Louisiana’s Supreme Court has sidestepped, for now, the question of whether juveniles convicted of sex crimes can be required to register as sex offenders for the rest of their lives. The case involved a man convicted of having molested his younger sister when he was 14 years old. He was ordered held in juvenile custody until age 21. After his release, he sought relief from the sex registration requirement. The high court on Tuesday ruled that because he was no longer in custody, he was ineligible to file for post-conviction…
Read MoreYear: 2019
PA: Internet dissemination provision of SORNA II violates the federal prohibition against ex post facto laws
Summary from FAC: A Pennsylvania Appeals Court has found that the dissemination of persons who have been convicted of sexual offenses’ information on the internet (Megan’s Law) violates the ex post facto clause of the Constitution for individuals whose offenses pre-date the ordinance. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court had a prior landmark decision (Commonwealth v. Muniz, 164 A.3d 1189 (Pa.2017)) finding similarly, so this new opinion will not likely be groundbreaking, but it will show that the prior findings are being upheld and people in Pennsylvania DO have relief from the public…
Read MoreHalloween and the Sex Offender Myth: Part I (Updated with Part II)
Part II (October 23): https://baltimorepostexaminer.com/halloween-and-the-sex-offender-myth-part-ii/2019/10/23 Part I (October 19): I often wonder why we don’t dress our kids up as sex offenders. We dress them up as serial killers, witches, goblins, and other horrible monsters. We let our little girls dress up in fishnet stockings, short skirts, and heavy makeup. My own child wants to be a fallen angel. What is a fallen angel but a devil? At first, the sex offender comment makes me a big jerk, highly offensive, yet if one calms down and thinks about it, why…
Read MoreWI: Nonprofit trying to find homes for those living in ‘Tent City’
[wisn.com – 10/22/19] The homeless in Milwaukee’s Tent City have less than two weeks to clear out after the Wisconsin Department of Transportation ordered them out by Oct. 31 to make way for a construction project. A federally funded nonprofit is taking on the mission of finding everyone a home to avoid forcing people out at the end of the month. … ______ is a convicted sex offender and now no one will take him in. “It sucks. It’s cold. There’s help for people. But most of them, it’s help…
Read MoreIL: Orland Park 2019 Sex Offender Halloween Safety Map
[patch.com – 10/21/19] Before kids go out trick or treating on Halloween, fall is a good time to take an inventory of who is living in your neighborhood. … You may want to avoid trick or treating at these houses and apartments on Halloween, or merely be aware of who’s living in your neighborhood during the rest of the year. … Law enforcement officials and researchers caution that the registries can play only a limited role in preventing child sexual abuse and stress that most perpetrators are known to the…
Read MoreOH: Mt. Healthy takes proactive approach to sex offender awareness prior to trick-or-treating
[local12.com – 10/21/19] The Mt. Healthy Police Department is taking a proactive approach to keep trick-or-treaters safe on Halloween. Officers posted a list of addresses on the department’s Facebook page. They are all sex offenders who live in parts of the community. Brittany Athey looks forward to taking her kids out on Halloween, but was not aware that a registered sex offender lived on a street near her house. “I think it’s a great thing because we’ll be able to keep away from those houses then. So we know what…
Read MoreJPMorgan Chase Hired 2,100 People With Criminal Records In 2018 (And Will Hire More)
[forbes.com – 10/21/19] Topline: JPMorgan Chase announced an expansion of its efforts to hire people with criminal backgrounds Monday, continuing the trend of big companies “banning the box” and giving people second chances. JPMorgan Chase hired 2,100 people with criminal records in 2018, which equals about 10% of their total hires last year. The bank knows those people have records, because they conduct background checks on applicants after a job offer has been made. Applicants with criminal records are being considered for entry-level jobs like account servicing and transaction processing,…
Read MoreAK: DOJ Grants $273 Mln For Public Safety Of American Indian And Alaska Natives
[rttnews.com – 10/21/19] The Department of Justice has granted $273.4 million to improve public safety, serve victims of crime, combat violence against women and support youth programs in American Indian and Alaska Native communities. … A portion of the funding will support tribal youth mentoring and intervention services, help native communities implement requirements of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act, and provide training and technical assistance to tribal communities. … The Department provided $6.1 million to help tribes to comply with federal law on sex offender registration and notification.…
Read MoreMO: Halloween has local police strictly enforcing sex offender compliance
[fourstateshomepage.com – 10/21/19] Halloween is right around the corner, and local law enforcement are making sure the hundreds of sex offenders in Jasper County are following the law. The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office already keeps a close eye on registered sex offenders and Halloween is no different. They have already started to reach out to offenders to make sure their in compliance with the law, which includes ensuring they are on the sex offender registry and posting the proper signage on their home on Halloween. “Nowadays, you never know what…
Read MoreWA: Tarra Simmons Looks To Become 1st Former Inmate Elected To Washington Legislature
[opb.org – 10/21/19] A Washington attorney and criminal justice reform advocate who previously served time in prison is seeking to become the first formerly incarcerated person elected to the Washington Legislature, at least in modern times. Tarra Simmons, of Bremerton, who in 2017 won a Supreme Court fight to sit for the state bar exam, despite her prior criminal conviction, plans to formally announce her candidacy for the state House on Monday. “I’d like to break this concrete ceiling,” Simmons said in an exclusive interview with the public radio Northwest News Network. “I think…
Read MoreGA: Sex offenders sue Butts County Sheriff’s Office over ‘No Trick or Treat’ signs
When kids are out trick-or-treating, one of parents’ biggest worries is safety — but efforts by a Middle Georgia sheriff’s office to keep children safe are now at the center of a federal class action lawsuit. Full Article and Lawsuit Related GA: Palmer Sheriff Puts ‘No Trick-Or-Treat’ Signs in Yards of Sex Offenders
Read MoreFL: Florida Cops Went to Absurd Lengths to Entrap Man Who Showed No Interest in Underage Sex
[reason.com – 10/21/19] How do you catch a predator in Sarasota, Florida? You create one. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) is going to “outrageous lengths” to make law-abiding lonely guys into sex offenders. That’s according to Noah Pransky, a fearless journalist who has been covering Florida’s addiction to entrapment for years. In September, SCSO arrested 23 men for allegedly soliciting underage girls for sex. Pransky’s most recent piece in Florida Politics chronicles the elaborate back and forth between one of those men and a police officer pretending to be a…
Read MoreA Q&A on Megan’s Law: Should it apply to child offenders?
Dr. Elizabeth J. Letourneau did the first study looking at the consequences of Megan’s Law on juveniles. She found that kids rarely commit a second offense, and that the people they are most likely to hurt are themselves. She spoke with Julie O’Connor of the Star-Ledger’s editorial board. Below is an edited transcript. Full ArticleFull Article
Read MoreOR: Our View – Stop keeping Oregonians in the dark about sex offenders
Registered sex offenders in Oregon recently got a reminder that the state is keeping an eye on them. Law enforcement agencies conducted the latest in a series of checks on the whereabouts of high-risk offenders. It ended in 15 arrests in Lane County. Unfortunately, the operation also highlighted a serious flaw in the public reporting system that enables tens of thousands of moderate and low-risk offenders to remain in the shadows. Full Article (Free Registration may be required)
Read MoreACSOL Emotional Support Group Meetings Available: Sat, Oct 26 in L.A.; Most Thursdays in Sac; Monthly on the phone
Emotional Support Group meetings will be held for those convicted of a sex offense and their loved ones. This meeting, which is based upon the format of 12 Step meetings, provides registrants and their loved ones with an opportunity to discuss personal challenges and share their experiences, strengths and hopes, with each other. Attendance is limited to individuals required to register, family members, and friends. Media, law enforcement, parole, etc. are not allowed to attend meetings. There is no cost to attend. No reservations are required. Face-to-face and phone emotional…
Read MoreHalloween Marathon Details
Dear ACSOL members, In less than two weeks, NARSOL and ACSOL together will be hosting the third annual “Halloween Conference Call and Cop Watch Marathon.” Both NARSOL’s Larry Neely and ACSOL’s Janice Bellucci will be taking questions, reporting on the latest legal developments, and collecting live reports on troubling law enforcement activities around the nation to prohibit Halloween involvement by the families of people on the registry. Our goal is to have attorneys from all over the country participating in the call and willing to opine on the constitutionality…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Are We Collateral Damage?
Collateral Damage: Injury inflicted on someone other than an intended target. Specifically, civilian casualties of a military operation. The earliest known use of the term was in1947. Until I had a family member on the registry, I’d never been referred to as “collateral damage”, then all of a sudden, that’s what I was informed I had become. When I was a newbie to this registry nation, some of the more senior advocates suggested that family and friends of registrants are considered “collateral damage.” “We’re not ON the registry, but we…
Read MoreGA: Palmer Sheriff Puts ‘No Trick-Or-Treat’ Signs in Yards of Sex Offenders
[1065.iheart.com – 10/17/19] A Sheriff in Georgia is not messing around when it comes to Halloween. He put up “No Trick-Or-Treat at This Address” signs in the yards of sex offenders in order to keep children out of harms way. “I’m not trying to humiliate ’em or anything like that. Let’s face reality: We have a greater chance of children getting run over by a car [on Halloween] than being a victim of sexual assault by a repeat offender,” says Sheriff Gary Long. “But at the end of the day…
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