The 2020 Presidential Candidates and their stance on the Sex Offense Registry

Now that the candidate pool on the Democratic side have narrowed to two people (well, three if you count Tulsi Gabbard but she's a long shot), it is time to see where everyone stands on this issue. However, it is becoming clear that Joe Biden will get the Democratic nomination, especially since establishment Dems (including nearly every former nominee) have all rallied behind Biden.

Why is this important to us? it is important because Presidents appoint federal justices. Right now, SCOTUS has a conservative majority. Who voted in favor of Smith v Doe and Kansas v Hendricks? The conservative justices. In regards to Kavanaugh, if you think him being accused of a sex offense is going to question these laws, Clarence Thomas had been accused by Anita Hill and he still voted in favor of both the registry AND civil commitment.

JOE BIDEN

I don't belive Joe Biden's a "centrist" candidate. Besides, Joe Biden gave us the 1994 Jacob Wetterling Act and the 2006 Adam Walsh Act. Need I say more?

https://votesmart.org/public-statement/196932/hatch-biden-bill-cracking-down-on-sexual-predators-to-be-signed-into-law-today#.Xl9HeqhKjIU

Hatch-Biden Bill Cracking Down on Sexual Predators to be Signed into Law Today
By: Joe Biden, Jr.
Date: July 27, 2006
Location: Washington, DC

Hatch-Biden Bill Cracking Down on Sexual Predators to be Signed into Law Today

WASHINGTON, DC - A hard-fought, bipartisan bill designed to crack down on sexual predators will become law later today in a White House signing ceremony. The "Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act," sponsored by Senators Joe Biden (D-DE) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT), will now make it easier for local law enforcement and parents to track sex offenders and to prevent repeat offenses.

"Plain and simple: This legislation will help save children's lives," said Senator Biden, the top Democrat on the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs. "Sexual predators must be tracked and parents have a right to know when these criminals are in their neighborhoods."

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimates that there are approximately 600,000 sex offenders nationwide, 20% of whom are not accounted for.

"We've done a lot to protect our kids against sex offenders - creating the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in 1984, enacting the Biden Crime Bill in 1994, and enacting the Amber Alert system in 2003 - but it is not enough. We must do more. The Adam Walsh Act will help prevent these low-life sexual predators from slipping through the cracks."

Specifically, the Hatch-Biden bill tightens existing law by requiring sex offenders to register prior to release from prison. It also adds the "use of the Internet to facilitate or commit a crime against a minor" as an offense that triggers registration.

In addition, child predators will be required to periodically check in personally with the authorities and update their photographs so law enforcement and parents will know what they look like now. And if a registered sex offender fails to comply with any of the law's requirements, he or she faces up to 10 years in prison.

The Adam Walsh Act also fully integrates and expands existing state registration systems so that information will be shared instantly and seamlessly among them.

"States such as Delaware and Florida have worked hard to build comprehensive and effective statewide registration systems," said Senator Biden. "But there are other states that are not as advanced - whose systems are not as sophisticated. We now seek to fully integrate and expand those networks so that communities nationwide will be warned when high-risk offenders come to live among them," said Biden. Senator Biden is the author of the landmark 1994 crime bill that helped create the first state programs to track and register convicted child molesters. Additionally, he is an original member of the bipartisan Senate Caucus on Missing, Exploited and Runaway Children which was founded last year. This panel is charged with helping to develop legislation on behalf of missing, exploited, and runaway children, and to work with both national and local child advocacy organizations.

DONALD TRUMP

Any hope conservatives had that Trump would "drain" the Corrections Swamp ended when he signed FOSTA/ SESTA under the guise of preventing human trafficking. Trump has used the Sex Trafficking Moral Panic as a way to win votes.

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/president-donald-j-trump-made-priority-combat-heinous-crime-human-trafficking/

"ERADICATING HUMAN TRAFFICKING: President Trump has made it a priority to leverage every resource of the Federal Government to end the scourge of human trafficking."

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/anti-human-trafficking-groups-boycotting-ivanka-trumps-white/story?id=68615924

"Human trafficking is worse than it ever has been before," Trump said. "And that's because of the internet."

He outlined initiatives his administration has done thus far, including the Department of Justice shutting down certain websites found to be associated with groups accused of running human trafficking rings.

He added, “My administration is fighting these monsters, persecuting and prosecuting them.”

For what it's worth, Trump and the Repubs haven't renewed the controversial VAWA.

https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2020/01/24/its-a-real-loss-for-survivors-domestic-violence-law-stalled-in-u-s-senate/

"For decades, the Violence Against Women Act was an issue that could transcend partisan politics on Capitol Hill. Not anymore."

And remember when Trump called Ben Carson a Child Molester?

https://www.politico.com/story/2015/11/trump-carson-pathological-215816

"It's in the book that he's got a pathological temper," he said. "That's a big problem because you don't cure that ... as an example: child molesting. You don't cure these people. You don't cure a child molester. There's no cure for it. Pathological, there's no cure for that."

BERNIE SANDERS

Bernie Sanders had an early lead in the primaries but is fading fast. It is too bad because out of the major political candidates, Sanders is the most open to criminal justice reforms. He took criticism for saying prisoners should have the right to vote. He also took criticism for suggesting a registry of corrupt cops and reducing the prison population. He has consistently voted against the PATRIOT Act and opposes the death penalty. He only reluctantly voted for the 1994 Omnibus Crime Bill because it included the VAWA, while trying to pass amendments to stop the bad parts of the bill from passing. He also opposed the Iraq War.

Bernie's full stance on criminal justice issues is HERE.

BOTTOM LINE--

Biden and Trump are bad for registered persons. If Bernie isn't in the election come November, I'll once again cast my vote for a Third Party candidate. Hell, I may even write myself for President.