Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the House on October 16, 2007

Click here to view bill details.

Sir Please use your time more efficiently - You are on the tax payers payroll. How do you propose your legislation will be monitored?

We have a budget crisis and you people are using the "Protect the Children" mantra to save face. How many documented cases are there where CSC has occured because of Halloween. Quit violating peoples civil rights in order to look good and get votes. do some research and check recidivism statistics and how well the 1000 ft safety zone laws work to protect children. Do your jobs and quit the grandstanding. The people of Michigan will wake up one day and realize what a farce these laws are and how the legislature has baboozled them. Quit wasting my tax dollars

I am sure sex offenders are more afraid of Halloween than anyone. Our paid parole officers and sheriffs departments know where they live. If they have been convicted before they certainly do not want to be sent back to prison for a parole violation or registered sex offender technical violation. Why don't you make it manditory that children wear reflective tape that can be handed out at school or fire stations. Do something that would make a real difference!

This is sad. Is this honestly the only way you can think of to get your name in the paper, Madam Representative? You really should be embarrassed.

This kind of headline-grabbing, useless legislation is a great example of why Michigan is going to the dogs. It isn't the 50,000 people on the list (can you imagine! FIFTY THOUSAND!!!!) who need more watching, it's the mindless legislators who only want power and don't care what happens to the real public safety, our schools and our infrastructure. The bill should instead ban stupid bills like this one and stupid legislators like the one who introduced it.

BEFORE WE EVEN THINK OF BILLS LIKE THIS, OUR OFFENDER LIST NEEDS TO BE CLEANED UP AS TO ONLY HAVE THE "REAL" PEDOFILES ON IT AND NOT JUVENILES OR 16 YR OLDS NOW MARRIED WITH FAMILIES. THIS OFFENDER LIST IS A DISGRACE AND NOT USED AS IT WAS INTENDED, ANYONE CAN EASILY END UP ON THIS LIST EVEN A 1OYR OLD CHILD AND CAN BE ON IT FOR 25 YRS RUINING THEIR LIFE TO BE A SUCCESSFUL PRODUCTIVE CITIZEN BECAUSE OF A JUVENILE DECISION TO EXPERIMENT AS WE USED TO KNOW IT!

Copy of letter I sent to all House Representatives If you agree with my point of view, contact your Rep. and Senator or all as I did. Some will not respond because they are only interested in your vote so if you will not give phone number and address A few care enough to read and respone. October 21, 2007 Dear Representative, I would like to state my opinion of the House Bill # 5321 regarding Halloween. After reading this document, my husband and I have come to the conclusion that this is an ill-conceived Bill written without any thought or understanding. It is trying to solve a problem that does not even exist on Halloween. First, how many children have been sexually assaulted while going door to door on Halloween? If any were, why was there not a responsible person supervising them. A parent, or someone responsible, should be out supervising their children on Halloween. If the child is too old for supervision, then they should not be out going door to door. This bill is another way of harassing sex offenders, who are trying to put their lives in order. My son is on the sex offender list. Though he never physically touched a soul, he’s treated as if he raped and maimed. He did his time and is extremely remorseful for his past, as I am sure many others are, also. He registers quarterly and pays his fees (another form of ongoing punishment and harassment). He is no longer on probation and has successfully held a job since his release. He is married, has two children and is working hard to be a good father and citizen. It has been five years now and every day has to suffer publicly for what he did. Unlike any other criminal, even murders have an easier time of integrating peacefully into the community. According to federal government statistics, nonviolent sex offenders have a very low recidivism rate, compared to all other crimes. Yet the public is constantly told that these offenders cannot reform. Lawmakers are doing everything to hinder their recovery. This law will only add additional punishment to sex offenders who have already paid for their crime but more importantly. It punishes their children and wives. How does a father explain to young children that they cannot participate in Halloween because of something he did a long time ago? If it’s that dangerous for children on Halloween, what will you do about the sex offender who has not yet been caught or who has yet to offend - cancel Halloween?!!. Maybe the Bill should require adult supervision for children on Halloween and quit harassing ex-offenders who want to lead as normal a life as possible. Is the purpose in this law to eventually drive these offenders (reformed or not) to suicide? That will be the ultimate result in many cases. Their blood will then be on your hands and their families on your welfare rolls! These laws are nothing short of a politically correct way to continue harassing a segment of our society who have broken the law and served their sentences. When someone has committed a crime and then is remorseful and changed, why is it necessary to keep finding new ways to continue to punish them and their families? It is apparent, because sex offenders are so loathed and isolated by the politically correct and unforgiving and therefore unable to stand up for their rights, that the opportunistic politician will use these people (yes they are people) as a spring board their political ambitions. After all, who would vote for someone if they didn’t appear tough on crime? Sex offenders are currently the politically correct crimes to focus on. Check your motives! With this bill, since they are to pretend they are not home, the offenders, whom you think will be stalking children that night, will be at liberty to do so. If they are visible at home handing out candy, can they be out hurting children? Most likely not. If they are supposed to look like there is no one home, can they, undetected, be elsewhere? If they are not allowed to answer the door, you cannot check on them either. I suppose your next law will require that they all be rounded up and taken away for the night. Then after that is accomplished, you may decide to take Christmas away from them too! Where will it end? Now, compare how many children are killed and crippled each year by drunk drivers! I can assure you there are hundreds more children and adults’ lives destroyed each year by drunk drivers, yet that is acceptable to you. Why don’t you have a list on the internet of drunk drivers? Why are they allowed to continue to buy alcohol? Why are they allowed to drive on Halloween or any other time children may be out? Statistics show they are 10-20% more likely to offend than sex nonviolent sex offenders. There are three reasons why you have not taken similar action against drunk drivers. First, it is ridiculous (as is the way you treat past sex offenders). Second, many of the people making these laws would be included. Even Brooks Patterson would be included among many other prominent politicians, past and present. Lastly, you do not want to offend the liquor lobby and lose their donations to you! Also, don’t employers need to know that they may be hiring a drunk and shouldn’t parents be able to find out if the person driving their children is a drunk? Why don’t you put women who flash on that list? Our society awards these women with beads and cheers. It is encouraged. Lastly, how many of you legislators look at pornography? Probably many of you. This is the path to destruction - alcohol and porn. Do you know when you buy that magazine or rent that movie or whatever you do, you are supporting an industry that helps some become sex offenders? Go after the porn industry. Help the offender get their life back together. Don’t keep trying to destroy those who are trying to do well, in spite of their past! Please do not pass this bill. It is equal to Hester and the Scarlet Letter! I Believe in Forgiveness Don’t You?

I cant figure out for the life of me why you people do this... people do their time for a non-violent offense that was basically put way out of porportion by an outraged parent who is upset that their daughter wasnt better supervised by them.... my fiance is not a bad man but merely had bad judgement when he was 17 the girl lies about his age to her father and he gets mad.. go figure. she was only 2 years younger than him and from what i see now with her 3 kids with the possibility of 4 differnt fathers hasnt changed a bit.. the only person that was truly was my fiance in prison by another man... and you call this justice.. haaa that girl was never touched in any forceful way and look what happened....why dont we have a convicted murder list? you people let them out they murder gain and the prison says they can be reformed... how sad our state is rather pathetic if you ask me.. we will never be able to move on with our lives because you think your doing justice... if you ask me your only doing people harm... you people are the bad guys! go after the real pedophiles go after the murderers, the drunk drivers you really wanna put another notch on your belt go after the drug dealers given your precious ones the real harm! grow up and do something good for our state... get a life!!!!!!!

Can't you guys get off this overused bandwagon? Fix out automotive and jobs going overseas problem, fix our budget. If I keep hearing about these stupid waste of time, overkill sex offender laws I'm going to make sure thay I vote all of you out. Goto work and fix real problems! I think when all of you are done you will have killed all the sex offenders anyway with the current laws. Try going to church and reading your bible, if that doesn't work try asking God for guidance in your quest to torture. Wake up Michigan folks lets not condone torture and death. It's just not right.

government to 'protect' us from sexual predators? is it the job of government to CONTINUALLY PUNISH IT'S CITIZENS? once a sentence has been served, it's over, done, finished. the law says we can't bother that citizen until he commits another crime. we can SUSPECT him, we can DISTRUST him, but we CANNOT PUNISH HIM. to continue to punish sex offenders after they have served their time is to violate their DUE PROCESS RIGHTS. the DUE PROCESS is that they serve the sentence, and no more. it works for murderers, it works for parking tickets. it doesn't STOP murders, or parking violators, but it DOES punish them properly. is putting a person's name on some list the PROPER PUNISHMENT for committing a sex crime? if so, why do we ALSO put the person in jail? why do we insist on punishing people TWICE? is it because we erroneously believe that we have the power to? i am FOR properly punishing sexual criminals. i am AGAINST permanently punishing sexual criminals. it is a long standing legal principle in this country that once a person has served his time, he has served his time. even murderers get that consideration. but not sexual criminals. by the way, since when is public urination a sexual crime? until we get back to 'basics' and establish what is and what isn't the proper role of government, we will continue to be trodden upon by the rampant power of the state. i understand that very few people actually read the constitution, and that even fewer legislators actually FOLLOW IT, but until they do, we will continue to be the slaves to the state we are now.

Use some logic please. The reason these laws were passed in the first place is only for votes so that our esteemed law makers could make a house payment and drive a nice car. Let's find a hot button issue like sex offenders and put fear in the minds of the mindless people we govern. You think that you'll protect the people from the monster sex offenders and pass all these laws "wont we get elected now". Well all you have done is saturate the list so that we can't find the real dangers the list was intended for. 4th deg CSC is bad but not as bad as 3rd deg but 3rd deg is worse than 2nd deg who was the brilliant lawmaker who thought up that plan up. By the way why don't you explain what the difference is between 1st, 3rd, 2nd, and 4th degree's? What you don't even know the differences? How do you expect us the mindless to know either if you care so much about our safety? So let's put all the minors on the list, and we'll put someone who looked in a window once on the list for 25 years too. Hey while we're at it let's put the indecent exposures on the list no matter what they have done even if they pissed behind a bush. Let's put the dangerous 15 year old on the list for getting the B.J. and who must be a threat to society until he's 40 years old? That's a great idea while were at it we can put so many people on the list that nobody will ever find the dangerous person that the list was intended for. Wont Megan be proud. Idiots.