NC Governor – NCRSOL

Hurricane Isaias and what to do with registrants?

Dwayne Daughtry — Fri, 31 Jul 2020 23:00:07 +0000

By DWAYNE DAUGHTRY – If COVID-19 wasn’t enough bad news, now the state is facing its first hurricane to perhaps make landfall on the coast of Wilmington. Yet, while Governor Cooper declares a state of emergency ahead of the storm, those affected by the sex offender registry are again left out of mitigation planning and safety concerns.

Attorney General Josh Stein has had since 2017 to address sex offender issues and sheltering during hurricanes, yet hasn’t produced one memo or suggestion on how to resolve the issue. According to Mr. Stein’s election website promoting priorities of public safety, “To live our lives to the fullest, we must first be safe and secure at home and in our communities.” Mr. Stein doesn’t intend to live up to addressing safety for all since registrants are still banned from all hurricane shelters primarily because they are facilitated on school properties.

Mr. Stein should be reminded that people on the registry have been adjudicated in court for their past wrongdoings. Mr. Stein shouldn’t use the registry as punishment and banishment from basic essential needs and accesses to safety. However, this is exactly what the Attorney General continues to do each hurricane season.

But let’s not put the Attorney General in front of the bus just yet. Our legislative leadership should share some blame in this issue. The N.C. legislature has had nearly a decade to fix the law banning registrants from shelters on school properties. Since 2011, not one bill has been introduced on the house or senate floor to address the state of emergency conditions for registrants and their families.

But while N.C. Governor Roy Cooper stands in front of microphones requesting federal funding to mitigate an approaching hurricane, he also shares a tremendous responsibility of not addressing registrants at emergency shelter issues during his long tenure as Attorney General before he became elected to the states highest office.

It is time for state leaders to take a moment and think of the bigger picture. People on the registry are human beings that paid their price in court. However, people on the registry continue to be the “fear selling modern-day boogie man” used as pawns during elections. Enough is enough! Either we address the most challenging task today, or we will never address the issue at all. Registrants are humans and deserve the same benefits of safety as other humans. Registrants should have the right to unrestricted safety, security, and emergency shelter needs. Now is the time to call your state leaders and make your voice heard. Also, make your voice heard on election day. Vote, and vote for those that listen to your needs and concerns.

The bottom line is that the Governor, Legislature, and Attorney General since elected in 2017 could have addressed this issue, but didn’t. By the looks of things doesn’t seem interested in working hard for the people of North Carolina.

Letter to Governor and Attorney General

Dwayne Daughtry — Wed, 08 Apr 2020 17:55:24 +0000

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE . . . Contact: Dwayne Daughtry; 919.780.4510 communications@ncrsol.org
Bizzell, Baker: STOP exposing officers to virus NARSOL affiliate suggests safer alternatives for verification
Raleigh, North Carolina \| March 24, 2020— North Carolinians for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NCRSOL) is calling on Governor Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein to order the state’s county sheriffs to immediately suspend “in-person” sex offender check-in requirements and home verification visits throughout North Carolina for the safety of government and law enforcement employees as well as registered people, their family members and loved ones. Many registered individuals are senior citizens or others who suffer from a variety of health issues, any one of which puts them at increased risk of dying from the COVID-19 virus should they contract it. In addition, thousands of registered men, women, and teens run the risk of spreading this to their families and other innocent individuals. “Sheriff Bizzell (Johnston) and Sheriff Baker (Wake) continue to send deputies door-to-door subjecting them to the likelihood of COVID-19 exposure. Both of these sheriffs are still requiring registered people to appear in-person despite suspending all other in-person activities such as fingerprinting until further notice. These are elected officials who are deliberately and unnecessarily endangering their own officers and staffs as well as law-abiding citizens. This must stop,” stated Robin Vander Wall, president of NCRSOL. “There are simply better, safer options,” said Dwayne Daughtry, NCRSOL’s executive director. “We live in a period where technology is in the palm of our hands. Courts, businesses, and healthcare professionals have long been using mobile apps and videotelephony platforms. Now is the time for North Carolina’s law enforcement community to join the 21st century and utilize safer technological alternatives to ‘in-person’ reporting requirements,” Daughtry continued. “National, state, and community leaders are uniformly calling for social distancing and to reduce unnecessary contacts and visits. People affected by the registry are less likely to be medically insured and pose no statistical threat to the community in the first place. In contrast, the COVID-19 virus is the most significant threat to our community, state, and nation. Does the governor want people on the registry to be infected? Does the governor want county deputies to expose themselves to infected people? This is senseless!” stated Daughtry. “Our elected leaders should be proactive and work towards a rational solution to keep all North Carolinians safe in a time of crisis. Let’s not continue placing law enforcement officers and registered citizens in harm’s way for the sake of unreasonable ‘in person’ reporting and senseless verification policies,” Daughtry concluded. # # # NCRSOL was organized and incorporated in 2016 when several registrants and their supporters formed to create a more visible presence throughout the state after being urged on by reports of resurgent legislative efforts to enact tougher laws against North Carolina’s nearly 24,000 registered sex offenders. NCRSOL is designated a 501(c)(4) for IRS purposes and is the state affiliate of the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL).
Copyright © 2020 NCRSOL All Rights Reserved. PO Box 25423 Raleigh, NC 27611

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE . . .

Contact: Dwayne Daughtry; 919.780.4510

communications@ncrsol.org

Bizzell, Baker: STOP exposing officers to virus

NARSOL affiliate suggests safer alternatives for verification

Raleigh, North Carolina | March 24, 2020— North Carolinians for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NCRSOL) is calling on Governor Cooper and Attorney General Josh Stein to order the state’s county sheriffs to immediately suspend “in-person” sex offender check-in requirements and home verification visits throughout North Carolina for the safety of government and law enforcement employees as well as registered people, their family members and loved ones.

Many registered individuals are senior citizens or others who suffer from a variety of health issues, any one of which puts them at increased risk of dying from the COVID-19 virus should they contract it. In addition, thousands of registered men, women, and teens run the risk of spreading this to their families and other innocent individuals.

“Sheriff Bizzell (Johnston) and Sheriff Baker (Wake) continue to send deputies door-to-door subjecting them to the likelihood of COVID-19 exposure. Both of these sheriffs are still requiring registered people to appear in-person despite suspending all other in-person activities such as fingerprinting until further notice. These are elected officials who are deliberately and unnecessarily endangering their own officers and staffs as well as law-abiding citizens. This must stop,” stated Robin Vander Wall, president of NCRSOL.

“There are simply better, safer options,” said Dwayne Daughtry, NCRSOL’s executive director. “We live in a period where technology is in the palm of our hands. Courts, businesses, and healthcare professionals have long been using mobile apps and videotelephony platforms. Now is the time for North Carolina’s law enforcement community to join the 21st century and utilize safer technological alternatives to ‘in-person’ reporting requirements,” Daughtry continued.

“National, state, and community leaders are uniformly calling for social distancing and to reduce unnecessary contacts and visits. People affected by the registry are less likely to be medically insured and pose no statistical threat to the community in the first place. In contrast, the COVID-19 virus is the most significant threat to our community, state, and nation. Does the governor want people on the registry to be infected? Does the governor want county deputies to expose themselves to infected people? This is senseless!” stated Daughtry.

“Our elected leaders should be proactive and work towards a rational solution to keep all North Carolinians safe in a time of crisis. Let’s not continue placing law enforcement officers and registered citizens in harm’s way for the sake of unreasonable ‘in person’ reporting and senseless verification policies,” Daughtry concluded.

# # #

NCRSOL was organized and incorporated in 2016 when several registrants and their supporters formed to create a more visible presence throughout the state after being urged on by reports of resurgent legislative efforts to enact tougher laws against North Carolina’s nearly 24,000 registered sex offenders.

NCRSOL is designated a 501(c)(4) for IRS purposes and is the state affiliate of the National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL).

PO Box 25423

Raleigh, NC 27611

Coronavirus raises health, legal concerns for NC jails

Dwayne Daughtry — Sat, 28 Mar 2020 00:26:35 +0000

JORDAN WILKIE — At least six of North Carolina’s largest counties are ordering the release of jail detainees as a preventive measure against COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus.

Buncombe, Durham, Forsyth, Guilford, Mecklenburg and Wake counties have all confirmed that they are releasing detainees as a means to lower jail populations. The fewer people who are in the jails, the easier it will be to enforce preventive measures — such as medically screening staff and those arrested — to keep COVID-19 out of the facilities.

If the virus gets into a jail, lower populations will mean the illness will be easier to contain and fewer people who will be exposed, which would protect both the people in jail and communities at large.

When discussing the releases, Aaron Sarver, public information officer for the Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office, stressed the difference between jail and prison.

The people being released from the Buncombe County Detention Center are all pretrial, Sarver said, meaning they have not been convicted of a crime.

In some cases, people convicted of low-level misdemeanors and are serving time in the jails could also be released. Prisons, by and large, hold people who have been convicted of felonies.

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