... ,” Timmerman said. “It’s driving us all apart from each other. We should be a community.”

Anne Marie LaFlamme of WXYZ Detroit simply cannot believe people advocate against the registry

This smiling idiot is Anne Marie LaFlamme of WXYZ in Detroit. (For those keeping score, this is actually the second time this month we are featuring WXYZ crew. They must be drinking that Flint Water.)

The sweeps week article is bad enough to be featured here, but it was followed up by LaFlamme's Twitter rant after receiving criticism from anti-registry and registry reform activists, who questioned her shoddy yellow journalist reporting tactics. See the Tweets below the report.

If you want to educate Anne Marie LaFlaming Fucktard, then here's her Twitter and Facebook rants; on the Facebook link she refers to anti-registry respondents as "trolls." 

https://www.wxyz.com/news/detroits-most-wanted-sex-offender-sweep

Detroit's Most Wanted: Sex offender sweep

Posted: 3:34 PM, Apr 25, 2019  Updated: 10:01 PM, Apr 25, 2019

By: Ann Marie LaFlamme

(WXYZ) — Police have been working around the clock trying to lock up non-compliant sex offenders because they are such a danger to families in metro Detroit. But once they've exhausted all of their resources, they need you to help lock up Detroit's Most Wanted.

"We’ve conducted the sweeps, we’ve hit as many doors as possible, we need Detroit’s Most Wanted – we need the viewers of Detroit's Most Wanted – to help us find these offenders so that we can make sure a child doesn’t get victimized," said Deputy Rob Watson with the U.S. Marshals DFAT.

Statistics show Michigan ranks nationwide as the fourth when it comes to convicted sex predators at large. 

Michigan State Police: 12 sex offenders arrested in Macomb, Oakland & Wayne counties

"We have one of the largest populations of non-compliant sex offenders," Watson said.

He added that despite law enforcement's aggressive action in keeping people on the Michigan Sex Offender registry accountable, our state has a problem with offenders refusing to check in.

"It’s pretty simple, if they follow that then they’re not gonna be bothered," said Trooper Brenda Hoffmann with the Michigan State Police.

These men and women deciding to do things their own way, and refusing to let police know where they are.

LIST OF ALL NON-COMPLIANT OFFENDERS IN MICHIGAN

"They’re all convicted of the sex crimes that got them on the registry – different variables as far as the victims ages – we had some adults as victims, we had some children as victims," Hoffmann said.

That's why this week, Michigan State Police and the US Marshals pooled their resources and hit the streets locking up more than a dozen non-compliant sex offenders.

"They are predators, they are deviants and they could live next door to you," Watson said. "This whole program is to make people aware. Make people aware of their surrounding so that they know who is living next door to them."

Like Scott Bedola, of Clinton Township. He's a tier three sex offender. He's classified as the most dangerous of predators and is required to register for the rest of his life. He's been on the run since 2011.

"The problem is, when they choose not to register, there’s a reason why there doing that," Watson said.

CLICK HERE TO SEARCH FOR LISTED SEX OFFENDERS IN YOUR AREA

Marcus Bryant last registered in Hamtramck. He's convicted of trying to accost a child for immoral purposes. He was sent back to prison in 2017 for not registering and once again became a fugitive in 2018.

"The folks who are convicted of these crimes, we hope that they stop, we hope that they learn from their behavior, we hope that they get rehabilitated but the fact is we need to make sure that they’re not targeting anyone else," Watson said."

There's Kevin Cracchiolo of Eastpoint, Enson Lopez of Pontiac and Mark Putek of Westland.

SEARCH SEX OFFENDERS BY ADDRESS

"Maybe they’re targeting another child, maybe they’re harming somebody else and they don’t want people to know," Watson said.

River Rouge, Inkster, Lincoln Park, Mt. Clemens – these crimes and these offenders span metro Detroit.

"Sex offenders, male, female, every ethnicity it doesn’t matter," Watson said. "There’s no specific profile of sex offenders."

That's why Action News is working with law enforcement through Detroit's Most Wanted to give you the tools you need to hold these convicted sex offenders accountable.

"We really want the community to look at these pictures that we’re gonna put up – these non-compliant offenders," Watson said. "If you see these people, please contact law enforcement, let us know where these people are, we can only do so much with the information that we have.

Sex offenders prey in every neighborhood, and they could be hiding in yours. Click here to view a map to see where these men and women are near you.

Kim Russell of WXYZ News in Detroit's misandry is showing.

After my recent ordeals, I'm far more sensitive to cases of false allegations. People unfamiliar with how the system works needs to be reminded of a few things. First, there are thousands of folks who have pleaded guilty to crimes because if you take a case to the box and you lose, you serve far more time than pleading out. Second, when you take a plea, you cannot deny any details of the allegations.

Most importantly, this is a reminder to be careful when you decide to speak out. You really need to research the person interviewing you. Just looking at the Twitter page of Kim Russell of WXYZ in Detroit, I would never have granted this misandrist, biased yellow BROWN "journalist" an interview.

If I've learned one thing in my decade and a half of dealing with the media is to never talk about your own case. Never, never, NEVER allow yourself to be interviewed about your past.

https://www.wxyz.com/news/region/monroe-county/convicted-sex-offender-speaks-out-as-he-opens-a-church-in-monroe-with-his-wife

Convicted sex offender speaks out as he opens a church in Monroe with his wife
Posted: 6:48 PM, Apr 17, 2019  Updated: 5:48 PM, Apr 17, 2019
  By: Kim Russell

MONROE, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Lighthouse of Deliverance House of Prayer just opened in Monroe in an old church building on Franklin Street. A man reached out to 7 Action News with concerns that a pastor there, who is a convicted sex offender, could be a danger to children who attend.

Gerald and Louise McWilliams, who have been married for more than thirty years, are both listed as pastors of the church.

WXYZ reached out to them about the concerns and both agreed to speak with us.

“My mistake was writing a letter,” said Gerald McWilliams of what he did wrong.

At the time of the interview WXYZ had only a copy of an information report filed with Monroe County Circuit Court. It indicated he pleaded guilty to fourth degree criminal sexual conduct, saying “defendant and victim were related by blood or affinity to the third degree.”

Court records also indicated the victim was underage.

The McWilliams tell WXYZ they raised their niece and, when she became a teenager, she didn’t cover herself up well, so he wrote her a letter.

WXYZ asked if Gerald McWiliams ever touched the victim.

“No. I never touched her. She even indicated that,” he said.

“It breaks my heart to know she plotted this against us. I have had this in my heart for 20 years,” said Louise McWilliams.

Louise said she wanted people voicing concerns on social media about her husband's past to remember that scripture says judge not, lest you be judged by God.

The couple blamed the victim for what happened and for WXYZ covering the controversial opening of their church, even when WXYZ explained the victim did not reach out to us.

“I don’t understand why this child would keep this going,” said Louise McWilliams.

Then 7 Action News obtained a police report, which tells a different story. It says there was touching, that Gerald McWilliams went into his niece’s bedroom. She woke to his hand approaching her privates.

The police report indicated he told her he wanted to have sex.

She moved away and told him to leave.

Then he gave her an obscene letter describing the sex acts her uncle wanted to do to her. It says McWilliams admitted to touching and the letter when he pleaded guilty.

WXYZ asked the couple if Gerald McWilliams is a danger to any families that bring young girls to the church.

“Right now you see this church. You see the window back there. It is the nursery. It will never be covered,” said Louise McWilliams referencing the fact there were no curtains.

She continued on, stating that the basement was not in use and would remain locked. Her husband interrupted her and told her he didn’t feel she had answered the question. She then said she does not think he is a danger to children who attend.

Gerald said he is not the true pastor of the church, so his history should not influence the success of the church. He said his wife is the true pastor. Church paperwork in the building lists them both as pastors.

Pandering judge Rosemarie Aquilina just advocated prison rape from her bench to the cheers of millions of rabid Feminist MeToo supporters

I think we've seen the ugly hypocrisy of victim cult movements like #MeToo on full display here. This unethical judge not only bragged of signing the defendant's "death warrant," she suggested she would sentence the defendant to repeated rapes in prison if that pesky US Constitution wasn't in the way.

[The site Ethics Alarms has a very detailed breakdown of this judge's statements and why this is a very unethical thing for her to say.]

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/01/nassar-judge/551456/

Where Nassar's Judge Went Wrong
By endorsing vengeance from the bench, the judge sentencing the disgraced Olympic doctor crossed an important line.


Brendan McDermid / Reuters
GRAEME WOOD  JAN 24, 2018   POLITICS

In 2001, I went to Xipamanine market, a huge open-air bazaar in Maputo, Mozambique, where you can buy everything from clothes to traditional medicine. A Mozambican friend told me how to keep safe from pickpockets. “If someone takes something from you, yell Ladrão! Ladrão!”—Thief!  Thief!—“and point to him.”

“What happens next?” I asked.

“People will grab him,” she said, “and possibly beat him to death.” She said the ultimate punishment was reserved for habitual thieves, and that the hardware section would be especially dangerous for them, because so many heavy objects were available.

I was learning Portuguese at the time. Ladrão is the only word in any language that I have ever wished I could unlearn. If a thief scampered away with my passport, my camera, and all my money, would I be able to resist yelling it out?  I couldn’t be sure, but I knew I would regret it immediately, and possibly for the rest of my life, if I did yell ladrão, and knew there was a possibility of brutal punishment being carried out in my name.

I thought of this incident Wednesday when Rosemarie Aquilina, the judge in the case of serial sexual assailant Larry Nassar, delivered the disgraced U.S. Olympic doctor what she called his “death warrant,” after a week of extraordinary testimony by his victims. Nassar begged the judge earlier this week to be spared having to hear all his victims speak. Judge Aquilina observed that a few days of emotional discomfort for Nassar would barely begin to even the score between him and the over-150 women he molested. She sentenced him to a prison term that will probably consume the rest of his life.

The dignity of the proceedings was diminished by a few words, though, that the judge offered by way of regret. If the U.S. Constitution didn’t forbid cruel and unusual punishment, she said, she “might allow what he did to all of these beautiful souls—these young women in their childhood—I would allow someone or many people to do to him what he did to others.”

Subjecting Nassar to a lifetime of rape is not my idea of justice, and fantasizing about it is not my idea of judicial temperament. On social media, civil libertarians have piped up to protest her, and many who followed the trial have expressed outrage at the sympathy for Nassar that this sentiment supposedly reveals. Their outrage is outrageous, and itself reveals twisted sympathies that are, for supposed advocates of victims, unfortunate.

Does Nassar deserve to be raped 150 times? Quite possibly: To be honest, when crimes approach the magnitude of his, I stop trusting my ability to keep tabs on just deserts, except to say that what he deserves is—whether it’s a lifetime in a dark hole, or years-long gang rape—beyond my ability to fathom. But to admit that he deserves inconceivable punishment is not to defend the judge’s remarks. Some crimes are bad enough that no remedy exists for them in civilized society. I am reminded of C.S. Lewis’s famous line that some men are indeed fit only to be slaves, but none is fit to be a master.

I don’t know what Nassar’s victims think about the judge’s comments. I have never been subjected to a crime as traumatic as theirs, but it isn’t at all obvious that they would smile on her thirst for violent revenge. Would it be comforting to know that a horrific act of abuse, one whose very mention would nauseate me in any other context, is being done to correct the wrong against me? Or that my testimony provoked people to fantasize about punitive rape? Would it comfort me to know that a judge had shared my pain enough to voice unjudge-like wrath on my behalf?

I watched only three of the witness testimonies against Nassar, and it sickened me to hear how he had affected these women’s lives. It pleased me to know that Nassar was sickened, too, and indeed it settled my stomach a little to read his feeble, tortured plea to be spared more. I like to think the denial of that mercy to Nassar was the most delicious vengeance for his victims, since it required nothing of them but honesty and dignity. It did not require that heinous acts—the same heinous acts committed on them—be committed on their behalf. Sadly, it may have required them to relive their own abuse. That so many had the fortitude to bear that ongoing trauma was one of the reasons the court’s proceedings inspired and awed so many. That the judge would undermine this dignity at the last minute is regrettable.

This is an old problem. In Rwanda and elsewhere, survivors who endured even worse than Nassar’s victims have had to accept that justice is sometimes inaccessible, and the next-best thing is honest dignity somewhat akin to what we saw in the last week. What does one do when the magnitude of crimes means that their only fitting punishment would be cruel beyond our norms of civil liberties and human rights? Does retributive justice fly out the window, or instead, civil liberties and human rights? It is natural to find this question a hard one, but I strongly suspect it has only one even remotely satisfying answer. In the aftermath of the Second World War, George Orwell watched a Jew abuse a Nazi:

It is absurd to blame any German or Austrian Jew for getting his own back on the Nazis. Heaven knows what scores this particular man may have had to wipe out; very likely his whole family had been murdered; and after all, even a wanton kick to a prisoner is a very tiny thing compared with the outrages committed by the Hitler regime. But what this scene, and much else that I saw in Germany, brought home to me was that the whole idea of revenge and punishment is a childish daydream. Properly speaking, there is no such thing as revenge. Revenge is an act which you want to commit when you are powerless and because you are powerless: as soon as the sense of impotence is removed, the desire evaporates also. … Who would not have jumped for joy, in 1940, at the thought of seeing S.S. officers kicked and humiliated? But when the thing becomes possible, it is merely pathetic and disgusting.

For most of these proceedings, there was only one pathetic and disgusting figure in that courtroom. One was more than enough.

Battle Creek MI refuses to let registered citizen open a place of business to help the hungry and poor

After reading stories like this, people should be able to understand why i'm a bitter man. Here's an idea, instead of trying to help a bunch of ungrateful pricks, use your ideas to benefit registered citizens and their loved ones instead.

http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/story/news/2017/08/09/convicted-sex-offender-warned-stay-away-his-downtown-business/544682001/

Sex offender warned to stay away from his own business
Noe Hernandez, Battle Creek Enquirer Published 3:40 p.m. ET Aug. 9, 2017 | Updated 4:38 p.m. ET Aug. 9, 2017

A convicted sex offender who plans on opening a shop next to a toy store in downtown Battle Creek has been told by police he cannot be at his business and has been asked by his business partner to step down.

Reece Adkins, who pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13 in May 2000, plans to open Cereal City Food Auction, at 56 W. Michigan Ave., on Aug. 26.

Major Jim Grafton of the Battle Creek Police Department said Wednesday that Adkins was told Monday not to be in the space that houses his business because it is within 1,000 feet of Battle Creek Central High School and St. Philip Catholic schools.

Adkins, who is required to register with the state as a sex offender for the rest of his life, is prohibited by law from working or living within 1,000 feet of a school.

"He is not within his guidelines," Grafton said. "We've advised the gentleman that he cannot be at 56 W. Michigan Ave."

Adkins's business partner, Cindy Dian, said Tuesday that she has asked him to publicly step down after reports of his criminal past surfaced in the media.

"The idea of the business is to help low-income people with food," Dian said. "I have taken this week off to think and pray as to how to proceed.

"I feel that the damage that has been done by the media is irreparable," she added. "There's no way that any business can start after this, but, if told that I have to, I will try my best."

Adkins, a former independent contractor for the Battle Creek Enquirer who delivered newspapers, said Tuesday that he doesn't know if he will step down.

Three weeks ago, he said, a Battle Creek Police Department employee who works with registered sex offenders told him that he could open the business because it was more than 1,000 feet from a school.

The same officer, Adkins said, told him Monday that the shop actually was within 1,000 feet of a school.

Grafton said the department did tell Adkins the business was more than 1,000 feet from a school. He said Adkins first told the officer in charge of tracking registered sex offenders that the business was at 56 Michigan Ave. 

Grafton said his department later informed Adkins of the mistake after the officer checked to verify the location and realized it was within 1,000 feet of a school because it was located on 56 W. Michigan Ave., not 56 E. Michigan Ave.

Adkins said he's now launched an investigation into the matter. "I don't know if I'm going to step down or not because my investigation is not done," Adkins said. 

Adkins said he believes he has paid his debt to society. 

"It's something that's behind me," Adkins said Friday. "I've learned from the mistakes. I'm trying to move forward because a lot of people have criminal histories.

"It's something you don't need to live the rest of your life against," he added. "I've done my time; I deserve a chance. I've been out of the community going on five years now and I've not been in trouble since."

Adkins was sentenced to four years, two months to 15 years in June 2000, He was released in 2010, returned to prison in 2012 on a technicality, and then was released for good in 2014.

The new business, Cereal City Food Auction, also would be located next to Hall of Toys.

Hall of Toys owners Brett and Melanie Hall posted on Facebook that they were not aware that the new business next door would be run by a registered sex offender.

Brett Hall declined to comment Wednesday and referred a reporter to the Facebook post.

"As parents of young children ourselves, we understand the concerns voiced by the community and have spoken to our landlord and the Downtown Development Officer about helping that business find a location that is further away from a place where children regularly play," the post stated.

"We believe that a solution exists that allows the gentleman in question to have a fresh start while also ensuring the families that regularly visit us feel safe. We will stay abreast of the situation and would be happy to answer any questions you have. Thank you for your support in this matter."

Adkins tried to run for a seat on the city commission this year, but did not collect enough signatures by the registration deadline.

Related: Adkins off city candidate list after B.C. consults with state Elections Bureau

He also tried to run for a seat on the city commission in 1999, about a year before he pleaded guilty to the sexual assault charge. 

Dian and Adkins said they signed a one-year lease with an option for three more years, but building owner John Hennink said Adkins is not on the lease.

"(Adkins) has no lease with me," Hennink said. "If Cindy wants out of the lease, I would be willing to do so. My lease is with her."

John Hart, the city's downtown development director, said he was not aware Adkins was opening a business downtown.

"Of course, we're concerned with the perception of the downtown being a safe place to live, work, play and invest in, but there's no real comment from us as it relates to someone's status with the law," Hart said Tuesday. "It only becomes a concern to us if there might be a situation with an owner that might rise to a police investigation.

"We don't pick and choose who opens a business," he added. "Society will decide by their pleasure or displeasure of an owner's actions whether they will frequent a store or not."

Adkins and Dian said their goal was to help low-income shoppers and others who need to make the most of their grocery money.

If opened, Cereal City Food Auction would have a platform and podium for an auctioneer and chairs for food shoppers. Each shopper would get a bidding paddle with a number on it. Shoppers would then bid for non-perishable food items, such as canned soups and fruits.

Judge Dennis "The Menace" Wiley proves Sen. Rick Jones lied when he claimed R&J cases aren't prosecuted in Michigan

This is Dennis "The Menace" Wiley, judge in Berrien Co., MI. He is not exactly an ethical judge, and is apparently no stranger to controversy, including being censured by the Michigan Bar. Now, he has ruined the life of a 19-year-old just because he can.

This is a rather long read, but is a very comprehensive article on this case. So much for Sen. Rick Jones's bogus claim that Romeo and Juliet cases don't get registry time in Michigan.

http://www.southbendtribune.com/news/local/was-justice-served-after-teen-s-encounter-with-girl/article_bede1df7-505d-5d39-b9d8-256719f553d9.htm

Was justice served after teen's encounter with girl?

Posted: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 9:30 am | Updated: 5:04 pm, Tue May 26, 2015.
By Virginia Black South Bend Tribune

When the Niles girl came down the stairs early one December evening all made up and her hair looking especially nice, her mother said, "Dang! Where are you going?"
The girl, who struggles with epilepsy, didn't answer. Her mother assumed she was merely heading down the street, so the mother decided to give her daughter space.
Outside the house, the girl climbed into a car with 19-year-old Zachery Anderson.
The two first met on the Facebook-hosted Hot or Not website, in the over-18 section. When they were communicating online and in text messages, she told him she was 17. They went to a nearby school and talked a while before having sex. Zach recalls dropping her back at home later, where he gave her a hug before he drove back to his parents' Elkhart home.
But the girl was only 14, on the cusp of 15.
After she had not quickly returned, her mother worried about her daughter missing a dose of her medicine and possibly having a seizure, so she called police. Officers were at the house when the girl returned, not even an hour after the girl left.
The next time the teens would see each other was in a Niles courtroom, where Zach would ultimately be ordered to spend 90 days in the county jail, five years on probation and 25 years on Michigan's sex offender registry. He would lose the work he'd completed toward a computer-related degree this semester and be forced to give up his field of study — and, as part of his sentence, even the use of a smartphone or being around anyone else with one.
A longtime Michigan law often applies in cases like Zach's, calling for lenient sentences and, perhaps more importantly, allowing first-time offenders to avoid the sex offender registry. The victim and her mother even pleaded for leniency. But the judge in Zach's case chose to not give the first offender a break, even after false information about the 19-year-old in a pre-sentence report was flagged. The judge's sentence came with a lecture about the dangers of the Internet.
And, critics say, cases like Zach's raise questions about sex-offender laws that are meant to protect the public but sometimes have unintended consequences.

'How old are you really?'

Zach Anderson is wearing dark green scrubs now, in a dorm of the Berrien County Jail in St. Joseph.
The girl was the first he met in person through Hot or Not, he said. The Tribune is not identifying the girl or her mother to protect the girl's identity as a sex crime victim.
Anderson doesn't remember which of them proposed sex, although he said he wasn't pressing the girl. She also had not mentioned having epilepsy, he said.
Shortly after their Dec. 19 meeting, he traveled with his family to Florida and, he said, the first he knew trouble was brewing was when the girl sent him a message saying "something like, 'Oh, we're in a lot of trouble.' "
Why, he asked?
"I asked, 'How old are you really?' and then she told me," Anderson said.
In early January, two detectives visited him while he was working as a lube tech at Auto Village Service Center in Goshen. He cooperated. They confiscated his phone.
He turned himself in Feb. 24, posted bond and was released on house arrest, living in his parents' home. Anderson began to work for their small business as he attended his first semester on scholarship at Ivy Tech Community College in Elkhart.
He was aiming for a computer-related degree, because "I've been building computers and stuff since I was 12," he said. "I'm a technology-type guy."
His defense attorney, John Gardiner, had advised that if he pleaded guilty to criminal sexual conduct 4th degree — a "high-court misdemeanor," according to Michigan law — he would be a suitable candidate for Holmes Youthful Trainee Act status. HYTA is meant for first-time offenders older than 17 but not yet 21. It allows a defendant to avoid harsher penalties and, in the case of more minor sex crimes, not be subject to a state-mandated 25-year listing on the sex offender registry.
But Berrien County District Court Judge Dennis Wiley decided against leniency.

'Out of whole cloth?'

At Anderson's original sentencing hearing on April 13, the girl and her mother pleaded with Wiley in his Niles courtroom.
"I feel that nothing should happen to Zach," the girl said, according to transcripts of the hearing.
Her mother elaborated, telling the judge the girl's emotional state over her epilepsy "plays a role in what she has done, and she feels guilty about what happened and she says, 'Why can't I be in trouble for what happened?' ... I hope you'll really consider the fact of just dropping the case."
Gardiner took issue in open court with the pre-sentence investigation, which a document a judge considers when issuing a sentence. Gardiner pointed out what he called incorrect information that was not attributed to any source.
The April 7 report describes, for instance, a police investigation about a suspect named Zach who had been targeting underage girls on the site.
"Zach was asking victims sexual questions, asking if they were virgins, asking for them to show him pictures of their private parts and indicating to them if they don't play his games or show him naked pictures of themselves, he will send naked pictures of them to all of his contacts," wrote the pre-sentence investigator, Joseph Tourangeau, recommending against HYTA consideration. "This information strongly suggests that this defendant has engaged in pre-offense, predatory conduct."
Police later said they determined Zach Anderson was not that perpetrator.
Tourangeau also wrote that Anderson had mental health and substance abuse problems and recommended a long list of suggested sentencing conditions "to punish the defendant, deter others from committing like offenses and for the protection of the community."
When Gardiner, the defense attorney, challenged the accuracy of the report on April 13, Wiley responded, "You mean what you're saying is that Mr. Tourangeau created this out of whole cloth?"
The investigator was summoned to the courtroom, and, according to the transcript of the hearing, Wiley postponed the sentencing "until we get additional information."
On April 27, Tourangeau did not attend the rescheduled hearing, nor had Gardiner or Assistant Prosecutor Jerry Vigansky received a new or amended report.
"Apparently the DOC (Department of Corrections) is not prepared to meet that challenge, so it'll be stricken," Wiley said, according to a video recording of the hearing. "Apparently there was some report somewhere that (the investigator) received, but apparently it has disappeared from the face of the earth, so ..." The judge did not finish the thought.
Vigansky clarified during the hearing that police told him Anderson was not a suspect in any other crimes.
Officials in Berrien County's probation office did not respond to requests for comment last week, but DOC spokesman Chris Gautz acknowledged a section of the pre-sentence report — particularly the part about Zach Anderson having a history of seeking out 10- to 14-year-olds and threatening them — came from an incorrect reference to another case in a police report.
Gautz said a regional administrator will meet with the judge as soon as Monday, to see what, if anything, a corrected pre-sentence report would have on his decisions in the case.
The DOC spokesman also said he was told the information in the report was "upheld by the prosecutor and the judge" during the April 27 hearing. Yet the court recording of that hearing shows differently.

'No excuse for this, whatsoever'

Gardiner recommended the judge grant his client "youthful training" status under HYTA, citing Anderson's clean record, the fact the girl had lied about her age and even that the girl and her mother had asked for leniency. The young man had cooperated with authorities and had been engaging in weekly counseling with a pastor of Granger Community Church, where the family attends.
Gardiner pointed out the 4th degree offense to which he pleaded guilty is not eligible for expungement should the court deny his recommendation for leniency.
Vigansky did not recommend against using HYTA but reminded the judge of other cases just this year with the same factors in play, and that Anderson's sentence should be similar.
Those "two or three" other cases, Vigansky told a reporter later, also involved men between 17 and 21 who met younger girls who had lied about their ages on Hot or Not, also had sex with them and and also had previously clean records.
"I apologize sincerely and this won't happen again," Anderson told the judge. "In the last couple of months, I've changed a lot."
But Wiley, without giving a reason, said, "I'm not going to place you on Holmes Youthful Training status...And Mr. Gardiner, contrary to your belief, it is an expungeable conviction..So we shall see how he does."
But the judge was apparently wrong. Michigan lawmakers recently passed legislation that, as of Jan. 12, now includes Anderson's offense among those that are never expungeable.
The judge did not respond to a request for comment.
"The Internet's wonderful, thank you, Al Gore. But it also is a danger," Wiley told Anderson, according to the recording of the sentencing. "You went online, to use a fisherman's expression, trolling for women to meet and have sex with. That seems to be part of our culture now: meet, hook up, have sex, sayonara. Totally inappropriate behavior. There is no excuse for this, whatsoever."
Then the judge, despite having thrown out the earlier pre-sentence report, read his sentencing conditions, which appeared to be the same as those recommended by the pre-sentence investigator.
Despite Gardiner's appeal, Wiley refused to reconsider the ban on computer usage. Anderson was two weeks away from finals for his semester's classwork at Ivy Tech, but the judge ordered him to serve his 90 days immediately.
As deputies escorted Anderson out of the courtroom, the girl wiped tears from her eyes, and her mother gasped and was so overcome with emotion she left the courtroom.

'I don't think they're pedophiles'

Anderson's parents say they will appeal the case.
"I can't think of a better case for (HYTA) than Zach's," Gardiner, the defense attorney, said last week. "He will forever in current Michigan law have this on his record, the rest of his life."
The attorney said most pre-sentence reports he has seen include a victim impact statement or information from an interview with a victim, and refer to specific police reports.
And Gardiner is still puzzled by some of the terms, such as forcing Anderson to change his college major: "What did happen was the punishment so grossly outweighed the crime."
Miriam Aukerman, an attorney with ACLU Michigan, said legislators have reacted out of "fear and not facts" when it comes to sex-offender laws. She is involved with a case where a federal judge recently ruled that many of the stringent requirements for those on the state's sex offender registry are unconstitutional.
"Whenever we make legislation in response to horrible crimes, we run the risk of making bad law," Aukerman said of increasing requirements for listing offenders on the registry, which is now the fourth-largest in the country and includes nearly 42,000 offenders. "We don't think about all of the other people who are caught up in these laws."
That includes cases like Zach Anderson's, she said.
"HYTA recognizes you don't want to tar somebody for life because of the stupid things we do at that age," Aukerman said.
Legislators have argued that stringent sex-offender laws and registries are meant to protect children and the community. After the recent ruling on Michigan's sex offender registry, State Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, was quoted in the Detroit Free Press last month saying, "This is one judge's ruling and the law will soon be changed." He told the newspaper he is already drafting a legislative fix to "protect our children from sex predators."
Vigansky, the assistant prosecutor, was involved in all three recent Berrien County cases involving young men meeting underage girls on Hot or Not. He said HYTA was not invoked in any of them, all plea agreements, although he did not recommend one way or the other.
He wouldn't comment specifically on the cases or the judge's decision, although when pressed a bit, he acknowledged, "I don't think they're pedophiles."

'It's hurt our families greatly'

Zach's parents, Lester and Amanda Anderson, acknowledge their son made a mistake. They recalled always teaching their four boys that sex is for marriage.
"But he's only been on earth 19 years, and his punishment is longer than he's been alive," his father said.
Amanda called the judge's comments in court "vicious."
" 'Learn from it' — that's what he should have said. Is the law supposed to cripple people, or is it supposed to correct people and rehabilitate their lives?" she said. "This really did no justice to anybody."
The girl's mother is still distraught over the ruling and says her whole family has sought counseling.
Anderson, the mother has learned, is "very nice. He's concerned about you. He's just different. He's not a jerk."
She's still outraged that neither the prosecutor nor judge took into account her daughter's wishes in pressing forward with the case. "It's hurt our families greatly," she said.
Meanwhile, Anderson is spending his time in jail sleeping, playing cards or watching TV. He's hoping for a successful appeal.
He says he's grown closer to God in the last few months and is grateful for his family's support.
"I wouldn't use any of those different apps at all," he would tell other young people. "They're not safe."

Denial 101 starring Michigan State Senator Rick Jones

Rick Jones has outdone himself this time. Who cares about the facts when you have an idiot with 31 years as a career politician to tell you what to think.

http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2015/05/16/sex-offender-registries-fire-michigan/27453025/

I agree. MI shelter pets deserve better than to be
held by Rick Jones. 

But some legislators and law enforcement officials say registries are useful because they help keep track of potentially dangerous people. The supporters also dismiss the research, saying it's impossible to determine who might re-offend.

They caution against narrowing the definition in Michigan's law of who should be listed and are against adopting a new recommendation by some that defendants should be judged case by case by who is most likely to re-offend.

"The problem I have is should we go back and say only pedophiles have to register?" said state Sen. Rick Jones, a former sheriff who helped draft some of Michigan's sex offender registry laws. "Do we want violent sex offenders on the school grounds? Do we want public masturbators on the school grounds? I'm not prepared to change the way the list operates."

Michigan legislators are reviewing Cleland's ruling and considering reforming the laws to make them compliant. Some, though, think tougher laws are in order. And they dismiss critics who say the registries cause unnecessary misery to those who have already served their sentences.

"I say if you do the horrible rape, or if you have sex with a child, you deserve the consequences," said state Sen. Rick Jones, who helped draft some of Michigan's sex offender registry laws.

Jones questions the research that shows sex offenders are much less likely to re-offend and that the majority of those on the registry pose no threat.

"I have 31 years of experience in police work, and as a retired sheriff in Eaton County I formed some very strong opinions that the science is still not clear for pedophiles. I believe it is society's duty to keep pedophiles from children so that the temptation isn't there. So I say you need to stay a thousand feet from schools."

Jones also discounts the idea that offenders should be treated differently, depending on their likelihood of re-offending. Minnesota, for instance, places offenders on its registry based on extensive risk assessment and psychological testing, not the crimes they committed.

You can watch Senator Rick Jones make a complete ass of himself by clicking the link below:

http://www.wxyz.com/news/interview-are-there-problems-with-michigans-sex-offender-registry#Judge%20strikes%20down%20parts%20of%20sex%20offender%20law

Withholding sex and not listening to your lover's feelings count as "sexual violence" at the U. of Michigan

Michigan's football program isn't the only embarrassment to the University of Michigan these days. It seems UM has published a rather strange set of definitions of sexual violence which includes "withholding sex" and "discounting your partner's feelings." So we've reached a catch-22. If you don't have sex you're a sexual assaulter. If you don't talk enough about sex you're a sexual assaulter. If you talk TOO MUCH sex you're a sex assaulter. If you want sex too much you're an assaulter.

Whoever wrote these definitions must also be calling the plays for the Wolverines these days.

http://hr.umich.edu/stopabuse/resources/definitions.html

Physical violence

Includes pushing, shoving, pulling, shaking, slapping, biting, hitting, punching, kicking, strangling, throwing objects at partner, restraining, throwing the partner, use of weapons at hand like a frying pan or broom, or use of conventional weapons such as a gun or knife. Some of these examples may be used by the survivor in self-defense (like use of items at hand) and do not constitute domestic violence or abuse.

Sexual violence

Examples of sexual violence include: discounting the partner's feelings regarding sex; criticizing the partner sexually; touching the partner sexually in inappropriate and uncomfortable ways; withholding sex and affection; always demanding sex; forcing partner to strip as a form of humiliation (maybe in front of children), to witness sexual acts, to participate in uncomfortable sex or sex after an episode of violence, to have sex with other people; and using objects and/or weapons to hurt during sex or threats to back up demands for sex.

Economic abuse

Examples of economic abuse include: requiring partner to account for every penny of household or other funds; withholding money from partner; putting partner on an impossible "budget;" denying partner access to any checking account or credit cards; taking partner's paycheck and controlling access to it; denying necessities of life to partner and children; having own checking and savings account unknown to partner.

Verbal or psychological abuse

Examples of psychological abuse include: insulting the partner; ignoring the partner's feelings; withholding approval as a form of punishment; yelling at the partner; labeling the partner with terms like "crazy," "stupid;" blaming the partner for all his troubles; putting down the partner's abilities as lover, parent, worker; demanding constant attention and showing resentment to children; telling the partner about his affairs or that she must stay with him because she can't make it on her own. All of the examples under "threats" are also included.

http://www.thecollegefix.com/post/19448/

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: WITHHOLDING SEX, DISCOUNTING FEELINGS ARE ‘SEXUAL VIOLENCE’
by DEREK DRAPLIN - UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN on SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

Examples of abuse listed on the University of Michigan’s domestic violence awareness website say “sexual violence” includes “withholding sex and affection” and “discounting the partner’s feelings regarding sex” – definitions that have come under fire by some men’s rights activists.

The terms, found under the heading “definitions,” also suggest verbal or psychological abuse include: “insulting the partner; ignoring the partner’s feelings; withholding approval as a form of punishment; yelling at the partner; labeling the partner with terms like crazy [and] stupid.”

Janet Bloomfield, social media director for “A Voice For Men,” an activist group that counters feminist extremism and misandry, took aim at these University of Michigan examples, first on her Twitter account over the summer and more recently in an email to The College Fix.tweet

“These kinds of policies contribute to an increasing level of sexual misconduct hysteria and essentially create a chilling climate for young men,” Bloomfield said. “When things like ‘withholding sex’ and ‘ignoring a partner’s feelings’ are framed as a pattern of behavior that is abusive, they are not only pathologizing normal relationship behaviors, but they are opening the door for vindictive or spurned partners to make allegations that can have profound effects for the accused.”

Currently the higher education world is gripped by the so-called campus rape culture, in which the widely touted yet largely unsubstantiated stat that one in five women will be sexually assaulted or raped while in college is oft repeated during mandated sexual assault seminars at universities nationwide.

On the University of Michigan website, it lists various definitions of abuse as created by a campus coalition called “The University of Abuse Hurts Initiative,” a 2009 undertaking that aimed to stop abuse among students and the campus community.

Its goal is “promoting prevention of and effective response to domestic or intimate partner and sexual violence,” with the tagline: “Abuse Hurts: Recognize. Respond. Refer.”

But interspersed within the typical definitions of abuse – “pushing, shoving, pulling, shaking, slapping, biting, hitting, punching, kicking, strangling, throwing objects at partner, restraining, throwing the partner, use of weapons” – the other examples, such as “discounting the partner’s feelings regarding sex … criticizing the partner sexually … withholding sex and affection,” are found.

Also included in the definition of sexual violence is the example of having “sex with other people.” 

The campaign also gives examples of what’s considered to be “verbal or psychological abuse,” including:  “insulting the partner; ignoring the partner’s feelings; withholding approval as a form of punishment; yelling at the partner; labeling the partner with terms like ‘crazy,’ ‘stupid.’”

It’s not unheard of for sexual violence to be defined so loosely within a campus community.

“Sexual violence is anything that makes someone feel unsafe; it could be catcalls, peer pressure to act a certain way in a situation, verbal harassment and unwanted touching. Many of these things occur daily without anyone giving a second thought to them,” Jami Coughler, program coordinator for the Brock University Student Sexual Violence Support Centre, told the Canada-based campus newspaper this week.

The University of Chicago, on its website, defines an abuser as someone who “has a strong belief in extreme gender roles” and “is jealous and possessive” among more typical forms of abuse listed.

But other campuses only list the generally understood definition of sexual violence on their websites, such as Oregon State University, which defines it as “any non-consensual sexual act. This includes rape, sexual assault, relationship violence, stalking, child sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, sexual harassment, unwanted sexual touching, and attempts of any of these acts.”

As for the definitions given by the University of Michigan, asked by The College Fix whether they are extreme and erroneous, campus spokesman Rick Fitzgerald said they stand when taken in a larger context. 

“The definitions of behaviors of violence … describe most accurately what occurs in an abusive relationship,” he said in an email. “Those behaviors not in the context of violence are not abusive.  A reader of this site would recognize that it’s described as one behavior in the context of a pattern of behaviors to maintain power and control over an intimate partner.”

Bloomfield has a different take on what readers will “recognize” when perusing the website.

“Using the exact same logic and method of reasoning deployed by UMich – namely, that readers will recognize the behaviors within a larger pattern of behaviors – readers will also recognize that victims are implicitly female and perpetrators are male – even though the policy does not explicitly state that,” she said, adding such extreme examples essentially label normal relationship behavior “abuse” and throw men under the bus.

“Normal relationship behaviors are pathologized and framed as abuse when MEN do them,” she noted. “I am unaware of a single case in which the accused student is a woman and the victim is a man.”

As for the topic of the campus rape epidemic, she said she believes campuses are whipping up “rape hysteria” for a variety of reasons.

“It comes down to this: colleges are creating rape hysteria so college employees who run these sexual assault centers can keep their jobs and benefits. Women are encouraged to interpret normal sexual and relationship behaviors as abuse and encouraged to have the young men they are partnering with sanctioned by the college,” she said.

“The end result is that college campuses are becoming increasingly hostile to men and colleges that enact their ‘kangaroo courts and policies’ to deal with sexual misconduct are opening themselves to huge liabilities when the accused and sanctioned men take their claims into a real court and sue for damages,” she added. “They tend to win once due process and the requirement for evidence beyond a reasonable doubt is restored. “

A Voice for Men maintains an ongoing list of such cases. One such lawsuit is pending against the University of Michigan, in which a 21-year-old engineering major claims campus administrators refused to fully consider any of the evidence which he says proves his innocence.

Fitzgerald said the abuse definitions on the website are not used to arbitrate campus sexual assault claims.

The University of Michigan Wagon Wheel of Abuse