There will be a showing of the documentary Untouchable February 12 6:30 pm New Parkway Theater 474 24th St, Oakland, CA 94612 Tickets are $12, $10 for students and old folks. Click here to Purchase your tickets today! It will be followed by a panel discussion that will include David Feige, the film’s director, and Keith Wattley of Uncommon Law, which among other things helps people on parole at their parole hearings. What it is about: When a Florida lobbyist discovers his daughter has been sexually abused, he harnesses his extraordinary…
Read MoreMonth: January 2019
Kat’s Blog: Residency Restriction Proposal in Hawaii
Last August I wrote a blog piece on the Women Against Registry website regarding homeless registrants living in city parks and on the beaches of Oahu. At that time, the island seemed to be doing just fine without any presence or residency restrictions. Hawaii is one of 20 states that doesn’t have restrictions. Back then, Hawaii’s public defender, Jack Tonaki made this comment “the island is so small, residency restrictions would make it impossible for registrants to find housing.” As far as I can tell, the island hasn’t grown in…
Read MoreRegistrants needed for survey: Economic Impact of the Sex Offender Registry (ends March 1)
Below is a request for registrants only to provide researchers with information about economic impacts of the registry. If you wish, please contact them directly using the link below. The survey ends March 1. Thank you. Janice Hi everyone, Our names are Dr. Jennifer Klein and Dr. Danielle Bailey and we are both Assistant Professors at the University of Texas at Tyler. As you know, we have been collecting data for a project that analyzes the economic impact of the sex offender registry on those individuals required to register.…
Read MoreFL: Man Sentenced to Death for Killing another Inmate
[mypanhandle.com – 1/29/19] JACKSON COUNTY, Fla. – On Monday, Rocky Ali Beamon was sentenced to death in Jackson County, Florida, for First Degree Premeditated Murder. The conviction and sentence come from the 2012 murder of Bruce Hunsicker at the Apalachee Correctional Institution in Sneads, Florida. Reports said Beamon and Hunsicker were both inmates at the prison, and subsequent confessions by Beamon revealed that the motive for the murder was primarily Hunsicker’s status as a sex offender. Reports also said that Hunsicker also owed Beamon money. After watching the victim for…
Read MoreIA: Bill to Require Continued Registration
… One area I have been working on in past years has to do with requiring sex offenders that have timed out of their requirement to register as a sex offender to continue to register once with the county sheriff when they have moved to a new address. This would apply to sex offenders that have moved within Iowa, or moved into Iowa from another state. Past Iowa Supreme Court precedent has regarded this type of requirement to be applied retroactively as a regulation, not a punishment. It is imperative…
Read MoreCA: San Diego Federal Judge Denies City’s Motion to Dismiss Challenge to Residency Restrictions
[ACSOL] A federal judge today denied a Motion to Dismiss filed by the City of San Diego that, if granted, would have ended a challenge to the city’s residency restrictions. In its decision, the Court found that the city’s residency restrictions were more restrictive than restrictions adopted by the county of San Diego which were overturned by the California Supreme Court in March 2015. Specifically, the Court found that “the Ordinance that Plaintiffs’ challenge is even more restrictive than the regulation in Taylor and thus likely unconstitutional under the Due…
Read MoreVA: Hearing Thursday: EFF Tells Court That Clicking on a URL Isn’t Enough Evidence to Justify A Search Warrant
[eff.org/ – 1/29/19] Identifying IP Address That May Have Connected to a URL Doesn’t Amount to Probable Cause Richmond, Virginia—On Thursday, January 31, at 8:30 am, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) will ask a federal appeals court to find that the act of clicking on a URL or weblink isn’t sufficient evidence for law enforcement to get a warrant to search someone’s home. The hearing involves a child pornography prosecution in which law enforcement obtained a warrant to search a defendant’s home based on the attempted connection to a URL…
Read MoreShould we show compassion?
The story of a couple who were found dead inside of a tent at a homeless encampment has led to questions in the community: What rights does a twice-convicted sex offender have and how much sympathy does he deserve? Full Article
Read MoreMO: Salvation Army Opens Extreme Emergency Cold Weather Shelter
[ozarksfirst.com – 1/29/19] SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Salvation Army announced Tuesday they are opening up their extreme cold shelters due to extremely cold temperatures. … A picture ID will be required to stay overnight as there will be a Sex Offender Background Check. Read the full article
Read MoreCA: Appellate Court Rules in Registrant’s Favor in Prop. 57 Case
An appellate court in California ruled today that the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) must provide consideration for early parole to a registrant who is currently incarcerated for an offense that is not a sex offense in accordance with Proposition 57 (Prop. 57). The majority of the court specified, however, that its decision does not apply to those who are currently incarcerated because of a sex offense. In a concurring opinion, one of the three appellate judges stated that he believes CDCR is authorized to deny the benefits…
Read MoreFlorida State Senator Lauren Book introduced Senate Bill 540 that includes the establishment of a “Soliciting for Prostitution Registry”
[flsenate.gov – 1/25/19] SB 540: Human Trafficking GENERAL BILL by Book Human Trafficking; Requiring the owner or operator of a public lodging establishment to train certain employees and create certain policies relating to human trafficking by a specified date; requiring the Department of Children and Families, in consultation with the Department of Law Enforcement and the Attorney General, to establish a certain direct-support organization; requiring that the criminal history record of a person who is convicted of, or enters a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, soliciting, inducing, enticing,…
Read MorePA: Family of Pedophile Pastor Now Spreads the Word on How To Prevent Abuse
[blackchristiannews.com – 1/28/19] SOMERSET, Pa. – Jimmy and Clara Hinton don’t want others to miss what they didn’t see for years: their father and husband, a respected pastor for years in his rural community, was keeping his flock in the dark while he molested young children. Today, the elders at Somerset Church of Christ have moved intentionally to protect children. Empty classrooms are locked. Adults working with children operate in teams of two or more. On Sundays, monitors conduct random building sweeps and each Sunday School room has a walkie-talkie…
Read MoreNew Zealand: Public vilification a factor in Wellington academic sentencing
[stuff.co.nz – 1/28/19] Convicted sex offender ______ likely received a lesser sentence because of the potential “vilification” he would face, a leading criminal lawyer says. John Miller, who was a former senior law lecturer at Victoria University and previous Wellingtonian of the Year, said the Sentencing Act 2002 set out mitigating and aggravating factors in sentencing offenders, and a number of those factors would have been taken into account. Appearing before Judge Stephen Harrop at Wellington District Court on Friday, ______ was sentenced to eight months of home detention for…
Read MoreIN: Northwest Indiana legislators support bills closing loopholes in sex offender laws
[chicagotribune.com – 1/25/19] Northwest Indiana legislators said they are in support of bills looking to close some of the loopholes in the state’s sex offender laws. One of those bills would ban sexually violent predators or offenders against children from working as a child care provider or baby sitter, while the other prevents a convicted sex or violent offender from petitioning for a name change. “A lot of the issues that I’ve taken on are all things just like that, where there’s this loophole where it’s a small issue that…
Read MoreAustralian girl, 12, ‘had no idea about pregnancy’ until childbirth at home
[tert.am – 1/26/19] A 12-year-old girl who gave birth at a home in Western Australia could be charged over the pregnancy – along with the baby’s father. Youth Legal Service WA solicitor Sally Dechow said the charges could be brought against the pair as the conception was considered illegal under state law, The West reported. … WA Police believe the baby’s father is a child of similar age to the mother and was 11 at the the time of the pregnancy. Ms Dechow pointed out even though the pair are…
Read MoreMD: Maryland House GOP to push for state income tax cut, violent offender registry
[baltimoresun.com – 1/25/19] Republican leaders in Maryland’s House of Delegates on Friday released their legislative priorities for 2019, including a state income tax cut, a registry for violent repeat offenders, and single-member districts in the General Assembly. Flanked by fellow Republicans, Anne Arundel Del. Nic Kipke, the House’s minority leader, and Baltimore County Del. Kathy Szeliga, the minority whip, also said they would push for authority for greater use of so-called “special police” in Maryland in an effort to try to keep schools safer. Kipke said that Republican delegates represent…
Read MoreMI: Sex Offender Registry afoul of constitution (Editorial)
Michigan lawmakers seem keen on making important reforms to the state’s criminal justice system, which should expand protections for civil liberties. Another item they should add to the list: Revamping the state’s Sex Offender Registry Act. Full Editorial
Read MoreHI: Proposal would put tough restrictions on where sex offenders can live
A proposal before lawmakers would make it illegal for any registered sex offender to temporarily or permanently live within 1,000 feet of a school, childcare facility, playground or park. Full Article Also see HI: Dozens of sex predators registered as living in Oahu parks
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