Your local congressman, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ4) held a press conference with U.S. Dept. of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao Tuesday, where he talked about the success of his 2008 bill, International Megan’s law. Full Article
Read MoreMonth: January 2020
GA: New bill would bar sex offenders from living near their victims
A new bill in the state Legislature would ban registered sex offenders in Georgia from living within 2,000 feet of their victims or their victims’ immediate family. Full Article
Read MoreGA: Group confronts Cobb County sheriff over ‘invented requirements’ imposed on sex offenders
[11alive.com – 1/29/20] ATLANTA — A sex offender rights group is accusing the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office of overstepping Georgia’s sex offender registration laws. In a letter sent this week to Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren, the North Carolina based National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL) claims deputies are “imposing invented requirements not contained in Georgia law.” NARSOL Executive Director Brenda Jones, in the letter, writes the requirements the sheriff’s office is imposing are considered harassment. The letter includes four specific claims against the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office.…
Read MoreNY: DNA evidence exonerates New York City man for 1985 sex assault
[abcnews.go.com – 1/28/20] After spending a full 25-year sentence in prison for a crime he did not commit, a Bronx, New York, man was exonerated by the first prosecutorial conviction review unit on the East Coast. Rafael Ruiz was convicted in 1985 for sexually assaulting a girl in East Harlem. Ruiz, then 25, was sentenced to 8 1/3 to 25 years in prison and was released on parole in 2009 after serving the entire stint. Now, at the age of 60, Ruiz had his felony conviction wiped off his criminal…
Read MoreTN: Tennessee bill would allow sex offenders to attend churches under certain conditions
[komonews.com – 1/27/20] NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) –Legislation proposed in the Tennessee General Assembly on Monday would allow sexual or violent sex offenders to attend church or another house of worship under certain circumstances. HB 1922 was filed by Representative Patsy Hazlewood (R-Signal Mountain). Under the bill, the offender would be allowed to attend houses of worship for religious services or to receive educational or social support services. Read the full article
Read MoreACSOL Lobby Day 2/11 — please keep calling and writing
Thanks to those who showed up on the 2/11 ACSOL Lobby Day, which focused on needed changes to the Tiered Registry Law that will take effect in 2021. Changes included new tier assignments for those convicted of felony offenses involving illegal images and sexual battery as well as creation of an off-ramp for those assigned to the highest tier. We ask that you make phone calls or send letters supporting these changes to the office where we will meet,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “The messages to be delivered…
Read MoreMN: What’s the Deal with Hibbing’s Sex Offender Population
HIBBING — ”Why are so many sexual offenders moving here?” If you think there is a compounding number of registered sex offenders moving to Hibbing, you’re not alone. There is a common pattern that emerges each time law enforcement notifies the public that a person with a level 3 sexual offense is relocating to the city: concerned community members share online posts to raise awareness and comment, wanting to know why “so many” are coming here. Others wonder aloud if the city or police department somehow benefit. After all, it…
Read MoreGA: Lawmakers seek sex predator tracking bill that’s constitutional
Georgia legislators aim to close a loophole that’s now preventing the state from using ankle monitors to track more than 400 sex offenders. Some House and Senate lawmakers are backing legislation that would give judges the ability to impose lifetime electronic monitoring as part of someone’s sentence if a sex offender is deemed to have a strong chance of reoffending. The proposals follow a Georgia Supreme Court ruling that it is unconstitutional for the state to require around-the-clock GPS tracking after the felony sex offender has completed their sentence. Full…
Read MoreCA: How Whittier mayor, City Council candidates would solve the homeless crisis
For more than a year, Whittier’s political leaders have been wrestling with how to handle the local homeless crisis, which has seen the development of three encampments. Two of those encampments have been cleared, but the debate rages on. With a March 3 election date set, voters will get an opportunity to say how well the city is doing managing the issue and whether new faces — and ideas — are needed. … Challenger I.L. Leon Savage, an accounting bookkeeper, would remove sex offenders from their homes to create space…
Read MoreCO: Lawmakers consider changes to Colorado’s juvenile sex offender registry
[9news.com – 1/24/20] DENVER — It’s not often you see prosecutors and public defenders working together on the same team. But Thursday night, representatives from both groups spoke before state lawmakers in a joint effort to reform the law around Colorado’s juvenile sex offender registry list. “There are demonstrable…effects for children listed on this public registry right now,” said Amanda Gall, a Sexual Assault Resource Prosecutor at the Colorado District Attorney’s Council. “This bill strikes a balance between public access and privacy for these children.” HB-1079 was passed out of…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Sext Education
An interesting article a few weeks ago out of the United Kingdom has me wondering who’s responsible when children and teens are caught “sexting”? According to The Guardian, there are children as young as 4 years of age sharing indecent photos of themselves via smartphones, 9 yr. old children posting nude pictures of themselves on Facebook Messenger and Instagram. Between Jan. 2017 and Aug. 2019, in the United Kingdom there were 6,499 cases of underage children sexting, cases investigated by British authorities, cases where some of those children actually ended…
Read MoreCA: Sex Offenders Fight To Serve As Poll Workers In LA
Two registered sex offenders and the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws can proceed to trial with their lawsuit challenging a Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder policy that prohibits all registrants from serving as poll workers, a judge ruled Friday. Full Article
Read MoreInternational Travel 2020
This post is intended as a place for discussions about International Travel ONLY. We added a new post for this year in order to keep the discussion manageable. For more information and previous discussions on the topic, please see the pages in the International Travel menu named International Travel [year number] Click here for the latest International Travel Information and Resources
Read MoreLiving with 290: The Polygraph is Pure Hocus Pocus
If anyone does not know, the California Sex Offender Management Board (aka CASOMB) has phone call conferencing open to the public. Well since I’m not only a registrant but a member of the public I thought I’d conference in on their call today about the polygraph and all its wonderness and goodness fantasticness. What I heard today was a lot of 100% USDA Ground Choice B.S. unfortunately. A lot of Orwellian Doublespeak (1984 book) also present. There were CASOMB people on the call, a few PO’s, and, you guessed it,…
Read MoreIN: COA reinstates petition to get off sex offender registry
A man’s petition to remove his name from the Indiana Sex Offender Registry was reinstated Friday when an appellate panel concluded that the trial court that dismissed the petition had jurisdiction to consider it. In 1989, Stephen Peele was convicted of several felony child molesting charges and was sentenced to an aggregate 12 years in the Indiana Department of Correction. Then in 2003, Peele was convicted of Class C felony sexual misconduct with a minor. At some point, Peele was notified that he was required to register as a sex…
Read MoreIL: Registered sex offenders can stay at Wayside Cross a little longer after ruling again delayed
[chicagotribune.com – 1/21/20] The child sex offenders living at Wayside Cross in Aurora can remain at the ministry for at least a while longer, after a judge again delayed ruling on their request to temporarily block enforcement of a sex offender residency law pending the outcome of a lawsuit. The Wayside Cross residents are seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction, which would allow them to remain at the ministry until their lawsuit challenging enforcement of a sex offender residency law is resolved. Kane County Circuit Court Judge Kevin…
Read MoreWI: Fond du Lac council mulls ordinance to restrict sex offender placement near parks, schools
[fdlreporter.com – 1/23/20] FOND DU LAC – Should the city regulate the distance from which sex offenders can reside from parks, schools and child-care facilities? Fond du Lac City Council members considered this possibility during its meeting Wednesday night, receiving input from Fond du Lac Police Chief William Lamb and City Attorney Deborah Hoffman about the need for such an ordinance and its legality. Council member Daniel Degner presented the issue to council, stating it was one of the reasons he ran in 2019 for the seat. In 2018, Degner circulated a petition…
Read MoreCA: San Diego Officially Rescinds Sex Offender Law
[nbcsandiego.com – 1/22/20] The city of San Diego has agreed to remove a law that restricted potential living locations for registered sex offenders who are no longer on parole for their crimes. The decision was part of a legal settlement that officially puts an end to the city’s Child Protection Act of 2008. The law prohibited all registered sex offenders regardless of parole status from living less than a half-mile from schools, parks, and other public places. In 2009 the city decided to no longer enforce the Child Protection Act…
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