Alex Landon’s new book A Parallel Universe
is a bold and fascinating look at designer
sex laws and their impact on the
lives of people in our community. Coauthored
with journalist Elaine Halleck,
the book alternates chapters of non-fiction
and fiction in looking at “a story of tragedies.”
In this unique format, Alex covers the
non-fiction. His chapters describe the historical
roots of sex offender laws, and the
American penchant for using the tragedies
of abducted and murdered girls to enact
harsher and more restrictive legislation.
He looks at the precursors to Jessica’s
Law, Megan’s Law, Amber’s Law, and
Chelsea’s Law. He explores the powerful
forces behind enactment of the reactionary
laws that we, the criminal defense bar,
see on a daily basis. He deftly describes
how what he calls the “Summer of the
Abducted White Girl” has become the
prime motivator behind the new sex offender
laws. The book is packed with well
researched facts and detail, yet concise
and readable for the lawyer and nonlawyer
alike.
Each chapter reflects the theme of the
book: how sensational cases, public fear,
public hysteria, pseudo science, psychology,
political bandstanding, and economic
factors like the prison industry have combined
to create increasingly draconian
laws supposedly meant to protect our children
by targeting sex offenders. If this
sounds complex and multi-faceted, it is.
There are no simple causes, and no simple
answers. Alex covers such diverse
topics as the penile plethysmograph,
therapists’ mandated reporting, Oprah
Winfrey, and police stings involving fictitious
“children” in chat rooms.
Elaine adds stories about affected individuals.
Her chapters recount the effects
– often unintended -- of these designer
sex laws on the men, women, and children
who lead ordinary and law-abiding lives.
She tells of families stigmatized by sex
offender databases. She tells of social
ostracism and homelessness. She tells of
Chicano families and Anglo families.
Her characters are everyman and
everywoman and everychild. They are
young and old. They are mothers, sons,
daughters, fathers. Some are fearful,
driven by the sensationalism of the crime
headlines that pervade their lives. Some
are vengeful and obsessed, seeing sexual
predators on every street corner (and in
every apartment building). Some are
thoughtful, pondering how and why an
erosion of human rights has occurred.
Some, especially the children, are confused.
Some ask questions, others spout
venom or repeat what they hear. Religion
and racism play their parts too. Elaine
captures the emotions and feelings of our
times in the stories she tells. These are
not the shadowed edges of a dark world,
but the very real consequences of de-signer
laws on mainstream America.
Together, the co-authors deftly weave the fiction and
non-fiction to fulfill their promise of “Tales of Public Folly
and Personal Devastation.” The book has a strong and
definite political point of view, which in my opinion makes it
shine.
A Parallel Universe has a definite message: the cookie
cutter laws designed to protect children are not accomplishing
their objectives, but rather they are imposing lifetime
incarcerations and public vilification of individuals.
Yet, this book does more than just preach to the choir. It
provides all of us with a deeper understanding of how
these laws came into existence. It demonstrates how the
laws utterly fail to differentiate between a one-time offender
from decades ago and a serial pedophile. It gives
us the ammunition we need to speak out not just in court,
but in the political arena. While its fictional conclusion may
be a bit contrived, the research done and the care shown
in the writing make this a “must read.”
A book launch and signing was held at the University of
San Diego Law School in October. A Parallel Universe, published
by Poetic Matrix Press, is available commercially at
Warwick’s in La Jolla or through Amazon.com.
We should be proud of the newest author among us. He
joins such local published notables as Chuck Sevilla
(Disorder in the Courts; Wilkes on Trial; and Disorderly Conduct)
and former Judge Norbert Ehrenfreund (The Nuremberg
Legacy; You Be the Judge; and You’re the Jury).
Congratulations, Alex.
And if this educational reading piques your interest in
fiction, you might take a look at Russell Banks’ newest
novel Lost Memory of Skin. It’s the story of “The Kid”, a
registered sex offender. One reviewer describes the story
as going well beyond the plight of the individual to our
“troubled society where zero tolerance has erased any
hope of subtlety or compassion – a society where isolating
the offender has perhaps created a new kind of victim.”
While lurid novels detailing the horrors of stranger abduction
and child victimization abound, new books showing a
more nuanced perspective are a welcome addition.
From the Criminal Defense Newsletter
A JOINT PUBLICATION OF THE SAN DIEGO CRIMINAL DEFENSE
BAR ASSOCIATION AND THE CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER’S CLUB
October 2011
A MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT BY JACKIE CROWLE
Authors Among Us