Are federal sentencing guidelines for possessing child pornography too harsh? Calling the guidelines “draconian,” U.S. District Judge James L. Graham has become increasingly vocal in his criticism from the federal bench in Columbus. Full Article
Read MoreDay: August 25, 2014
Sex Offenders Housing Restrictions Are Pointless (Opinion)
On Thursday, Joseph Goldstein of the New York Times reported that “Dozens of sex offenders who have satisfied their sentences in New York State are being held in prison beyond their release dates because of a new interpretation of a state law that governs where they can live.” In short, since 2005, sex offenders in the state can’t live within 1,000 feet of a school, and a February ruling from the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision extended that restriction to homeless shelters. Full Opinion Piece
Read MoreTwo decades later, has Megan’s Law delivered? (Opinion)
It’s been 20 years since New Jersey’s Legislature passed Megan’s Law. The two decades since have been filled with legal challenges and disappointment it didn’t accomplish what many thought it would. It’s what happens when politics and emotion team to shortcut the legislative process. Full Opinion Piece
Read MoreMN: Mankato attorney steeped in sex offender controversy
MANKATO — As an attorney for dozens of sex offenders and a member of a high-profile panel to guide lawmakers and the courts, Ryan Magnus has a unique view of Minnesota’s sex offender quandary. When Magnus, a defense attorney with Mankato-based Jones and Magnus, looks at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program, he doesn’t only see the worst of the worst. He sees people who only committed crimes as juveniles, before they mentally matured. It’s too soon to reliably guess if they’ll re-offend as adults. The poster child for these cases…
Read MoreGermany- “Don’t Offend” therapy model
This project is a free of charge treatment offer which underlies confidentiality*. It is directed at people seeking therapeutic help because they feel sexually attracted to children and adolescents and/or who use child abusive images. Within the course of therapy, the person concerned is offered support concerning the prevention of child sexual abuse in the form of hands-on contact or ‘online abuse’ by using or producing child abusive image material. *There is no mandatory report law in Germany For taking part in this project one should be aware of one’s own…
Read MoreMT: Under the radar: More than half of all sex offenders on the registry still lack a tier level
In Montana, sex offenders are supposed to receive a 1, 2 or 3 tier designation, effectively telling the public how dangerous they are. An offender’s designation also affects how they’re supervised on the registry. It affects how often they have to check in and verify their address, how long they have to register and the amount of information that’s made available to the public. But that rule has become the exception. A Gazette examination found that more than half of all sex offenders on the registry didn’t have a tier level…
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