BOSTON, Mass. (WWLP) – The state legislature’s Committee on the Judiciary is taking a closer look at the Sex Offender Registry Board. Right now, the public only has access to information on level two and level three sex offenders. State Representative Shaunna O’Connell (R-Taunton) wants to make information on level one sex offenders available to those who request it from their local police stations. Full Article
Read MoreYear: 2015
MN: Minnesota House panel votes to back governor sex offender stance
A Minnesota House committee unanimously voted Tuesday to support the position Gov. Mark Dayton and Attorney General Lori Swanson are taking in appealing a federal judge’s decision that a state sex offender program is unconstitutional. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Miami-Dade Sex Offender Residency Ordinance Unsuccessfully Challenged
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) recently challenged the constitutionality of a Miami-Dade County, Florida ordinance that, according to the organization, forces sex offenders on probation into homelessness by imposing residency restrictions so harsh there is literally no place where they are legally permitted to live. … While that may indeed be outrageous, the federal district court hearing the challenge to the Miami-Dade ordinance did not find it unconstitutional. The court dismissed the suit in April 2015, finding the ordinance was not punitive in nature and advanced a legitimate governmental…
Read MoreLoretta Lynch’s false claim on sex trafficking arrests
This is a story about how the language regarding the crime of sex trafficking has become so fuzzy that even the nation’s top law enforcement officer can speak before an international audience and utter wildly inflated statistics. Throughout 2015, The Fact Checker has dug into dubious statistics concerning sex trafficking, so this recent speech by Attorney General Lynch caught our eye. Lynch has taken a keen interest in sex trafficking, recently announcing more than $44 million in grant funding to combat human trafficking in the United States, including supporting law-enforcement…
Read MoreIL: State sues prisoners to pay for their room, board
The $31,690 Johnny Melton received to settle a lawsuit over his mother’s death was going to help him start life anew after prison. But before he was released, after 15 months in prison for a drug conviction, the Illinois Department of Corrections sued Melton and won nearly $20,000 to cover the cost of his incarceration. When Melton was paroled earlier this year, he was forced to go to a homeless shelter, then was taken in by a cousin. He got food stamps. When he died in June, according to his…
Read MoreNH: Prisoner rights advocates push for audit of state’s sex offender treatment program
A group of New Hampshire lawmakers is requesting an audit of the state’s sex offender treatment program to address a purported backlog of inmates awaiting mandatory psychosexual therapy. Chris Dornin, founder of Citizens for Criminal Justice Reform-New Hampshire, said dozens of incarcerated sex offenders are currently approaching their minimum release dates but will be ineligible for parole because they haven’t yet begun treatment, which can last up to 18 months. Full Article
Read MoreKY: Many ‘sex offenders’ also deserve rights restored (Opinion)
Gov. Beshear’s recent decision to restore voting rights to many felons is an encouraging step toward criminal justice reform. The governor listed a litany of reasons why ‘it makes no sense” to deny opportunities to those seeking to rebuild their lives after serving out their sentences. He cited a key study that those whose rights are restored are less likely to commit another crime. Though this signifies a significant policy shift, I am disappointed that the governor’s executive order did not go far enough. He excluded among others, those who…
Read MoreSue-Happy Sex Offender Frank Lindsay Throws His Latest Legal Papers at Long Beach
A San Luis Obispo County sex offender who sued Santa Ana in May 2014–and has sued several other California cities in attempts to overturn local laws targeting perverts–now has his legal team trained on Long Beach. Janice Bellucci, president of CA Reform Sex Offender Laws and Lindsay’s attorney, tells the Weekly she has filed suit in federal court in Los Angeles to challenge Long Beach’s sex offender residency restrictions. Specifically, it’s an ordinance adopted by the City Council that prohibits most registered sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of…
Read MoreAfter Sandusky wins back pension, PA senator calls for stricter forfeiture law
Jerry Sandusky might have gotten his public pension back, but one lawmaker wants to ensure taxpayers aren’t footing the bill for other sex offenders’ retirements. State Sen. Larry Farnese, D-Philadelphia, plans to introduce legislation that would bar public officials and employees from collecting retirement benefits if they’re convicted of, or plead guilty or no defense, to crimes that require registration as a sex offender under Megan’s Law. Full Article
Read MoreNH: 850 convicted sex offenders eligible to petition to get off state’s criminal offenders registry
Approximately 850 convicted sex offenders and offenders against children are eligible to petition to get off the state’s criminal offenders registry, after a little-noticed Supreme Court ruling earlier this year. Full Article
Read MoreWe’re All Offenders Who Haven’t Been Caught
That’s the question posed to the audience of mostly college students by Galen Baughman, a Soros Justice Fellow and the final speaker at the City University of New York TEDx talks at the Borough of Manhattan Community College last week. TEDx talks are known for introducing new speakers with new ideas on everything from tech, to teaching, to society — but Baughman was the first TEDx presenter to address the issue of sex offenders from an unusual viewpoint: He is one. And he must register as a sex offender forever.…
Read MoreNY: Mom Believes She Must Helicopter if Lowest-Level Sex Offenders Come Off Registry After 20 Years
FreeRange Kids: Here in my state, something wildly fair is about to happen: People who have been on the Sex Offender Registry for 20 years, who GOT ON the list for a “Level 1” non-violent sex crime like going to a prostitute, “public lewdness,” or peeing in public, are finally going to be allowed to get off it. Full Opinion Piece 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…
Read MoreME: After attacks on Bowdoin students, nearby church shuts out sex offender group
A church next to the Bowdoin College campus in Brunswick has shut down a support group for convicted sex offenders, after college officials expressed concerns. Last week, Bowdoin’s director of security, Randy Nichols, said in an email to Bowdoin’s students and staff that he had only recently learned about the group, which had been meeting every Tuesday evening for two years at the First Parish Church, on the corner of Maine Street and Bath Road. Nichols said the presence of a group of sex offenders so close to campus was…
Read MoreSex offender sues Long Beach for right to live near schools, parks, day care centers
A San Luis Obispo County man is suing the city of Long Beach over restrictions that he says make it impossible to move to or even visit the area. Frank Lindsay says in legal papers that a 2008 ordinance prevents him and other registered sex offenders from living, either temporarily or permanently, in much of the city. Full Article
Read MoreJudge: Man wrongly convicted is eligible for compensation
RED BLUFF, California – A Tehama County judge ruled Tuesday morning that a 48-year-old Red Bluff man deserves to be paid for the 15 years he spent in prison after being wrongfully convicted. Tehama County Superior Court Judge Matthew McGlynn said that ____ ____ was “factually innocent” of the child molestation charges that landed him a 24-year prison sentence and is thereby entitled to monetary compensation. ____ will “automatically” receive more than $750,500 – about $140 for each day he was imprisoned — in light of McGlynn’s ruling, his attorney…
Read MoreCriminally Yours: Sex In Vegas
I spent the weekend in Las Vegas not having fun, but taking a CLE on how to defend sex assault cases, particularly those involving Internet child porn. Lawyers came from all over the country, even states with populations as small as Wyoming, where there are more cows than people. Full Article Related Educating Attorneys That they CAN WIN – Las Vegas, NACDL, November 19-20, 2015
Read MoreTwelve Sex Offenders Arrested Along the American River Parkway
A dozen sex offenders were taken into custody last weekend after law enforcement made a sweep of the American River Parkway. During a three day operation, Sacramento County Sheriff’s deputies talked to 284 people, and arrested 28. Deputy Tony Turnbull says of those arrests, 12 were sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreEven after release, California convicts contend with digital trail
Visitors to the 1998 California state fair were treated to demonstrations of a novel criminal justice tool: a computer that allowed them to look up information about registered sex offenders. Nearly two decades later, the novelty has vanished. A few clicks on a personal computer summon the name, address and record of sex offenders filed in the state’s Megan’s Law database. Every state in the nation now maintains a database of registered sex offenders. Full Article Related REGISTRANTS SUE CA DEPT OF JUSTICE — DEMAND IMPROVEMENTS TO, OR END OF,…
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