Unbelievable! Florida sets rapists and child molesters free to strike again...

[trumad]

Another child is dead. This time, a brown-haired, brown-eyed girl, a year younger than Jimmy Ryce.

A 1999 law passed after Jimmy was raped and murdered at age 9 is meant to protect Floridians from sex offenders by keeping the most dangerous locked up after they finish their prison sentences.

But an eight-month Sun Sentinel investigation into the law named in Jimmy’s memory has uncovered shocking failures. Florida’s safeguards have broken down at every stage, setting hundreds of rapists and child molesters free to harm again.

<snip>
Mining records in state databases, police reports and court documents, the Sun Sentinel found: At least 594 offenders reviewed under the law and let go have been convicted of a new sex offense in Florida. Nearly one quarter of them attacked again within six months of being released.

And these numbers do not paint a complete picture. They do not include men convicted in other states or federal court, those who committed non-sexual violent crimes such as murder or home invasion, and those arrested but still awaiting trial for new sex crimes.

“One person reoffending when you have innocent victims is too many,’’ said Dr. Michal Harris, a North Florida veterinarian whose employee was murdered in 2007 by a sex predator who had been freed by the state.

“This will continue to happen until such a time as the community decides that they are tired of having their wives and their daughters and their sisters raped and beaten to death by people who have done it before and who were released.
’’http://interactive.sun-sentinel.com/jimmy-ryce/

[Bay Boy]

1. Keeping them locked up after

they complete their prison sentence? That doesn't sound right.

[trumad]

2. OK---the let them fucking out to rape and kill.

If the sentence is up and you evaluate at the end of the sentence that the sick fuck still is a sick fuck... don't let them out.

[Bay Boy]

3. That isn't what I said...

...but I suspect you know that.

[trumad]

6. Please explain then.

Sorry If I misunderstood... but...

[Igel]

8. We used to have a different way of doing this.

Instead of saying, "Okay, you've paid your debt to society but we'll keep you locked up because this panel thinks you're still dangerous," we used to say, "Buddy, you're going away for a long, long time--but if we see good behavior and evidence of rehabilitation, this panel can parole you before your sentence is served."

We couldn't trust parole boards to be hard-nosed enough, the suckers were too merciful.

Now we want penalty boards to be tough.

Liked the old system better. At least it had a semblance of what the legal system should be like.

[hfojvt]

17. but who does the evaluation and by what standards?

Considering the article said that 25% re-offended, are you willing to keep the 75% who may never re-offend locked up forever?

One of the people quoted apparently is willing to keep 999 locked up for the sake of even ONE who may re-offend.

[mzmolly]

16. If they remain a danger to society,

letting them out to victimize children, doesn't sound right.

[Ilsa]

4. My understanding is that recidivism is extremely high

among rapists an child moestors. Maybe it's because they don't get proper therapy. Or maybe it's because they are hardwired to commit these horrible crimes. I don't know what to do with them except keep them under guard or watch.

[trumad]

7. I lean more for the hardwire....

[Ilsa]

9. Me too.

I've heard interviews with released convicted rapists. They WANT to rape again. Driven towards it. Almost like an addiction.

[pipoman]

14. It isn't an addiction..

it is their sexual orientation. People say rape isn't about sex, it is about control. I believe it is about controlling sex. Some men like heavy women, some like slim, some are leg men, some are boob men, some like other men, some women like bears, come like athletes, some like other women, no mater a person's preferences, no matter what is done to them, they probably will never change their preferences...they can't. If someone likes raping, they can't change that either...the urge will reappear and manifest itself again..

[ismnotwasm]

18. It's a pathology

Not an orientation.

[Igel]

11. No, not really.

Just unacceptably high, as opposed to, I guess, "acceptably high."

During 2007, a total of 1,180,469 persons on parole were at-risk of reincarceration. This includes persons under parole supervision on January 1 or those entering parole during the year. Of these parolees, about 16% were returned to incarceration in 2007.

Among nearly 300,000 prisoners released in 15 states in 1994, 67.5% were rearrested within 3 years. A study of prisoners released in 1983 estimated 62.5%.

Of the 272,111 persons released from prisons in 15 states in 1994, an estimated 67.5% were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years, 46.9% were reconvicted, and 25.4% resentenced to prison for a new crime.

These offenders had accumulated 4.1 million arrest charges before their most recent imprisonment and another 744,000 charges within 3 years of release.

Released prisoners with the highest rearrest rates were robbers (70.2%), burglars (74.0%), larcenists (74.6%), motor vehicle thieves (78.8%), those in prison for possessing or selling stolen property (77.4%), and those in prison for possessing, using, or selling illegal weapons (70.2%).

Within 3 years, 2.5% of released rapists were arrested for another rape, and 1.2% of those who had served time for homicide were arrested for homicide.

http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=tp&tid=17

Obviously what's an "acceptable" recidivism rate varies by crime. Rape is seriously more important than property crimes.

[Ilsa]

12. Thank you for the numbers.

A few points to consider, though:
Rape tends to be under-reported;
Property crime level might be a function of economic problems, making the comparisons more difficult, IMO, over time and economic cycles.
But these are just factors, and yes, the crimes against persons are more serious.

[brer cat]

5. A very long read, and horrifying!

It is hard to understand how so many of the rapists were set free to rape and kill again.

[geek tragedy]

10. Mandatory life sentence for rapists and child molestors.

Free up space in the prisons by ending the nutso drug war.

[Bay Boy]

13. I 100% agree with end the drug war...

...and have no problem with mandatory life for child molesters and rapists with some kind of 'test' for a cure. I don't know if that is even possible now or at some time in the future.

My greatest concern is defining a child molester. Is an 18 year old male having consensual sex with his 15 year old girlfriend a child molester(or rapist)? Should he be locked up forever?

[sigmasix]

15. and the NRA is making sure they are armed

...meanwhile the NRA continues to work hard on their re-arming of violent felons program, so that creatures like these aren't denied thier ability to express thier 2nd amendment rights all over thier victims.