ACSOL is pleased to announce that Aaron Marcus, lead attorney in a recent successful case in Pennsylvania, has agreed to speak at this year’s virtual conference on Saturday, October 1. Marcus will provide an in-depth analysis of the Torsilieri decision, describe the significant efforts leading to that success as well as possible future applications of that case. Marcus’ presentation will begin at 9:20 a.m. (Pacific) and include law professor and ACSOL board member Catherine Carpenter who recently completed a comprehensive law review article regarding the irrebuttable presumption doctrine that was…
Read MoreMonth: August 2022
ME: Sex offenders find refuge at hotels funded by FEMA, investigation reveals
Source: ktxs.com 8/30/22 SOUTH PORTLAND, ME (WGME) — Some hotels in a Maine city have been in the spotlight since the start of the pandemic, as they began housing individuals experiencing homelessness as well as asylum seekers. Some hotels in a Maine city have been in the spotlight since the start of the pandemic, as they began housing individuals experiencing homelessness as well as asylum seekers. (WGME) A concerned citizen in South Portland asked the WGME I-Team about it. There are quite a number of sex offenders living in hotels…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: A Model Court Decision
A court in Pennsylvania ruled recently in favor of one registrant and that is a good thing. The even better thing the court did was to provide the registrant community with a model that can be followed in other state courts. To be sure, this week’s decision issued by the Court of Common Pleas in Chester County, Pennsylvania, is binding precedent only upon courts in that state. It is, however, a precedent that can and should be followed by state courts throughout the land. And it provides a model that…
Read MoreUT: Former prosecutor for AG’s Child Protection Unit arrested in child porn investigation
Source: ksl.com 8/25/22 SPANISH FORK — A man who used to work for the Child Protection Division of the Utah Attorney General’s Office has been arrested and accused of possessing child pornography. Gary ___, 66, of Spanish Fork, was arrested Wednesday by Utah County sheriff’s deputies for investigation of six counts of sexual exploitation of a minor. The investigation began Aug. 4 when investigators received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children of suspected child pornography being uploaded on a social media app. Police say the…
Read MoreIN: ‘We don’t want you here’ Sheriff says over 1,800 sex offenders live in Marion Co., 52% aren’t from here
Source: wrtv.com 8/24/22 INDIANAPOLIS — There are more than 18,000 sexual or violent offenders living in Marion County, more than half of which were convicted and sentenced from out-of-area, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office. As part of the office’s efforts to drive down the number of sex offenders in the community, the sheriff’s office conducted a sweep Wednesday morning near Brookside Park. The Sheriff’s Office says 34 registered sex offenders live within a half mile of there. “That is a ridiculous number to be in that neighborhood,” said…
Read MorePA: Pennsylvania Court Decides State Registry Laws Violate State Constitution
Source: ACSOL A court in Pennsylvania decided this week that its state registry laws violate the state’s constitution for two reasons. First, the laws are based upon a false presumption that all registrants have a high risk of reoffending. Second, the laws are punitive. “This decision by a Pennsylvania court is the clearest statement available to date regarding how registries punish individuals convicted of a sex offense and yet are ineffective at preventing future sexual abuse,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “Although this decision is binding only in Pennsylvania,…
Read MoreCA: California Lawmakers Allow Lawsuits Against ‘Cyber Flashers’
Source: usnews.com 8/22/22 SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Victims who receive unsolicited sexually graphic material by text, email, app or other electronic means could sue the sender under a bill that California lawmakers sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday. The bill targets what’s known as “cyber flashing,” where victims receive such unwelcome surprises often from strangers. Read the full article
Read MoreWA: Dogs trained to sniff out electronic devices help catch child predators
Source: katv.com 8/22/22 WASHINGTON (TND) — Chewie is one of this country’s most highly-trained work dogs. He works on the front lines in the fight to track down child predators by detecting and locating electronic storage devices. There are less than 100 canines certified to do this type of work. and Todd Jordan has trained nearly 70 of them. The dogs are trained to indicate on things such as thumb drives, SD cards, microSD cards, anything they can hold or store images that can be used in child sexual abuse…
Read MoreCA: A Dad Took Photos of His Naked Toddler for the Doctor. Google Flagged Him as a Criminal.
Source: sfgate.com 8/21/22 Mark noticed something amiss with his toddler. His son’s penis looked swollen and was hurting him. Mark, a stay-at-home dad in San Francisco, grabbed his Android smartphone and took photos to document the problem so he could track its progression. It was a Friday night in February 2021. His wife called their health care provider to schedule an emergency consultation for the next morning, by video because it was a Saturday and there was a pandemic going on. A nurse said to send photos so the doctor…
Read MoreACSOL September 17, 2022 Meeting
Please join ACSOL Executive Director and civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci as well as ACSOL President and criminal defense attorney Chance Oberstein for our next meeting. The meeting will be held on Saturday, September 17, online on Zoom beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time, 1:00 PM Eastern, and will last at least two hours. You can use the Zoom app or call in using a Zoom phone number. There is no registration needed for this meeting. You can use the Zoom app to see Janice and Chance and choose to…
Read MoreAZ: Judge limits privilege defense in AZ Mormon sex abuse case
Source: msn.com 8/19/22 An Arizona judge overseeing a high-profile lawsuit accusing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints of conspiring to cover-up child sex abuse has ruled that the church may not refuse to answer questions or turn over documents under the state’s “clergy-penitent privilege.” Clergy in Arizona, as in many other states, are required to report information about child sexual abuse or neglect to law enforcement or child welfare authorities. But an exception to that law — the privilege — allows members of the clergy who learn of…
Read MoreCA: A bill that would seal certain criminal records could open doors for millions of Californians
Source: latimes.com 8/18/22 SACRAMENTO — State lawmakers on Thursday approved legislation that would allow some Californians with criminal convictions to have those records sealed if they maintain a clean record, a move cheered by criminal justice reform advocates and harshly criticized by law enforcement. Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, a Los Angeles Democrat who wrote Senate Bill 731, said sealing the records would remove burdens on previously incarcerated individuals who face discrimination once they reenter society, including when applying for jobs and places to live. Because California law keeps criminal records public, even…
Read MoreCompelling Law Review Article Provides New Tool for Challenging Sex Offender Laws
There is a new and compelling law review article that provides a new tool for anyone who is considering a challenge to a sex offender law. That article, Panicked Legislation, is written by law professor and ACSOL vice president Catherine Carpenter who will speak about the article on October 1 during ACSOL’s annual conference. The tool described in the law review article is the Irrebuttable Presumption Doctrine which can be used “to combat false presumptions in legislation that masquerade as universal truths.” For example, many courts have falsely stated that…
Read MoreCA Petitions Filed, Granted and Denied
Source: ACSOL The total number of petitions filed during the first year was 2,798 according to the California Department of Justice (CA DOJ). Of that total, 1,442 petitions have been granted and only 30 petitions have been denied. The remaining number of petitions are pending. The CA DOJ has reported that 1,306 of these petitions filed were filed by or on behalf of individuals assigned to Tier 1, the lowest tier. Of that total, 665 petitions were granted and 10 petitions were denied. The CA DOJ has also reported that…
Read More****Fifth Update: SORNA Regulations Hearing Rescheduled for Sept 12, 9am PT. Zoom available.
Source: ACSOL Update as of Aug 17, 2022: The hearing date has again changed. The new hearing date is now set for Sept 12, 2022 at 9:00 am Pacific Time. Click below to read the document filed with court requesting that the judge change the hearing date from Aug. 29 to another date to be determined. The reason given is that the assistant U.S. attorney has a scheduling conflict. Stip to Continue date for hearing on PI motion – Aug 2022 A hearing is in a federal district court to…
Read MoreTN: From registry to life sentence: Has Tennessee’s sex offender registry gone too far?
Source: newschannel5.com 8/15/22 NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Attorneys have called for a change to the Tennessee sex offender registry they said created an unconstitutional punishment as legislators added more restrictions each year. Thomas has lived in Nashville almost all his life, but he’s rarely seen beyond work and the occasional grocery store run. Those trips are usually done within 15 minutes of the store closing. Thomas seems to think it’s safer that way, so for that reason, NewsChannel 5 Investigates will stick with first names. It’s life as he’s known…
Read MoreTX: A Texas man convicted of child sexual assault died after chugging from a water bottle as the verdict was read
Source: nbcnews.com 8/12/22 A Texas man charged with five counts of child sexual assault died after a jury convicted him and he chugged a bottle of liquid in the courtroom, his lawyer said Friday. After the first count was read on Thursday afternoon and the Denton County jury returned a guilty verdict, Edward Leclair, 57, started drinking from a plastic water bottle filled with what appeared to be clear liquid, lawyer Mike Howard said. “I looked over and noticed him drinking,” Howard said. “His hand was shaking. At the time,…
Read MoreWI: The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has restored a lawsuit over Hartland’s limit on sex offenders
Source: jsonline.com 8/12/22 A small Wisconsin town’s attempt to ban more sex offenders from living there flunks one of two tests that would make it unconstitutional, a federal appeals court has ruled. The decision sent the matter back to a lower court for argument about the second test, and whether the local law should be thrown out. Hartland adopted an ordinance in 2018 after it felt it had more offenders per capita than other Waukesha County communities. A sex offender who wanted to move there sued, claiming the ordinance amounted to an…
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