WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Law enforcement officers in the United States are increasingly buying professional liability insurance policies amid worries they may be sued for their on-duty actions, the Fraternal Order of Police, the biggest U.S. police union, told Reuters. Between July 2014 and July 2015, the number of members who bought the union’s liability insurance jumped 15 percent, according to data from the FOP released this week and shared exclusively with Reuters. In previous years, liability insurance purchases grew only between one to three percent, said Jim Pasco, executive director…
Read MoreYear: 2016
New Efforts To Extend Statutes Of Limitations For Sexual Crimes
Many victims of sexual assault do not immediately report the crime. In the allegations against Bill Cosby, his accusers came forward years later. And in the child sex abuse scandal within the Catholic Church, many victims did not come forward until decades after the fact. For most of these cases, the time to prosecute has run out. Now, a growing number of states are extending the time limits to allow cases to be heard in court. But criminal defense attorneys warn this will lead to innocent people being put behind…
Read MoreThe Smear Campaign Against Potential SCOTUS Nominee Jane Kelly Is an Attack on the Constitution
There are few constitutional provisions more important than the Sixth Amendment’s guarantee of a right to defense counsel. That civil liberty, which applies even for indigent defendants who can’t afford their own attorney, is the cornerstone of the United States criminal justice system and a critical component of due process. In the legal community, it’s understood that criticizing an attorney who defends an unpopular defendant—especially a public defender assigned to an impoverished client—is inappropriate, offensive, and unprofessional. Public defenders who represent disreputable defendants are fulfilling the requirements of the Constitution;…
Read MoreShould Parents Reveal That a Father at Their Child’s School Is a Sex Offender?
My daughter goes to a public elementary school. Recently, one of the parents in our class discovered that a fellow parent, the father of a girl in my daughter’s class, was arrested in an undercover police operation for soliciting an underage female prostitute. Details of the undercover operation were posted online. He agreed to pay for sex with the underage prostitute, who would come to his house while his young children were asleep and his wife was away at work. He confessed to the crime but is not on the…
Read MoreLiving with 290: Banned
For 13 years now, I have been going on cruises with my wife and daughters! Today I attempted to book a 4 day cruise with carnival! I was told I am permanently banned from all cruises! I asked why, and the specialist told me I was a RSO and Carnival does not allow RSO’S on cruises. I then asked her where she got her information from? She hung up on me.
Read More5 YEARS LATE, FAKE SEX TRAFFICKING CASE CRUMPLES IN TENN. FED. COURT
Muslim Somali gang members. Secret meetings with a detective. Cross-country sex trafficking. A dramatic three-week federal criminal trial. Sounds like the stuff of fiction. Maybe a good plot for one of those thrilling TV crime shows. And, indeed, it was fiction. But it probably didn’t feel like that to the 29 defendants who were charged in a Tennessee federal court with running a sinister juvenile sex trafficking ring that turned out to be, well, a bunch of kids being jackasses. But not trafficking sex slaves. Full Article
Read MoreCA RSOL Meeting: May 14, Berkeley [NEW DATE]
Please mark the following dates on your calendars. California RSOL will hold monthly meetings in Berkeley on May 14 (revised date). As always, start time is 10 am and the meetings are expected to last about 2 hours. Join us at the Finnish Hall, 1970 Chestnut Street in Berkeley on May 14 (new date), at 10 am. Topics of discussion will include general issues facing registrants and their families as well as pertinent current issues, such as the recent International Megan’s Law lawsuit. The meetings are intended for registrants, friends and family,…
Read MoreLiving with 290: Maybe I shouldn’t have answered the phone…
Where to start with my story? I guess I will start with my conviction in February 2015. I was convicted of PC 647.6(a) and 288a(b)(2) and received 365 days with half and five years felony probation and lifetime 290 registry. At the time of my sentencing, I was time served and was released that day after seven months. At that time, I had the support of my family and was able to stay with my aunt and uncle, after losing my own place and job during my incarceration. There was…
Read MoreLiving with 290: Inquiry about probation and being on the registry
Hello everyone, I had a question in regards to the registry. I understand that probation comes with a set of rules, depending on the PO assigned, can I ask what your personal experience was like when you started probation? I have heard some horror stories and was hoping some of you would be willing to share how the experience was/has been for you? Secondly, can you tell me what being on the registry has been like? I understand that finding work is going to be really difficult, have you been…
Read MoreLiving with 290: Are there any 290 registrant get off parole early ?
I am coming up on my 24 months of uninterrupted Parole you can get off the Parole early according to this CDCR adult Parole memo. I am about done with the Safer program in another month and I am a business owner. No violation. Has anybody seen any offenders get off early?
Read MoreLiving with 290: Relocation Help
Hello I am just completing a 10 year sentence of in Georgia. I am going to be without any parole, yet Georgia has sever living restrictions for everyone. I am currently in a T.C. saving money and thought about moving to California.I am unclear as to what life as an S.O. is like in California. Can anyone provide any insight? I have a college degree will I be able to work and live? PLEASE HELP!
Read MoreLiving with 290: Moving to California
I was convicted in Virginia of Misdemeanor Indecent Exposure and Misdemeanor Public Sexual Display. I am ashamed of what I did. My offense occurred while I was blacked out from drinking too much. I take full responsibilities for my actions. I am not giving you any excuses. Just facts. I am a Military Veteran and Ex Police Officer who has been diagnosed with PTSD. I do not have to register as a sex offender here in Virginia. The problem I am having is I need to be with my family.…
Read MoreMarch RSOL in Action – March 14, 2016, 7 p.m. Eastern time
This is your second notice of an extremely important conference call. This month’s call will focus on two very important pending court cases: International Megan’s Law challenge currently pending in the U.S District Court, Northern District of California; and The ACLU’s lawsuit in Rhode Island pending in U.S. District Court, District of Rhode Island. Our special guests will be Janice Bellucci, CA RSOL President, and Steve Brown, Executive Director of the ACLU of Rhode Island. General Q & A will follow after each report. Everyone is invited to listen in on the…
Read MoreNY: How Do You Track Sex Offenders? NY County Hires Ex-Cops
The “registry verification representatives” wear street clothes and travel in nondescript Toyota sedans. They work in pairs, knocking on doors at run-down trailers and waterfront mansions to find out if registered sex offenders are actually living where they say they are. But this is not some elite police unit. It is part of an unusual public-private partnership in Long Island’s Suffolk County that uses six retired New York City police officers to hold ex-cons accountable to sex-offender registry laws. Full Article
Read MoreIML Motion to be Heard on March 30 in Oakland
A hearing will be held on March 30 during which a decision is expected by a federal judge regarding whether to grant a Preliminary Injunction that would stop implementation of all or part of the International Megan’s Law (IML). Judge Phyllis Hamilton will preside over that hearing in Courtroom 3 at the U.S. District Court, 1301 Clay Street, Oakland, CA. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m., however, three additional matters are also on the judge’s schedule that morning. A press conference will be held immediately after the…
Read MoreThe U.S. Congress Has Successfully Extended the “Megan” Franchise
We lost the battle, brewing for some eight years in Congress, which will effectively stop those of us, U.S. ‘registered sex offenders.’ from venturing beyond our own countries. The enactment of International Megan’s Law is not the end of the war, however, as we are fighting back against this injustice in the courts and, to the extent that we wield any influence, in the media. The bill was signed into law by President Obama February 8th of this year and will stoke the fire under the simmering cauldron which ‘child…
Read More“My Child’s Toy Has a Pedophile Symbol on It!” — Actual News Report
By buying a plush toy with a heart on it, Tampa mom Nicole O’Kelly unwittingly alerted predators that her little girl “is ready to be traded for sex.” Or so reports (if that’s the word) the station WFLA. Using a garbled mishmash of horror and hysteria, correspondent Melanie Michael told viewers that the toy, a pink stuffed truck recently purchased at a Monster Jam event, “held a sick secret; a disgusting calling card for creeps. The heart on the toy was a symbol for pedophiles.” Um…what? The heart within a heart, the reporter continued, is…
Read MoreIL: Heightened observation deters sex offenders (Opinion)
The last place a convicted sex offender is going to repeat such a heinous crime is at the office of their probation officer. That’s why the news the Illinois Legislature has more than doubled the funding for the Kankakee County Probation Department is good news indeed. Full Article
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