Though it’s unclear if a woman knew before police told her that the man she married is a convicted sex offender wanted for allegedly not registering his whereabouts as the law requires, police charged her Wednesday with knowing and not revealing his whereabouts. Full Article
Read MoreMonth: July 2017
KS: Judge tosses lawsuit brought by Kansas sex offenders against the sexual predator program
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Kansas sex offenders who are confined indefinitely in a state program for post-prison mental health treatment, saying they didn’t do enough to substantiate their claims. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Sex abuse record costs worker his job – Times Union
Schenectady A city employee recently hired to be a housing inspector was promptly fired after city officials discovered he is a registered sex offender in New York. “He’s no longer employed with the city,” said Mayor Gary McCarthy on Tuesday. Full article
Read MoreBill offers needed reform for sex offender registry
California’s cluttered sex offender registry is too large to be effective and must be reformed if it is to be of any use to law enforcement. Full Article
Read MorePA: Pennsylvania Supreme Court finds state sex offender registration law punitive and thus unconstitutional to apply retroactively
In a big opinion today, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided its state’s sex offender registration law, though civil in design, was punitive in practice and thus cannot be applied retroactively. Full Article
Read MoreSex offender consequences in the Supreme Court – what’s ahead?
“The Supreme Court’s Mixed Signals in Packingham” is the title of a thoughtful comment by Bidish Sarma analyzing the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Packingham v. North Carolina, recently published on the American Constitution Society website. (An early analysis of the Packingham decision by Wayne Logan appeared on this site on June 20.) Mr. Sarma proposes that “the time has come to ask whether society’s ‘war’ on sex offenders who have already completed criminal sentences has gone too far.” Full Article
Read MoreMajor overhaul to Ohio sex offender registry?
Another state is considering changes that would reduce the number of people on its bloated sex offender registry. The Dayton Daily News reports that a committee is recommending changes to Ohio’s registry. Full article
Read MoreWY: Charge filed against Cheyenne teen with autism gets dismissed
CHEYENNE – The unlawful contact charge filed earlier this year against a local high school student with severe autism has been dismissed. Full Article
Read MoreWe must protect children at schools from dangerous sex offenders: Connie Leyva
Just last year, a group of concerned Fontana parents discovered a loophole in the law that allows dangerous sex offenders to enter school grounds and target children. They found out that dangerous sex offenders could volunteer at schools if they were given permission by a school official. Full Op-Ed piece
Read MoreWA: He spent 9 years on McNeil Island without his day in court
____ had spent more than a year in the Yakima County Jail when he filed an Alford plea — not admitting the crime but conceding he likely would be convicted — on a second-degree attempted kidnapping charge. “I was told that I was going to be released the day I was processed,” he said. Instead, he spent the next nine years at the Special Commitment Center on McNeil Island, without ever having a civil commitment trial or being convicted of a violent sexual offense. Full Article
Read MoreCanada: Court blocks extradition of Nova Scotia man accused of sex crimes in U.S.
Nova Scotia’s highest court is ordering Canada’s justice minister to take another look at her decision to allow the extradition of a Nova Scotia man accused of sex crimes in Minnesota. Full Article
Read MoreMO: Court backs confining sex offenders indefinitely
The Missouri Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that a state law allowing sex offenders to be committed indefinitely to mental institutions after prison is constitutional. Full Article
Read MoreOK: Closing sex offender loophole
Legislation has been filed seeking to close a loophole in Oklahoma statutes allowing sex offenders to live next door or near their victims. House Bill 1124, by Rep. Kyle Hilbert and Sen. James Leewright, seeks to change Oklahoma statutes to include the residency of the victim of a sex crime to the list of places that have a “zone of safety” around them. In Oklahoma law, the “zone of safety” is a 500-foot area around places that sex offenders are not allowed to loiter. However, the zone around a victim’s…
Read MoreAL: As some states reconsider sex-offender registries, an Alabama resident argues the state’s for-life requirements are too much
A lawsuit before a federal appeals court may have broad implications for Alabama’s sex offender laws, which some critics claim are the harshest in the United States. Montgomery resident Michael McGuire is suing the state of Alabama for relief from the residency restrictions, travel limits, sex offender registration and other punishments that accompany a conviction of a sexual offense. The case is before the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Full Article
Read MoreOH: Overhaul could drop thousands from sex offender registry
Two decades after Ohio began labeling sex offenders on a public database and setting restrictions on where they can live, a major overhaul to the law is being proposed that could drop thousands of lower-level offenders off the list Some critics are even calling for doing away with the registry entirely, saying it’s been an expensive effort with little benefit to the public. Full Article
Read MoreTN: Sex offenders move to Tennessee for lax laws
Tennessee’s sex offender laws are so lax, the Giles County sheriff says offenders are crossing the Alabama border to move to Tennessee. Full Article
Read MoreAirbnb uses background checks to weed out sex offenders
… With so many guests coming in and out of neighborhoods there are concerns about criminals, including sex offenders renting homes next to families who do not know the sex offender is there. Tennessee law requires sex offenders to register with the Davidson County Sheriff’s Office within 48 hours of “establishing a physical presence at a particular location.” If that person is only in town for 24 hours, they could fly under the radar. Full Article
Read MoreIA: Prosecutor agrees to settle Knoxville ‘sexting’ lawsuit
The Marion County Attorney’s Office has agreed not to bring a criminal charge against a teenage girl who sent photos of herself in her underwear to a classmate, settling a civil rights lawsuit alleging that prosecutors overstepped their bounds in trying to force her into community service and special classes. Full Article
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