I want to share a success story of overcoming the confines of being a registrant, and the practical steps I took. Of course, every case is different. On February 22, 2018, I was granted a Certificate of Rehabilitation and relieved of the duty of having to register. After 11 years, the oppression was lifted just like that. After I gathered my jaw from the floor, I went down to the court cafeteria and just sat there. Pondering what just happened and the new possibilities. I was convicted of an “Attempted…
Read MoreMonth: April 2019
IA: Iowa Supreme Court rules requiring sex offenders to report social media presence is not a First Amendment violation
The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday that requiring sex offenders to disclose their social media identities and other digital information does not violate their free speech rights. Five of the seven justices agreed that the requirement, part of the state’s sex offender registry, was put in place a decade ago to protect children and victims from possible abuse but was not a “proxy for content regulations.” Justice Thomas Waterman’s opinion emphasized that sex offenders aren’t required to disclose their passwords and aren’t prevented from participating in social media. Full Article Opinion
Read MoreAustralia: A public register of child sex offenders will do more harm than good
[smh.com.au – 4/4/19] If politicians are looking for a sure fire vote winner then anything that punishes people convicted of sex offences does the trick. So there is likely to be little resistance to Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton’s budget announcement of $7.8 million to establish a National Public Register of Child Sex Offenders. Dutton is proposing that this register would allow all Australians to see names, aliases and photographs of sex offenders, as well as their date of birth, physical description and the “general location and nature” of…
Read MoreCanada: Sex-offender registry laws discriminate against mentally ill, court rules
[theprovince.com – 4/4/19] Parts of federal and Ontario laws requiring sex-offender registration where an accused is granted an absolute discharge after being found not criminally responsible discriminate against the mentally ill and are therefore unconstitutional, Ontario’s top court ruled Thursday. While the court ordered information belonging to the man who brought the case to be deleted immediately from sex-offender registries, the justices also gave governments 12 months to fix the offending legislation, widely known in Ontario as Christopher’s Law. “Persons found (not criminally responsible because of a mental disorder)…
Read MoreProsecutors Dropping Child Porn Charges After Software Tools Are Questioned
[propublica.org – 4/3/19] Using specialized software, investigators traced explicit child pornography to Todd Hartman’s internet address. A dozen police officers raided his Los Angeles-area apartment, seized his computer and arrested him for files including a video of a man ejaculating on a 7-year-old girl. But after his lawyer contended that the software tool inappropriately accessed Hartman’s private files, and asked to examine how it worked, prosecutors dismissed the case. Near Phoenix, police with a similar detection program tracked underage porn photos, including a 4-year-old with her legs spread, to…
Read MoreAction Alert: AB 884 and SB 145 hearing on April 9 [4/8 UPDATE]
4/9/19 UPDATE: the Assembly Public Safety Committee–which will still be hearing AB 884 at 10:00 am on 4/9–announced they are changing the room number to Room 4202. 4/4/19 UPDATE: the Senate Public Safety Committee–which will be hearing SB 145–announced they are meeting at 8:30 am. That means we will meet at Starbucks from 7:30 am to 8:00 and walk over at 8:00. Both the SB 145 and AB 884 hearings are still meeting on April 9. The Assembly Public Safety Committee–which will be hearing AB 884–is still after 10:00 am.…
Read MoreHow to carpool and get housing for our battle in Sacramento
We need as many people as possible to show up in Sacramento! We want well over 100 registrants, family, and supporters to show up. To help the maximum number of people attend, we need people who can, or wish to, carpool and/or share hotel rooms near the state capitol. Carpools will depart on Monday, April 8, from the cities in which we can find volunteer drivers. Everyone will rendezvous on Tuesday morning of the hearing. Please, do not be shy about taking action and asking for help or volunteering help!…
Read MoreGeneral Comments April 2019
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of April 2019. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil. This section is not intended for posting links to news articles without additional comment.
Read MoreNC Bill: Convicted Animal Abusers Will Be Added to an Online Registry; Much Like Sex Offenders
[wfmynews2.com – 4/2/19] After a person’s first Animal Abuse offense, they would be put on the registry for the next two years. If they have another offense they would be put on the registry for five years. If you are convicted of an animal abuse crime this bill reiterates you may be forced to give up any animals you own. If you are a repeat offender and are put on the registry multiple times the proposed bill says you would have to give up your animals, and would not be…
Read MoreAustralia: Federal Budget dedicates $7.8 million for child sex offender list
[news.com.au – 4/3/19] Australians will soon have access to a wealth of information about convicted paedophiles across the country after the Federal Budget allocated $7.8 million for a “name and shame” list. The Budget 2019-2020 provides $7.8 million to establish a National Public Register of Child Sex Offenders, an initiative the government hopes will provide a “nationally consistent approach to the public release of information about child sex offenders”. The register will allow Australians to see names, aliases and photographs of thousands of paedophiles, as well as their date…
Read MoreIL: Federal Judge Finds Illinois Rules On Sex Offenders Unconstitutional
[wbez.org – 4/1/19] A federal judge in Chicago has found the Illinois Department of Corrections is violating the constitutional rights of prisoners convicted of certain sex crimes by making the restrictions on where they can live so stringent that inmates are often locked up long beyond their sentences. In a ruling issued Sunday, Judge Virginia Kendall wrote that hundreds of offenders in the state’s prison system successfully complete their entire court-ordered sentences yet remain behind bars indefinitely. Kendall found the corrections department is depriving them of fundamental rights, and…
Read MoreCA: Judge Allows San Diego Sex Offender Lawsuit To Proceed
[kpbs.org – 4/1/19] San Diego City Council members are under more pressure to repeal an unenforceable law restricting where sex offenders can live in the city, after a federal judge allowed a lawsuit challenging the ordinance to proceed. Judge Barry Ted Moskowitz ruled in January against the city’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit, which was filed in 2017 by a group of unnamed sex offenders. The lawsuit rests heavily on a 2015 decision by the California Supreme Court finding blanket restrictions on where all sex offenders can live increase the…
Read MoreCT: Lawmakers Debate Changes in Sex Offender Registry
[courant.com – 4/1/19] State legislators are debating whether they should make changes in the state’s sex offender registry, which was established in 1998. Former Republican state legislator Bob Farr of West Hartford and other advocates called Monday for approving the recommendations of the state’s sentencing commission on changes to the registry, which is currently “based on the offense and not on the risk of re-offending.” The current registry now lists convicted criminals for 10 years, 20 years or life. The registry started with 800 criminals who were placed retroactively…
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