The title of this post is the title of this notable new book authored by Michael Perlin and Heather Ellis Cucolo which provides a fitting follow-up to prior posts in this space this week concerning problems with sex offender recidivism data and expanding use of crime registries. Full Article
Read MoreYear: 2017
Afraid of Jail? Buy an Upgrade
How California’s pay-to-stay jails create a two-tiered justice system. Full Article Also see Los Angeles Times article
Read MoreSex offenders’ prison treatment records should be open to public
____ and ____ are registered sex offenders accused of sex-related crimes just months after they were released from prison. If the latest allegations prove true, whatever steps the state took to rehabilitate them clearly did not stick. Ohio law prevents us from learning what many of those steps might have been. Full Article
Read MoreThe big lie about sex offenders
Much of the destructive, extra-punishment punishment we inflict on sex offenders is due to the widely held belief that they’re more likely to re-offend than the perpetrators of other classes of crimes. This has been the main justification for the Supreme Court’s authorization of sex-offender registries and for holding sex offenders indefinitely after they’ve served their sentences. Lower courts have then cited those rulings to justify a host of other measures, from severe restrictions on where sex offenders can live to GPS monitoring of their every move. Full Article
Read MoreIL: Bill could end statute of limations for child sex offenders
Attorney General Lisa Madigan wants to erase the statute of limitations allowing felony child sex offenders to evade justice. Madigan’s office represents the people of Illinois in criminal cases, and described why it can be so difficult for some victims to come forward. Full Article
Read MoreFacebook reports journalists to police for flagging possible child porn — on Facebook
Facebook reported journalists at the BBC to police for sending them images related to suspected child pornography on the site, even though Facebook had requested examples, the news organization reported Tuesday. The BBC, which was following up on a past investigation of child exploitation on the social networking site, had found dozens of recent photos of children in sexualized positions and with suggestions of more obscene content, it reported. Other troubling content on Facebook included pages “explicitly for men with a sexual interest in children” or groups for “stolen images…
Read MoreAssembly Bill 558 (ML Web Site Exclusion) – Hearing Postponed Indefinitely
UPDATE 3/27: AB 558 hearing has been postponed indefinitely. Update: AB 558 is scheduled for hearing by the Assembly Public Safety Committee on March 28. Public Safety Committee contact info below. Update 3/15: The hearing scheduled for March 21 has been postponed indefinitely. Update 3/10: March 21 at 9 a.m. in Room 126 of the State Capitol. Please join us to speak in opposition to the bill. Plan to spend the entire morning there as it is one of many bills to be considered that morning. Assembly Bill 558, which would significantly…
Read MoreThe Lingering Impact of Justice Kennedy’s Trumpesque Claim About Sex Offenders
Last week Robert Montgomery, a senior deputy attorney general at the North Carolina Department of Justice, seemed to have little success convincing the Supreme Court that his state’s law banning sex offenders from social media is consistent with the First Amendment. But at least one statement Montgomery made in defense of the law went unchallenged, even though it has no empirical basis. “This Court has recognized that [sex offenders] have a high rate of recidivism and are very likely to do this again,” he said. “Even as late as 20 years from when…
Read MoreSex offender sues Ventura school district
A registered sex offender who committed his crime 27 years ago has sued the Ventura Unified School District over a district policy that forbids him from taking his child to and from her elementary school. Full Article
Read MoreThe Supreme Court’s Sex-Offender Jurisprudence Is Based on a Lie
The Supreme Court believes most sex offenders will keep committing sex crimes. The data suggests otherwise. Full Article
Read MoreTrinidad & Tobago: Bring sex offenders registry
The T&T Government should partner with the Angel Watch Centre and the United States’ Department of Justice in a bid to alert foreign law enforcement partners about intended travel by convicted registered sex offenders. Full Article
Read MoreCO: Englewood cuts in half its distance restrictions on where sex offenders can live
The Englewood City Council on Monday approved a measure that would cut in half its 2,000-foot buffer between parks and schools and where newly arrived sex offenders can live. But city leaders decided to allow offenders who already live in the city to continue doing so regardless of the buffer. Full Article
Read MoreHow the Supreme Court Spread a False Statistic About Sex Offenders
When a false idea gains traction, spreading far and wide, it’s always interesting to try to trace it back to its source to figure out what caused it to catch on in the first place. The New York Times has an NY Times: Dubious Data Belies Supreme Court’s Stance on Repeat Sex Offenders, and it pertains to a common myth about sex offenders: that they have extremely high recidivism rates relative to other types of criminals. Full Article Related NY Times: Dubious Data Belies Supreme Court’s Stance on Repeat Sex…
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Read MorePublic Crime Registries Rarely Work, So Why Do They Continue to Grow?
____ ____ says he’s a changed man. After spending 25 years in jail for killing a man during a home invasion, ____ is looking for a second chance: “I’m not in the lifestyle I used to be in. I don’t drink. I don’t do drugs. I’m just trying to build something up before it’s too late. I’m 55 years old and I don’t have social security, retirement, or a pension.” While it’s difficult for most ex-felons to reintegrate into society, ____’s road is particularly tough. That’s because he is required to…
Read MoreDubious Data Belies Supreme Court’s Stance on Repeat Sex Offenders
Last week at the Supreme Court, a lawyer made what seemed like an unremarkable point about registered sex offenders. “This court has recognized that they have a high rate of recidivism and are very likely to do this again,” said the lawyer, Robert C. Montgomery, who was defending a North Carolina statute that bars sex offenders from using Facebook, Twitter and other social media services. The Supreme Court has indeed said the risk that sex offenders will commit new crimes is “frightening and high.” That phrase, in a 2003 decision upholding Alaska’s sex offender registration law, has…
Read MoreCO: Sex offenders see stringent parenting rules relaxed in Colorado, prompting debate over child safety
Colorado’s sex offenders have long maintained the state treats them as pariahs, closely monitoring where they live, what they look at, who they talk to and what they discuss. One claimed in federal court filings that he was warned against keeping a crucifix because it displayed partial nudity. Another, convicted of groping a woman, said he had to write down his thoughts every time he saw a school bus. Full Article
Read MoreNC: She was portrayed as soft on sex offenders. Now the U.S. Supreme Court is likely to back her up
Robin Hudson could have gotten smeared for siding with sex offender Lester Packingham. Instead, the U.S. Supreme Court appears poised to vindicate her – and remind us all of the dangers of a politicized judiciary. Hudson, an N.C. Supreme Court justice, was in fact smeared when she dissented in a separate case in 2010 involving child molesters. In her 2014 re-election bid, Hudson faced a half-million dollars worth of TV attack ads from special interests that twisted that dissent and portrayed her as soft on sex offenders. Full Article
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