Transcribed Interview with Seth Muraskin

Interview with Seth Muraskin of New York Civil Liberties Union. (4:07)

Seth: The position of the NYCLU on sex offenders, we are not in support obviously, of any offenders. We are not in support of any of the crimes. They should be punished, an punished to whatever extent a judge determines based upon the facts of the case. Its after they’ve served their time in prison, served their time in a county jail done probation don’t parole, taken all the programs that are necessary or required. After, after they’ve done their time, and after they’ve been punished, the continuation of this punishment turns in to a discriminatory act and a prejudicial act toward individuals.. in addition, someone who is registered as a level one or level two offender is being treated worse than someone who lets say killed somebody, committed manslaughter, committed arson, committed a violent offense. So we have people who have are not committing violent crimes who are being treated and segregated and discriminated against worse than those who have committed these violent acts.

Amanda: And um, what do you feel the e-mail alert system is doing to these offenders?

Seth: The e-mail alert system is giving, two things, one is it is still another intrusion of privacy and two, it riles up a mob mentality. For example there was an issue a couple months ago out here in Suffolk in mastic and Shirley where some girls were getting assaulted by the school and because there was a high concentration of sex offenders living in that area they naturally turned to the sex offenders. None of the sex offenders charged did any of it. But its that sort of rationalization well obviously if their living here they must have done it. Its, we don’t want a mob justice mentality, we want to make sure than everyone is treated equally under the law. And they are not getting additionally punished after they’ve done your time and after you’ve served after what justice and the people of New York say that you should serve your time. Which is basically what the judge is supposed to do.

Seth: One of the examples I can give is, we had a gentlement who was a level on sex offender which is the lowest level, none violent, actually in the particular case there wasn’t any contact at all. However a mistake was made, and they were treating him like a level two and they were putting false information on the website as to what he was convicted of. This was affecting his job and his livelihood. Its that sort of thing after you’ve done your time after you’ve served your probation after you have been convicted and done everything that was asked of you. Again, its following you and we had to make sure that this particular persons names was properly taken care of and the offenses charge was removed from the website. And the information that was being set forth for anyone to see was actually wrong, we had to clear that up. Its that sort of invasion of privacy its that sort of double punishment that NYCLU is against.

Amanda: And have you had any circ where someone was deeply affected by um their neighbors finding out that they were sex offenders, do people ever try to get them out of their neighborhood?

Seth: actually there was on case that I had where, we did get word that there were some several neighbors that found out, that there was another level one offender that was living within the neighborhood and they had called an complained that they were being harassed. Things were being put on their door, windows were being broken and the only thing we could do was contact police because under the current state of the law, this notification that is out there this information is out there and this information is available. And that’s the sort of thing we are trying to avoid, that after everything is done, further harm is not being thrown upon anybody and we wanna make sure that the eighth amendment is being properly upheld.
Seth: What’s happening now is because technology is advancing instead of people getting notified or school districts or police station or daycare centers getting notified by letter you can do it all through e-mail. The problem with that is its so easy to hack in a system, its so easy for this information to be sent out incorrectly, or to people it shouldn’t be sent to, the privacy concerns are there. That the information, if you’re designated as a level one, only certain groups like the police station or the school gets notification, no the community, that there’s no guarantee anymore, at least with the letter, the old fashioned way on a computer or typewriter it was easy to sort of control who is getting this information. Now on the computer you can do a google search and it’s certainly possible to find out a lot more information than under the law that is permitted to be disseminated to people.

Production Memo

By Amanda Kenney

From the beginning to the end of my project, I experienced a rollercoaster of trials and tribulations. I started out excited, and with an optimistic view on finding sources. I found an article on my topic, the newly upgraded sexual offender e-mail system, and found many sources within the article. I was confident that I could get in touch with these sources, and it would turn out great.

Trouble came when I wasn't hearing back from my sources. My main focus was getting in touch with Laura Ahearn, who was the Executive Director of Parents for Megan's Law. I called the organization plus sent out e-mail to two different e-mails, to two different organizations that Ms. Ahearn was affiliated with. A week went by, and I still heard nothing. Finally, she had called me one afternoon. She left a message, and I called her as soon as possible. I spoke with her and was immediately put down. Ms. Ahearn was too busy to meet with me and would only be interviewed by phone. However, I was not prepared due to the fact that I was more focused on getting in touch with her first. She told me to call back when I was prepared. I never called back. The lesson learned here was to have questions prepared before you contact your sources.

After that hurdle, things started to get better. I found a Long Island mother, Fran Spencer, who had received a letter years ago that there was a sexual offender in the neighborhood. This was great because she was able to compare the letters and the e-mails.

Then, I came across a quote by Seth Murasking, who said the system was no good. Getting in touch with him was little easier. He called me back the same day I e-mailed and called his office. The trouble here was finding his office for the interview. Even with a GPS, I had problems, due to the fact that it was a new building. Nevertheless, I made it and the interview went very well.

After my interviews, all I had to do were my stand-ups. This was particularly hard. My stand ups were long, and I had a lot of trouble remembering them. I wanted to use more voice overs, but there really is no b-roll with my topic. The sun was also a struggle, I could barely keep my eyes open. Then, to top it off, the battery on the flipcam was about to die! Still, I made it through.

Editing was the most fun, and I felt the easiest. The only thing that was a problem what the length of time it took to edit and to export from a project file to a movie file.

From the many mistakes I've made through out this project, I suggest that future students always have questions ready before they contact their sources, try to capture b-roll with either photographs or video, and always have extra batteries for your flipcam. Also, make sure you set aside enough time for editing, because it may take you longer than you think.

Transcribed Interview with Fran Spencer

Interview with Fran Spencer, a Long Island resident. (2:16)

Fran: Oh my god….Do you see how many? That’s horrifying. You know, it’s horrifying to see how many in this area, which means everyone represent, represents, a kid who’s been terrorized, or maybe even traumatized for life. In this little area. So now can you see exactly where they are? Lets see if you go like that. Yes, you can. Wow.

Fran: Um, I am definitely in favor of the e-mail alert system because when my daughter was young I had gotten a letter I the mail saying that there was a sex offender in the area, but no additional information. And when I called the number on the letter, they told me they weren’t allowed to give out additional information. Which is a very strange thing. So you know, there’s somebody to be a little cautious about, so then you start looking all around. Is it a next-door neighbor; is it somebody down the block? So, that was really a frustrating procedure.

Fran: so now with the e-mail alert system you are able to know exactly who is in the area you’re able to know what they were convicted for. And you know I understand that some people feel like its against their civil rights, you have there’s a picture up there, and you know what’s going on. Obviously if they’ve been convicted, they’ve already payed their debts to society. But you know what, a society that doesn’t take care of its children, is really not doing its job. And I think its essential for parents to know who in the area could possibly be doing their child harm. And then you know to avoid certain things. So yes, I think it’s a really, it’s a good idea to that that e-mail. It’s a lot better than that frustration I felt several years ago when I know somebody was in the area, but I didn’t know who or where.