Every parent’s nightmare is a reality in the classrooms of Cuyahoga Community College. Literally, as I type this article, blossoming teenage girls and budding teenage boys are schoolmates with adult registered sex offenders who have failed to report Tri-C as their school. Many have stipulations that prohibit unsupervised contact with minors. Full Column Response: Should former sex offenders be allowed on college campuses?
Read MoreYear: 2015
TX: Texas Voices standing against sex offender residency restrictions
Texas Voices, a group made up of families of people on Texas’ sex offender registry and others who support reform of Texas sex offender statutes, has been quite active this session, and it’s a good thing. As Grits told their indefatigable leader Mary Sue Molnar when the organization began, every other criminal justice reform group and activist in the state, including me, will inevitably sell them out at the Legislature. When someone says of a proposal, “well, we can do that but we have to exclude sex offenders,” reform advocates…
Read MoreNV: Volunteer work helps sex offender deal with past, build a future
Clients arrive early at the Las Vegas Senior Food Pantry down on Ninth Street, where Teri De La Torre and her small team of volunteers distribute bread, produce, meat and dry goods to the neighborhood’s low-income elderly. The food bank’s headquarters at the corner of Ninth and Bonneville is as neat and manicured as any of the law offices in the area, but there aren’t many billable hours to be found here. The tiny nonprofit has been known for many years more commonly as Jude 22 after the Bible verse…
Read MoreNew California Supreme Court surprises analysts early on
When Gov. Jerry Brown’s two latest nominees joined the California Supreme Court in January, legal analysts foresaw the creation of a more liberal majority. … During a closed session last week, Kruger joined the more conservative justices in refusing to revisit a decision that said adults who have consensual oral sex with minors must register as sex offenders — even though registration is not mandatory for adults who have sexual intercourse with people in the same age group. Full Article
Read MoreHow We Will Take Down Public Registries (RSOL)
Although many of our constituents would love to see some sort of silver bullet to end public sex offender registries once and for all, realistically, this is a long-term war. It will take many more battles across many different fronts to win. Those fronts include our legal system, our legislatures, and the general public. It also includes… ourselves! EVERY battlefront is important, and EVERY soldier is needed The Legal Front We have many legal “soldiers” out there challenging various aspects of public registration, sometimes for individuals, sometimes for entire groups.…
Read MoreAfter sex offenders accused of killing 4 women, state bill would crack down on those who tamper with GPS monitors [UPDATED]
Following a high-profile murder case involving two Orange County parolees, state lawmakers are again considering more time behind bars for sex offenders who tamper with GPS monitoring devices. Offenders currently face a mandatory six months in jail for removing or disabling GPS bracelets. But under a bill introduced this year by state Sen. Pat Bates of Laguna Niguel, they could face up to three years in prison. … Bates called the state’s current penalties for tampering with GPS monitoring devices a “slap on the wrist” and argued that elevating the…
Read MoreTX: Closing Sex Offender Loophole
SAN ANTONIO – A state lawmaker says he’s making good on his promise to close a loophole in Texas law that could put children of sex offenders in danger. You would think that a convicted sex offenders’ parental rights would be revoked, but that’s not always the case. And it took a brave woman coming forward to the Trouble Shooters to get lawmakers at the State Capitol to take action. Full Article
Read MoreSenate passes amendment closing military sex offender loophole
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Senate voted Wednesday to close a legal loophole that enables military sex offenders to evade registering with civilian law enforcement. On a 98-0 vote, Senators adopted the Military Sex Offender Reporting Act as an amendment to the Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, which the Senate passed later Wednesday afternoon. Full Article
Read MoreState high court passes up chance to go easier on sex offenders
A divided state Supreme Court voted Wednesday to leave intact a ruling requiring lifetime registration for certain non-forcible sex offenders, an issue that split Gov. Jerry Brown’s two most recent appointees. The court had voted 5-2 on Jan. 29 to reinstate a 1947 California law requiring anyone convicted of non-forcible oral copulation with a minor to register with police as a sex offender. Registration, which is also mandatory for violent sex offenders, enters their names and addresses on a publicly available database and prohibits them from living near a school…
Read MoreNM: Sex offender registration can be confusing issue
Deputy Pat Montes with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s office has the job of keeping track of Lincoln County’s sex offenders. “We are mandated to track and register sex offenders,” said Lincoln county Sheriff Robert Shepperd. “The rules and regulations change all the time.” Full Article
Read MoreLegislative Committees to Consider Presence Restriction Bills
Two state legislative committees will soon consider bills that would allow, but not require, cities and counties to adopt “presence restrictions”. On April 28, the Senate Public Safety Committee will consider SB 267 at 9:30 a.m. in Room 3191. ***** Please note the change of date for SB 267 ******* “The Senate Governance and Finance Committee approved SB 267 on April 15 and if the bill is also approve by the Senate Public Safety Committee, it will move to the Senate floor for a vote,” stated California RSOL president Janice…
Read MoreLA: AL sex offender files suit challenging LA registry laws in federal court
A New Orleans man convicted in Alabama of transmitting obscene material to a minor is challenging the constitutionality of recent Louisiana sex offender registration statutes in federal court. … The suit claims two state laws illegally intend to dissuade convicted sex offenders in other states from moving to Louisiana. Full Article
Read MoreCA RSOL Meeting June 20 in San Diego
Please join us for our monthly CA RSOL meeting on June 20 in San Diego. It will take place at Cal Western School of Law on Saturday, room LH2 from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This meeting is open to registrants, friends and family and supporters. Media and government officials are not invited in order to preserve attendee’s privacy. This is a great opportunity to network and learn about CA RSOL’s latest activities as well as news on the legal and legislative front. June 20, 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m…
Read MoreFL: Council toughens sexual predator ordinance
The Marco Island City Council passed a tough new ordinance Monday that council members say has made Marco Island a less likely home for a registered sex offender or sexual predator. Full Article Related: Pasco toughens regulations on where sex offenders may live Sex offender surprises Pasco County commissioners with emotional plea
Read MoreWomen Against Registry (W.A.R) Lawsuit
The WAR (Women Against Registry) Admin Team AND our Class Action Core Team are proud to announce that we will begin work this week on two law suits to be filed at the federal level this fall. That’s right – two of them! The first is on behalf of registered sex offenders and the second on behalf of families and friends of registered sex offenders. The challenges will be against SORNA and the impact to the registrant families, which has been verified and documented by researchers. Also, the public impact…
Read MoreJessica’s Law status is uncertain
California Attorney General Kamala Harris is refusing to release an unpublished opinion that is being cited by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for changing sex offender release policies. A recent state Supreme Court ruling that struck down a blanket ban on registered sex offenders living near schools or parks in San Diego County has muddied the issue of residency restrictions for prison officials and civic leaders. In early March, the high court ruled In re Taylor that blanket enforcement of Jessica’s Law’s mandatory distance requirements impeded the constitutional…
Read MoreMore sex offenders in rural areas
The rural communities on the edges of the High Desert have higher percentages of residents who are registered sex offenders when compared to larger cities in the area and to similarly sized communities elsewhere in the state, Megan’s Law website statistics show. Data also show that smaller local communities have larger percentages of sex offenders than the overall average in the state. Full Article
Read MoreNE: Should Minnesota juvenile land on Nebraska Sex Offender Registry?
The Nebraska Supreme Court won’t be asked to weigh in on whether the way a state law is written should result in a 12-year-old boy ending up on the state’s Sex Offender Registry. The question specifically is whether, by the letter of the law, minors listed on another state’s sex offender registry should be put on Nebraska’s list when they move to Nebraska, even if their cases went through juvenile court. In Nebraska, lawmakers opted to exclude juveniles unless they were prosecuted criminally in adult court. But when the Minnesota…
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