The city of Kenosha’s restrictions on where registered sex offenders can live are so pervasive that, except in high-risk situations, police will not enforce them knowing it would effectively ban offenders from the city, according to a lawsuit filed this week. Full Article
Read MoreMonth: August 2016
TX: Iowa Park city council turns down father’s plea for sex offender exemption
An Iowa Park man was turned down after asking the City Council on Monday night to consider an exemption to the code of ordinances. After recently writing a letter to the city of Iowa Park, James H. Pappas stood in front of the City Council and requested an exemption for his son, ___ ____, who is in his 60s and was convicted of having child pornography in Duluth, Minnesota. However, the City Council denied the exemption based on Texas state law. Councilwoman Sherrie Williams said, “We’d have to void the…
Read MoreCO: Legislature to blame for sentencing quandary (Opinion)
I feel compelled to respond to Chandler McCorkle’s guest opinion (“Judge failed rape victim, society,” Daily Camera, Aug. 14) because it proceeds from woefully erroneous assumptions about the nature of sex offense probation and sentencing. Ms. McCorkle states that the sentence means that sex offender probationary sentences do not carry “true repercussion(s),” and the judge’s sentence was “naïve [and] unthinkably stupid.” With all due respect, she could not be more wrong. Full Opinion Piece Original Opinion Piece
Read MoreIL: Sex Offender Pleads No Contest
52-year-old blind man, ____ ____ of South Roxana, was convicted in 2000 of aggravated criminal sexual abuse. ____ pleaded no contest Thursday to a violation of the state sex offender registration law. The violation comes after a police compliance check on Halloween of 2014. ____ was sitting just inside the front door of his living room as his step-daughter was handing out candy. State law prohibits registered sex offenders from distributing Halloween candy. ____ was sentenced with 12 months of conditional court supervision. Article
Read MoreWI: Sex offender ordinance hasn’t worked as planned, putting public at greater risk
Last summer, ____ ____ got a notice from the Milwaukee Police Department: He had to move out of his north side rental home. ____, a registered sex offender, hadn’t done anything to violate the terms of his sentence, which stemmed from groping a 13-year-old girl he met online when he was 19. In fact, ____ had stayed out of trouble since his conviction in 2002. The notice alerted ____ that a new Milwaukee ordinance had gone into effect, severely restricting where sex offenders can live. ____’ home was too close to…
Read MoreNJ: 40 people arrested in massive child porn crackdown
Forty men hailing from every corner of New Jersey have been charged in a statewide crackdown on the distribution of child pornography, authorities announced today. Full Article
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: Waiting for Justice
As summer comes to an end, we are waiting for justice. We are waiting for a judge’s decision in our challenge to the International Megan’s Law. We are waiting for cities to eliminate residency restrictions. We are waiting for a tiered registry bill to be introduced in the California state legislature. Why does it take so long? Why can’t judges, city officials and state legislators stop the punishment of registered citizens NOW? Perhaps it’s due to habit. For many people, including judges and elected officials, have adopted the habit of…
Read MoreKS: Standoff outside convicted sex offender’s KCK home ends after 6 hours
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Police say from the very beginning after U.S. Marshals descended on ____ ____ home near North 56th Street and Parallel Parkway around 8:30 Tuesday morning, a defiant _____ refused to step outside his small white house on the corner and made threats against officers. Full Article
Read MoreMO: Decades after ‘lie’ puts dad on sex offender registry, he’s pardoned
____ ____, a Clay County father who has long denied that he was a sex offender who molested his own son, received a telephone call Friday that he has wanted for nearly half his life. The call was from the office of Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon. The news: ____ had been pardoned of the crime he said he never committed, and he was told his name would no longer appear on Missouri’s sex offender registry. Full Article
Read MoreCO: Sex offenders sue Englewood claiming city ordinance effectively bans them from city
Three convicted sex offenders have sued the city of Englewood in federal court claiming that its zoning ordinances effectively banish them from living in the city. Full Article Related Sex offenders fearing eviction sue Englewood over residency restrictions
Read MoreTustin City Council Begins Repeal of Residency Restrictions
The Tustin City Council, in a vote of 4 to 1, voted yesterday in favor of repealing the city’s residency restrictions which prohibit registered citizens from living in most of that city. The only “no” vote was cast by Mayor John Nielsen who did not explain his vote. This is the first of two steps required by the City Council to repeal the restrictions. The second step is expected to be taken at the next City Council meeting which is scheduled for September 6. “This is a significant victory for…
Read MoreWI: Pleasant Prairie under legal fire for sex offender ordinance
A federal judge has been asked to order the village of Pleasant Prairie to notify residents that it is temporarily not enforcing an ordinance that effectively banishes registered sex offenders from living in the village. A preliminary injunction was filed Friday on behalf of 10 registered sex offenders who are challenging the constitutionality of the ordinance. Their attorney, Mark Weinberg, said he filed the injunction request after village officials lacked the “political will” to post notice on the village’s website that the ordinance would not be enforced under the lawsuit…
Read MoreOK: On His First Day Out Of Prison, A Convicted Sex Offender Faces Uncertain Future
____ ____ was scared to get out of prison. He was serving a six-and-a-half-year sentence in Lawton, Oklahoma, for having sex with an underage teenager. Now, one of about 800,000 registered sex offenders in the United States, ____ faces the challenge of assimilating back into society. He was in his mid-30s and asking some pretty daunting questions: Where would he live? Who would hire him? How would he explain his past to people? Full Article and Audio
Read MorePA: Supreme Court ruling will reduce number of sex offenders required to register for life
A ruling issued by a sharply-divided Pennsylvania Supreme Court could greatly alter the registration requirements imposed on some types of convicted sex offenders. The decision by the court’s majority states that offenders who commit some kinds of sex crimes, such as possessing child pornography, cannot be made to register with state police for life unless they commit at least one more sex crime after their initial convictions. In other words, they have to become recidivists to qualify for the lifetime registration. Full Article Decision Dissenting Opinion 1 Dissenting Opinion 2
Read MoreHebephilia flunks Frye test
In a strongly worded rejection of hebephilia, a New York judge has ruled that the controversial diagnosis cannot be used in legal proceedings because of “overwhelming opposition” to its validity among the psychiatric community. Full Article
Read MoreMurrieta Residency Restrictions Stopped Again
A federal judge issued a Preliminary Injunction (PI) on Monday that stops enforcement of residency restrictions in the City of Murrieta. The judge’s decision, in effect, continues a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) she issued about three weeks ago. Although the PI applies only to the plaintiff in this case now, its effect is expected to be extended to all registrants at a later time. “This is a significant victory for registrants and families living in the City of Murrietta,” stated attorney Janice Bellucci. “It is unfortunate that the City did…
Read MoreCalifornia gang database plagued with errors, unsubstantiated entries, state auditor finds
A California gang database maintained by law enforcement agencies is rife with unsubstantiated entries, names that should have been purged long ago and glaring errors, a state audit released Thursday found. Full Article
Read MoreDE: Judge rejects ACLU challenge to sex offender GPS monitoring
A Chancery court judge has rejected the American Civil Liberties Union’s challenge to a state law requiring GPS monitoring of certain convicted sex offenders who have been released from custody and are on probation. Full Article
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