[narsol.org 4/9/18] y Larry Neely . . . The National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL) has filed an amicus curiae brief in the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in support of Stephen Edward May, whose conviction for child molestation in an Arizona case has been set aside by the federal court in Arizona. NARSOL’s interest in May’s case rests on the Arizona statute defining the offense of child molestation to require the accused to prove that any contact with an underage child did not…
Read MoreYear: 2018
He was a Carpenter and a Firefighter and a Sex offender! My Dad
[sosen.org] Please meet the greatest Dad in the world, my father! He was a good-looking man, strong and tall, he was also brilliant! Oh, let me brag a bit and tell you that he passed on some pretty good traits to his children and he had a pretty cute wife too, that would be my mother. People say that my mother was beautiful, and smart, and bossy and just basically a pain in the neck most of the time, but she was also one of those women who decided that…
Read MoreIL: Bill to close sex offender registry loophole expected to die in Illinois House committee
UPDATED LINKS 4/23/18 [ilnews.org] Friday is the deadline for bills to move out of Illinois statehouse committees, or the bills will die this session. One measure has overwhelming support, but isn’t moving. House Bill 816 gives a judge discretion to require someone convicted of battery to register as a sex offender, if the crime was sexually motivated. Read more RELATED LINKS: Stephanie’s Law gets hearing, still remains in committee [ilnews.org 4/23/18]
Read MoreThe Forgotten Victims of National Crime Week
The week of April 8th to April 14th of 2018 has been declared “Nation Crime Victim’s Rights Week,” and while discussions about crime victims are commonplace, this recognized memorial week provides a greater platform for the victims’ rights group to promote their advocacy. There is, however, a narrative that has been neglected this week—the victimization of registered citizens and their loved ones by virtue of the public registry and the laws they inspire. Full Article
Read MorePA: Despite legislative fix, challenges to Megan’s Law continue
nnsylvania lawmakers insist they have fixed problems with Megan’s Law that threatened to allow thousands of sex offenders to avoid having to register with the state. Not so fast, say defense attorneys.Full Article
Read MoreKY: Governor Matt Bevin Has Apologized for Remarks Linking a Teachers’ Rally to Child Sex Abuse
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin apologized Sunday for saying that children were sexually abused because they were left home alone while teachers rallied to ask lawmakers to override his vetoes. Full Article
Read MoreIA: 2 Convicted of Sex Crimes Can’t Be Held Indefinitely
The Iowa Supreme Court has dismissed the state’s efforts to confine two men convicted for sex abuse crimes indefinitely under the state’s law allowing civil commitment of sexually violent predators. Full Article
Read MoreCA: Bill to accelerate sex offender registry notifications clears Riverside assembly
A Riverside County lawmaker’s bill to require prisons, county jails, mental institutions and other facilities to hasten alerts to the California Department of Justice regarding the release of registered sex offenders was unanimously approved today by the Assembly. Full Article
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: Three Opportunities in Thirty Days
We have three opportunities during the next 30 days to Show Up – Stand Up – Speak Up. Our first opportunity is in Sacramento on April 24 when the Senate Public Safety Committee will consider Senate Bill 1143. If passed, that bill would require registrants convicted of an offense involving a minor to disclose their status as a registrant to potential landlords as well as to home sellers if the property is within one-quarter mile of a school or a park. The penalty for not making such a disclosure is…
Read MoreIL: Writing Sex Offender Laws Based on Fake Recidivism Numbers Is Rational, Court Says
Last week the Illinois Supreme Court upheld a state law banning sex offenders from public parks, overturning a 2017 appeals court ruling that deemed the statute “unconstitutional on its face because it bears no reasonable relationship to protecting the public.” The seven members of the higher court unanimously disagreed, saying, “We conclude that there is a rational relation between protecting the public, particularly children, from sex offenders and prohibiting sex offenders who have been convicted of crimes against minors from being present in public parks across the state.” Full Article…
Read MoreChild trafficking expert speaks at William and Mary
Mosby is an expert in child trafficking in Thailand and founder of the HUG project, an organization dedicated to helping victims of child trafficking. In 2017 she won the TIP award for her work helping victims of sexual abuse. On Monday, Mosby came to the College of William and Mary to speak with students about child trafficking in Thailand and the steps she and others have taken to prevent it. … The U.S. has also come up with preventative measures to help stop its citizens from committing child sex crimes…
Read MoreCA: Pair of bills aimed at release of sex offenders pass Public Safety Committee
A locally authored bill about where the state places sex offenders once they’re released from prison passed the Senate Committee on Public Safety on Monday. Senate Bill 1198, introduced by Sen. Scott Wilk, and Senate Bill 1199, which Wilk authored, address significant concerns about how the criminal justice system deals with individuals convicted of sex crimes. Full Article
Read MoreOK: Sex offender registry laws grounded in reality, not cruelty [opinion]
[newsok.com 4/10/18] The Oklahoman Editorial Board by The Oklahoman Editorial Board Published: April 10, 2018 LAST year, a federal court judge ruled that Colorado’s sex offender registry was unconstitutional because, basically, citizens might use it. Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter wants that decision overturned, and is using arguments grounded in legal and practical reality. Hunter, joined by officials from several states, has filed an amicus brief with the 10th U.S. Court of Appeals urging reversal of the decision handed down by District Court Judge Richard Matsch, who said the Colorado…
Read MoreMO: Sex offenders register for a lifetime, but a bill would let some petition for removal
Almost all sex offenders in Missouri are on a state registry for a lifetime, whether they made a one-time mistake, or made repeated or extreme offenses. Rep. Kurt Bahr, R-St. Charles, wants to make it possible for certain people to petition to remove their name from the list and for the registry to be more transparent for the public. Full Article
Read MoreSenate Committee to Hear SB 1143 on April 24
The Senate Public Safety Committee is scheduled to consider Senate Bill (SB) 1143 on April 24. If passed, SB 1143 would require registrants convicted of an offense involving a minor to disclose their requirement to register to both potential landlords as well as those who have a house to sell. If a registrant failed to make this disclosure, the landlord or seller could lawfully cancel an existing lease or contract. “This bill must be stopped,” state ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “If the bill becomes law, there will be a…
Read MoreCA: Neighbors concerned after registered sex offender moves feet away from elementary school
[10news.com] Neighbors concerned after registered sex offender moves feet away from elementary school SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Neighbors are concerned after they say a registered sex offender moved into their Rancho Bernardo community, just feet away from an elementary school playground. ____________, 32, was convicted of possession of child pornography and lewd and lascivious acts with a child in Tennessee in 2013. Neighbors say they became concerned after ____ moved into a townhouse in their neighborhood weeks ago. According to records on the Megan’s Law website, ____ lives on the…
Read MoreOR: Retired social worker writes about pioneering work with sex offenders
[statesmanjournal.com] Conversations at the dinner table were different growing up in the Callahan home. When your mother is best known for her work with sex offenders, that’s to be expected. “Some of my earliest memories were of dropping her off at a prison and picking her up,” said Barbara Baer, the oldest of Marilyn Callahan’s three grown children. “I didn’t know anything different. That was her profession, just like other families had parents who were attorneys and doctors.” Callahan is a retired licensed clinical social worker, renowned locally as a…
Read MoreThere Are Too Many Kids on the Sex Offender Registry
Both the boys admit they did it. Horsing around, two New Jersey 14-year-olds pulled down their pants and sat on the faces of two 12-year-old boys. As one of them later explained, “I thought it was funny and I was trying to get my friends to laugh.” For that act, he and his buddy are on the sex offender registry for life. This was, after all, “sexual contact done for sexual gratification or to degrade or humiliate the victim.” The boys lost an appeal in 2011, with a three-judge panel…
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