“We’re here to address some of those collateral consequences, to ask our legislators to believe in our ability to change, to hold space for our ability to transform our lives and to provide ourselves a chance at good footing to have a second chance in our lives,” Kristie Puckett Williams with the North Carolina Second Chance Alliance said.

Puckett Williams was among several speakers who gathered outside in Downtown Raleigh to discuss the challenges and barriers that people face after they spend time in jail or prison.

“I’m a recovering drug addict and a survivor of severe substance abuse. My story is of redemption, restoration and hope and that people who suffer from drug addiction, from trauma, can restore their lives, can return to full healthy lives, and we need to return to full citizenship,” Puckett Williams, who has three felony convictions on her record in the state of North Carolina, said.

Dwayne Daughtry, a lobbyist and Executive Director of North Carolina for Rational Sexual Offense Law, was among other organizations in support of second chances for all who hoped to spread awareness and express concerns of how state laws unfairly target and impact people on the sex offender registry.

Bishop William J. Barber II, a social activist and President of Repairers of the Breach, was also among several speakers that helped energize crowds and tout a message that second chances for all are essential to reintegration to communities all across America.

“We’re all flawed people, but there’s a point where you can get released from your past. These are people who have paid their debt to society, and they want to be full citizens in this democracy,” he said.

At one point, the large crowd headed inside to hold a press conference and directly talk to North Carolina lawmakers. Several residents expressed concerns about a recent court ruling that ended voting rights for some people with criminal convictions. Organizers also hoped to support ending the harmful use of mugshots, expanding criminal record relief, ending debt-based driver’s license suspensions and eliminating/reducing criminal court fines and fees.

Additionally, Senator Julie Mayfield of Senate District 49 said she is committed to second chance issues and breaking down some of the barriers. Mayfield said she recently introduced Senate Bill 730, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Benefits Bill to eliminate waiting periods and bans on services.

“Everybody says we want these folks to be productive, want them to stay out of the criminal justice system, and yet there are so many barriers to them doing that,” Mayfield said.

With support, Mayfield said she is hopeful that the bill will pass.

Puckett Williams said it meant a lot to see so much support on Tuesday.

“Oftentimes, people living with criminal convictions don’t participate and are locked out of the political process. We are showing people that we are people who are interested in what’s happening politically, that we care about our community and we are going to be here and want to be addressed,” Puckett Williams said.

And my reply?  “Boo-hoo.”  I am sick to death of hearing it.  Come on, peeps.  Life IS hard due to the virus.  But you know what else is hard?  Living ON or WITH someone on the registry.  People are now getting a small taste of what it is like to live by the laws of the registry.

This little pandemic, not to disregard the severity of it, will pass.  It will.  The effects of the registry will not pass.  Let’s compare – maybe you lost a job due to the virus outbreak.  Many people on the registry are continually denied jobs, and not for lack of trying but simply because of their label.  Maybe you say you have to watch church on Facebook because you can’t attend right now.  Well, Registrants can’t use Facebook.  Nor can they attend church in many states.  Your park is closed and you can’t run your trail?  Guess what?  Neither can registrants.  Your library is closed?  Registrants can’t go anyway, and yes – they can read.  <Insert the sarcasm.  I am feeling snarky today.>

I honestly have self-diagnosed myself with PTSD after living through the effects this registry puts on families.  Every step we take is calculated.  It is much more than “should I wear a mask to the store and use my hand sanitizer.”  Again, these things are critically important right now, but so is my life and my well-being.  So is the life of my family.  So is the life of every other registrant out there trying to stay sane despite laws that work extremely hard to tear you apart.  Life on the registry is a 30 year or longer “quarantine sentence.”  So pardon me if I don’t take kindly to the whining that Walmart closed early or you have to order your toilet paper from Amazon.  Your life will soon be back to some kind of normal.  Mine, not so much.

And you know what else?  People seem scared to interact with a registrant, as if they will catch “the virus.”  Yes, registrants are ostracized from the rest of the world and it is the very laws that set it up to be this way.  This is why we need voices.  We know that squeaky wheels get the oil.  Why aren’t registrants and family and friends of registrants being squeaky right now?  IT. IS. TIME.

We are in a day and age where the talks of equality are bubbling to the surface.  I hope we all remember that humans are real people with flaws.  No matter their age, gender, race, sexual orientation, religious affiliation, or registry status, we are all humans.  Please don’t make this turmoil we are experiencing be about you.  Don’t sing the “oh woe is me” song.  Take this opportunity to value people.  All people.  Including those who are reformed registrants.  Give second chances.  Show compassion.  Experience forgiveness.  Resist making assumptions that all people are guilty.

I know, I know.  I am not feeling quite so positive right now.  This is actually why I write these blogs – to heal my wounds.  I am whining now, but I’ll be over this soon. I am the very thing I am annoyed by – a whiner.  Okay, whining is officially over.

It is time to be inspired for change.  It is time to voice your concerns over the registry.  It is time we work together.  NARSOL is hosting a VIRTUAL webcast this weekend to replace the annual conference and we need you.  Everything is different this year.  We’ve never had a virtual webcast like this, and we still need people to register.  Sit in the comfort and privacy of your home and listen to influential people with great knowledge educate us on how to be change agents against these laws.  I challenge you.  It will be the best $35 you’ve ever spent.

However, members and supporters of NCRSOL are encouraged to become a registered voter. General elections are upon the horizon and approaching quickly. North Carolina grants voting rights to citizens affected by the sex offender registry legally residing in one of the 100 North Carolina counties. One of the criteria of becoming a registered voter is those convicted of a felony and completed their jail/prison sentence, including any probation, may register and actively vote. Click here for a North Carolina Voter Registration Application to mail to your local county Board of Elections.

It seems that North Carolina has an uncanny method of creating voting stations at school properties. Naturally, those actively on the sex offender registry are unable to go on school property. However, the staff at NCRSOL encourage all registrants to vote in all elections by Absentee Ballot. Click here for a North Carolina 2020 Absentee Ballot Request Form to mail to your local county Board of Elections.

Let us all be mindful that voting is a right in this nation; we ought to vigorously defend and become an active participant in every election, no matter how insignificant. State and local politics typically are the very people that develop and create sex offender policies and laws. A vote by anyone affected by the registry sends a clear message that “registrants are indeed people and have rights to decide who makes decisions affecting their lives.”

Every election is important. Every vote does count. Every registered voter has a voice by his/her vote. Every election is a chance to stop a politician from creating more draconian registry laws.

Make your voice heard loud and clear. Vote in every election!

If you have questions about voting, the documents uploaded have the telephone contacts of each county board of elections office in your county. For more information about voting rights, please click here.

Heimlich’s offense was serious. So was his punishment given that he was underage. He got two years’ probation, with the threat of 40 weeks in detention if he didn’t comply. And he was mandated into sex offender treatment and placed on the sex offender registry.

Oregonian columnist John Canzano called on Heimlich to pull himself out of the team’s College World Series appearance and suggested that his baseball life should be over. (Heimlich has since quit the team, though he might have noted that that Canzano has been about as consistent as the Washington Nationals bullpen when it comes to second chances.) Other commentators piled on. A CBS Sports analyst called Heimlich’s background “sordid” and said felons should never be allowed in college athletics. Eugene Register-Guard columnist Austin Meek blasted the school for signing Heimlich in the first place.

All of them argued that the larger context–Heimlich’s crime–wipes out his right to play baseball.

But every context has its context, as Tony Judt once said. Juveniles and adults convicted of sex crimes have very low re-offense rates. Teens often make bad decisions precisely because they’re still kids—developing brains haven’t formed the powers of judgment that adults have, which is why the juvenile system is designed to rehabilitate, not punish. And a mound of research shows that what keeps ex-offenders on the right track are housing, jobs, and social support—not isolation and public humiliation.

Heimlich went unselected in this week’s Major League draft. His baseball career may be over. The Oregonian’s Heimlich maneuver probably killed it.

The unforgiving rules operating for Heimlich don’t seem to apply to everyone. Take 31-year-old Texas Rangers pitcher Matt Bush. In March 2012, behind the wheel of his SUV while drunk, he hit 72-year-old motorcyclist Anthony Tufano. Then he fled the scene, driving over Tufano’s head in the process. Tufano suffered a brain hemorrhage, a collapsed lung, broken ribs, broken bones in his back. Bush would have killed Tufano had he not been wearing a helmet. It was Bush’s third arrest for a DUI.

Please read the rest of Steven’s posting at Life on the List.