Do crime-free zones around schools and other places where children gather actually protect children? The question will be aired in the next session of the General Assembly because of two proposals, one that seeks to reduce the size of drug-free zones around schools and another that would create zones around schools where sex offenders couldn’t live. The Connecticut Sentencing Commission has unanimously approved a recommendation to scale back the state’s drug-free zone from 1,500 feet to 200 feet of school property. Meanwhile, two legislators are proposing a bill that would…
Read MoreDay: December 23, 2013
He’s Not a Sex Offender, Married Man Says
VISALIA, Calif. (CN) – A man required to register as a sex offender for life for having consensual relations with his now-wife 24 years ago – when he was 19 and she was 17 – asked a state court to remove that obligation so he can get on with his life. In 1989, police busted ___ ___ ___, then 19, for having “consensual, voluntary relations” with his 17-year-old girlfriend. He pleaded guilty to a single count of oral copulation with a minor. That charge requires mandatory, lifetime registration as a…
Read MoreGangsters to Greyhounds: The Past, Present and Future of Offender Registration
Contrary to popular belief, offender registries are not a recent phenomenon. Offender registries are government-controlled systems that track the movements and other activities of certain persons with criminal convictions. While today they are most commonly used for sex offenders, registries have been adopted since the 1930s to regulate persons convicted of a wide variety of offenses including embezzlement, arson, and drug crimes. Early registries were widely criticized as ineffective and overly punitive, and many were eliminated through litigation or legislative repeals. Others simply fell into disuse over the course of the 20th century. Now, there is a growing…
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