[law.com – 2/9/21] In Part 1 of this article, I outlined what I believe are the significant flaws in the Risk Assessment Instrument (the RAI) New York courts are required to use to assess sex offender risk under the Sex Offender Registration Act (SORA or Megan’s Law, Article 6-C of the Correction Law). Under SORA, courts are required to designate offenders as being at low, moderate or high risk to re-offend. The rankings not only determine the length and intrusiveness of sex offender registration and community notification, which often last…
Read MoreMonth: February 2021
TN: Federal judge rules sex offender law punishes retroactively
[fox17.com – 4/6/21] NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A federal judge ruled Monday that Tennessee’s sex offender registration act is unconstitutional, at least as it was applied retroactively to two offenders. The ruling in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee affects only the two men who sued, identified in court documents as John Doe #1 and John Doe #2. “I think the ruling, while it is narrowly tailored to our clients, does open the door to the possibility of a class action,” attorney Ed Yarbrough said in an…
Read MoreMN: Civil Commitment of Sex Offenders Pretends Prisoners Are Patients
[reason.com – 2/10/21] The practice evades constitutional constraints by casting punishment and preventive detention as treatment. Jacob Sullum | 2.10.2021 12:01 AM “It was my understanding that I was to do the treatment, then be released,” says Mike Whipple, who recently participated in a 14-day hunger strike at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program’s facility in Moose Lake. “Twelve years later, I’m still here, doing the same thing, over and over and over.” So far the civil commitment program has incarcerated Whipple three times longer than the prison sentence he served.…
Read MoreWA: HB 1282 Will Allow All People Convicted of a Felony to Earn Up to 33% Off Their Sentence
[Washington Voices – wavoices.org – 2/7/21] Dear Friends, This Thursday, February 11, at 1:30 pm, the House Committee on Public Safety will vote on HB 1282. If this bill becomes law, all people convicted of a felony will have an opportunity to earn up to 33% off of their sentence. Currently, people convicted of a sex offense can earn a maximum of 10% off their sentence. Information about the bill and a video recording of the Feb. 2 committee hearing can be found at the HB 1282 website. Many people…
Read MoreMN: Sex offenders at Moose Lake end 14-day hunger strike after reaching deal with state officials
[bringmethenews.com – 2/5/21] A group of men at the Minnesota Sex Offender Program’s Moose Lake facility have ended their hunger strike after nearly two weeks. The group went on strike Jan. 21, demanding a “clear path” for release from the program, which has facilities in Moose Lake and St. Peter, where “treatment is a death sentence” because despite serving their prison sentences, they’re remanded to the facilities for an unspecified amount of time, a news release says. The group of about a dozen men called off their hunger strike Wednesday…
Read MoreFL: Bill Preventing Registered Sex Offenders, Predators From Having Time-Sharing With Minor Child Advances
[wmfe.org 2/4/21] Legislation making its way through the House would prevent parents registered as a sex offender or predator from being granted time-sharing with their child. The legislation is sponsored by Daytona Beach Republican Representative Thomas Leek. “I believe that if you are a convicted sexual predator or a sexual offender of a minor while you are an adult the presumption should be that you are not entitled to custody. Unless the court makes a specific finding that the child would be safe in your custodial care.” The bill passed…
Read MoreInternational Travel 2021
This post is intended as a place for discussions about International Travel ONLY. For more information and previous discussions on the topic, please see International Travel 2020 and International Travel 2019. In this International Travel 2021 post, the information is identical to the International Travel 2020 post. We added a new post for 2021 in order to keep the discussion manageable. Please help us by sticking to the topic of International Travel only. ==== From 2020: We have updated our main International Travel section. It features: List of Schengen Nations (allowing…
Read MoreWest Covina Repeals Residency Restrictions
[ACSOL] The City of West Covina, located in Los Angeles County, has repealed its residency restrictions which prohibited registrants from living within most of the city. The repeal took place on February 2 during a regularly scheduled meeting of the West Covina City Council. “We commend the City of West Covina for repealing its residency restrictions,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “Registrants and their families can now lawfully reside anywhere in that city.” The city’s repeal followed the filing of a lawsuit in March 2020 in Los Angeles Superior…
Read MorePakistan approves public hanging of child sexual abusers
[dailypakistan.com.pk – 2/3/21] ISLAMABAD – The Senate Standing Committee on Tuesday passed two bills to seek public hanging of sexual abuse convicts, and penalties for the desecration of human corpses. The Criminal Laws Amendment Bill, 2020, was moved by Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) lawmaker Javed Abbasi. The bill seeks to conduct the trial of sexual offenses against children, and set a time frame of 30 days for completion of the trial and two months for adjudicating upon the appeals by the Supreme Court. Read the full article
Read MoreAction Alert: Sign the Petition Supporting Poetry Magazine
[theguardian.com – 2/3/21] The prestigious Poetry Magazine, publishing since 1912, has been under attack for publishing a poem written by a man currently in prison for a sex offense. Please show your support for Poetry Magazine by adding your name to this petition. Here’s the story: The magazine published the poem in an issue focusing on work by “currently and formerly incarcerated people”, their families and prison workers. The disputed poem is by a former professor of English literature who was released from prison last year after serving time for…
Read MoreGeneral Comments February 2021
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of February 2021. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil. This section is not intended for posting links to news articles without additional relevant comment.
Read MoreMN: High Court Weighs Boundaries of Sex Offender Self-Incrimination
The Minnesota Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday in the case of a man who claims sex-offense confessions made to his probation officer as part of a court-mandated program are protected by the Fifth Amendment. Full Article
Read MoreNew Zealand considers striking down civil commitment: Human rights test case for post-sentence detention and restrictions
[stuff.co.nz – 2/2/21] A public safety law potentially amounting to a life sentence, was double-punishment for past crimes, the Court of Appeal has been told. A rare “full bench” of five judges was hearing a test case on Tuesday about the rights of mostly sex offenders who had finished their sentences but were still subject to restrictions, including three detained on prison grounds indefinitely under public protection orders. But the case was also about the hundreds of people under extended supervision orders after their sentences because they were believed to…
Read MoreIA: Arizona man who threatened Iowa lawmakers sentenced
[ap.org – 2/1/21] DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Arizona man who threatened to shoot Iowa lawmakers over his frustration with a failed attempt to change Iowa’s sex offender registry law has been sentenced to five years in prison. ____, also identified as ____ in court records, was sentenced Friday in Des Moines’ federal court, the Des Moines Register reported. ____was arrested in December 2019 and convicted by a jury in September of interstate communication of a threat. ____sent emails to state Sen. Herman Quirmbach saying he was “angry enough…
Read MoreFL: Florida amendment would halt min. wage increase for ex-felons
[wfla.com – 1/31/21] PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — Florida State Senator Jeff Brandes introduced an amendment this past week that would reduce the eventual $15 minimum wage rate for ex-felons and workers under 21. Floridians voted back in November to gradually increase in the state’s minimum wage from $8.56 an hour to $15 an hour by 2026. Supporters of the amendment had said it is impossible to live on the current minimum wage given the state’s cost of living. Read the full article and watch the video
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