The Inequity of Sex Offender Registries

There are more than 900,000 people on the sex offenders registry and growing, but studies show that the sex offender registries do not reduce recidivism and prevent sex crimes and laws restricting where offenders can find housing and employment make it almost impossible for many on the registry to reintegrate into society, ostracizing them and essentially creating a life sentence for those who have already paid for their crimes and in some cases, first time offenders. Guy Hamilton-Smith, a legal fellow for the Sex Offense Litigation and Policy Resource Center…

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PA: A Kidnapping Law Could Unravel a Life

Friday, June 21, started like any other day for ____ ____. The Shippensburg, Pennsylvania, resident finished his overnight shift at a food-packaging plant and stopped for breakfast around 7 a.m. before making his way home. While driving through town, ____, 22, saw a girl who he thought was a friend of his younger sister. Rain appeared imminent to ____ and there was a slight drizzle, so he stopped to ask if she needed a ride. When he pulled up beside the girl, he realized that she wasn’t his sister’s friend…

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When autistic people commit sexual crimes

[spectrumnews.org – 7/17/19] Many first-time sex offenders on the spectrum may not understand the laws they break. How should their crimes be treated? For years, Nick Dubin couldn’t bring himself to say the word ‘gay,’ but part of him wondered: Was he gay? Dubin has autism. And growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, he had been mercilessly taunted by his peers, some of whom had called him gay simply because he was different. But what if he actually was homosexual? As an adult, Dubin found some men attractive,…

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