____ ____ is serving a life prison sentence — but not because, like many in that situation, he killed someone. ____, 69, has repeatedly exposed his genitals in public with sexual intent. In 2012, after a Marion County jury found him guilty of that conduct again, a judge sentenced him to life without any hope of being released. Full Article
Read MoreYear: 2015
Janice’s Journal: A Step in the Right Direction
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR), not know as an ally of registered citizens, took an important step in the right direction on March 26 by declaring that they will apply the recent Taylor decision statewide. In the Taylor decision, the California Supreme Court ruled it is unconstitutional for CDCR to levy residency restrictions against all registered citizens on parole as a blanket condition. Also in that decision, the Court provided CDCR with discretion to levy residency restrictions on a case-by-case basis. CDCR’s decision to apply the Court’s…
Read MoreLiving with 290: Being a 290 Registrant convicted of a DUI in SLO county
I’ve been required to register in CA for an indecent exposure charge for the last 15 years of my life. Just as an FYI in SLO county they use that against you for a DUI arrest. I admit I had a drinking problem and should not have been behind the wheel. But all I have heard from the beginning of the trial is your a sex offender. I’ve since become sober and do not drink. Even have been denied sheriffs work program due to being registered in CA. I cannot…
Read MoreLiving with 290: Modification Hearings
In the 22 years I have been fighting my wrongful conviction, I have been faced with those who would say “let it go, get on with your life, you can’t win,” and there have been times when I had to wonder whether I was just becoming obsessed with the fight after so many hundreds of hours or research and typing and retyping and dwelling on the same thing over and over again only to be denied in the appellate courts. As a result of a failure to register conviction in…
Read MoreCalifornia loosens sex offender residency restrictions to focus on pedophiles, sex crimes on children
SACREMENTO – California will alter its 8-year-old ban preventing all registered sex offenders from living near schools or parks, state officials announced Thursday, instead imposing the restriction only on pedophiles and others whose sex crimes involved children. The state corrections department said it is changing its policy in response to a state Supreme Court ruling that found the blanket prohibition unconstitutional. The high court ruled this month that restrictions imposed by California voters in 2006 go too far to limit where sex offenders can live. Full Article
Read MoreCalifornia eases Jessica’s Law restrictions for some sex offenders
When California voters approved Jessica’s Law in 2006, the goal was simple: to keep sex offenders away from children. The sweeping measure prohibited all sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of schools and parks where children gather, regardless of whether their crimes involved children. The law left large swaths of neighborhoods off-limits to these parolees, creating consequences that not everyone expected. Sex offenders were pushed into industrial areas, homeless camps and other remote locations. In Harbor Gateway, officials even built pocket parks to help make larger portions of the…
Read MoreStop the sex-offender registry panic: “A lot of those dots on the map would never hurt your kids”
Lenore Skenazy came to fame for letting her 9-year-old son ride the New York subway home by himself. Or rather, she came to fame by letting him ride the subway home alone and then writing about it for the New York Sun. Recently, Skenazy has taken on a new, albeit related, cause: reform of the sex offender registry. Clearly, this lady is not afraid of controversy. On Sunday, she held a “Sex Offender Brunch” at her house to introduce “her friends in the press to her friends on the Registry.”…
Read MoreKS: Registered sex offender will continue to deliver mail despite complaints
On Thursday, Eyewitness News learned a registered sex offender delivers mail to neighborhoods in Wichita and Haysville. From what we have been able to gather from USPS, he will continue to be able to do so. Earlier this week we told you the convicted sex offender would no longer deliver mail to two Haysville Schools. But people who live near the school were worried the offender would still deliver mail in their neighborhood. “I understand the guy needs a job, there’s no denying that, but he doesn’t need to be…
Read MoreVA: ACLU denounces governor’s signing of new sex offender registry bills
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Virginia today condemned Governor McAuliffe’s action on two bills that will create a new sex offender registry, SB 1074 and HB 1353. The new law will require the Virginia State Police to create a supplemental sex offender registry that includes all persons convicted between July 1980 and July 1994 for a crime that would mandate sex offender registration if it occurred in 2015. The supplemental registry will contain a name, year of birth, date of the conviction, jurisdiction in which the conviction occurred,…
Read MoreWary of lawsuits, Downey rolls back restrictions on sex offenders
DOWNEY – The City Council on Tuesday reluctantly but unanimously voted to roll back its residency restrictions on registered sex offenders after the state Supreme Court ruled that similar restrictions in San Diego County are unconstitutional. … Councilman Sean Ashton instructed Garcia to investigate whether the city can bill sex offenders to cover the costs of police supervision. “I don’t want sex offenders here. I don’t care where else they have to go, I just don’t want them here,” he said. Full Article City Council Video at 1:31:30
Read MoreLox, bagels, juice and sex offenders: Why I invited two pariahs into my home
Sunday morning at 10 found me slicing the tomatoes and arranging the cheese platter. My husband was setting up the chairs. At 11, the doorbell rang. And so began my very first sex offender brunch. Full Article Lenore Skenazy is the author of the web blog Free-Range Kids. She was a speaker at the 2014 RSOL Conference in Dallas. My Interview in Salon about Sex Offenders & Child Safety on her blog.
Read MoreCalifornia loosens rules on where sex offenders can live
California officials announced Thursday the state will stop enforcing a key provision of a voter-approved law that prohibits all registered sex offenders from living near schools. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said it will no longer impose the blanket restrictions outlined in Jessica’s Law, which prevented all sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school or park, regardless of whether their crimes involved children. Full Article Related UT San Diego SF Chronicle CBS Sacramento KCRA
Read MoreFrom Sexting to Sex Offender
Florida A&M University – This article explores the cultural phenomenon of sexting; the taking and sending of nude, digital pictures generally through the use of a cellphone; among teenagers and the possible legal consequences. It provides a history of the art of sexting, the origin of the Federal and Florida sex offenders registries and a case study of two Florida teenagers charged with creating and intent to distribute child pornography. Finally, it reviews previous amendments to child pornography laws in regards to teenage sexting and recommends a way forward for…
Read MorePA: City will pay $50,000 to settle sex offender lawsuit
City Council agreed last week to pay $50,000 toward the settlement of a lawsuit which was filed against the city for discriminating against a registered sex offender. … Their eviction was prompted by Mayor Justin Taylor’s discovery that Patrick had been convicted in 2009 of unlawful contact or communication with a minor, and his subsequent listing on the Megan’s Law Registry. Under a city ordinance which was in effect at that time, registered sex offenders were prohibited from living within 2,500 feet of any facility or area where children might…
Read MoreFor the First Time Ever, a Prosecutor Will Go to Jail for Wrongfully Convicting an Innocent Man
Today in Texas, former prosecutor and judge Ken Anderson pled guilty to intentionally failing to disclose evidence in a case that sent an innocent man, Michael Morton, to prison for the murder of his wife. When trying the case as a prosecutor, Anderson possessed evidence that may have cleared Morton, including statements from the crime’s only eyewitness that Morton wasn’t the culprit. Anderson sat on this evidence, and then watched Morton get convicted. While Morton remained in prison for the next 25 years, Anderson’s career flourished, and he eventually became…
Read MoreNH: Sex Offender Policy: Registries, Residency Restrictions, And Beyond (Radio)
New Hampshire Public Radio – Laws limiting where sex-offenders can live have been used in many towns and states aimed at protecting vulnerable populations, especially children. But a growing chorus of critics from police to civil rights attorneys argues these laws are unconstitutional and even counterproductive. We’ll look at the options that communities have in dealing with this sensitive issue. Radio Show
Read MoreBoard to Rescind Residency Restrictions for Sex Offenders [UPDATED]
RIVERSIDE COUNTY: Supervisors vote to lift sex offender residency restrictions (March 24) Riverside County supervisors are expected Tuesday to begin the process of nullifying an ordinance prohibiting where convicted sex offenders can reside. The Office of County Counsel is requesting that the Board of Supervisors completely invalidate Ordinance 902 in order for the county to comply with a California Supreme Court finding that residency restrictions are no longer enforceable, except in narrowly defined circumstances. Full Article Agenda – Repealing Ordinance
Read MoreThe Unintended Costs of Bi-Partisanship
Over at the Beast, some whiney old coot has a piece up on a church here in Oregon that caters to sex offenders. Or at least, that’s how the assignment began. As I began researching the story, however, I discovered that the system we have in place for dealing with post-incarcerated sex offenders is shockingly cruel to those who no longer pose a credible threat to society and ridiculously ineffective for those who might. Much of the technical blame can be pinned on two famous bodies of legislation: Megan’s Laws and the Adam Walsh Act.…
Read More