Lynda M. Martin

I took her up on her invitation and emailed her, giving her a bit of my background. I've yet to hear from her.) written by Lynda

I tried to respond but she prefers those who only agree with her, so here it is:


If I didn’t respond as quickly as you thought I should its because some of us have real jobs, supporting those who collect their disability and advocate they are all "Romeos" on line. You seem very obsessed on "credentials", I am curious? If a victim came on your site and posted a difference of opinion, would you discount their opinion due to "credentials"? After our last tit for tat, I ventured onto some of your other writings, one was heartfelt, compassionate and showed the true atrocities of this issue, I was left thinking? Is this the same writer? It was a great article."give credit where credit is due"..some of your posters above love to make me "flavor of the month" of bad guys, Thats ok, I am a big girl and can weather it. But what your collection of offenders have never understood is, I have been an unwavering catalyst to help pass those "Romeo Laws in Florida" . Think about it, thats been the over-riding comeback from offenders who "got tangled in consensual underage sex that destroyed their lives" right? Well I pushed and pushed for that exclusion, legislator’s dont take offenders recommendations, so I took it for them. I pushed for 5 years but Florida gave us 4, (so tell the above group if you make the list in Florida now? You can’t blame anyone but yourself! The next piece of legislation is the ability for a non-violent offender (like the Existing Romeos) to petition OFF the Registry NOW and make it affordable! I have made no secret that 20,25-30 years on a "list" for a conviction that "we are no longer prosecuting" is barbaric. Sex offender Issues has the uncanny ability to "bite the hand that in some cases advocates for them". They also align themselves shoulder to shoulder with anyone who has sex offender status, regardless of their crimes..thats why they are ineffective and their site is mostly just a moan session.My "Credentials" are as follows: Initially, I was an outraged, offender under every rock, disgusted taxpayer who had a “kill them all” mentality. Years of interaction, dialogue, observations of the various systems and research has educated me into realizing that as atrocious as offenders crimes are, the very systems we pay to put in place can be just as offensive to the very people they are suppose to protect. As far as Dr. Levenson is concerned. I have followed her work. The fact that she is mostly state funded is pure theft to me. What has she “really done” for the plight of concerned citizens or the offenders themselves? Offenders hold her up as some kind of “shining advocate for them”. Oh she shows up at various task force meetings on the issue, but she aligns herself with the ACLU who threatens litigation at every turn and (irritates the people with the true power in the first thirty minutes) so at the end of the day, she doesn’t actually accomplish anything. This “highly credentialed” woman should have seen the trends changing in this state, she should have anticipated budgets, changing immigration patterns, Interstate compact law, Judicial and Correctional breakdowns, that effect families and offenders. Her only solution is to fit 10lbs. of offenders in a 1 lb. bag by lowering restrictions. People are not going for that. You have to wonder Immartin, if people were really staying on top of this issue, I wonder if all the restrictions being meted out would be necessary in the first place? Oh and lets get something right out on the table- I maintained a very cool head with Mr. Weeks, the next offender who approaches me in the same manner? Wont be nearly so lucky.