AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas woman’s case is raising questions about whether parents who are convicted of kidnapping their own children in custody disputes should be automatically registered as sex offenders. ____ ____ was convicted of aggravated kidnapping and sentenced to five years in prison after fleeing with her son to Mexico in 2002. She was freed from prison in 2010 but must register as a sex offender until 2020 even though she has never been accused or convicted of a sex-related crime. Full Article
Read MoreDay: May 4, 2014
PA: Juvenile sex-offender registries are challenged
Though tried in juvenile court, with its focus on privacy and rehabilitation, he was later required by a 2012 Pennsylvania law to register as a sex offender — branded a long-term danger to society, with no way off the list for at least 25 years. Juvenile law advocates campaigning against such automatic registries argue that they undermine the rehabilitative purpose of juvenile law and wrongly force judges to treat offenders the same, no matter their circumstances. In Pennsylvania, local judges increasingly agree with them. Late last year, a central Pennsylvania…
Read MoreNH: New Hampshire sex offender fights registry rules
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The New Hampshire Supreme Court will hear a challenge to the constitutionality of sex offender registry requirements for convicts whose crimes were committed before the legislature imposed more stringent rules. Lawyers for “John Doe” contend the registry requirements — which have been overhauled numerous times since 1998 — amount to new layers of punishment that weren’t in place when he was convicted in 1987 of sexually assaulting his 14-year-old stepdaughter. Lawyers for the state acknowledge the information required from sex offenders and frequency of their reports…
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