Pennsylvania’s “Sex Offender” Registry is headed for what some are calling a life-or-death battle in the PA Supreme Court. The registry, in existence for nearly a quarter of a century, enacted as part of Megan’s Law, a law giving the public a false sense of security by allowing them access to know who and where “sex offenders” lived in their communities, is about to be challenged. A challenge that we can only hope will either begin putting the registry to death or at the very least, let it be picked…
Read MoreMonth: December 2019
‘The Dr Phil Show’ uncovers new form of vigilantism by ‘pedophile hunters’ who ‘honeytrap’ child molesters and publicly shame them
[meaww.com – 12/11/19] Wednesday’s episode of ‘The Dr. Phil Show’ featured a unique phenomenon. Vigilante “pedophile-hunters” are a thing. Dr. Phil described it as a “controversial form of vigilantism that law enforcement is just not in favor of.” What these hunters, who are regular citizens, do is they bait potential child molesters to arrive at a certain location. They then catch them on camera and post their details online. One of these so-called pedophile-hunters is a man called Tony. A survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Tony founded the “Team Loyalty…
Read MoreNY: Town adopts hotel/motel, special events laws
[uticaod.com – 12/11/19] New law sets limit on number of registered sex offenders who can stay at a hotel or motel HERKIMER — The Herkimer town board adopted a pair of local laws Monday — one dealing with hotels and motels and the other with special events. The local law requiring the licensing of hotels and motels in the town of Herkimer was adopted in response to residents’ complaints about the Glen Ridge Motel on state Route 5 and was based on local laws adopted by the town of Brighton,…
Read MoreMA: Tougher child rape penalties pushed
[gloucestertimes.com – 12/3/19] BOSTON — Convicted child rapists who commit new crimes could be sentenced to life without parole under a proposal by Gov. Charlie Baker to toughen sex offender laws. Baker’s proposal, which went before the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, would increase the penalty for rape of a child with force by someone who has already been convicted of sexual offenses to life without parole. It establishes new charges for the rape of multiple children with force, which would carry a mandatory life sentence. It also would require…
Read MoreRI: Shunned wherever he goes, sex offender greeted by protests in Lincoln
In the short time that ____ has been out of prison, he has moved to Providence, then to Cranston and now to a small house off Cobble Hill Road in Lincoln — where more than 40 protesters gathered Wednesday night to shout demands and insults at his house. Soon after nightfall Wednesday, the street filled with more than more 40 protesters, many of them accepting an invitation to move onto the snow-covered lawn of ____ neighbor. They shouted toward the sex offender’s front door a short distance away. Full Article
Read MoreWhat is the Purpose of Sex Offense Registries?
Two days ago, the Union-Recorder in Georgia published a bizarre editorial. The editorial board noted that the state’s sex offender registry system drives people into homelessness and deprived them of counseling and employment opportunities, but laments this fact only insofar as it allows registrants to “fly under the radar” and makes them “more difficult to track.” Georgia’s registry system, according to the authors, “places too much trust in the honor system” because requiring people to self-register “places too much confidence” in the registrant. They acknowledge that there are “strong penalties”…
Read MoreACSOL Announces Dates for 2020 Lobby Day and Annual Conference
The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) will conduct its annual Lobby Day in Sacramento on February 11, 2020, and its annual conference in Los Angeles on May 29 and May 30, 2020. “The primary focus of Lobby Day in 2020 will be to improve the Tiered Registry Law that takes effect in 2021,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. .”As currently written, the Tiered Registry Law unfairly assigns people to the highest tier, which requires lifetime registration, although they do not pose a current danger to society.” The…
Read MoreShould psychotherapists be required to report patients who look at child porn?
For years, California law required psychotherapists to report any patient who admitted developing, duplicating, printing or exchanging material depicting an obscene act involving a child. The therapists accepted that requirement. They regarded it as an obligation to report producers and distributors of child pornography. But when the Legislature amended the law in 2014 to reflect new technology, many therapists balked, complaining the new wording required them to inform on patients who posed no threat to others. … Ira Ellman, one of several scholars who joined a friend-of-the-court brief in the case,…
Read MoreFL: Cape Coral police identify mother, son found dead in home; son was registered sex offender
[news-press.com – 12/4/19 -Shooting victim shamed] The bodies of a man and his mother were identified as those found Tuesday morning in a northwest Cape Coral home. Cape Coral police identified them as _______________.. Police said the investigation remains active. ___________ is a registered sex offender, listed as living at 2617 NW 9th St., on the Florida Sex Offender registry. He was convicted in 2012 of lewd or lascivious conduct on a person younger than 16. A crime scene cleaning crew member removes his environmental suit at a house in the 2600…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: This Is How It Starts
“Beware of men in white vans traveling the country, abducting young women and children, using them for human sex trafficking or selling them for body parts.” According to a recent CNN report November saw an upswing in this unsubstantiated RUMOR, a rumor that went viral on Facebook and Instagram, a rumor that even had the Mayor of Baltimore warning his city to BEWARE of men in white vans abducting and selling women and children for sex and body parts. Unfounded RUMORS. This is how fear-mongering starts. This is what drives…
Read MoreACSOL December 14 Phone Meeting
Dear Registrants, Family Members and Supporters – Please join me and ACSOL President Chance Oberstein, a criminal defense attorney, for our “monthly” meeting to be held telephonically. The conference call will be on Saturday, December 14 at 10 am Pacific Time (1:00 Eastern) and will last from 2 to 3 hours. Topics of conversation will include information about the domestic and overseas travel, the Tiered Registry, residency restrictions and other current topics as well as pending legal action throughout the nation. Please Show up, Stand up, and Speak up! Dial-in…
Read MorePA: Sex offender registry law in Pa. facing life-or-death test at Supreme Court
The landmark Pennsylvania law that for nearly a quarter of a century has required a public registry of sex offenders and community notification about their whereabouts is facing a life-or-death challenge before the state’s highest court. Full Article Related PA: Attorney General – Cases could jeopardize Megan’s Law sex offenders registry
Read MoreRep. Chris Smith Speaks About The Dangers Of Human Trafficking
Speaking at at the Borgata hotel in Atlantic City during the week before Thanksgiving, Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ 4, delivered the following speech to hundreds of prosecutors at the County Prosecutors Association of New Jersey. … Why International Megan’s Law? We know from law enforcement, academia and media documentation that Americans on the U.S. sex offender registries are frequently caught sexually abusing children in Asia, Central and South America, Europe, and, frankly, everywhere. The inherent secrecy of international travel enables child exploitation. A deeply disturbing 2010 report by the Government…
Read MoreBlack victims demeaned in named violent crime laws
The slayings of Reagan Tokes and Alianna DeFreeze had much in common. Both were abducted, raped and killed in Ohio in 2017. Tokes was a 21-year-old college student, DeFreeze a 14-year-old seventh grader. Both their killers, previously convicted sex offenders, were subsequently found guilty. Yet only one victim got a law with her name on it — Tokes, who was white. That disparity in so-called namesake laws represents a national trend: White crime victims are much more likely to get crime bills named after them than black victims. Full Article
Read MoreTX: Tejano singer convicted of rape to launch comeback tour
[washingtonpost.com – 12/4/19] HOUSTON — A Tejano singer who was convicted of raping an underage female relative and imprisoned for more than a decade is preparing to relaunch his career with a sold-out show in Houston, despite the original terms of his release barring him from visiting the city and surrounding county because the victim lives there. … “For every one person against him, there are three more who support him,” said Vallejo, who noted that Lopez has been busy rehearsing. Tejano is a style of dance music that mixes…
Read MoreTN: Justice Department Announces More than $376 Million in Awards to Promote Public Safety
[justice.gov – 12/4/10] $5,528,132 Will Support Crime-Fighting Efforts in the Western District of Tennessee MEMPHIS – The Department of Justice today announced that it has awarded more than $376 million in grant funding to enhance state, local and tribal law enforcement operations and reinforce public safety efforts in jurisdictions across the United States. $5,528,132 will support public safety activities in the Western District of Tennessee. The awards were made by the Department’s Office of Justice Programs. “Crime and violence hold families, friends and neighborhoods hostage, and they rip communities apart,”…
Read MoreUPDATED: 50-State Chart on Relief from Sex Offender Registration 11-21-2019
[ccresourcecenter.org – 11/21/19] We [Collateral Consequences Resource Center] have completed an overhaul of our 50-State chart on relief from sex offender registration obligations, to bring it up to date and ensure that it is thorough and accurate. This chart documents the duration of sex offender registration requirements, as well as legal mechanisms for early termination from such requirements. In conducting this review, we have identified a handful of states that have, since the chart was last revised in November 2017, expanded the availability of relief from sex offender registration requirements, including…
Read MoreMN: Is Minnesota’s Sex Offender Registry Helping or Hurting?
Minnesota’s Predatory Offender Registry was first passed in 1991. It was intended to assist law enforcement in quickly locating and clearing suspects in child predator and kidnapping cases. 28 years later, the registry covers 21,000+ individuals and requires registration for many more crimes, including “crimes against the person” — 27 of them. It costs over $1m to implement every year. Stacy Bettison recently published an article in Minnesota Bench and Bar entitled “The New Scarlet Letter – Is Minnesota’s Predatory Offender Registry Hurting or Hurting?” Bettison has a strong interest…
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