I offer this not to take away from
Syrinx's thread, rather to ensure it is not buried within it since very little in the way of follow-up based on what is actually taking place here has been offered. With one notable, confused exception, people are rightly outraged, and they are expressing their outrage, but for the wrong reasons. This is primarily because the title of the thread is a bit mis-leading. (This is not Syrinx's fault. I saw the same headline in the place where he probably first saw this.) It could conceivably be used as a "pre-crime" registry, and that is naturally enough to hate this all on its own. But gets worse.
First this is not a new story. This is a follow-up by the _Toledo Blade_ to an ongoing story that began with the effort to give those who have accused members of the clergy of sexual abuse when they were children an opportunity to have their case heard in court. Many of these cases were outside the statute of limitations, and no criminal charges could be filed. The Ohio Legislature was forced into considering a method of changing the rules that would allow cases to be brought. To make a long story short, what eventually happened was an outline of a bill that would have done almost precisely what the victims were asking was paraded before the press as them taking a tough stand. Then the bill went into committee and was summarily gutted by the Republican leadership. The "civil registry" was *added* as a part of this gutting of the bill through colossal cave-in to the Catholic Conference.
Certainly constitutional questions exist here, and they will definitely need to be addressed, but this is not quite what it seems.
Here is a good summary of how the "civil registry" would work:
Here is how the registry - a pale substitute at best - would purportedly work: Suppose the statute of limitations has expired as to a particular childhood sexual abuse claim. A prosecuting attorney can bring a declaratory judgment action (that is, a judgment that seeks a court order, not damages or incarceration of the accused) against a named perpetrator.
The action is meant to determine if the perpetrator would have been found guilty, had the action been timely filed. If so, he is required to register his name in a public registry and to reside over 1,000 feet away from any school. Failure to register is a felony. Placement on the registry, and penalty for nonregistration, are the only remedies the statute provides.
Alternatively, if prosecutors do not act, then a victim can try to procure the same meager remedy via a lawsuit. But to do so, the victim must hire an attorney. The bill gives the victim attorney's fees if he prevails, but if he does not, he will have paid the steep costs of litigation for precious little.
From an artile at Findlaw.com by Marcia Hamilton. I strongly suggest reading the entire thing. Note that this is from April, 2006.How the Ohio Legislature Betrayed Child Victims of Clergy Abuse, and How We Can Stop It From Happening NationwideIn addition, here are a couple other articles, with introductory text, you might want to read to get some bearing on where this has gone and might be going.
Ohio’s Lawmakers Allow Clerical Predators Pass
Offering “Hollow, Empty Shell” Lawmakers Pretend To Be Tough On Sexual Predators
Tough Child Protection Bill From Senate Weakened In House Gives Church A Break
March 29, 2006
Yesterday Ohio’s Lawmakers voted in the House Judiciary Committee to “gut” the Senate Bill designed to protect Ohio’s children and hold abusers and those who harbor them accountable.
The new version offers merely empty promises to victims and won’t protect Ohio’s children. In fact, it guarantees that church officials who have harbored and shielded sexual predators will get to keep their secrets hidden.
MoreSex-offender registry takes shape
Ohio online program a first for any state
By JIM PROVANCE
BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU
July 1st, 2006
COLUMBUS - Ohio set out without benefit of a road map yesterday to create an unprecedented on-line civil registry of accused sex offenders who may never have been convicted of a crime, charged with one, or even successfully sued.
With no similar plan tried in any other state, rules proposed by Attorney General Jim Petro provide insight into how the program would work.
The general idea was proposed last year by the Roman Catholic Church when faced with a unanimous Ohio Senate vote to open a one-time, one-year window for the filing of civil lawsuits in child sex abuse cases dating back as long as 35 years ago.
MoreNotice that the Roman Catholic Church proposed the idea, in part because it prevents the kind of criminal investigation that would have gone along with what was originally being conceived.
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
