WAR's Denver Protest and why Public Demonstrations matter

Women Against Registry is hosting a public demonstration in response to the recent 10th Circuit decision:

JOIN WOMEN AGAINST REGISTRY (WAR) IN A PEACEFUL PROTEST OF THE 10TH CIRCUIT MILLARD v RANKIN DECISION

DATE: THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2020 from 8:00am to 2:00pm

PLACE: 10th Circuit Courthouse, 1823 Stout St, Denver, CO 80257

SUMMARY: The 10th Circuit in the August 20, 2020 decision denies the registry is NOT punitive, a decision contrary to the findings of the Ohio Supreme Court, Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the 6th Circuit Court, and the US District Court of Colorado. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter called this decision “a major victory for public safety advocates”; for those of us who have endured hardships as the result of inclusion on the public sexual offfense registry, this decision is an insult and a denial of real-life struggles. The registry looks like punishment and feels like punishment. American society considers the public registry as a part of the punishment. This protest is a demonstration against this horrible 10th Circuit ruling. We KNOW the registry is not only PUNITIVE, but CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT as found by the US District Court in Colorado. Registered Persons, loved ones of Registrants, and anyone who believes the 10th Circuit got it wrong is welcome to attend. For more info or to commit to attend, you can send an email to 10thcirteam@warfamilyfoundation.org or you can contact me at iamthefallen1@yahoo.com for more info. You can also donate to either OnceFallen directly (Paypal email for OnceFallen is the same), or if you prefer, send your donations to Women Against Registry.

WHY DEMONSTRATIONS ARE IMPORTANT

Demonstration are integral parts of our efforts to reform the registry. There is no one singular action we can take to change the laws. This Anti-Registry Movement has come to believe in recent years that lawsuits are the Madden NFL Hail Mary pass strategy to lead us to ultimate victory, but the 10th Circuit just intercepted that pass and now it is going the other way. You can't win the game on a single strategy. Football is a complex sport. There are running plays and passing plays, trick plays where you fake the run or fake the pass, and sometimes, a big play is a matter or improvising when the designed play breaks down. 

Our movement should learn to value every play we make. The long ball pass in football is exciting but those are not often successful, especially the last second Hail Mary. Yet, it feels like that is all our movement values. Lawsuits are great when successful, but then we hit a bad 10th Circuit ruling or a 6th Circuit ruling, then you realize that the lawsuit strategy is not sufficient if we cannot mix things up a bit. 

I have personally been a fan on public awareness campaigns. They are underutilized in our movement in large part because people fear being recognized and assaulted. Having engaged in such events in Florida, Long Island, California, and Oregon, I have seen none of this happen. With the COVID concerns still taking place, you can wear a mask and sunglasses to hide your identity; we will be in front of a federal courthouse, so there will be DHS or other federal agents patrolling the area to keep people safe. My past protest experiences have been largely positive, too. People behave differently face-to-face than they do online. People who approach us seem more willing to listen to the message. With enough people attending, the media will  cover the event, and it will give us a chance to spread our message to a larger audience than the passersby at the event itself. 

We as a movement need to get out of the mindset that no single event is good if it is not going to instantaneously change the registry. A football game is never won on a single play, but a culmination of all the plays made in the game. Sometimes that one yard run up the middle of the field made the difference. We needs to stop thinking in terms of either-or (lawsuits OR protests), we need to start thinking in terms of both-and (lawsuits AND protests). Where do the courts get their opinions? Would you believe that judges are humans that get their same ideas from the same places the rest of us do, primarily the media and internet? If we're going to educate the public, we have to educate everyone-- judges, lawmakers, the media, and the general public. 

This ios especially important given the way people have responded to the events of this year. Thanks to outlandish conspiracies like QAnon, there has been a renewed focus on increasing punishment for Registered Persons. We need to provide a counterbalance to the QAnon believers. This make this upcoming event important, so support it by donating to WAR or to OnceFallen, or better yet, donate your Thursday, September 24th plan and join us in person.