[hcn.org – 9/12/18] How one man’s imagined discovery of a sex-trafficking camp in the Sonoran Desert gained life online — and in the real world. On May 31, a strange story aired on the nightly news in Tucson, Arizona. KOLD News 13 reporter Kevin Adger told viewers that a local veterans’ rights activist named Lewis Arthur had made a horrific discovery in the bushes beside a frontage road: a bunker used as a stopover by child sex traffickers. The reporter pointed out children’s clothes, an old toilet seat and a…
Read MoreYear: 2018
Betsy DeVos is absolutely right about campus sexual assault rules
[theweek.com – 9/13/18] To push an issue, a leader usually needs to have integrity or street cred. Abraham Lincoln had the first when he led the country out of slavery. Richard Nixon, a security hawk, had the second when he made peace with China. President Donald Trump admittedly has neither when it comes to women’s issues. So his administration is hardly in any moral position to revamp the rules governing sexual assault on college campuses that President Barack Obama, a paragon of propriety, put in place. Yet Obama’s rules were…
Read MoreCA: Man Held 17 Years Without Trial Ordered Free by Appellate Court
Attributing a California man’s 17-year detention awaiting trial for commitment as a sexually violent predator to a “systematic breakdown in the public defender system,” a California appellate court ruled Wednesday the man be released from a state hospital without trial. Full Article Opinion Related The Endless Punishment of Civil Commitment Action Alert: CA Dept. of State Hospitals Schedules Hearing on Sept. 20
Read MoreSC: Can sex offenders stay at Red Cross shelters?
With Hurricane Florence barreling towards the coast of the Carolinas, residents in multiple counties have been urged to evacuate either out of town or to emergency shelters. But what about safety at shelters? ABC News asked the American Red Cross if sex offenders were allowed to stay at shelters with others residents. Full Article Related links: VERIFY: Yes, sex offenders can stay at public shelters during Florence in NC [wcnc.com – 9/15/18]
Read MorePA: Extended registration periods under SORNA unlawful
Court ruling against retroactive extension of registration period for 19 individuals who were convicted before the enactment of SORNA – but resentenced to longer / lifetime registration under SORNA after subsequent probation violations. Opinion Related PA: State Supreme Court remanding cases after Muniz All PA articles
Read MoreNE: Judge – Keep juvenile sex offenders off registry
A federal judge has told Nebraska to keep juvenile sex offenders off the state sex offender registry if they weren’t tried as adults — at least for now. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Tuesday’s order from U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf gives a temporary reprieve to dozens of people who received letters from the Nebraska State Patrol telling them they must register as sex offenders. The letters cited a recent Nebraska Supreme Court decision. Full Article
Read MoreOR: Discovery of dog saves Oregon man from sex-crime conviction
[stltoday.com – 9/10/18] The discovery of a black Lab named Lucy led to the unravelling of a criminal case Monday against an Oregon man who had begun serving a 50-year prison sentence. Joshua Horner, a plumber from the central Oregon town of Redmond, was convicted on April 12, 2017, of sexual abuse of a minor. In the trial, the complainant testified Horner had threatened to shoot her animals if she went to the police about the alleged molestation, and said she saw him shoot and kill her dog to make…
Read MoreAcademic Study Reveals 30 States Require Visiting Registrants to Register; 22 States Don’t Remove Registrants After They Depart
Note: before you travel to another state, it is your responsibility to always read up on the latest registration regulations. Don’t depend on secondhand studies like this. Do your research so you don’t land in jail. Download Academic Study that Reveals 30 States Require Visiting Registrants to Register
Read MoreLaws Punishing Homeless People for Sleeping in Public Are Cruel and Unusual, Fed Court Rules
[nytimes.com – 9/5/18] Prosecuting homeless people for sleeping on the streets when there is no shelter available is a form of cruel and unusual punishment that violates the Constitution, a federal appeals court said this week. The case stems from two ordinances in Boise, Idaho, that make it a crime to sleep or camp in buildings, streets and other public places. Six homeless people who had been convicted under the laws sued the city in 2009, saying their constitutional rights had been violated. After years of legal wrangling, a three-judge…
Read MoreACSOL Meeting in Berkeley on Sat, Sept 15
Please mark your calendars for ACSOL’s upcoming meeting in Berkeley: Sept 15 10 a.m. Finnish Hall (upstairs meeting room) 1970 Chestnut Street Berkeley Registrants, friends and family and interested service providers are invited to attend these free meetings. There will be no law enforcement or media present in order to protect everyone’s privacy. The meetings start at 10 am and last about 2-3 hours. Topics of conversation include information about ACSOL’s advocacy as well as current topics and pending legal action. Please Show up, Stand up, and Speak up!
Read MoreCA: Legislature Passes Helpful Bills, Stops Hurtful Bills
The California legislature has recently passed two bills that could help registrants and stopped two bills that could have harmed registrants and their families. In the first of the helpful bills (AB 2138), the legislature made it more difficult for the Department of Consumer Affairs to revoke existing, or deny applications for a new, professional licenses. The scope of the bill covers licenses for many professions such as barbers and court reporters, but does not address licenses for many other professions including attorneys and doctors. In the second of the…
Read MoreND: Satisfied with sex offender registry as it is (Editorial)
As shown on a large, colored map in Sunday’s Grand Forks Herald, sex offenders are among us. Most sex offenders in Grand Forks are considered by the state of North Dakota to be low-risk; however, a half-dozen in the city are high-risk offenders and, according to the state, deserve a higher level of scrutiny. Full Article
Read MoreWA: Man plans to publish names of level 1 sex offenders
Sex offender vigilante Curtis Hart has caused a furor among level 1 sex offenders by planning to publish many of their 570 names on the internet. Hart has requested that the sheriff’s office give him the names of all level 1 sex offenders in Cowlitz County, and under terms of a state Supreme Court ruling the agency must comply. The names, along with photos, addresses, and brief descriptions of the offenses could be released in less than two weeks. Full Article
Read More20th Century Fox pulls scene after director casts a registered sex offender
Twentieth Century Fox was just days away from locking picture on “The Predator” when an urgent note came in: Delete the scene featuring ____ ____ ____. ____, 47, didn’t have a big role in his longtime friend Shane Black’s reboot of the sci-fi thriller — just a three-page scene shared with actress Olivia Munn. But last month, Munn learned that ____ is a registered sex offender who pleaded guilty in 2010 after facing allegations that he attempted to lure a 14-year-old female into a sexual relationship via the internet. When…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: Pedophiles Deserve Death Penalty
The son of Rev. Billy Graham, Rev. Franklin Graham, declared on National Public Radio this weekend that pedophiles deserve the death penalty. He also declared that we are a nation of laws. Not only is Rev. Graham’s first statement outrageous, it is undermined and contradicted by his second statement. Why? Because the laws in many states do not include the death penalty. Furthermore, most of the 31 states that do have a death penalty law do not apply that law to an individual who is convicted solely of a sex…
Read MoreACSOL Executive Director Selected as Top 100 Attorney
The Executive Director of ACSOL, Janice Bellucci, has been selected a Top 100 attorney in the state of California. She will be formally recognized as such in an upcoming issue of The Daily Journal newspaper, the legal industry publication read by judges and attorneys. “I am honored to be selected as a Top 100 attorney in California,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “I believe this honor is due to a growing understanding between and among judges and attorneys that registrants’ civil rights continue to be violated.” The Daily Journal…
Read MorePA: Professor fired over child-sex conviction must be rehired by Pa. university, state court says
[pennlive.com – 8/31/18] Lock Haven University must reinstate a mathematics professor who was fired after his 28-year-old conviction for molesting two children was discovered, a Commonwealth Court panel ruled Friday. Prof. Charles Morgan can’t be allowed to teach high school students who are taking advanced placement classes at the school, however, the state judges found. That decision, outlined in an opinion by Senior Judge James Gardner Colins, upholds an arbitration ruling won on the prof’s behalf by the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, the professors’ union. University…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: You May Be Eligible to Vote (CA)
The mid-term election will take place in about two months. And it is important that your voice as well as the voices of all eligible registrants be heard in that important election. Many, although not all, registrants in the State of California are eligible to vote. For example, you are eligible to vote if you are currently in jail provided that you are serving a misdemeanor sentence or are awaiting trial. You are also eligible to vote if you are on federal supervised release, mandatory supervision or probation. Finally, you…
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