Sex offenders who have completed their sentences but are still being held in Illinois prisons should be released as part of the effort to reduce the state’s prison population during the COVID-19 crisis, according to a lawsuit filed in federal court. The request for a temporary restraining order was filed on behalf of Marcus Barnes, a sex offender held at Graham Correctional Center, and about 300 other sex offenders who remain in prison because they have not located state-approved housing required for their release. Full Article
Read MoreDay: April 9, 2020
Janice’s Journal: The Punishment Does Not Fit the Crime
A registrant died yesterday in a Florida jail. He was put into that jail about 60 days ago because he forgot to report his new home address to local law enforcement. The price he paid for his forgetfulness was death. Death due to exposure to the coronavirus. A local public defender tried to get this man released from jail. The public defender knew the risk of infection in that jail was high because more than 20 people, including inmates and staff, had already been infected. The prosecuting attorney also knew…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Dissenting Judges Should Be Ashamed of Themselves
A headline at LegalNews.com caught my eye, “High Court Rules Sex Offender Registration Qualifies as Punishment, Dissent Argues Registry is Administrative, Imposes Burden but No Restraint”. The case centered around a Maryland man who had been charged with and pled guilty to human trafficking in 2015. Upon his release from prison, according to the Court of Appeals ruling, the Maryland Sex Offender Registry had “wrongly” added the man’s name to the registry, requiring him to register as a “sex offender”. Under his plea agreement, the charge of trafficking of a…
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