A new push has begun in the state Legislature to require convicted sex offenders to wear ankle monitors to track their movements for the rest of their lives. Two essentially identical bills, Senate Bill 134 and House Bill 203, aim to keep tabs on past offenders to make sure they don’t slip away so it becomes impossible to track them. But some experts said such laws would immediately be challenged in court. Full Article
Read MoreYear: 2015
Should registered sex offenders be allowed to keep lottery winnings?
Last month, Timothy Poole of Mount Dora, Florida, won nearly $3 million on a scratch-off lottery ticket purchased at a 7-Eleven. Like most jackpot winners, he was given a giant check and got his picture taken by the state lottery. But that picture may have gained the ex-cab driver a lot more publicity than he ever wanted. Soon after Poole cashed in a lump sum of over $2.2 million dollars (after taxes), his picture was recognized and his past came back to haunt him. Poole is a registered sexual offender: After…
Read MoreUK: Preventing sexual abuse in the UK: A conversation with Donald Findlater by Jon Brown
As part of the new prevention series I had a conversation with Donald Findlater, Director of Stop it Now UK. (www.stopitnow.org.uk) Stop it Now UK was established in 2002 by the Lucy Faithful Foundation ( www.lucyfaithful.org.uk) as a result of the inspirational work of Fran Henry, Joan Tabachnick, Alisa Klein and others who of course set up Stop it Now in the U.S. The Lucy Faithful Foundation is the only UK wide charity dedicated solely to reducing the risk of children being sexually abused. Stop it Now UK was advocating…
Read MoreVT: Lawmakers ask – How good does sex registry need to be?
MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — Vermont lawmakers are grappling with how close to perfect the state’s sex offender registry needs to be before offenders’ addresses are posted online. Vermont in 2009 passed a law saying the registry had to have a clean audit from the state auditor of accounts before addresses could be posted. A 2010 audit found many errors; a follow-up audit last July found what Auditor of Accounts Doug Hoffer labeled “critical errors” in 11 percent of cases. Full Article
Read MoreLiving with 290: Mexico for freedom
Moved to Mexico in 2012. Told reg. Agency I was moving. Filled out one form. Signed. Crossed the border into Baja Ca. Two weeks later my name was removed from Megans law website RSO List. Now a few years later, you gotta dig deep in google or pay $$$ to find any conviction info. No cost. Nomuss. Nofuss. Applied for and got Mex. Nationality status, VoterID, ect.ect. I pay 325 for a private 75 acre ranch walled in and policed by ?????????? .Don’t really ask those dudes too much. Any…
Read MoreFL: Juvenile sexting law needs to be fixed
Had she done it two years earlier, a teenage girl who used her cell phone to “sext,” or send a picture of her privates to a classmate, would have been in big trouble. But a Florida law designed to go easy on juveniles who transmit nude images turned out to be more lenient than anyone intended, an appeals court has ruled. Now the 13-year-old girl at the center of a Broward case won’t be facing any penalty at all, and neither will any other juvenile sexting defendant, the court ruled,…
Read MoreNH: A local lawmaker sponsors bills to protect convicted sex offenders
A local lawmaker has sponsored several bills in the N.H. House of Representatives that would increase protections for people on the state’s registry of sex offenders. Rep. Timothy N. Robertson, D-Keene, said he was motivated by information about two recent local attacks that he said may have been committed by someone who targeted people listed on the registry. Full Article
Read MoreTX: Re-commitment of sex offenders in Texas is unfair
Sex offenders, especially child predators, are some of the most reviled people on Earth. And because of the nature of their crimes, the public generally wants them put away for a long, long time. The question is: What’s long enough? Full article
Read MoreWI: Sex offender ordinance passed by Park Falls Common Council
At the Park Falls Common Council meeting Monday, Jan. 12, one topic high on the agenda was the passing of an ordinance that will regulate the movements and residential areas of sex offenders in the City of Park Falls. A draft of the proposed ordinance was previously reviewed and approved at the December 8 meeting of the Public Services Committee. Full article
Read MoreVA: ACLU questions new sex offender bill
VIRGINIA (WAVY) — Their faces and address are already public, now one Virginia lawmaker wants registered sex offenders to face public hearings before going inside schools. To have access to Virginia public schools, House Bill 1366 would require violent sex offenders to pay for a newspaper ad publicizing a personal court hearing. It would run once a week for two weeks. Then anyone could attend the hearing and testify against them. Full Article
Read MoreVA: Bill – Add to Virginia’s sex offender registry
Sex offenders from decades ago, who committed their crimes before the state’s registry was created in 1994, would have their names added to a registry supplement under legislation that advanced Monday. Full article
Read MoreMoral panic over sex offenses results in cruel and self-defeating overpunishment
I can think of no area of the criminal law, except perhaps international terrorism, into which contemporary American society has terrified itself into more ignorance than this. One of the guiding principles of western philosophy, etched in same Greek language spoken by Socrates and Plato into Apollo’s shrine at Delphi, is the maxim “Know Thyself.” When it comes to the darker side of human sexual conduct, we’d rather not. To do so will almost certainly force us to reckon with the fact that many of us aren’t the neat and tidy sexual beings we’ve convinced ourselves we…
Read MoreFifth Circuit reverses computer filter lifetime supervised release condition for sex offender
A Fifth Circuit panel yesterday handed down an intriguing little ruling in US v. Fernandez, No. 14-30151 (5th Cir. Jan. 14, 2015) (available here), reversing a notable condition of supervised release. Full Article
Read MoreCO: Should we stop labeling people ‘sex offender’?
KUSA – A state regulatory board debated Friday whether the label “sex offender” was too stigmatizing to people who committed sex crimes. Colorado’s Sex Offender Management Board regulates treatment, rehabilitation, and monitoring of sex offenders. Friday’s board meeting included a vote whether to eliminate the word “sex offender” from the board’s official policies. Suggestions for replacement words included “clients,” “defendants” and “individuals.” Full Article
Read MoreME: Maine’s highest court finds decision in sex offender case flawed
Justices tell a lower court to look again at a man’s challenge to being placed on the list retroactively in the wake of new legislation. A Maine judge must give further consideration to whether a man’s rights were violated by legislative action requiring him to be placed on the state sex offender registry retroactively, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court ruled Tuesday. Full Article
Read MoreDisgust, Dehumanization, and the Courts’ Response to Sex Offender Legislation
Sex offenders have been subject to unprecedented restrictions and punishment. The government’s treatment of sex offenders is a clear example of the dangers of laws derived from and upheld because of the emotion of disgust. Disgust has led to a dehumanization of this category of people, which has led to a stripping of their constitutional rights. The law’s treatment of sex offenders is a clear example of why the law should eschew employing the emotion of disgust during all proceedings. In addition, the courts’, particularly the Supreme Court’s, treatment of…
Read MoreLocals Call California’s Sex Offender Registry Into Question
Sex offenders are required by law to register their name, photo and address online at meganslaw.ca.gov. A disclaimer on the website says The Department of Justice does not assess the specific risk that any convicted sex offender on the site will commit another offense. However, the website does have a Risk Assessment Score. Another disclaimer says that score determines the statistical probability that an offender will commit another sexual offense. Risk assessment scores for many of the sex offenders on the registry are currently left blank. Full Article
Read MoreCalifornia RSOL to Lobby Sacramento in Support of Tiered Registry
California RSOL will lobby state legislators in Sacramento on January 27 and 28 in support of a tiered registry. Registered citizens, family members and supporters are invited. The legislative effort will begin with a two-hour training session on Tuesday, January 27, at 9 a.m. in the offices of MVM Strategy Group, 1211 L Street, Suite 607. Attendees will then be divided into teams comprised of a registered citizen, family member and/or supporters. Participants will attend scheduled meetings with members of the Assembly and Senate as well as senior staff who…
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