Posted on 05/13/2019 12:17:07 PM PDT by Zirondelle
I've never posted a vanity before so forgive me for any boo-boos. A family member (sister) just let me know about some bad legislation that may be coming her way. Several years ago, her husband went through a mid-life crisis and ended up leaving her temporarily for a younger woman who had a 6 year old girl. Eventually, the woman had sister's husband arrested and convicted for lewd and lascivious behavior in front of the child which is a mandatory 25 year sentence in Florida. My sister is getting ready to retire from K-Mart and planned on supporting herself on her little pension and her husband's federal pension. Now this Republican Senator from Montana wants to push through a bill that states “A convicted pedophile should not receive one cent of taxpayer money while serving time in prison. This cannot stand.” My sister is not a pedophile yet this will cause her great financial distress, even losing her house. Does anyone know what can be done to stop this? I've emailed the man but what more can be done? We don't condone what her husband is convicted of, obviously, but what of the innocent families this affects?
I don’t know....I’ll have to ask.
The language in the bill says convicted “on or after the date of enactment”.
HE won’t be receiving it- SHE will be receiving what she is entitled to.
That would be the tack I would take.
So, what is your name, your sister’s name and your brother in laws name?
When and where did he molest this little girl?
We need facts, not stories.
I really want to help you.
Then it appears to be a non-issue, and not ex-post facto, and I'm good with it.
I give you your tag.....
Learn or Leave
Good job of reading this through. She’s off the hook on this if you are correct.
Since he has not yet received his pension, your claim of ex post facto is not relevant. It is not after the fact.
Oops...misread that. Never mind.
At any rate, the "sister" seems to be a victim.
At one time, Freepers seemed to be a bit more compassionate (but I could wrong).
I give you your tag.....
Learn or Leave
Don’t understand it all but how does this person have a federal pension?
Did he have the years of service to qualify for a pension prior to his
illegal acts?
“even losing her house.”....
Is the house just hers or does the criminal still own his share?
You didn’t make that plain. In other words are they still married?
I might ask what is conservative about expecting government money for being downstream of someone else’s pension, that person being no longer eligible.
What is her claim?
Pity?
It is unfortunate that she is in this situation, but no matter how you slice it, it’s not her money. There are plenty of hard luck stories out there. At some point we all have to be adults and not expect the government to bail us out our poor choices.
It sounds like sister was awarded part of ex husband penson via the divorce degree since she is receiving it now.
I would think that if it were part of a divorce degree, she would continue to get it.
He would not personally receive the pension dollars. His other now ex wife, may have also requested or will get his pension as part of divorce degree if they were married long enough.
I also think this would be going forward not retroactive.
I took the OP to mean the husband was retired, and the wife was looking to retire, but wouldn't be able to without his retirement being in place.
Missing details.
It's not really an issue anyway, as the text of the bill was posted later, and it goes by conviction date, which would have to be on or after the effective date of the bill according to the bill's language. So it wouldn't be ex-post facto anyway.
It hasn’t passed ....yet.
It may never come up for a vote or a signature. This sounds like posturing than an active bill with real support.
Maybe this may stop a few people if the know it’s going to hurt their families. I’m for it.
shotgun, you’re quite right the offense(s) was committed BEFORE the potential future date of enactment of the proposed legislation. Text follows:
“...2)for which the conduct constituting the offense is committed on or after the date of enactment of the Denying Pensions to Convicted Child Molesters Act of 2019, which shall include any offense that includes conduct that continued on or after the date of enactment of such Act....”
zirondelle, looks like your sister won’t be adversely impacted by this so long as her husband/ex-husband doesn’t REOFFEND in the future after enactment of the law. Only half kidding but maybe she’ll luck out and he’ll die in prison...pedofiles frequently don’t fare well in prison. Best wishes for your sister as she deals with this stressful situation.
Plus, I work in government and tried to take away benefits from existing workers. You cannot do it. It appears government workers are a protected class. I think the poster’s sister is going to be fine no matter what.
Still married so a beneficiary. Entitled or not is your question.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.