As I huddle down in the cold of winter and times of quarantine, I’ve been watching far more TV than I should.  I recently watched, for maybe the 15^th time, the movie “A Time to Kill” based on the book by John Grisham.  I remember reading this book back in the late 90s (and yes, the books are always better than the movies).  The concept of this movie is that a young black girl was raped and left for dead by two white men.  These men were arrested and taken to court, where the girl’s father shot and killed them.  The father chose a young passionate white lawyer to defend him.  There was a speech by the lawyer in the final scenes which resonated with me strongly.

“You see, in all this legal maneuvering something has gotten lost, and that something is the truth.  Now, it is incumbent upon us lawyers not to just talk about the truth, but to actually seek it, to find it, to live it…..”

“….What is it in us that seeks the truth? Is it our minds or is it our hearts?

I set out to prove a black man could receive a fair trial in the south, that we are all equal in the eyes of the law. That’s not the truth, because the eyes of the law are human eyes — yours and mine — and until we can see each other as equals, justice is never going to be evenhanded. It will remain nothing more than a reflection of our own prejudices, so until that day we have a duty under God to seek the truth, not with our eyes and not with our minds where fear and hate turn commonality into prejudice, but with our hearts — where we don’t know better.”

Now, reread that quote and replace “black man” with “registered person.”  Understand what a “prejudice” is.  Prejudice:  a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.  Isn’t that what happens more often than not – that those accused of a sexual crime have automatic prejudices when it is not based on reason or experience, but more what we think we know from the media?

I will again adhere to my beliefs that guilt carries punishment.  What I continue to struggle with are the automatic prejudices and beliefs of guilt for anyone accused of sexual misconduct in any form.

State and national statistics show us that most registered citizens are not violent predators.  The media wants us to believe that they are, but data proves differently.  Until I became knowledgeable about the registry laws and people impacted by them, I regrettably was one of those who believed what the media told me. Yes, I am ashamed.  Now I know there are real people and real stories behind every case.  So many examples of consensual young relationships, of young people making poor choices that will scar them the rest of their lives, of revenge accusations, of embarrassment, and many cases that are accusations and not truth.

So back to the quote from the movie – does our society seek the truth when it comes to sexual crimes?  Are we all equal in the eyes of the law – or are those accused of sexual crimes automatically assumed to be guilty?  Does our legal structure seek the truth or an easy plea?  Do we assume everyone is guilty or do we give them a fair chance?

We at NCRSOL are blessed to have found legal representation who believe in fairness, who believe in people, who believe in making laws that are both enforceable but that make sense.  As John Grisham portrayed in this book and movie, there are committed lawyers whose passion for their causes drive them.  Attend our conferences and you’ll meet them!

Many of you may wonder what NCRSOL does.  They hear stories from registered persons.  They work with lawyers and groups who believe in second chances.  They investigate housing restrictions.  They support fair treatment of people.

It continues to be a challenge for us, as members of society, to help one another…help one another find jobs, find housing, rehabilitate, support and encourage one another.  I encourage each reader to join NCRSOL and renew your membership yearly. It takes our members to support our leadership team in making change.

Let’s continue to work with our lawmakers, media, employers, and our society as a whole to leave behind the prejudices against those accused of a crime.  This is a call to action – tell your stories so people understand that many situations are mistakes for which people have paid the penalty and are looking for redemption.

Be the change you wish to see in the world.  Be a Change Agent.
-Phoebe

I have just had a lesson in how far those who are opposed to our advocacy are willing to go to suppress the truth.

This started exactly a month ago with this op/ed in the March 13 online edition of the Longview, WA Daily News. RSOL wrote a rebuttal, received assurance from the News’ online editor that she would consider it, and sent it off. After a week of hearing nothing, receiving no response to inquiries, and not finding it online, it was posted on this blog and a link sent to the News’ publisher. The online editor responded on March 23rd that it would be printed sometime that week. When I looked for it on the 24th, imagine my surprise when, instead of the rebuttal piece, I found another op/ed defending their first op/ed supporting public registration. I updated my blog entry, and she was immediately contacted about the rebuttal piece; to the best of our knowledge, no response was received.

I looked every day; she was written again on the 29th, and, again, no reply was seen. March turned into April. On April 10th both she and the publisher were emailed with an inquiry. She responded the next day saying that she had replied on the 29th and that the piece had been printed on March 25th. She sent the link and, sure enough, there it was!

How could it have escaped our attention? We scoured the dailynews.com site every day looking for it. And how was the email of the 29th overlooked? We will never have an answer to the second question. The email has been searched repeatedly, and the searches have turned up no communication from her or anyone at the News on the 29th. If she did indeed send one, it has dissipated like the morning dew in mid-summer.

We can, however, answer the first question. It escaped our attention — and our fervent hunting day after day — because it appears to have been buried. It was not listed with other pieces printed in the Opinion section. If we had known what they named it, we could have searched on their site and found it. But no one else could have found it. No one else could have seen it. No one else could have determined that it existed in order to find it in order to read it.

When it was printed, all of the hyperlinks to the studies cited were removed. But then if no one will be reading it, no one will need any links to click, will they? Additionally, every op/ed printed there that we saw has a comment section. The rebuttal piece has none. But if no one will be reading something, they won’t be commenting on it, will they?

Just out of curiosity, we looked at other types of articles on the site. Whether it was news or sports, opinion or entertainment, it has a comment section. Even the articles taken from AP have comment sections. Certainly we did not look at every article they have posted over a lengthy period of time, but we looked at many, and every one looked at has a place to leave a comment. Only one was found with no comment capabilities, and that is the one rebutting theirs.

So that leaves only one question for the Longview, Washington Daily News: Did you bury our op-ed? If so, what are you afraid of? What do you not want people thinking about if they read that article? What do you not want people seeing if they click the links and read a couple of research studies? What do you not want people saying if they left a comment on the article?

What are you afraid of?