(KMOV) –A new report from an Illinois agency recommends removing juveniles from the state’s sex offender registry, but law enforcement officials have concerns. The Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission was assigned by the General Assembly to study the laws and remedies for juvenile sex crimes and released its report Tuesday saying, “Illinois should remove young people from the state’s counter-productive sex offender registry and end the application of categorical restrictions on collateral consequences”. The study sites that there’s “no evidence that subjecting youth to registries improves public safety or reduces the…
Read MoreYear: 2014
MA: Court Says Sex Offender Law Not Retroactive
BOSTON (AP) — The state’s highest court has ruled that Massachusetts cannot retroactively post information about thousands of registered sex offenders on the Internet. Full Article Related: July 2013 Ruling / Preliminary InjunctionAppellant’s Brief SJC ruling keeps 6,000 Level 2 sex offenders off state web registry
Read MoreLiving with 290: My Story
My story goes back to 1968, when my oldest uncle Bobby, home from reform school, forced me to orally copulate him while his younger brothers watched in horror and disbelief. I was five years old and that day has stuck with me in my memory to this day. Before this happened I was a happy boy. Everyone commented to my parents how happy I seemed to be, how full of love. And in one minute, that was all taken away from me. The only thing I wanted from my uncles…
Read MoreHere’s Why It’s ‘Counterproductive’ To Put Juveniles On The Sex Offender Registry
CHICAGO — Requiring juveniles to register as sex offenders can hinder rehabilitation efforts and have significant, long-term negative consequences for young perpetrators who are statistically unlikely to re-offend, according to a study released Tuesday. Among the most significant outcomes of the new 150-page report released by the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission is a recommendation that the state end its “counterproductive” practice of requiring juvenile offenders to add their names to sex offender registries. “Automatic, categorical registries do not protect public safety,” George Timberlake, a retired chief circuit judge who chaired the commission,…
Read MoreAUS: We don’t want consensual sex teens listed:MP
ROCKHAMPTON MP Bill Byrne said at this stage a public register was only theoretical, and he would reserve his judgment until he had the opportunity to review all information. “I have seen commentary that’s been put out by the LNP cabinet ministers and they seem to be equally divided, as I imagine the rest of the community would be, about such a matter,” he said. Full Article
Read MoreLiving with 290: Will I ever get my life back?
I made a mistake and now everyone knows it even people that don’t know me. I have had person show up to where I work to beat me up because they seen me on the website. I didn’t work there anymore thank God. Still that is messed up. I have missed out on many jobs in my life because of it. I know I did the crime so I have to pay for it but why is there no way for me for me to stop repay my debt. I…
Read More16-year-old commits suicide after being falsely branded a rapist by drug-dealing gang
A schoolboy hanged himself after he was falsely branded a rapist by fellow pupils after pulling out of a playground drug dealing racket, an inquest heard. Tom Acton, 16, claimed that he was bullied into taking Ecstasy, amphetamines and cocaine in between lessons – yet when his mother, Gaynor, went to see staff at the 1,700 pupil Poynton High School and Performing Arts College in Cheshire, it was alleged that they refused to do anything about it. When she withdrew the boy from school, false rumours began circulating which alleged…
Read MorePOMONA ORDINANCE CHALLENGED IN FEDERAL COURT
A sex offender ordinance adopted by the City of Pomona is the subject of a lawsuit filed today in federal district court on behalf of a sex offender (“registered citizen”). The ordinance includes restrictions regarding where more than 105,000 individuals can reside or be present. Specifically, the ordinance prohibits registered citizens from residing or being present within 300 feet of a wide range of public and private locations including schools, parks, bus stops, railroad station, arcades, health clubs, movie theaters, cyber cafes and museums. A registered citizen who violates the…
Read MoreIL: Bill would bar sex offenders from fairs
STERLING – Three Whiteside County officials are headed to Springfield today to testify for a bill that could prevent registered sex offenders from attending county fairs. Full Article
Read MoreMI: Sex Offender Fee Changes Take Effect Next Month
LANSING, Mich. (AP) – Registered sex offenders in Michigan are required to pay an annual fee starting April 1. Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation in November requiring Michigan’s more than 40,000 registered sex offenders to pay an annual $50 fee. The new fees are intended to cover the $600,000 a year cost to state police to operate the sex offender database. The bill sponsored by Republican Sen. Rick Jones replaces the system under which sex offenders paid a one-time $50 fee. The law only applies to registered sex offenders who are out…
Read MoreSupreme Court turns away woman’s challenge to Virginia sex offender registry law
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has declined to take up the case of a Virginia woman who claims the state’s sex offender registry law is unconstitutional. The woman was reclassified as a violent sex offender 15 years after being convicted of unlawful sex with minor in a case that did not involve any violence. The reclassification subjects her to a ban on entering her children’s schools without first seeking permission from state courts and the local school board. The woman was identified only as Jane Doe in court records. She…
Read MoreIreland: Irish MP Patrick Nulty quits over ‘inappropriate’ Facebook messages
An Irish parliamentarian has resigned after admitting he sent inappropriate messages to a teenage girl on Facebook. Independent MP Patrick Nulty said he had been “under the influence of alcohol” when he sent messages to a 17-year-old. His shock resignation came hours before Irish tabloid the Sunday World was due to print the story. Full Article
Read MoreMN: Our View – Reform state sex offender program
Barring a stunning change of heart and hefty dose of political courage, Minnesota’s legislators and governor appear content to dodge the unpopular-but-necessary task of reforming the Minnesota Sex Offender Program this session. Voters need to remember that on Election Day. Equally important, they need to remember it anytime they hear state candidates criticize opponents who advocate reforms as being “soft on crime.” The truth is a decade of failure by 201 legislators and two governors to change this inhumane, incredibly expensive and likely unconstitutional program is the real crime. Full Op-Ed…
Read MoreWhen Should Someone Have to Register as a Sex Offender?
Sex-offender registries, well intentioned but with some faults still being ironed out, have been around in various jurisdictions at least since 2006, when the U.S. Congress passed the Adam Walsh Act. In many jurisdictions, changes were made after college kids caught urinating outdoors were charged with indecent exposure — landing them on sex-offender registries and all the Google searches that go with it. Full Article
Read MoreOH: ‘Let me live my life’: Registered sex offender shares his side of story
NEWARK — ____ ____ is a registered sex offender. He’ll admit to that, no problem. He is not, however, a pedophile. He is not a child molester, and he has no interest messing with anyone’s kids, he said. “A lot of people don’t know the story,” said ____, 44, from his West Main Street home. “They figure, because someone’s a sex offender, ‘Oh, he likes little kids.’ But that’s not always the case. “Before you go judge someone, do your homework.” Full Article
Read MoreScrutiny suspends websites’ dealings
A shadowy network of Arizona-based Internet companies that used public records to demand money from sex offenders and harass those who complained has imploded amid lawsuits, court hearings and new standards enacted by banks, social media and technology companies. The websites, including Offendex.com, SORArchives and Sexoffenderrecord.com, in November stopped seeking payments from people in exchange for removing profiles, blaming the change on “many conflicts, threats, unreasonable requests and false accusations about this website.” The move followed decisions by MasterCard, Visa, Discover and PayPal to stop processing transactions from what many…
Read MoreCA RSOL Meeting in Los Angeles – April 12
The next CA RSOL meeting in Los Angeles will take place on April 12 at 10 am, at the usual location – the ACLU building at 1313 W. 8th Street in Los Angeles. Registrants, family and friends, supporters and professionals are welcome to attend. Media and Government officials are not invited in order to ensure everyone’s privacy. We will discuss current topics, changes in the laws as well as pending litigation and advocacy strategies. Special attention will be given to the recent changes in parks ordinances made by numerous cities in…
Read MoreCompliance Checks II
There have been some long, thoughtful comments regarding Compliance Checks in the General Comments section recently. To make sure they do not get buried they are moved to this post.
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