[denverpost.com – 6/22/19] A 29-year-old Coloradan made to register as a sex-offender for the rest of his life because of two sexual offenses he committed as a child and teenager could get his name off the list if a Denver juvenile court determines the lifetime mandate is cruel and unusual punishment. The development comes via a Colorado Court of Appeals decision, which the 29-year-old’s attorney, Gail Johnson, described as groundbreaking. The decision signals a changing attitude on how long juvenile sex offenders must be tied to their crimes, and it…
Read MoreYear: 2019
Romania: To have a national sex offender registry
Romania is to have a national sex offender registry that will allow the rapid identification of persons who have committed sexual offenses. President Klaus Iohannis signed on Thursday, June 20, the law on the organization of this Automated National Registry, which targets sexual offenders. Full Article
Read MoreCO: Colorado Sex-Offender Registry Takes Another Brutal Hit
Colorado’s sex-offender registry, already under legal siege, just took another hit. On June 20, the Colorado Court of Appeals determined that the lifetime registration requirement for Coloradans found guilty of two or more sex offenses when they were juveniles qualifies as punishment under the Eighth Amendment. The 2-1 decision means that a lower court can now consider whether that rule is unconstitutional — and such a finding would strike another blow against a law-enforcement concept that’s become increasingly controversial. Full Article Decision
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Where Does the Burden of Proof Lie?
Just by virtue of being on the registry comes the erroneous assumption that all registrants are a danger to the public. With some of what I’ll call, the lesser offenses, public urination, skinny dipping, sexting, etc. it doesn’t really seem that the state or federal courts “prove” that a registrant is a threat to the community. In the eyes of the law, a “sex offender is a sex offender” and the same registrant label is slapped on everyone for 10yrs. to life. Who bears the burden of proof that a…
Read MoreThe Marshall Project Wins an Edward R. Murrow Award [for “Banished”]
[themarshallproject.org – 6/19/19] “Banished,” The Marshall Project’s immersive multimedia story on the lives of sex offenders living in Miami-Dade County, Florida, who abide by some of the most restrictive housing policies in the country, has been awarded the national Edward R. Murrow Award for “Excellence in Video.” The organization was also awarded a regional Edward R. Murrow prize in the “News Documentary” category earlier in the year for “Caught: The Lives of Juvenile Justice, Episode 9,” produced in collaboration with WNYC. Deftly integrating text and video, “Banished” revealed the day-to-day…
Read MoreCA: Number of Registrants Increases Significantly
The total number of CA residents required to register has grown to 108,128 according to a report today given by the CA Department of Justice (CA DOJ) to the CA Sex Offender Management Board. This total represents an increase of more than 4,000 people during the past six months. Of that total number, CA DOJ reported that there are 78,191 registrants who are not in custody but who are living in the community. That total number also includes 16,455 registrants who are “in violation” for failure to register as well…
Read MoreFL: Fort Lauderdale relaxes restrictions on where sex offenders can live
[sun-sentinel.com – 6/18/19] Fort Lauderdale city commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to relax the city’s residency restrictions on sex offenders. Offenders will now be allowed to live close to bus stops but they are still barred from living within 1,400 feet of a school, daycare and other places children gather. The change will expand the available housing for convicted offenders from 1.4% of the city to 15.3%. It also brings Fort Lauderdale more in line with Florida state law. Dr. Amy Miller praised the ordinance as “an absolutely phenomenal step,” to…
Read MoreSCOTUS: Gundy v. United States – Affirmed
Judgment: Affirmed, 5-3, in an opinion by Justice Kagan on June 20, 2019. Justice Kagan announced the judgment of the Court and delivered an opinion, in which Justices Ginsburg, Breyer, and Sotomayor joined. Justice Alito filed an opinion concurring in the judgment. Justice Gorsuch filed a dissenting opinion, in which Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Thomas joined. Justice Kavanaugh took no part in the consideration or decision of the case. Issue: Whether the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act’s delegation of authority to the attorney general to issue regulations…
Read MoreAL: Child sex offender-chemical castration bill sponsor State Rep. Hurst: ‘It should be surgical castration’ — Some offenders ‘ought to die’
[yellowhammernews.com – 6/13/19] Earlier this week, Gov. Kay Ivey signed HB 379 into law, which is a bill that will mandate so-called chemical castration for certain sex offenders as parole condition for early release. The law received headlines all around the country, despite Alabama joining several states, which includes California, Louisiana and Florida, with chemical castration laws already on the books. If the bill’s sponsor had his way, it would go much further. During an interview on Huntsville radio’s WVNN, State Rep. Steve Hurst (R-Munford) explained his push for the…
Read MoreACSOL’s Third Annual Conference Offered Solutions to Registrants Challenges
About 200 people, including registrants, family members and supporters, attended ACSOL’s third annual conference on June 14 and 15 in Los Angeles. The conference included plenary presentations from Professor Eric Janus, civil rights attorney Adele Nicholas, ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci and ACSOL President Chance Oberstein. The conference also featured proposed solutions to challenges faced by both registrants and their families in the form of panels that addressed employment, housing, travel, parole and LGBTQ issues. In addition, a presentation was made by Dr. Leah Chankin, a representative of the CA…
Read MoreACSOL Emotional Support Group Meeting in L.A. on Sat, June 22
ACSOL will conduct an Emotional Support Group for registrants and their loved ones on Saturday, June 22, beginning at 10 a.m. at: ACLU Building 1313 W. 8th Street Los Angeles Free parking is available under the building and there is no charge to attend the meeting. There is also a second Emotional Support Group meeting on the phone most months. If you want to attend this conference call, the group leader wants to talk with you first to ensure we don’t get inappropriate callers. He will tell you the date…
Read MoreAK: Supreme Court declares law requiring all sex offenders to register unconstitutional
The Alaska Supreme Court has ruled that the state’s sex offender registry law violates offenders’ right to due process. In an opinion handed down Friday, the court — voting 3-2 — found the law requiring all offenders to register unconstitutional unless offenders are first given the opportunity to demonstrate they aren’t a danger to the public. Full Article Decision
Read MoreFL: Homeless Sex Offenders Must Move Again
Ever since the Julia Tuttle Causeway became an encampment for sex offenders more than a decade ago, officials have been trying to shoo the group away from the rest of civilization. Thanks to stringent requirements mandating that child predators live 2,500 feet from schools, parks, and daycare centers, the offenders have struggled to find legal housing, leaving many effectively homeless. For years, the roving offenders have been shuffled from one place to another, angering unlucky neighbors and nearby business owners. Full Article
Read MoreWe look forward to seeing you at ACSOL’s conference this Friday!
I really enjoy listening to the speakers that have come and shared about legal challenges across the country. I always walk away amazed of all the info I’ve learned; I’m never disappointed. -Sherri Dear registrants, family members and supporters, Sherri enjoyed how much she learned at the conference. You can too! ACSOL’s annual conference starts this Friday on June 14! Click here to see the schedule. Click here to sign up now to make sure you get a seat! We aren’t just saying that, because we really were given a…
Read MoreNearly 1,700 Suspected Child Predators Arrested During Operation “Broken Heart”
[ojp.gov – 6/11/19] The Department of Justice today announced the arrest of almost 1,700 suspected online child sex offenders during a two-month, nationwide operation conducted by Internet Crimes Against Children task forces. The task forces identified 308 offenders who either produced child pornography or committed child sexual abuse, and 357 children who suffered recent, ongoing or historical sexual abuse or were exploited in the production of child pornography. The 61 ICAC task forces, located in all 50 states and comprised of more than 4,500 federal, state, local and tribal law…
Read MoreIsrael: Labor’s Gabbay apologizes for calling former MK a ‘sex offender’
[israelnationalnews.com – 6/10/19] The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court accepted the compromise reached between Labor Party Chairman Avi Gabbay and former Labor MK Eitan Broshi in the libel suit filed by Broshi against Gabbay. Gabbay, who called Broshi a sex offender, was ordered to publicly apologize to Broshi and pay him NIS 40,000 in compensation. Read more
Read MoreAL: Alabama governor signs chemical castration bill into law
[cnn.com – 6/10/19] Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Monday signed a bill into law that requires someone convicted of a sex offense against a child under the age of 13 to begin chemical castration a month before being released from custody. The law requires individuals convicted of such an offense to continue treatments until a court deems the treatment is no longer necessary. It says offenders must pay for the treatment, and they can’t be denied parole solely based on an inability to pay. “This bill is a step…
Read MoreA limited study done by the Department of Justice still proves that registrants have the lowest re-offense rate
[sosen.org – 6/7/19] The Department of Justice Bureau of statistics has put out another report “Recidivism of sex offenders released from state prison a nine-year follow-up 2005-14.” This is another attempt to muddy the waters by the Department of Justice in relation to the re-offense rate of people on the registry. First of all, this is not a valid study for evaluating the amount of recidivism by the 900,000+ people that are registered citizens. This is in fact a limited study of a small group of people that were…
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