“He died in a jail where he was put because he didn’t tell someone he was homeless? What kind of society does that?”

Kansas does that.

Only they put people in prison.
Failure to comply, to any degree, is at least a mid-level felony for any “offender” (drug, sex, violent). /1 https://twitter.com/nacdl/status/1286081150738407424

Over 27 years, #ksleg created an offender registry that currently includes over 20,000 people
divided into 3 categories: sex, drug, and violent. Unlike NY’s system, ours is not tiered and treats everyone the same. (Not to say tiering makes NY’s ok...)

http://kslegislature.org/li_2020s/b2020s/statute/022_000_0000_chapter/022_049_0000_article/022_049_0002_section/022_049_0002_k/ /2

“Advocates cite studies that show the address verification rule does little to keep the public safe.”

Kansas’s offender registry is not evidence-based (not in who it includes, what it requires, how long it lasts), nor are the serious penalties for failing to comply with it. /3

“We put incredibly onerous restrictions on them that are almost destined to try to make them fail and to ostracize them and to not allow them to reintegrate into society and to kind of rebuild their lives.”

But it’s not punishment, most courts say. /4

Ex. https://www.kscourts.org/Cases-Opinions/Opinions/Published/State-v-Petersen-Beard

What happened to Hector Rodriguez could happen in Kansas — there are hundreds of people in KS prisons right now for the felony crime of failing to comply with the registry. That doesn’t include all the people sitting in jails w/ pending cases or awaiting transport to prison. /5

If you are a Kansan who doesn’t want any more blood on our hands, I urge you to contact your elected officials - your sheriff, your prosecutor, and your KS rep and senator - and tell them to support an overhaul of this “civil regulatory scheme” that doesn’t make us safer. /end