The California Department of Justice (CA DOJ) has reversed its position on an important tiered registry issue. Specifically, the state agency has agreed to delete a sentence included in previously issued tier assignment letters that state individuals whose tiers are “to be determined” must wait until their tier has been assigned before petitioning for removal from the registry. The sentence will also not be included in future tier assignment letters. “Due to this change in position, individuals who receive a tier assignment letter stating that their tier has not yet…
Read MoreYear: 2021
Canada: Psychiatric patients awarded nearly $10M in lawsuit over experimental treatments
[orilliamatters.com – 2/12/21] ‘Those who were youths were harmed in a severe and lifelong manner that deserves particular attention,’ judge finds Patients who were subjected to “degrading and inhumane” experimental treatments at the former Oak Ridge maximum-security psychiatric facility in Penetanguishene have been awarded a total of just under $10 million. The awards for the 28 patients range from $1,000 up to $2.7 million for a vulnerable teenager in “mental agony” who was shackled naked to other patients, including a sex offender. … In 1975, after running away, stealing and…
Read MoreDystopian AI Patent Uses Facial Recognition to Identify Homeless and Drug Users [and Sex Offenders]
[interestingengineering.com – 2/12/21] Last year, The New York Times reported that, in order to test its software, facial recognition startup Clearview AI collected up to three billion images from platforms including YouTube and Facebook without attaining users’ express consent. Now, a new patent application by Clearview AI, first discovered by Buzzfeed, details several potential uses for the firm’s software, including date matching, sharing “headshots of high-risk individuals,” and identifying homeless people and drug users. … The technology could also be used to identify a “sex offender” Read the full article
Read MoreTX: ‘Left to die’: Therapists say Texas sex offender treatment program too often fails on purpose
[houstonchronicle.com 2/11/21] Texas’s civil commitment program for sexually violent offenders has earned a reputation as an unforgiving place. Much of that is by design. Each of the 378 men in it has already served his full prison term, some 20 years or longer. After their sentences were up, Texas evaluated them as too likely to re-offend, however, so they were ordered kept locked up indefinitely until ready to rejoin the free world. Their average age is nearing 60. The program’s sole facility, a collection of low buildings and temporary trailers,…
Read MoreRacial Disparities Found in Federal Sex Crime Sentencing
[thecrimereport.org – 2/10/21] Researchers at the University of Texas at San Antonio found that Black and Hispanic Americans charged in federal sex abuse cases are receiving disproportionately harsher sentences In a recent study published in the journal Sexual Abuse, the researchers explored what they said was a trend in more severe punishment over the past decade since Congress has enacted several pieces of legislation aimed at increasing the punishment in federal sex offender and child pornography cases. The researchers University of Texas at San Antonio criminology and criminal justice professors…
Read MoreNC: New NC bill would push sex offenders further away from school grounds
[myfox8.com – 2/10/21 – NC residents write and call!] CHARLOTTE, N.C. (FOX 46 CHARLOTTE) – Right now, in some North Carolina counties, sex offenders can live right beyond 1,000 of the front door of a school due to the way current laws are written. Now, one lawmaker is pushing to make sure they’re further away from those properties. In some areas, sex offenders could theoretically live right up to the school’s fencing if the yard is big enough, but if Senate Bill 52 passes, sex offenders won’t be able to…
Read MoreAction Alert for Florida Residents: Call and Write to Oppose Senate Bill 234
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 2/11/21] On Monday, February 15, 2021, the Florida Senate Judiciary committee will consider Senate Bill 234. It is item number 3 on their agenda. Among other things, this bill introduced by Senator Lauren Book would change the definition of “day” to mean part of any calendar day. Therefore, as written, anywhere you are physically present 4 or more times a year would technically have to be registered within 48 hours. Visit your parent’s home once a week for dinner? Play cards at a friend’s house once a month?…
Read MoreNew Zealand: Man wins appeal to have name struck off Sex Offender Register
[rnz.co.nz – 2/9/21] The man was sentenced to nine months home detention in early 2018 after pleading guilty to possessing child pornography in early 2016. At his 2018 sentencing, the Judge also made an order that he be placed on the Child Sex Offender Register, which was established using the Registration Act in late 2016. The man committed the offence prior to the Registration Act coming into force but was convicted and sentenced after that date. The man did not seek to appeal his nine-month home detention sentence but challenged…
Read MoreMD: Annapolis, MD (KB) Frederick County Delegate Jesse Pippy said he is sponsoring sex offender legislation
[wfmd.com – 2/9/21] Annapolis, MD (KB) Frederick County Delegate Jesse Pippy said he is sponsoring five pieces of legislation at the 2021 General Assembly in Annapolis. One has to do with the sex offender registry and expungement. “There has been a push recently to expunge certain offenses off peoples’ records,” he explained. Delegate Pippy said this bill will make sure that individuals who are on the sex registry are prohibited from getting their sex offenses expunged. Read the full article Bill search
Read MoreNY: After 25 Years, It Is Past Time To Reform New York’s Sex Offender Risk Assessment System: Part II
[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 MoreTN: 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. 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 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
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