Year: 2021

CT: Changes To Sex Offender Registry Will Be A Tough Sell

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Source: ctnewsjunkie.com 8/27/21 Sentencing Commission weighs need for change versus public perception by Lisa BackusAugust 27, 2021, 5:00 am The proposal to move some people off the state’s sex offender registry is going to be a “heavy lift,” according to members of the state Sentencing Commission. But members said it should lead to greater public safety by allowing police to focus on high-risk registrants instead of continually monitoring people who no longer pose a threat. “With the volume of people on the registry, it dilutes their (law enforcement’s) ability to zero…

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A Culture Without the Possibility of Redemption Is a Toxic Culture

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Source: thriveglobal.com 8/31/21 The paradox of social media, and so much of our technology, is that it keeps us locked in an eternal present, while at the same time creating an eternal archive that never fades away. The result isn’t just higher levels of anxiety, depression and loneliness, it also makes it harder for us to grow and evolve — which is, after all, our essential purpose at the heart of every spiritual and philosophical tradition. Evolution did not stop when we evolved from the apes. There is an instinct…

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An old arrest can follow you forever online. Some newspapers want to fix that.

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Source: washingtonpost.com 8/31/21 The Boston Globe has joined a handful of newsrooms around the country doing something once unthinkable: changing old articles because they are ruining a person’s life.  The newspaper on Friday launched its Fresh Start initiative, which allows people to petition to have information about them removed from or added to old stories, to have their names anonymized, or to have the stories delisted from Google searches. The Globe will prioritize stories involving minor crimes and those from long ago, but will also consider ones about “embarrassing” noncriminal…

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ACSOL President Chance Oberstein to Discuss Travel Law Updates

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ACSOL President Chance Oberstein will discuss travel law updates on September 17 at 11 a.m. (Pacific) during this year’s ACSOL annual conference.  Mr. Oberstein’s presentation will address both domestic and overseas travel. “Registrants are traveling both domestically and internationally during the pandemic for both personal and business reasons,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “Not only must they be careful of COVID-19 restrictions, they must also pay attention to the International Megan’s Law and state laws.” Paul Rigney, who heads the Registrant Travel Action Group (RTAG), will join Mr. Oberstein…

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MN: Long Weekend Protest Rocks Minnesota’s Shadow Prisons

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Source: texansagainstcivilcommitment.com 8/29/21 MOOSE LAKE MN. Behind barbed wire fences a protest movement is swelling for an end to Minnesota’s Shadow Prisons, “treatment facilities” that detainees say are an unconstitutional death sentence. Nearly 800 people are held indefinitely outside of any criminal proceedings, after finishing prison sentences or without being convicted of a crime on civil allegations of being “mental ill” and “sexually dangerous”. Since Friday, and culminating in a protest led by detainees in walkers and wheelchairs this Monday, over a hundred detainees across racial lines have staged four…

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PA: Life sentence for Edwardsville man convicted of child pornography

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Source: timesleader.com 8/27/21 WILKES-BARRE — In what attorneys believe to be the first in Pennsylvania, an Edwardsville man convicted by a Luzerne County jury of possessing child pornography was sentenced Friday to spend the rest of his life in state prison. Joseph J. Davis’ apology had no effect on Judge Tina Polachek Gartley, who expressed compassion for the jurors when they viewed video of two children being raped during the trial. Although no sound was played to the jury, Polachek Gartley said the images from the video will be forever…

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Kansas Supreme Court Ruling: City Conviction Requires Sex Offender Registration

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The Kansas Supreme Court ruled Friday that a man’s municipal conviction for sexual battery requires him to register as a sex offender. The 5-2 decision comes in the case of a man, who was convicted in 2018 of sexual battery in violation of the Shawnee municipal code. At issue was whether he was required to register as a sex offender under the Kansas Offender Registration Act. The Supreme Court ruled that he did, finding that the Shawnee ordinance is identical to the state statute. Justices Melissa Standridge and Eric Rosen…

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FL: FBI Agent, Army Reserves Col. charged with sex crimes against children in Florida

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Source: cbs42.com 8/27/21 FRANKLIN COUNTY, Fla. (WMBB) — An FBI agent who investigated sex crimes against children has been arrested and charged with multiple sex crimes against children across several states, according to the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies said Supervisory Special Agent David ____ was tasked with investigating crimes against children, including child pornography. But in February of this year, he was accused of exposing himself to a 14-year-old girl in a “lewd and lascivious manner,” while on vacation in St. George Island. The investigation began in Franklin County…

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ACSOL’s Chance X. Oberstein Celebrated for Dedication to the Field of Law

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Source: 24-7pressrelease.com 8/26/21 LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA, August 26, 2021 /24-7PressRelease/ — Chance Oberstein has been included in Marquis Who’s Who. As in all Marquis Who’s Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process. Drawing inspiration from the example of his grandfather, an immigrant from Russia, Mr. Oberstein pursued a career in law, earning a Bachelor of Arts in Social Ecology, with a specialization…

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CA: Sex offender in Marin County will be turned out on streets; unlikely allies say that’s not safe

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Source: ktvu.com 8/26/21 SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – A 68-year-old registered sex offender has no time left on his stay at a Marin County hotel and his case manager is making an unusual plea for someone to house his client so that he doesn’t have to sleep in a tent under a freeway. “The day I get released, I’m supposed to be on the street with diabetes,” said Socorro ____, whose first language is Spanish. He is a registered sex offender who served three years in prison after being convicted for…

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Janice’s Journal: Uneven Results in Beginning of Petitioning Process

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[ACSOL] The petitioning process under the Tiered Registry Law has begun.  A quick look at the first 60 days of the process shows uneven results. The best news is that two petitions have already been granted.  Both petitions were filed in San Diego County and both petitions did not trigger an objection from the county’s District Attorney. The good news is that court personnel and other government officials at most locations are trying to help registrants who file their own petitions as well as attorneys who file petitions for their…

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Why Blanket Registration of Youth as Sex Offenders is Bad Public Policy

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Source: thecrimereport.org 8/5/21 We praise children for their curiosity. How else are they to learn to navigate the world? But sometimes a child’s curiosity leads to a lifetime of punishment and ostracism. Sadly, this is the harsh reality of many children who were charged with a sex offense. Although it can be a difficult notion to accept, children may exhibit sexual behavior as part of their normal childhood development. Some behaviors that stem from curiosity, such as ‘playing doctor’ or touching another child in their genital area can be problematic,…

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CA: YouTube host leads police to arrest suspected sex offender in EG

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Source: egcitizen.com 8/18/21 The Elk Grove police on Aug. 11 arrested a 20-year-old man who allegedly visited Morse Community Park to have a sexual encounter with a minor in a restroom. “Ghost,” who is a YouTube channel host and the anonymous leader of an self-described movement called, Creep Catching (CC) Unit, announced that their decoy operation led authorities to arrest Timothy ___ of Elk Grove. CC Unit targets sexual predators online and then releases their video-recorded confrontations with them on YouTube. They also submit evidence to law enforcement in order…

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New Report Finds IML Negatively Impacts Mobility of Registrants

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The International Megan’s Law (IML) has negatively impacted registrants’ mobility across five dimensions, according to a newly released academic report.  The dimensions are legally, bureaucratically, societally, subjectively and relationally.  An advanced copy of that report can be viewed using the link below. According to the 200-page report, the IML is one part of a U.S. sex offence apparatus that continues to progress towards more unforgiving and counterproductive ends.  The IML is the latest integration of domestic crime control databases with international mobility control databases exemplifies a growing immigration control industry…

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IN: Federal Appeals Court OKs Indiana Sex Offender Registry Law

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Source: wfyi.org 8/24/21 A federal appeals court said Indiana’s sex offender registry law does not violate the U.S. Constitution, overturning previous rulings. Indiana’s sex offender registry law does not require offenders to register if they were convicted before it was created in the 1990s. But it does require offenders who move to Indiana to register if they were registered in another state, even if their conviction came before Indiana’s law was created. A few offenders who came from other states sued, arguing they were treated differently than offenders who’d always…

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Court Stops First Challenge to CA Tiered Registry Law

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A judge in Sacramento Superior Court today stopped the first challenge to the Tiered Registry Law.  The action was taken during a virtual hearing held before Judge Shama Mesiwala. The case in question involved a challenge to the assignment of individuals convicted of Penal Code Section 288(c)(1) to Tier 3, the highest tier.  The basis of the challenge was the equal protection clause of the state constitution. “Today’s decision will be appealed,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “Until this decision can be overturned, individuals convicted of PC 288(c)(1) will…

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Action Alert: Call before Aug 26 to support the Jeremy Rose family against job discrimination

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Women Against Registry (W.A.R.) 8/24/21 NATIONWIDE CALL TO ACTION! We are all in this together so please take action as soon as possible and certainly before the program airs on KSTU-FOX 13 on August 26 in the evening! We were contacted by a registered citizen in Salt Lake City Utah a few months back. He was being vilified by Fox13 television station due to a grievance a vengeful female had against the director for kicking her son out of the group which had nothing to do with him. He was…

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