[bloomberglaw.com – 12/17/19] The Texas Sex Offender Registration Program, which requires sex offenders to make in person reports and restricts housing options, doesn’t violate the U.S. Constitution by depriving registrants of due process, the Fifth Circuit ruled. An individual convicted of a sex crime in a trial or plea agreement has received the minimum protections required by due process, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit said Dec. 16. Secondary harms to registrants, such as finding housing, aren’t direct infringements by the state, the court said. The court…
Read MoreDay: December 17, 2019
MA: Mass. legislators call for hearing after report details sex offenders received trade licenses
[wickedlocal.com – 12/17/19 – Employment restrictions] The chairs of the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure want an oversight hearing and an “immediate and thorough investigation” into how sex offenders were able to obtain state licenses to work in various trades and professions. Sen. Paul Feeney and Rep. Tackey Chan issued a joint statement on Monday afternoon, responding to a Boston Globe report that found 68 registered sex offenders held state licenses, including 21 electricians, and that officials at the Division of Professional Licensure had failed to check…
Read MoreME: Old Town will restrict where sex offenders can live
[bangordailynews.com – 12/17/19] OLD TOWN, Maine — Registered sex offenders who have been convicted of felony-level sex crimes will be restricted from living within 750 feet of areas that children frequent, according to a new ordinance the city council unanimously approved during a special meeting on Monday, Dec. 16. The ordinance prohibits offenders from living within 750 feet of schools, playgrounds, parks or daycares, as well as other places in which children are the primary users. A total of 13 areas were listed on the proposed ordinance as restricted zones,…
Read MoreLiving with 290: Effects on a sex offenders family
My family has been going through a rough patch lately with law enforcement. My mom’s longtime boyfriend, the man that we have claimed as our dad. He has become such a part of the family and taught us so much over the years that we claim him as our dad. In October of 2018, we refused a search – he did not. My mother told them that if they wanted to search the bedrooms of my sister, brother and I – all of whom are adults, they needed to get…
Read MoreLiving with 290: Jim Crow Redux
Being a registrant for the past 34 years because of a plea deal on a misdemeanor in California, I find it very disheartening to see such non-uniformity in the administration of justice with sex offenses. If I didn’t have a disabled wife to caretake for I would move to a state where there’s more leniency. I live in Arizona where my city is one of two in the nation barring registrants from city-operated parks and facilities. They named this ordinance the “Safe Parks ordinance”. Granted, there are waivers available through…
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