[abcnews.go.com – 1/19/21] RICHMOND, Va. — Two Virginia Democratic lawmakers are spearheading a push to repeal a decades-old law that allows the state to hold certain sex offenders at psychiatric facilities indefinitely after their criminal sentences if they are deemed “sexually violent predators.” Critics say civil commitment laws are fundamentally unfair and violate the constitutional prohibition against punishing someone twice for the same crime. Supporters counter that the laws protect society from repeat offenders who are unable to control their behavior. Sen. Joe Morrissey and Del. Patrick Hope, both Democrats,…
Read MoreDay: January 19, 2021
City of Long Beach to Provide Tier Assignment Letters
After refusing to provide registrants with their tier assignment letters, the City of Long Beach has now agreed to provide those letters to registrants three days a week – Tuesdays, Wednesday, and Thursdays — between 6:15 a.m. and 3 p.m. The City requests registrants to call 562-570-5692 before coming to the registration office so that their tier assignment letter will be ready for pick up. “We commend the City of Long Beach for its decision to provide registrants with their tier assignment letters,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. According…
Read MoreMN: Sex offenders at Moose Lake protest harsh conditions after deaths from COVID-19
[startribune.com – 1/18/21] Outbreak fuels long-simmering tensions over civil commitment after sentences. A group of sex offenders at a northern Minnesota treatment center is refusing to attend therapy sessions, while others are wearing black clothing as a show of solidarity, amid growing unrest after three men housed there died and scores more were sickened by the novel coronavirus. The acts of defiance were organized to call attention to what offenders see as poor infection-control practices and the historically low rate of release from the state’s prisonlike treatment centers in Moose…
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