Jeremy Moody, a member of a small but violent racist skinhead gang called Crew 41, shocked South Carolina authorities last week when he told them that he and his wife shot and stabbed to death a middle-aged couple July 21 because the man was a registered sex offender. But if ridding the world of sex offenders was Moody’s goal, he didn’t have to go outside of his crew to find one. The head of the gang’s Colorado chapter, ___ ___., is a registered sex offender, convicted of “accosting for immoral purposes.” Full…
Read MoreMonth: July 2013
Sheriff’s deputy accused of rape, soliciting bribes while on duty
A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy accused of raping women and soliciting bribes while on duty is due in court Wednesday morning. ___ ___ ___ , 28, was arrested at his home Monday night without incident after a nearly three-year investigation. ___ , a seven-year department veteran, was most recently assigned to patrol duties at the Palmdale Station. Full Article
Read MoreNew girl blamed to teen bullying suicide case
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A new classmate has been implicated in the death of a 15-year-old girl who committed suicide after saying three boys sexually assaulted her and circulated photos of the abuse online. Audrie Pott hanged herself in September, about a week after passing out drunk at a party at a friend’s house in Northern California. The 15-year-old said boys she had known for years took off her clothes and sexually assaulted her, including writing and drawing on intimate parts of her body and taking cellphone photos of their…
Read MoreNo Justice: Sex Offenses, No Matter How Minor or Understandable, Can Ruin You for Life
The collection of laws and restrictions that regulate people categorized as “sex offenders” has been punctuated by names such as Megan, Jessica and Adam. These are the names of children, all victims of heinous crimes that sparked high-profile campaigns aimed at creating “get tough on crime” legislation. Today you can go online to your state’s Megan’s Law website, where all convicted sex offenders are required to register, and probably find clusters of red dots on the map of your neighborhood, each dot representing an individual convicted of a sex crime.…
Read MoreOpinion: Place focus on worst sex offenders
State legislators should review laws regarding our sex offender registry in order to allow law enforcement to focus on the most dangerous. We have no empathy for those individuals who committed violent sexual acts against any adult or minor. But the requirements of sex offenders to register keeps local law enforcement officers checking up on some people who pose little risk to the public. Full Article
Read MoreSome Ankle Bracelet Alarms Go Unchecked
Three decades after they were introduced as a crime-fighting tool, electronic ankle bracelets used to track an offender’s whereabouts have proliferated so much that officials are struggling to handle an avalanche of monitoring alerts that are often nothing more sinister than a dead battery, lost satellite contact or someone arriving home late from work. Amid all that white noise, alarms are going unchecked, sometimes on defendants now accused of new crimes. Full Article
Read MoreOpinion: Sex Is Different, Under The Law
By Norm Pattis – I’ve been practicing law just long enough to know that I will never make sense of it all. It’s not that I am stupid, although my shortcomings are certainly an issue. The larger truth is that the law is irrational. It bumps, grinds and gyrates in ways that simply make no sense. This is especially true in criminal cases alleging sexual misconduct. Suppose a man is accused of rape. He is, of course, presumed innocent, but the details of his arrest are made public. In the eyes of…
Read MoreSC: In wake of murders, calls for sex offender registry to go private
GREENVILLE, SC (FOX Carolina) – At its heart, law enforcement agencies across the country say that the sex offender registry is a great resource when used. For example, when people are moving into a neighborhood, or perhaps if they have questions about a neighbor. “The sex offender registry is a tool, and it’s a tool for both law enforcement and the general public,” said Lt. Michael Hildebrand with the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office. “And just like every tool, when it is used properly, it’s a good thing.” But Union County deputies…
Read MoreW.A.R. Calls out Governor Nikki Haley, Nancy Grace, Dr. Drew, Anderson Cooper and Other News Media
Women Against Registry- Recently, this country has gone through months of listening to stories about George Zimmerman and the murder of a slain man and his scorned mistress, Jodi Arias . Where is the news coverage of the brutal stabbing murders of the Parkers? Why aren’t the perpetrators faces who forced their way in to Charles and Gretchen Parker’s home, not all over the air waves of ABC, NBC, MSNBC, HLN and other media networks? Women Against Registry can tell you why. The why is because the Parker’s murders were not…
Read MoreSheriff: SC killer randomly targeted sex offender
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — A South Carolina man targeted a sex offender at random, killed him and his wife and later told deputies he planned to kill others on the state’s sex registry, authorities said Wednesday. Jeremy Moody and his wife, Christine, were arrested and charged with murder, Union County Sheriff David Taylor said. Jeremy Moody confessed to the crime and told investigators they arrested him just in time, Taylor said. Full Article [Update] Related Article – Article 2
Read MoreIN: Facebook Sex Offenders Ban Ruled Unconstitutional By Indiana Court
INDIANAPOLIS — An Indiana law that bans registered sex offenders from using Facebook and other social networking sites that can be accessed by children is unconstitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday. The 7th U.S. Circuit of Appeals in Chicago overturned a federal judge’s decision upholding the law, saying the state was justified in trying to protect children but that the “blanket ban” went too far by restricting free speech. The 2008 law “broadly prohibits substantial protected speech rather than specifically targeting the evil of improper communications to minors,” the…
Read MoreOK: Experts say Okla. sex offender registry is flawed
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — A system for categorizing sex offenders that experts describe as flawed is causing local police departments and state prison workers in Oklahoma to spend time and money monitoring thousands of sex offenders who pose little risk to the public. When the federal government imposed requirements on states in 2006 to create a three-tiered system for ranking sex offenders, Oklahoma lawmakers decided to base the tiers strictly on the crime an individual committed. Full Article
Read MoreKS: Kansas appealing in sex offender registry ruling
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas will appeal a state district court judge’s decision that orders a child molester’s name to be removed from its offender registry after finding the registration laws violate the U.S. Constitution, the state’s top prosecutor said Thursday. At issue is Tuesday’s decision in which Shawnee County Judge Larry Hendricks found that Kansas law ostracizes offenders and requires them to remain registered longer than necessary. But, his ruling applied only to the 50-year-old Lenexa man who sued the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Johnson County sheriff’s office…
Read MoreCA RSOL Challenges El Dorado County Ordinance
California Reform Sex Offender Laws (CA RSOL) filed a lawsuit today challenging the El Dorado County ordinance that prohibits all registrants from entering the county’s parks, schools and other areas where children congregate. The lawsuit requests that the court declare that the ordinance is unconstitutional and prohibit the county from enforcing that ordinance. “It is important to stop the El Dorado County ordinance as it prevents all California registrants from visiting most recreational areas at or near Lake Tahoe,” stated Janice Bellucci, President of CA RSOL. “The ordinance also prohibits…
Read MoreHofsheier, 311.11 and Equal Protection
From 2006: Hofsheier Decision (Equal Protection) From 2012: Case that said 311.11a cases weren’t subject to the Hofsheier Motion because there is no violation of the Equal Protection doctrine
Read MorePetition: Albany Times Union newspaper and Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann: Remove addresses of family members of sex offenders
It is against Pinterest’s terms of use to post personal information of another person – yet they are blatantly ignoring this policy by ignoring multiple reports of the four Pinterest boards owned by the Albany Times Union, which post the photographs and personal information of people on the registry and by proxy, their family members and children. There is no evidence to suggest this type of notification is effective at protecting the public – in fact, it may increase recidivism by making it impossible for registrants and their families to…
Read MoreKS: Kansas judge finds offender registry ‘punitive’
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A Kansas judge has ordered law enforcement agencies to remove a man’s name from the state’s offender registry, saying an amended law ostracizes offenders and requires them to remain registered longer than necessary. Tuesday’s decision by Shawnee County Judge Larry Hendricks addressed only the case of the man who sued to end his registering requirement, but it could extend to others in his situation if the state Supreme Court upholds it upon appeal. High courts in other states have struck down similar registration laws that have been found to be too excessive.…
Read MoreOrange County Ordinance Legal Battle Continues
The Court of Appeal will hear oral argument in the Hugo Godinez case on July 22 in Santa Ana. At issue in that case is whether the Orange County ordinance which prohibited all sex offenders from entering public places such as parks, beaches and hiking trails is preempted by the state constitution. The court’s decision is expected within 30 days. The Orange County ordinance, which was passed in April 2011, is currently not in effect due to a decision by a three-judge panel of the Orange County Superior Court. If…
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