My partner has been job hunting lately....and every time he tries to go to a job expo, he gets turned down for travel. I was so excited to find this group, learn about the conference and then learn that DC doesn't have any travel restrictions! I think my partner and I would both get a lot out of this conference.
I knew his parole officer would be unlikely to approve it, so I recommended that he tell a white lie about why we were requesting travel. But instead he decided to go with the truth, and of course she said no. She said she didn't want him attending the conference because it would give people the impression that he thought registry laws were unfair and she worried he might stop following the rules he's supposed to live under. (Which is ridiculous, of course. Campaigning to have laws changed doesn't mean you are planning to break existing laws)
I'm crushed he has been denied another trip and newly terrified that his parole officer will be less cooperative with me from now on. She's often mean and dismissive with him, but she's always been nice and respectful with me before. But now that she knows I'm actively working to dismantle the system that pays her bills, who knows how she'll behave.
Does anyone have any advice? For the people whose registered partners got permission....What did they tell their PO? How can I talk to her about the reasons I want to go to this conference without making her feel like I'm her enemy? Because she's a really scary enemy and she controls my partner's life in lots of ways. And can you think of anything I could say to convince her to let him attend with me?
Back when I was on MSR (parole), I had to go to the court to get permission. As I remember my petition just said that I needed to attend an out of state conference on such and such dates and that I would sign a waver of extradition. The prosecutor had no objection and the judge approved it without a court appearance. The prosecutor then handed me the waver of extradition to sign and then gave me the court order approving my travel. But I will say this was 20 years ago. YMMV. I did this about 5 times during my MSR years and never had any objection from the prosecutor. I was told that if the judge orders it then the parole officer can't prevent it.
If I had been asked I was prepared to say the conference was to help me learn to live with the consequences of my conviction and better reintegrate into society. But the judge didn't ask.
I can see the situation your in. I applaud you for trying to work with the Probation/Parole officer. I also think your trying not to escalate the situation so the situation doesn't get worse for both of you is the best idea. If you have tried the request and been denied, maybe consider these paths. The officer may not know that this isn't a vigil/conference to encourage defiance. In fact, it's best to be in compliance until we get laws changed. If the officer is unyielding, then consider the next step. Contact by e-mail or hotline number of WAR and see if you can get some information to help persuade the officer. That is probably on the website anyway. Next step is go to the officers supervisor. Be prepared for your officer to retaliate. Don't know if that will happen, just be prepared as part of the risk. If that doesn't work, you could call your state Probation /Parole office. They may or may not intervene. As a last resort, You could ask a judge to order the officer to allow travel. Use caution if you choose that route.
I do suggest, talking to your State Representative and Senator. These two legislators probably aren't aware that people are being denied this right to communicatee with their legislators. I've met others that were denied and the person wasn't even leaving the state. With each step, the risk of retaliation may increase. I wish you the best of luck. I hope this helps.
Mike
My parole officer basically let me know that the only travel permit I would ever get would be if an immediate family member died and their funeral was in another state. As far as I have come to understand, there is no recourse.
If you are a registered person on supervision and contemplating asking your PO to allow you to attend the upcoming conference send us an email and we will put you in touch with a freelance journalist who is wanting to interview people especially if they have been denied.
We gave up on him being able to attend the conference when his PO said no. But he would be willing to talk to whoever is writing the article. If you'd like to contact us, my email is annecroat@gmail.com and I'll forward the message on to him.
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