" This bill is a true game changer on how we monitor the worst of the worst."
In response to the statement above currently 90% of registered offenders in Maryland, are grouped into the tier III status, currently there are over 4,000 in that group. Not any one case is the same, not every person who is tier III is the worst of the worst. In fact many of these individuals are working very hard to reclaim their lives, and be productive members of society. This is why this bill will not work:
RE: HB 594/ SB 208
To provide a brief background on why I feel so passionately about this, my husband is a three time combat veteran, a Maryland, citizen, and a registered offender. He is grouped as a tier three offender, however he is not what Delegate Mcdermott is illustrating in the proposition of this HB 594.
I understand that HB 594 was created to aide law enforcement in ensuring the safety of children. We have a three year old son ourselves, and want the utmost safety for him as well. However there are many issues with HB 594; which outnumber the benefit of this bill for the community.
First, Article 16 of the Maryland constitution states,” No law to inflict cruel and unusual pains and penalties ought to be made in any case or anytime hereafter.” The GPS ankle bracelet inflicts pain, and I could not imagine the horrendous suffering it would cause as a lifetime requirement. I witnessed my husband have difficulties walking, sleeping, and bathing on a daily basis. He also sustained scars from multiple skin abrasions to the same area, from wearing the GPS ankle bracelet. This bill would make daily life and maintaining gainful employment impossible for the registrant.
This also raises the issue of how to successfully manage homeless registrants. There is a large population of homeless individuals currently on the registry. The GPS unit would require the homeless wearer to have ready access, at least every twenty four hours, to an electrical outlet. There would be simply to many issues to introduce this requirement to homeless registrants. However it would be unethical to subject certain tier III offenders to the requirement, and not others, solely based on their housing status. In fact the idea of lifetime monitoring may make the idea of homelessness an attractive alternative, and we could end up with more registrants who are difficult to track.
In fact GPS monitoring would provide no real deterrent for crime. Where the GPS system can inform law enforcement about the whereabouts of the registrant, the GPS can not track the actual activities the registrant is doing. The GPS has no possibility of predicting a new crime before it is committed, or of telling while it is happening.
The GPS technology is also not infallible. The GPS technology relies on cell phone towers, and would be subject to many dead zones, which would render a false alarm signal. Just like any computerized hardware it would also require constant updates, and maintenance The cost of manpower to maintain and repair such equipment would be astronomical.
The requirements of this bill would end up costing our tax payers billions, it is not possible to assume the offender will be able to pay for it. If they are not able to function, they will not be able to work. Is this worth paying billions for when we know it will not deter crime?
I believe our tax dollars are better spent on something that would. I strongly recommend that more emphasis be placed on the funding of mental health treatment programs, prison outreach, community reintegration, for registered offenders. With such programs actively in place, our crime rates would significantly lesson, and we would all benefit.
Lee Sturgis who drives Grey Ghost and
Patrick Long the driver of All Night Soldier finished somewhere in the mix of it all but had a great time participating.
This put an end to the mudbogging for a few weeks for these guys. The new racing season in Gumboro begins in April and since the first of February the drivers have been busy preparing for the summer of mudbogging. 
