MI: Treatment of sex offenders depends on whether they’ve challenged rules

Eight months after the U.S. Supreme Court effectively upheld a decision saying parts of Michigan’s sex offender registry law — one of the toughest in the nation — were unconstitutional, thousands of former sex offenders who thought they’d be off the registry by now, or facing less severe restrictions, have seen no changes. Full Article

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TN: Summertime and the Livin’ Ain’t Easy!

[womenagainstregistry.org – 6/6/18] Knoxville, Tennessee. The South. Home of plantation porches and sweet tea. Land of greenways, rivers, lakes, mountains, parks and bike trails. Summertime and there’s plenty of outdoor activities, fishing, hiking, biking, kayaking and swimming to name a few. Your city and county tax dollars are at work to help maintain all of these wonderful avenues of adventure and sport, but as a registrant, you are excluded from taking advantage of many of these activities. Your almighty tax dollars aren’t working for you at all. The city of…

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CA: Federal Court Denies State Hospital’s Motion to Dismiss

[ACSOL – 6/6/18] A U.S. district court today denied a Motion to Dismiss filed by Coalinga State Hospital. Because of the denial, a lawsuit filed on behalf of two patients at that hospital will continue. “Today’s decision is a significant victory for hundreds of registrants who are also patients at Coalinga State Hospital,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “The claims of the plaintiffs regarding retaliation for the exercise of their First Amendment rights are similar to claims that could have been made by many others.” In today’s decision, the…

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MI: Unexpected comments from a prosecutor

[floridaactioncommittee.org – 6/6/18] Ingham County (Michigan) Prosecutor Carol A. Siemon, issued a statement concerning the sentencing of former Michigan State football players in connection with a sexual offense. Below is an excerpt from her statement, quoted directly: The sex offender registry is a blunt instrument that I believe needs to be reformed and streamlined so that law enforcement can make better use of the information. It would be more effective as a law enforcement tool to keep the public safe if it targeted the cases that are most likely to…

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How a phony cop gave this sex offender a new mission in life

[narsol.org – 6/6/18] By Michael M. . . . In late March of 2018, I received a phone call at ten-thirty PM on a Sunday night, purportedly from the County Sheriff’s Department. The caller informed me in an officious manner that they had a warrant for my arrest, issued by a local Superior Court Judge for failure to register as required by law. I replied rather matter-of-factly that I have, indeed, registered as required by law, and recited to him the time and date of said registration, as well as…

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CA: Judge Aaron Persky recalled over Brock Turner sentencing

[abc7news.com – 6/6/18] SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — Voters have recalled Judge Aaron Persky from office after he sentenced a former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexual assault to a short jail sentence instead of prison. Persky sentenced Brock Turner in June 2016 to six months in jail instead of prison after he was convicted of sexually assaulting a woman outside a fraternity house. The recall campaign launched shortly afterward. The campaign gained national prominence after the victim’s powerful courtroom statement lamenting her treatment by the judicial system was circulated…

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NC: Sex offender accused of attending dance recital

[jdnews.com – 6/4/18] A convicted sex offender accused of attending a Northside High school dance recital was arrested over the weekend but has since bonded out of jail. __________, 44, of N. Carole Drive in Jacksonville was arrested Saturday by the Jacksonville Police Department and charged with felony sex offender on child premises. __________, , a convicted felon, is accused of attending a dance recital at Northside High School on Saturday, according to warrants. Beth Purcell, Jacksonville Police Department’s media liasion, wrote in an email to the Daily News that…

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Should the Movement to Oust Bad Prosecutors Go After Judges Next?

[slate.com – 6/1/18] Four public defenders think so, but critics worry they’re turning criminal justice reform into an assault on the judiciary. Major cities across the United States are getting swept up in a movement to replace tough-on-crime prosecutors with reform-minded outsiders. Last November, Larry Krasner, a former federal public defender turned civil rights lawyer, was elected district attorney in Philadelphia. He rapidly set about changing business as usual, refusing to prosecute low-level marijuana offenses and instructing his deputies to begin plea negotiations from the minimum rather than the maximum…

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Why a convicted child molester is likely to be chosen in the MLB draft

[sports.yahoo.com – 6/5/18] Sometime over the next 48 hours, a Major League Baseball team is almost certain to ask a convicted, admitted child molester to play in its organization. It’s likeliest to happen Tuesday, during Rounds 3 through 10 of the MLB draft, or perhaps Wednesday, over the draft’s final 30 rounds. And on the off-chance that the handful of teams with Luke Heimlich on their draft boards opt against selecting him, the chance that he goes unsigned is basically zero. For more than a year now, teams have grappled…

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Older teens less likely to think sexting would get them in trouble

[journalistsresource.org – unknown publishing date] Older teens are less likely than younger kids to think they’d get in trouble for sexting, new research finds. The study, to be published in a forthcoming issue of Computers in Human Behavior, also indicates boys are less likely than girls to believe sexting can have serious consequences. For example, girls are more likely to say sexting would result in trouble at school or hurt their chances of getting a job. For the purposes of this study, the researchers describe sexting as “the digital recording…

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NV: Giunchigliani responds to criticism over sex offender reporting bill as ‘untrue’ and ‘offensive’ in new ad

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Giunchigliani is calling an attack over her involvement in exempting teachers from a sex offender reporting bill while she was an assemblywoman “untrue” and “offensive” in a new ad released today. In the 30-second spot, Giunchigliani shares that she was sexually abused for over a year as a child and that her sister was kidnapped, held in a trailer and raped for three days. She also highlights five pieces of legislation she helped pass as an assemblywoman to increase penalties for sexual predators, make information concerning…

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CO: Hickenlooper vetoes bill to reduce conflicts of interests on Colorado’s sex-offender management board

Gov. John Hickenlooper on Monday vetoed legislation that would have barred members of the Colorado Sex Offender Management Board from being able to profit from multi-million-dollar state contracts related to their work. Full Article Related Colorado governor vetoes bill that banned conflicts of interest on sex offender management board

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Janice’s Journal: Voting Rights Act for Registrants May Be Required

Today is election day. Today California voters will cast their ballots in a primary election that determines the nomination of candidates for offices from Insurance Commissioner to U.S. Senator as well as the outcome of several ballot propositions. Because it is a mid-term election, the percentage of people expected to vote is low, perhaps as low as 30 percent. Missing from the number of people who vote today, however, may be many registrants, some of whom have been misinformed and told that they are not eligible to vote. For example,…

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The Holocaust of Sex Offenders

[dsdaughtry.wordpress.com – 6/3/18] A lesson from World War II is to look beyond irrational laws created by the Nazis but focus on the way those laws were quietly reinforced by citizens without challenge or question. Initially, it was the German people and other nations that played a pivotal part of extermination of Jewish populations along with homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, or anyone indifferent to the political ideology of the Nazis or its particular allies. After the war, nations took an oath never to allow people to become labeled, marked, branded, or…

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MA: Victims’ advocate wants psychologists charged if sex offenders repeat

[bostonherald.com 6/3/18] A leading victims advocate wants state-appointed psychologists who declare sex offenders can be released from prison held accountable if the predators strike again. Jennifer Lane, president of Community Voices, said charges should be brought against the examiners in some cases. “I’m so sick and tired of this,” Lane told the Herald. “There are more people defending sex offenders than the victims.” Pedophiles and rapists don’t age out of their horrific habits, she said. “It’s a mental issue.” Her comments come as the Supreme Judicial Court is “taking under…

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OK: Today, They Stamped “Sex Offender” on My Driver’s License

I’d been dreading this day for months – the final day before my Oklahoma state driver’s license expired. Recently, my state had passed legislation requiring that the licenses of those convicted of aggravated sex offenses be marked “Sex Offender” in bold capital red letters in two different locations on the front of the card. Red letter days are supposed to be joyful occasions, but not so much in this case. I certainly wasn’t going to submit to this particular humiliation by renewing my license any earlier than necessary, so I…

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