Decompressing via Arlen Spector

When I'm stressed out, it's sort of like reverse energy.

Instead of slowing down, I speed up.

The momentum of gotta get this done, gotta take care of this before this date or this hour, or omigod, did that just happen--gotta gotta gotta--inflates my brain like an cerebral balloon, about to burst at any given second.

Instead of taking five, sitting back, taking on a this too will soon pass sort of attitude, yeah, I do more. My emotional skeleton is constantly in hyper-overload and these past couple of days, I honestly predicted the pop of my cerebral balloon.

I clicked open Google News midday Tuesday afternoon as I always do. Gotta know what's going on, pulse beating rapidly, beat, beat, beat and whoop, there it was.

Arlen Specter dumping the Reps for the Dems. With Al Franken on deck. Sixty--6-0-Democratic Senators. A filibuster-proof Senate.

Cosmic. Or quite possibly, karmic.

You know those involuntary laughs emitted in the rare once in awhile, the barely audible ha ha has of unexpected genuine surprise? My laugh--combined with the release of helium from my highly pressurized inner sanctum--released me from the demands--some self-imposed--of my last few days.

Senator Specter--from one Democrat to another--thank you for the moment of much needed Zen.

Sexting Insanity

Ellen Goodman's 4/24/09 column discusses a question legally facing the parents of teens who likely defined sex offender as ANYONE else other than their kid.

Is 'sexting' the same as porn?

"If sexting sends parents into a spiral, it pushes prosecutors into high gear. We've had Pennsylvania high school girls threatened with child porn charges for posing. We have a middle school boy in Indiana facing obscenity charges for sending a naked photo to his classmates. We even have an 18-year-old who sent nude photos of his girlfriend now listed as a sex offender alongside child rapists."

I have no way of knowing, but my guess is, most readers of the Frog are way past their teens. I'll go out on a limb to say that as teens, we all did something stupid enough to look back and say, "If I had been caught.....whew." That would include law enforcement. Even they were teens, once upon a time.

Reasoning doesn't kick in for young adults until somewhere around age 25. This developmental lag fuels the juvenile justice system. For teens caught up in the ramifications of choices made--judicial consequences imposed are whispered among peers, "that could've been me."

Today's young people, this whole 'sexting' thing? That could be you.

And actually, your parents are sort of to blame. Because they allowed government to step in and parent you--their child--with laws meant to control great harm to kids, but instead ensnared many a person convicted of offenses deemed sexual by lawmakers--the intended protected (kids and teens) are ensnared in the net themselves.

When law becomes a television show, that's about the time thinking Americans should demand more from their politicians.

But most didn't. And now teenagers are paying the price of inaction. These days, it's no longer the kids of sex offenders feeling the pain of collateral damage of child protection laws. It's any kid with a cell phone.

The future voters of America.

Think before you post.

Maude Meets Florida

"I'm not playing a role. I'm being myself, whatever the hell that is."

--Bea Arthur
(1922-2009)

Farewell.

Deprived of Liberty or Property? That is the Question.

IMHO, this case proves the old adage. Make certain to get your legal ducks in a row before heading to court.

That being said, I appreciate and honor each plaintiff for moving forward (in plain sight and not as John Does) against residency restrictions. Read and learn from their effort.

The 9th District Court of Appeals yesterday upheld a state sex offender registration and notification law that is being challenged by four Lorain County men.

The men argued the Adam Walsh Act is unconstitutional as applied retroactively to those who were first classified under an earlier version of the law.

The new law, which took affect last year, automatically classifies offenders in one of three tiers by their crime without considering the likelihood of whether they would reoffend. The law applies retroactively to offenders, many of whom were nearly finished with their reporting requirements under the old law.

Ruling on a lawsuit from Ronald Brooks, Abraham Bowen, Jeffrey York and Steve Keller, a visiting judge deemed that the law's residency restrictions — prohibiting offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school — are unconstitutional. The Lorain County prosecutor's office appealed the ruling and the men's attorney cross-appealed, looking to deem the entire law unconstitutional.

The 9th District court sided with prosecutors, stating the men could not challenge the residency restrictions because they were not affected by them, as their homes were not located within 1,000 feet of a school. The court's ruling also stated sexual offenders only have a case if they can show they were deprived of a protected liberty or property interest as a result of the registration requirement, which they had not done.

Here's the kicker.

The 9th District cited Ohio Supreme Court decisions that stated felons have no right to expect their conduct will not thereafter be made the subject of legislation.

Ouch. Ya gotta love Ohio.

The article further states that fifty offender are challenging the law. If any have children deprived of a protected liberty due to living within the "zone" ...would that prove an effective counter?

Read more here.

Book Jill Levenson, Oprah!

Oh. God.

Is it just me or is Oprah reverting back to her bad sensationalist self?

She recently joined forces with John Walsh to incite a letter writing campaign among her loyal viewership.

The Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act was passed on July 25, 2006—20 years after Adam Walsh's abduction. The act established a National Sex Offender Registry law, but recent news reports reveal most states will not be in compliance with the law by the upcoming July 2009 deadline.

It's time to bail out our kids. Make your voice heard by imploring your senators and state representatives to comply with Adam's law and give it full funding.

I mean, this crap and the Twitter thing with Ashton Kutcher all in one two week period?

Please.

But the old girl must be losing her touch because I didn't see too many replies posted to the Adam Walsh Act Community. I presently have a headache interfering with my research skills, but all I see on the site is Replies: 5. (Take a look for yourself here).

I think Oprah needs to book a few researchers, beginning with Jill Levenson. But then, that might open up the eyes of an otherwise closed mindset.

And next?

Lose the long locks, babe. It's aging you.

Green On

It hasn't been easy being green the past eight years.

Figuratively or literally.

That--as is said--is history.

Let's paint this country green.

Regardless of how you feel about The American Recovery and Reinvestment Tax Act of 2009, tax breaks are always nice. The economic stimulus package that was signed into law on February 17, 2009 extends Energy Efficiency Tax Incentives first put into place in 2005. The act even creates some new tax credits for those who remodel their homes with more energy efficient and eco-friendly materials.

Homeowners can get credits for installing efficient air conditioners and heat pumps; gas or oil furnaces and furnace fans; and gas, oil, or electric heat pump water heaters in new or existing homes. They can also get credits for energy improvements to their homes, such as windows, insulation, and envelope and duct sealing. Here is a list of the modifications homeowners can make to receive these credits:Adding insulation to walls, ceilings, or other part of the building envelope that meets the 2009 IECC (& supplements) specifications.

· Replacing windows and skylights, and exterior doors which are equal to or below a 0.30 U factor and a Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) of 0.30.

· Sealing cracks in the building shell and ducts to reduce infiltration and heat loss - these should be sealed so as to be consistent with the 2009 IECC.

· Window films certified by the manufacturer that the product meets the requirements of a "qualifying insulation system."

· Pigmented metal roofs, or an asphalt roof with cooling granules must meet Energy Star requirements.

In addition to the tax credits, eco-friendly products can cut energy costs by 25 to 35% per year and, in some cases, making these types of modifications to your home are better for your health and safety as well. Asbestos, for example, was widely used as insulation in homes for most of the 20^th century. Exposure to asbestos is the only known cause of an aggressive type of lung cancer known as pleural mesothelioma. Unfortunately, this type of cancer is hard to treat effectively as symptoms do not usually show up until about 15 to 25 years after exposure. By the time a mesothelioma diagnosis is made, the cancer is usually in its advanced stages.

There are a number of other alternative types of insulation that can be used that are more eco-friendly than asbestos and don’t pose any danger to your health. The United States Department of Energy has a list of insulation “Energy Savers” you can use when making plans to remodel your home.

***

"When the green woods laugh with the voice of joy, And the dimpling stream runs laughing by; When the air does laugh with our merry wit, And the green hill laughs with the noise of it."

--Lord Byron

Hey Dave Aronberg, Got a Home for Sale?

The Broward County Commission caved to sibling county peer pressure by increasing residency restrictions for Florida sex offenders to 2500 feet of a school, park, playground or school bus stop.

The old "well, everyone else is doing it" argument, i.e. Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties.

Making matters worse, the commissioners--with the Julia Tuttle Causeway sitting practically in their backyard--"...reluctantly, enacted its own 2,500-foot rule but only for 90 days...", knowing full well the motion "...would essentially eliminate all feasible housing for registered sex offenders...." AND did so armed with the facts from experts that restricting residence does nothing to make kids safer.

State Sen. Dave Aronberg has a pretty good idea regarding 300 feet buffer zones, but still hugs the PC Plank of Safety by hanging on to a politically safe Magic Number of Feet.

State Sen. Dave Aronberg, the Fort Myers Democrat, might have the answer. He has authored a tough, rational bill creating ''a single, consistent 1,500 foot residency restriction throughout Florida.'' It includes ''child protection zones,'' prohibiting sex offenders from loitering 300 feet from schools, parks, libraries, bus stops.

Aronberg's office said his proposal, ``backed by law enforcement, prosecutors and child safety advocates, ends the confusion caused by 129 different ordinances and will eliminate the homeless sex offender problem that endangers public safety.''

Hey Dave. I CAN'T FIND A HOME AT 1000 FEET.

But here's a guy that gets it.

Juan Formoso, the president of Broadview Park, an unincorporated Broward neighborhood with about 6,000 residents, told the commission that the number of registered sex offenders living in his community has risen from 30 to 104 in three years.

''I believe [the 2,500-foot restriction] only gives people a false sense of security,'' Commissioner Kristin Jacobs said. ``But it exists. And it constricts where sex offenders can live. It has concentrated them in our unincorporated areas.

Well, Juan, don't fret too much, darlin'. If people like me--professional people with a loved one who bears this cross moves into your neighborhood...

...your property values are about to go up.

Read more about this ridiculous mess over at the Miami Herald.

Better Homes

More news from the house front.

Loved one and I haunt the multiple listings in compulsive search of a potential home. The phrase potential bears a totally different meaning for us, having nothing to do with what the house could be, but more about just leaving us be.

Once we find something promising, we can't really commit to the possibility until a quick Google map search of any park, day care, school or any other place lurking within 1000 feet of the address. If nothing verboten shows up within .2, off in the car we go to scout out the place and measure distance via the car odometer.

Here's the deal on the kind of home we are searching for. Private and quiet. Adult-oriented with neighbors in possession with half a brain in their heads and a bit of life experience. Which pretty much excludes deed-restricted areas, gated communities and cookie-cutter neighborhoods. Oh, and condos.

Recently, we determined three possibilities. (Well, two really. One address we're using just to get a bead on the area).

Next call. Probation officer.

Loved one's P.O. has brand new software that immediately indicates if a potential home meets residency restriction criteria designated as ok for those citizens (and their family members) identified as sex offenders by the state of Florida. An automatic "NO" is an obvious don't call your realtor. But if a skull and crossbones doesn't pop up, the old ball and chain grabs a local cop and off in the car they go.

The two recently came back with an OK on one place. It's actually a pretty nice place, not exactly the location we want, but hey, you know that old saying, beggars can't be choosers....

Here's the funny part.

The P.O. actually said to Loved One, "But are you sure you want to live in that area? You know about this area, right?"

Residency restrictions are forcing us out of better neighborhoods and into let's say, more colorful digs and suddenly reality is slapping the P.O. right in the old kisser.

Loved One's response, "Oh, Sunny's, she's a real liberal. Never met a hooker or druggie that she didn't like."

Here's the real punchline.

I don't really want to live in Flori-duh. Period.

Just somewhere that's green. And preferably Free.

Feed us your thoughts on ACB

Well, anything you think needs to be said? have your say here!

Looking for payback?

If you've ever boarded with someone that won't respect his housemates, if you've ever lived with someone who just won't listen when you scream STFU, if you just don't know how to get them to slow down and be quiet...
This ones for you.

Link

Georgia Class Action: 16000 Strong

Came across this ray of sunshine yesterday in the darkest of places.

Georgia.

Although an attempt to loosen sex offender restrictions stalled in the Georgia Legislature last week, the court's immediate back slap served to remind said legislators of the U.S. Constitution. Read the details here.

A federal judge...banned the state from enforcing a provision of Georgia’s tough sex-offender law that prohibits offenders from volunteering at churches.

U.S. District Judge Clarence Cooper rejected attempts by the state to declare the class-action suit on behalf of 16,000 sex offenders to be unmanageable. Instead, Cooper allowed the lawsuit to proceed in “subclasses.”

(...)

Gerry Weber, a lawyer with the Southern Center for Human Rights, which filed suit on behalf of the plaintiffs, applauded the ruling.

“Georgia’s sex-offender law has suffered more legal setbacks than any such law anywhere in the country,” he said.

“This order should send a clear message to the General Assembly that it’s time to fix this law,” Weber said.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution , March 31, 2009

"In the past few years, Georgia's sex-offender registry has faced a series of major court challenges. The state has lost every challenge, which isn’t surprising considering the law grew out of political opportunism, not thoughtful research."

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, March 18, 2009

Is the registry itself next?

Just in case you're reading this at work...

This one's for all of you who've always wanted to watch a bit of 'Safe For Work' porn.
Yeah, well you all keep saying this blogs going downhill....

Privacy in the Spotlight

Constitutional interpretation and citizen rights--today's post by eadvocate--refers to a privacy decision made by Judge David Hamilton, an Obama judicial nominee.

(...)

Judge Hamilton’s interpretation of the right to privacy and substantive due process has led to him to declare unconstitutional a law to require convicted sex offenders to allow authorities access to their personal computers.

The New York Times noted that the judge, in his decision, felt that the amendment cut into the heart of a person’s right to privacy in his home. He added, “The ability of the individual to retreat into his home and therefore to be free from unreasonable intrusion by the government stands at the very core” of constitutional protections against unreasonable searches.

This makes a jumble of whether a search is reasonable within the sanctity of one’s home, a possibility that clearly exists within the Constitution, by placing it in an almost subservient role to a right to privacy, which has only been interpreted to exist in the Constitution.

(Read more about the judge's decision here.).

I'm struck with the phrase unreasonable intrusion and for the life of me, cannot fathom why families living with a loved one designated with sex offender status have not filed suit because of of said intrusion into the privacy of persons--themselves--who have committed no wrong doing.

As far as unreasonable search into the sanctity of one's home, each time a family's address pops up via public access search of the sex offender registries, I would consider such violation of privacy. It's not just this issue.

I object to the ability of any Tom, Dick or Harry to keyboard access to individual records, i.e. property taxes, voter registration, etc.

Broad public records law--in my opinion, meant to keep a transparent eye on politicians--has been used to spotlight information, cutting into the privacy of American citizens. The Internet has made such access immediate, as so discussed by James LeBeau, a professor in the Center for the Study of Crime, Delinquency and Corrections.

(...)

"LeBeau indicated he "was shocked when a public records search told him a sex offender was living at his address." LeBeau explained how laws vary about what constitutes a sex offender and what the disclosure laws are about sex offenders’ addresses. He emphasized the concern with living near sex offenders has been rife with misunderstanding.

“It’s something we need to be worried about, but we don’t need to be obsessed with it,” LeBeau said.

(Read more about the March 24, 2009 Conference on Privacy and Security here).

My long held contention has always been that privacy intrusions suffered by private citizens living with a designated SO family member will be resolved through some sort of back door lawsuit by citizens deemed more (ahem, tongue planted firmly in cheek) reputable, perhaps an angry attorney parent whose sexting teen winds up a sex offender for engaging in what was once considered stupid teenage behavior.

Inappropriate? Yes. Deserved of a lifetime of consequence?

At this point, I think we all know the answer to that one.

My House

Word on the home front.

I've spoken with the guy who manages what little money I have and this is what's up. He's trying to get me a higher prequalification. While trying to get back into home ownership on one salary, a wing and a prayer, I've been advised not to worry about being on the streets anytime soon.

It will take time.

Homes on today's market are apparently worth 50% less than the asking price and buyers are having a field day bargaining down even further. If my landlord is finding himself financially strapped, he is unlikely to accept that much less, especially if he needs the cash. Also, continued my Money Guy--if I really wanted to check out what the home was worth, head over to zillow.com.

He was right. I typed in my address and talk about the Great Reveal! The LL is asking way too much and he will never get it in this market; however, it's time for me to move ahead and keep an eye on what opens up, but not to accept less than I want. As Stuart Smalley used to say, I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and doggone, people like me!

All that aside, my remote fell upon some trashy Nancy Grace-like show late last evening, with a brunette loudmouth talking up the story of Haleigh Cummings, the Florida girl yet to be found after disappearing from her family's trailer.

Of course, sex offenders listed on the registry came up and one panelist actually said something to the effect, We all know the registry is diluted with too many people.

And others agreed.

The conversation went on to discuss how many truly dangerous depicted on the registry had been interviewed in the case. (Approximately 30, which causes me pause. How were these persons determined more dangerous than others? I doubt 30 "predators" are living in the little piehole of Satsuma, Florida. And if so, well, thank residency restrictions for that).

BUT-

If the tipping point can poke reality into these FOX types, anything is possible.

Time Out

I'm in a place where I never thought I'd be.

Do I do what is right or what is right for me?

This old Frog--who feels older by the minute--is one brave soul. Outspoken, opinionated, in your face, a just try me sort of girl.

But as they say, even cowgirls get the blues.

But it is beyond that. If I could sit down with all of you, those who come and visit my solitary musings, I would tell you how defective I am, how ever hopeful but however hampered by the choices, by my loyalty to those I love.

Many years ago, I promised myself, I would be my own person, that I would never entwine myself where I couldn't be what I wanted to be.

It happened anyway. Love entangled me. And the law--entangling me in a place I ever thought I would be. And it's separating me from the person I thought I would be at this point in my life.

Perhaps it's my search for a house and the restrictions that now hamper me. Perhaps it's the daily fear that comes with being the loved one of a person registered as a sex offender.

The fear of discovery.

I'm uncertain as to where I stand, at this very moment. But it feels as if I'm on the brink of something, a moment in time, if you will.

I have decisions to make. And to give me time to think, I'll be in and out these next few days.

But you all are in my thoughts.

Love,
Sunny

Michael Vick States the Obvious

I had to laugh (in an ironic shake your head ain't it the truth sort of way) when I heard that suspended NFL football player Michael Vick testified in court something to the effect that he wouldn't claim bankruptcy if he could resume playing football one day.

Instead, upon the completion of his 23 month prison sentence granted for dog-fighting conspiracy, Vick will work construction.

Interesting quote from one particular NFL head coach.

"I would look at Michael like I look at every other prospect that's available: He goes back into the pool," Bears coach Lovie Smith said in the article. "That's what everyone in society does. Martha Stewart went to prison. She paid her time. Now she's back in society.

"Mike made a mistake, and he's paying the price for that mistake. Once you've paid your debt to society, you have to say, 'OK, let's go on from there.' "

True, unless Michael is listed on a dog offender registry and is not permitted to live 1000 feet from where canines are known to urinate.

That's about the time social and occupational leprosy sets in.

A graph made with me in mind