POLITICAL SCIENCE
Another oxymoron,
like convenience store, because if there is any science involved with
politics, I haven't noticed. I've always been interested in what's going on
but it wasn't until last year that I got a crash course in politics. This
was State, not Federal, nonetheless it was enlightening. It began innocently
enough with a phone call to Bill O'Reilly's radio show. He was talking about
the abduction, rape and murder of 9 year old Jessica Lunsford in Florida by
a human nightmare named John Cooey who had molested children before, done
short stints of time, and had been released.
I truly never got over the Jeffrey Curley case, perhaps a decade ago, in
Massachusetts. Two young men, one a member of NAMBLA, the North American
Man/Boy Love Association, if you can believe it, lured young Jeffrey into
their car with the promise of a new bike. I still remember this kid's face
from the news. Beautiful, happy, All-American kid. The last two weeks of his
young life were spent in a squalid apartment in Manchester, NH where he was
molested, abused in various ways, and, I'm sure, terrified in a way that is
unthinkable. When they were done, they put Jeff in a plastic container,
filled it with concrete, and threw it in a river in Maine. As many times as
I have recounted this story, it is still difficult to write this now and
remain composed. I am a parent, like many of you.
The reason I was calling O'Reilly was his call to arms. He was asking
citizens, his listeners, to join him in trying to make a change. In the wake
of the Jessica Lunsford case, and only because of relentless public pressure
and media pressure (O'Reilly), Florida came up with the first-in-the-nation
tough law for child sexual predators. First offense: 25 years to life. No
deals, no plea-bargains, no loopy judges giving six-months. Get them off the
streets. O'Reilly's offer: you see politicians in your state blocking this
let him know, and he'll let America know. This sounded to me like a good
time to try to make a difference because, like many people, I have had it
with our ridiculous legal system, especially in this department. I had no
idea how important his part of the deal would become.
I called him on July 13th, 2005. The next day, my wife and I contacted our
Governor's office to get the ins and outs of starting a citizen’s petition.
In a couple of days, we had hundreds of them out locally with clipboards and
pens. Friends got involved. With our town's permission we used our downtown
common, called the oval here, to hold a rally set for August. In the
meantime, I called every newspaper I could think of, state representatives,
police chiefs...you name it. The press covered our activity, even The Boston
Globe ran a piece on our efforts. The Manchester Union Leader did not like
our idea. New laws are not the answer to everything. I was asking people to
support Jessica's Law, word for word. My meaning was, not to let it get
watered down, keep it tough, otherwise, what's the point?
O'Reilly stayed true to his word, covering our progress, our rally and even
scorching the Union Leader editor for "knit-picking" the law. Eventually,
the Union Leader got on board and, in fact, became a strong advocate of
Governor Lych's efforts. Attorney General Kelly Ayotte and her staff, and
many others, worked very hard to draft what became The NH Child Predator's
Act. A version of Jessica's Law with some variations but still with the
tough mandatory minimum sentences. However, as HB1692 as it became known,
made it's way through the lengthy process of becoming a law, lawyers
associations, advocacy groups, everyone and thing you can imagine came out
to argue it, and weaken it. You have to wonder...who argues the need? Think
back to Jeffrey Curley. Jessica, buried alive clutching her stuffed dolphin.
I was really shocked at the greed, self-promotion, hidden agendas and
runaway pontification that rule the political system. Protecting kids...it's
got to be a no-brainer, right? No way.
The bill went back and forth between committees and meetings. At one point
they removed the mandatory sentences. Hell broke loose; they put them back
in, kind of. The end a result, if the prosecutor asks for the mandatory, the
judge must impose it, however, the judge can hand down a lesser sentence if
he provides a written explanation. You see what I mean? There's no science
here. Only human nature amongst the well-placed, affluent and powerful. You
can bet there wasn't one parent of a Jeffrey Curley there. On one hand, my
hopes are slightly buoyed by the fact that a group of citizens made
themselves heard, made a difference. On the other hand we never would have
been listened to without O'Reilly's big spotlight on it and Jim & Margery's
help at 96.9 FM. They gave us lots of free coverage and it really helped.
On Monday, June 26th, at 1:30 p.m., Governor John Lynch will sign into law,
The New Hampshire Child Predator Act. Just barely under a year from the
first effort to shine a light on it. It is a good law. It is not perfect. It
is not nearly as tough as what I would have wanted but it is a big, big
improvement over what we had here in NH.
We will be watching to see if the tough sentences actually get handed down
and if not, why not. To everyone who helped…take note...you made a
difference, no science involved.