I would like to ask and insist that we all stop, that is STOP using the words “sex offender.” It’s pejorative, demeaning, and keeps the idea that registrants keep “offending.” Word use is VERY IMPORTANT in our cause – and the words we choose to use make people either cringe or open their minds. Just like any other racial or otherwise de-humanizing words, and we know what those words are, continuing to use them keeps up the hate, the fear, and the political rhetoric. Let us choose BETTER words because…
Read MoreYear: 2018
MN: Protracted Sex Offender Program suit comes to end
A long-running class-action lawsuit over the constitutionally of Minnesota’s civil commitment program for sex offenders effectively ended Thursday when a federal judge dismissed the remaining claims but stood by his earlier statements that some revelations during the six-week trial shock his conscience. Full Article
Read MoreNY: Educators, officials seek more housing limits on sex offenders
With classes across Long Island set to resume in the coming weeks, some Suffolk education leaders and elected officials are raising concerns that nearly two dozen of the highest-risk sex offenders are living close to schools. The officials are pushing for passage of legislation that would empower county officials to regulate where sex offenders live. Full Article
Read MoreThe polygraph as applied: Are we focusing on technology at the expense of everything else that works?
[sajrt.blogspot.com – 8/22/18] By David S. Prescott, LICSW, Kieran McCartan, Ph.D., &Alissa Ackerman, Ph.D. Nothing divides the professional and academic community that works in the field of sexual abuse quite like the polygraph. It is a debate that has went on internationally for decades. A fascinating wrinkle in policy and the law recently came to the authors’ attention. In at least one state, there is a policy holding that people on probation cannot be sent back to prison for failing a polygraph examination. This makes sense given the current status…
Read MoreAction Alert: CA Dept. of State Hospitals Schedules Hearing on Sept. 20
The California Department of State Hospital (DSH) will conduct a public hearing on September 20 for the purpose of considering proposed amendments to regulations that limit patients” possession of, or access to, electronic property. The hearing will begin at 2 p.m. at 1600 9th Street Room 100 Sacramento ACSOL will be attending the meeting. We look forward to you joining us to stand for and write for those incarcerated in Dept of State Hospitals like Coalinga. If we only stand up for issues that directly affect us, unity is lost.…
Read MoreBermuda: Do not make sex offender registry public
[royalgazette.com – 8/23/18] Government expert: Seb Henagulph, a consultant at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute and Westgate Correctional Facility A forensic psychiatrist said there was no clear evidence to show that public sex offender registries result in a reduction in the reoffending rate — and that they could even increase the risk of further crimes. Seb Henagulph, a consultant at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute and Westgate Correctional Facility, said research showed only about 12 per cent of sex offenders go on to commit a second similar offence. He added the figure…
Read MoreIN: Sex offender’s rights not violated by registration extension
An Allen County sex offender’s constitutional rights were not violated when the period of time he was required to register as a sex offender was extended under a law amended after he was convicted of the sex crime, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday. Full Article
Read MoreStudy: Oregon Has the Fewest Sex Offenders Per Capita
[portlandmercury.com – 8/21/18] A new study shows that Oregon has the fewest sex offenders per capita of any state, with only 195 sex offenders per one million residents. The company that put out the study, called A Secure Life, looked at a database of registered sex offenders in official state registries to get a count, then compared that data to the overall state population. Oregon, has a total of 707 sex offenders in that database, which makes the state home to the fewest number of sex offenders overall AND the…
Read MoreMO: New Law Expected To Reduce Missouri’s Sex Offender Registry Count
Missouri has about 19,300 people listed on its sex offender registry. That figure is expected to decline soon because of a law taking effect this month. St. Charles Republican State Rep. Kurt Bahr, who sponsored the provisions included in a Senate bill, tells Missourinet the changes will show three levels of sex offenders, instead of one, depending on the severity of the crime committed. “My goal wasn’t to recreate the wheel. It was simply to make sure that we are fully compliant with the federal law that is fully established…
Read MorePublic Comment — Registering College Students as Sex Offenders
[medium.com m- 8/16/18] [posted by John DavisJohn Davis, a retired public official and international lawyer and writes on current gender issues] From Perses institute Washington, D.C. Public Comment — Registering College Students as Sex Offenders Re: 83 Fed. Reg. 37,526 (August 1, 2018) 30 Day Notice of Action (copy attached) Email Dispatch: Samantha.Opong@usdoj.gov; OIRA_submission@omb.eop.gov Dear Samantha Opong: The Perses Institute is a global NGO that fosters gender balance and equality in institutions worldwide. We respectfully submit comment on the agency’s proposed collection of information on Campus adjudications of sexual misconduct, and, any…
Read MoreACSOL Emotional Support Group Meeting in L.A. on Saturday, August 25
ACSOL will conduct an Emotional Support Group for registrants and their loved ones. They are usually held the fourth Saturday of each month, so this year they are planned for: Aug 25, Sep 22, Oct 27, Nov 24, Dec 22 The next meeting is Saturday, August 25, beginning at 10 a.m. at: ACLU Building 1313 W. 8th Street Los Angeles Free parking is available under the building and there is no charge to attend the meeting. The meeting, which is based upon 12 Step principles, will provide registrants and…
Read MoreRegistration Influenced by Racial Bias, Ohio Study Claims
The classification of sex offenders based on the risks they pose to the community following their release from prison is subject to racial bias, according to a study published in the Criminal Justice Policy Review. Full Article
Read MoreCA: Everyday People Expungement Fair
[www.lareentry.org] If you have past criminal convictions of any kind and you want to find out if you can remove it or you need help getting it removed, reduced, or expunged then register for this free expungement clinic. Saturday, September 8th 10:00 AM to 1:00 PM Holy Trinity AME Church 200 E. 68th Street, Long Beach, CA 90805 Attorneys and paralegals from the Los Angeles County Public Defenders Office will be onsite providing free post-conviction relief. This event will be in place of our regularly scheduled monthly record changing clinic.…
Read MoreOn America’s Civil Death Penalty: The Sexual Offense Registry
Oscar Wilde, writing from his cell in the Reading Gaol where he was imprisoned for homosexuality at the end of the nineteenth century, observed that “society reserves for itself the right to inflict appalling punishments on the individual, but it also has the supreme vice of shallowness, and fails to realise what it has done. When the man’s punishment is over, it leaves him to himself; that is to say, it abandons him at the very moment when its highest duty towards him begins.” In America, few aspects of law…
Read MoreWI: 10 things new data shows about sex offenses in central Wisconsin
Most victims of sex crimes in Wisconsin are teenagers. And most sex offenders are teens under 18, too. That’s according to recently released data from the Wisconsin Department of Justice on criminal sex offenses, broken down by county. The figures provide a detailed look into the frequency and nature of these crimes in our communities, as reported by local law enforcement. It’s important to remember, however, that not all sex crimes are reflected in these offenses — police crime statistics don’t represent all crime. Full Article
Read MoreElections 101: Don’t Use Same Address as a Registered Sex Offender’s
[redstate.com – 8/10/18] I’m not an expert on how to run electoral campaigns, however, in some areas, it is simply common sense to take prudent measures before announcing to run for any public office. I’m afraid in this case, common sense has left a political candidate’s brain when he announced his candidacy for a local public office. Like putting down a home address that is same as a registered sex offender’s. Chris Haulmark, a Democrat, is running for a Kansas State House seat in District 15. He ran unopposed and…
Read MoreEngland: York trainspotter wrongly branded sex offender on Facebook
[bbc.com – 8/10/18] A woman who branded a trainspotter as a sex offender in a Facebook post is being investigated by police. The man, who has learning disabilities, was seen using binoculars in bushes near York railway station on Tuesday. The woman reported him to police who established he was a keen trainspotter. Police said she later uploaded a picture of the man on to Facebook and “wrongly branded him a sex offender”. They have launched a malicious communication investigation. Yorkshire breaking news: Nine-year-old victim of seaside rock fall named;…
Read MoreAK: Court – Some sex offenders don’t have to register
In a decision that combined two cases pending before the court, justices said a strict reading of the 1994 Alaska Sex Offender Registration Act does not grant the Alaska Department of Public Safety leeway when determining whether an out-of-state sex crime matches an illegal act under state law. Until the decision, it was up to DPS to determine whether someone convicted of a sex crime outside Alaska would be required to enter their names into Alaska’s sex offender database if they moved here. Now, it’s not clear what standards will…
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