Convicted felony sex offenders paid to encourage votes for Kerry in 3 key states.

[singpilot]

You know, you can't make this up.

MSNBC is reporting that in 3 key swing states, convicted felony sex offenders were paid to go door to door to convince people to vote for John Kerry for President. Other felony convicted burglary and robbery offenders were also hired to do the same.

When this program was discovered, records checks were run, and some of the parolees were returned to federal prison as a result of repeated offenses since their release.

Most of the people contacted after the fact had very definate opinions of the program, and that it had solidified their response to who they were not going to vote for.

I'm sure we haven't heard the end of this one.

[CamB]

THis article?

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/06/23/votes.felons.ap/

America Coming Together, contending that convicted criminals deserve a second chance in society, employs felons as voter canvassers in major metropolitan areas in Missouri, Florida, Ohio and perhaps in other states among the 17 it is targeting in its drive. Some lived in halfway houses, and at least four returned to prison.

ACT does not believe the felons it sends door to door pose a threat to the public, said Mo Elleithee, a Washington-based spokesman for the group.

I'll give them a second chance.

Ed Gillespie, the chairman of the Republican Party, issued a statement calling the policy "disturbing" and questioned the use of felons "to go house to house and handle sensitive personal information."

In response, Elleithee cited Bush's speech Monday in Ohio, in which he applauded government, religious and community-based programs that give a helping hand to felons after they are released from prison.

Nice comeback

Although it works against the re-election of President Bush, ACT is an independent group not affiliated with Kerry's campaign -- federal law forbids such coordination. Yet ACT is stocked with veteran Democratic political operatives, many with past ties to Kerry and his advisers.

Allison Dobson, a spokeswoman with the Kerry campaign, said there is no coordination with ACT, and of the policy: "We're unaware of it and have nothing to do with it."

So they were convincing people, at most, to vote anything but Bush. Not quite "vote for Kerry" (but getting there I suppose).

[singpilot]

I suspect that is the same article, but hearing it on TV, they did not go into such detail. Not sure, but the details make it even more disturbing.

I know what I would do if I found out someone like that had come to my door and talked to family about voting.

[CamB]

Come on Sing, they've served their time.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

Wow. Glad I keep a shotgun ready.

[Overpaid Slacker]

Cam - True enough they've served their time, but that means they've atoned for whatever they were convicted of in the eyes of the law.
(1)Those aren't necessarily my eyes. Though I believe that ex-cons should not be systematically discriminated against in official capacities (jobs, housing, etc) my opinions of the efficacy of the system are not anesthetized by parole or serving a sentence; and

(2) that doesn't mean (and no penal system would ever guarantee) that they've been purged of their criminal tendencies that made them act in anti-social ways before. You KNOW they have the capacity to do these things -- that's a big deal.
So -- you were a serial rapist and you served your 6 years, c'mon in and meet the wife and kids!!! That's different from denying such person a job on an assembly line or slinging hash.

Out of curiosity, you think OJ is totally clean b/c he was acquitted of criminal charges?

I think OJ's innocent, but not b/c he was acquitted.

JP

[304065]

though they should not [b]e systematically discriminated against in official capacities

And why not? New Jersey's famous "Megan's law" provides that when a convicted sex offender is introduced to the community, and is determined to pose a risk of re-offending (how the hell they determine this is the subject for another thread) there's a notice required to schools and the community. There is also a federal statute that provides for release of information about convicted sex offenders upon public request.

Fourteen states prohibit convicted felons from voting, arguably the most significant legal entitlement there is.

I wonder what their pitch is, "I'm a felon and can't vote and that sucks, so you should register and exercise your franchise?"

"Sure, I'll listen to your voter registration speech. Come on in! Right this way, down into my basement!"

[Overpaid Slacker]

John -
I know about/agree with registration/notification of sex offenders and felons' loss of vote. I probably should've said "all" official capacities, but I believe that whatever the official government non-discrimination categories are, it doesn't and shouldn't sanitize any private person's judgment.

JP

[nullh2o]

I'd rather have a convicted felon who has served time & been released knock on the door than a career politician.

[Moses]

Originally posted by Overpaid Slacker

I think OJ's innocent...

Me too.

[Superman]

Oh for crying' out loud!

[Overpaid Slacker]

OK, this is a topic for another thread, but I believe OJ did not kill Nicole and Ron. Not that he's innocent of ex-post complicity ... b/c I believe OJ's son was probably the murderer.

I was in law school during the trial, so it was inescapable. Every single class, whether or not it had anything to do with Crim Law or Crim Pro, had 10 minutes a day of discussion of the case. And the fraternity house in which I lived (a law fraternity... whoof) had the trial on every day. Not that any of the foregoing makes me an expert, but I was saturated by coverage, analysis, re-analysis, etc. in a way that most people who had jobs and caught the re-cap and the Letterman monologues wouldn't be -- all in the context of legal education and the theories and egos of a law school faculty.

ATEOTD, I didn't believe the prosecution made a case worthy of conviction; even w/o the defense's gymnastics. And a lot of the circumstantial evidence implicating the Juice makes more sense, and is more damning, if you entertain the theory that OJ's son (who had access to the house, cars, wardrobe, etc.) did it and OJ was trying to protect him.

There is a very famous private detective who investigated the killings for months (and had the benefit of the results of the police and defense investigations to review) who wrote an article about his findings and the resultant belief that OJ's son was responsible for the killings. I've got to say, the evidence he provided and the speculations he made were much more compelling than the prosecution's. He of course had the advantage of using "excluded" evidence to make his case, but as OJ was tried more in the media than the courtroom I've got absolutely no issue considering (not swallowing whole, but considering) evidence that our courts' procedural and evidentiary rules would exclude. This was years ago and I can't find the article, but if I do, I'll post it.

Moses -- that is one hysterical photo. Surf and Turf!
Why is it that cows are so freaking funny? Gary Larson figured that out years ago, but hasn't explained why.

JP

[304065]

"Son of Juice?"

[Moses]

Originally posted by Overpaid Slacker
I believe OJ's son was probably the murderer...

...I was in law school during the trial.

Please tell me you're kidding!

OJ's son somehow left his dads blood at the scene?

OJ's son borrowed his dads socks and left the victims blood in them?

OJ's son took dads size 12 Bruno Magli's and left the prints at the crime scene?

Bye now... I'm going to be ill.

[djmcmath]

Anybody happen to know the statistic for recommission of crimes? Something like X% of people who do time for murder commit a second after release? IIRC, it's unreasonably large -- that's why this is a big deal. Just because someone's "done their time" doesn't mean they're safe.

Dan

[304065]

Bye now... I'm going to be ill.

You stay out of the ER!

I was in law school during the trial

I was in your CLASS in law school during the trial, but I never came to that conclusion.

Probably because I was at Mitch's.

[singpilot]

Hmmmm. I see a trend here.

Sounds like OJ is going to get framed for murder by his son again.

Who was OJ going to vote for?

[Overpaid Slacker]

Moses -
Again, there's more detail to this than a thread on an entirely different topic can support, but the blood match was not nec. OJ's -- his biological son would have half his father's DNA; I'm not sure the OJ DNA was a locked up match, either. A number of other indicia (that I confess I can't recall off the top of my head) that were troublesome for the prosecution (and certainly not dispositive for OJ's guilt as he was acquitted) make much more sense if viewed from the pov of his son's commission of the crime.

Kos -

"I was in your CLASS in law school during the trial, but I never came to that conclusion."
Which explains not only why neither of us were ever in criminal practice.

Were you in the PhiD basement when the verdict was announced? There were 25 of us down there watching the tube. I cheered -- he had just NOT been proven guilty BRD and I was sure he'd get railroaded (like Tyson). Granted, my celebration did no good for my relationship with the lovely Ms. Kate (who was seated next to me on the couch at the time) but that was probably for the best for all concerned.
I think the only other person that cheered was 'Los, who was convinced of OJ's innocence from the start according to this logic: "11236 yards on the ground, 2142 yards receiving, 2003 yards in a 14-game season, 75 touchdowns?!?! No *way* he did it, dude." Although when drunk he'd follow that up with "even if he did, who cares... 11236 yards on the ground... etc."

JP

[cowtown]

OJ came to my door the other day and asked me to vote for Nader.

And yes, cows ARE funny. Love the photo, Moses.

[Moses]

Originally posted by Overpaid Slacker
Moses -
Again, there's more detail to this than a thread on an entirely different topic can support, but the blood match was not nec. OJ's -- his biological son would have his DNA.

Who sold you on that ridiculous concept? You are wrong. Not just probably wrong. Not just a little wrong. 100% out to lunch, WTF were you thinking-wrong!

Unless OJ's son was cloned from OJ like Dolly the F***ing sheep, half of his genetic material comes from his mother. Absolutely NO WAY to confuse their DNA.

Sorry about the rant, but I get so frustrated when people try to peddle crap. Whoever told you that a sons DNA could be confused with his fathers is uninformed or an idiot.

Now tell me again how OJ's blood got left at the crime scene...