[washingtonpost.com – 5/1/19] Attorneys sued Wisconsin and Illinois Wednesday over laws that forbid transgender individuals from changing their names if they have certain criminal convictions. Both federal lawsuits argue that the states are violating free speech rights and are preventing people from expressing how they identify themselves. “The impact on their lives is severe. This is an issue of equality and equal participation in society,” said Lark Mulligan, an attorney who filed the Illinois lawsuit. Mulligan, who is a transgender woman, noted “all the times that people are forced to…
Read MoreYear: 2019
VA: A look at why Gov. Northam vetoed a bill related to sex offenders in emergency shelters
[wjla.com – 4/30/19] Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam has vetoed legislation that would allow officials to temporarily block convicted sex offenders from using emergency shelters. Northam said Tuesday it is “unconscionable” that people could be turned away from shelters during hurricanes, flash floods or other emergencies. The legislation would have allowed shelter officials to deny entrance for convicted sex offenders for however long was “necessary to ensure the safety of other individuals” admitted to the shelter. The legislation would have also required convicted sex offenders to declare they are registered offenders…
Read MoreTasmanian Speaker Sue Hickey votes against her own government again
[theadvocate.com.au – 5/1/19] Speaker Sue Hickey has scuttled the government’s attempts to impose mandatory sentences on serious child-sex offenders. In making her casting vote on Wednesday night, Ms Hickey said she was surprised a bill, which had already been rejected by Parliament once before, had been reintroduced without amendments. She said she had taken advice from legal professionals opposed to mandatory sentencing provisions in reaching her decision and was worried about unintended consequences arising from its implementation. Attorney-General Elise Archer in the debate said mandatory sentences sent a strong message…
Read MoreME: Maine Senate backs bill to extend statute of limitations on sex crimes
[timesrecord.com – 5/1/19] The Maine Senate on Tuesday approved a bill that would extend the state’s statute of limitations on sexual assaults from eight years to 20 years. The measure, if approved by the House and signed by Gov. Janet Mills, would put Maine more in line with other states’ sex crimes statutes. The Senate passed the bill without debate. “Only three other states have shorter statutes of limitations than Maine,” Sen. Erin Herbig, D-Belfast, the bill’s sponsor, said during a public hearing on the bill in April. “Several states…
Read MoreNY: Petitioners seek to remove judge who gave bus driver probation for rape of 14-year-old
[wmbfnews.com – 5/1/19] A New York judge is facing outrage for ruling a former school bus driver did not have to go to jail after pleading guilty to raping a 14-year-old girl. More than 45,000 people signed an online petition by Wednesday morning, calling for Judge James P. McClusky to be removed. He sentenced _______ to 10 years of probation, and _______ will have to register as a Level 1 sex offender. New York state law does not place Level 1 offenders on any online sex offender databases. Prosecutors and…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: All Felons Deserve the Right to Vote
Although the next major election is more than a year away, it’s not too early to focus on who is eligible to vote. This issue is important because the total number of voters, in general, and the groups of people eligible to vote, could determine the result of that election. I am saying this while watching a struggle in Florida. A struggle about who may be eligible to vote in November 2020 and beyond. As the number of candidates for the 2020 election continues to grow, the State of Florida…
Read MoreAction Alert: CA Senate Bill 145 Hearing ON HOLD
5/5/19 UPDATE: THIS BILL IS ON HOLD. MORE UPDATES AS WE FIND OUT MORE . Please take action quickly even if you are not directly affected by this. We want to show our support for Senator Scott Weiner, author of the Tiered Registry Law and SB 145. Senate Bill 145, which would create equality for the purpose of registration between heterosexual and homosexual couples, is scheduled to be considered by the Senate Appropriations Hearing on Monday, May 6. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in Room 4203 of the…
Read MoreAbolish the sex offender registry
[thenorthernlight.org – 4/29/19] It’s not easy to come to the defense of nonviolent sex offenders. Any lawmaker that considers reforming the excessively-punitive registry will start out on the losing side of the public’s perception. For starters, there is an erroneous assumption that the registry entirely comprises of rapists and pedophiles. On top of that, sex offender registration has become somewhat of a throwaway issue. Who cares about anyone on the registry? They did something, and that’s their punishment. However, our inability to think critically about sex offender registration is causing…
Read MoreIN: 7th Circuit rules DOC sex offender program violates Constitution
[theindianalawyer.com – 4/26/19] Finding the disclosures provide information that any law enforcement agent “would love to have,” the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled Indiana’s requirement that sex offender inmates give detailed accounts of their past actions violates the Constitution’s protections against self-incrimination. Donald Lacy, a sex offender inmate in the Indiana Department of Correction, filed a class action on behalf of all inmates who lost good-time credits and a demotion in credit class because they failed to meet the requirements of the Indiana Sex Offender Management and Monitoring…
Read MoreFL: Do Central Florida theme parks screen for sex offenders?
[wesh.com – 4/25/19] Could sex offenders be sitting next to your child on a ride, or standing in line behind them at Walt Disney World or Universal Orlando? In February, a registered sex offender was arrested after Orange County deputies said he exposed himself to a child at Aquatica. The accused, 52-year-old Gerald Youmans, was convicted in 2004 of exposing himself to a child in Palm Beach. He was designated a sexual predator, but according to an arrest affidavit, he held an annual pass to the theme park. The incident…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Why We Stay
Recently Fox News did an article on Law & Order TV Director Jace Alexander (son of actress Jane Alexander). Mr. Alexander was sentenced in NY to 10 yrs. probation and registration as a” sexual offender”, on child pornography charges. He had faced up to 7 yrs. Imprisonment. But this piece isn’t so much about Mr. Alexander as it is about his wife, actress Maddie Corman and his family and the reason they stayed with him and supported him through this ordeal. Maddie Corman told the Times of London that she…
Read MoreMI: ACLU pushes for removal of sex offender registry
[abc57.com – 4/25/19] Could the sex offender registry soon be a thing of the past? The American Civil Liberties Union wants to possibly get rid of it, saying the registry doesn’t work. Right now, there are two cases out of Michigan, including a class action lawsuit, claiming several parts of the registry are unconstitutional. “In August 2016, the federal court of appeals held that Michigan’s registry is unconstitutional.” Attorney for the ACLU in Michigan, Miriam Aukerman, said. Aukerman represents hundreds of convicted sex offenders fighting the public registry and some…
Read MoreThe Feds Are Dropping Child Porn Cases Instead of Revealing Info on Their Surveillance Systems
[reason.com – 4/24/19] The Department of Justice has been dismissing child pornography cases in order to not reveal information about the software programs used as the basis for the charges. An array of cases suggest serious problems with the tech tools used by federal authorities. But the private entities who developed these tools won’t submit them for independent inspection or hand over hardly any information about how they work, their error rates, or other critical information. As a result, potentially innocent people are being smeared as pedophiles and prosecuted as…
Read MoreBahamas: Dames: No Stats To Support Us Crime Claims; Timeline for the sex offender registry
[tribune242.com – 4/24/19] NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames said yesterday he didn’t have any statistics to back claims from a recently released United States report that crimes against its citizens in this country had increased. … Officials are also making progress toward the implementation of police body cameras and the creation of a sexual offenders registry, he said. … As for a timeline for the sex offender registry, Mr Dames said officials were pushing to make it public as soon as possible, adding: “There is a lot of planning…
Read MoreFiji: Support for lifetime registration on sex offenders registry
[fbcnews.com.fj – 4/25/19] The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Justice, Law and Human Rights is currently receiving submissions on the Sex Offenders Registry Bill. The Committee started their Northern tour with public consultations in Lagalaga and Vunivutu village. Committee Chair, Alvick Maharaj says the turnout has been overwhelming with more than a 100 Fijians showing up at the Vunivutu Village hall to make submissions on the Bill. Article continues after advertisement Maharaj says generally the sex offender registry bill has been welcomed and seen as a possible deterrence to serious sexual…
Read MoreNH: Vital April 26 Hearing by DOC for prison therapeutic treatment program and secure psychiatric unit
[New Hampshire Citizens for Criminal Justice Reform – ccjrnh.org – 4/23/19] CCJR Members and Friends: Let’s pack a vital hearing this Friday morning on proposed rules by the Department of Corrections for the prison therapeutic treatment program and the secure psychiatric unit. The meeting starts at 9 a.m. on Apr. 26 in room 306 of the Legislative Office Building in Concord. The Golden Dome is across the street. The public hearing should end before noon, and maybe a lot sooner. What’s at stake? This struggle started four years ago when Bill…
Read MoreCA: Sex offender challenges Commerce residency restrictions
LOS ANGELES (CNS) – An admitted sex offender who is not on parole is suing the city of Commerce, alleging its local regulations regarding where registrants can temporarily or permanently live in the city are so restrictive that he cannot find any affordable housing in the community. Full Article
Read MoreIN: Jackson County to begin charging sex offenders for registry
[wdrb.com – 4/22/19] For years, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office has been behind the times when it comes to its sex offender registry. But it will now move ahead and collect some extra money in the process. Indiana law allows for sheriff’s offices to collect a fee from convicted sex offenders in order to maintain the sex offender registry. But, for years, Jackson County did collect any fee. Beginning in June, the JCSO will begin collecting $50 a year from sex offenders for the registry and $5 every time an…
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