We ultimately met with six house legislative aides, mostly from the house foreign relations committee and also went to all the offices of cosponsors. We provided a copy of the talking points and a letter Janice Bellucci sent to the House Speaker. I will follow up tomorrow with an email to each of the legislative aides we had discussions with and aides with the other members that we left literature with. Before we met with the aids, it was clear there was little to no noise generated by the passage…
Read MoreMonth: January 2016
California’s laws test whether sexual predators can ever be rehabilitated
At the foot of a fence around a small house in the desert, a protester cleared her throat. She wanted to scream loud enough for the man inside to hear. “Raaaaaapist!” she shouted. “Go away, rapist!” “No one in this world loves you,” her friend yelled. “You are a sexually violent predator!” The shrieks were met with silence from the white, two-bedroom home outside Palmdale where ____ _____ ____ has lived since his 2014 release from a California mental hospital. Full Article
Read MoreReform the Sex-Offender Registry
In 1972, at the age of 21, Phillip Garrido had his first arrest. The charge: sexual assault of a minor. Four years later, he kidnapped and raped Katherine Callaway, a crime for which he received a 50-year sentence in the federal Leavenworth Penitentiary. During his trial, Garrido testified to masturbating while sitting outside middle schools and going on drug binges. After serving 11 years in federal prison and an additional seven months in Nevada State Prison, he was released in 1988 to parole authorities in Contra Costa County, Calif. For…
Read MoreMA: Sex offenders set to be delisted by court ruling
More than 500 sex offenders are expected to be removed from the state’s public online registry after a controversial high court ruling that has caused a massive backlog of cases, according to officials. … The Herald reported yesterday that a Supreme Judicial Court decision rendered last month has forced the SORB to temporarily remove sex offenders from the online database that allows the public to track them. The hearings to determine the risk that offenders pose have also come to a halt. Full Article Related http://www.myfoxboston.com/news/mass-court-decision-removes-sex-offender-info-from-public/13701168 http://www.lowellsun.com/todaysheadlines/ci_29359122/sex-offender-ruling-blasted-by-advocates http://www.bostonherald.com/opinion/editorials/2016/01/editorial_sex_offender_snafu
Read MoreLabeling sex offenders’ passports is overkill (Editorial)
Say you slept with your girlfriend when you were a senior in high school and she was a freshman. That’s enough to get you labeled a sex offender in some states. Or say you streaked across the football stadium buck naked in college, or urinated outside when you were drunk, or clicked on the photo of a naked 17-year-old. Strange as it may seem, all these “crimes” have the same punishment in the end: After serving time, doing probation and/or paying a fine, the people who committed them get on…
Read MoreNE: City Council Rejects Sex Offender Residency Restrictions
FALLS CITY – City council discussed and took action on whether or not to draft an ordinance restricting the distance a registered sex offender(s) can live to a school or a licensed daycare. Full Article
Read MoreTX: Former Wise County deputy sentenced for taking nude photos of sex offenders
FORT WORTH – A former deputy with the Wise County Sheriff’s Department was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison Wednesday for taking nude photographs of sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreThe yellow star, the scarlet letter and ‘International Megan’s Law’
When I was growing up, in a Jewish family in Brooklyn in the 1950s, Hitler and the Holocaust were common subjects of conversation in my household. Though at the time it all seemed like ancient history — along with the Civil War, the Black Death, the fall of Rome, and everything else that had ever happened before I was born — I realized, when I became an adult, that to my parents and their generation it must have seemed as though it had happened the day before yesterday. Full Article
Read MoreVote “No” to Oppose International Megan’s Law
Votes are now being taken from the public regarding H.R. 515, International Megan’s Law, on a website that will report the votes to members of Congress. It is important for registered citizens, family members and supporters to cast their vote. As of the writing of this article, 59 percent of the public supports the bill and 41 percent opposes the bill. We can change that tally dramatically by clicking on the link below. It’s easy to do and will take less than 5 minutes. Please ask your family members, friends and colleagues…
Read MoreRegistrant Travel Action Group in Washington DC to Fight for Our Right to Travel
Registrant Travel Action Group (http://registranttag.org/), the National RSOL affiliate focused on protecting the travel rights of registered citizens, is in Washington DC to pound the pavement, speak to legislators and fight for our right to travel. As reported, in recent weeks the Senate passed a bill (the International Megan’s Law) that would severely impede the rights of registered citizens to travel internationally and expose them to potential danger when traveling. Among other things; the bill would authorize the government to notify other countries of a registrant’s intent to travel there…
Read MoreGeneral Comments January 2016
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of January 2016. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: The New Year Begins with a Frightening Roar
A new year has begun and because it is an election year it has started out with a roar. A roar that should frighten us all. Despite the fact that the year is only a few days old, we are already facing two pieces of legislation that could significantly increase the punishment inflicted upon registered citizens. First, we are facing Assembly Bill (AB) 201 in Sacramento. If passed, this bill would allow cities and counties to recreate the chaos that previously existed due to inconsistent laws that would prohibit registered…
Read MoreTN: Tennessee becomes first state to release animal abuse registry
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — On Friday, Tennessee became the first state to release an animal abuse registry. It includes the names of people convicted of having intentionally abused animals. Anyone can see the registry, pictures and where offenders live. Full Article
Read MoreVA: VSP launches Sex Offender Supplemental Registry
Virginia State Police have launched a Sex Offender Supplemental Registry online for public access, granting information on cases taking place before the sex offender registry’s founding. Full Article More from Virginia
Read MoreCA RSOL Meeting January 16 – Los Angeles
California RSOL’s first regular monthly meeting in 2016 will take place on January 16, 2016 in Los Angeles. As always, the location is the ACLU Building at 1313 W. 8th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017. Start time is 10 am. We will focus on current topics, including pending legislation and legal actions as well as offer an opportunity for networking with others. We welcome registrants, friends and family and other supporters to attend. The meeting is off-limits to media and government officials in order to ensure everyone’s privacy. There is…
Read MoreThrowaway Children: The Tragic Consequences of a False Narrative
Abstract: Truth be told, we are afraid for our children and we are afraid of our children. The intersection of these disparate thoughts has produced a perfect storm. We have created increasingly harsh sex offender registration schemes to protect our children from sexual abuse. At the same time, fear of our children ensnares and punishes them under the very same laws that were designed to protect them. Yet, what compels action is premised on a false narrative that includes flawed studies on recidivism rates and misguided case decisions that embraced…
Read More