Source: ACSOL During its May 2022 meeting, Members of the American Law Institute (ALI) will consider revisions to the Model Penal Code approved by the ALI Council last week. “ALI members must vote upon the version of the Model Penal Code approved by the ALI Council,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “The ALI members will do this during their annual meeting which is scheduled to take place on May 16 through May 18 in Washington, D.C. If ALI members do not agree to what their Council has approved, we…
Read MoreYear: 2022
Supreme Court won’t review decision that freed Bill Cosby from prison
Source: kcra.com 3/7/22 WASHINGTON —The Supreme Court said Monday it will not take up the sexual assault case against Bill Cosby, leaving in place a decision by Pennsylvania’s highest court to throw out his conviction and set him free from prison. The high court declined prosecutors’ request to hear the case and reinstate Cosby’s conviction. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court last year threw out Cosby’s conviction, saying the prosecutor who brought the case was bound by his predecessor’s agreement not to charge Cosby. Read the full article
Read MoreMN: Group pushes to take children off Minnesota’s Predatory Offender Registry
Source: msn.com 3/5/22 MINNEAPOLIS — Patty Wetterling just wanted the person who kidnapped her son to be caught. She never imagined her pursuit would lead to the creation of a list of more than 18,000 predatory offenders in Minnesota that could include children as young as 10 years old. “It was never intended to have 10-year-olds on the sex offender registry,” said Wetterling, whose son Jacob was abducted and murdered in 1989 when he was 11. “It would be laughable if it wasn’t so devastating.” Wetterling was one of more…
Read MoreOK: City to assess sex offender requirements for proposed shelter
Source: normantranscript.com 3/5/22 City officials have been asked to assess whether Norman’s proposed location for a homeless shelter meets state and federal requirements for sex offender lodging. … The requested assessment follows meetings Ward 5 Rarchar Tortorello had with Le Monde school officials over concerns about the proximity of the shelter to the school, specifically in reference to sex offenders in the area, said City Manager Darrel Pyle. … While the study states recidivism for crime in general is higher than for sex crimes, it also states recidivism rates underestimate…
Read MoreCA: Contra Costa County Grants Registrant’s Petition
Source: ACSOL Contra Costa County granted yesterday a petition filed on behalf of a registrant convicted of PC 288(a) in 1986. This is the second known petition granted by Contra Costa county so far. The first petition granted in Contra Costa county took place on December 2, 2021, for a different registrant convicted of the same offense. In both cases, the District Attorney did not object to the petitions. “Many courts in California are granting petitions filed by or on behalf of eligible registrants,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. …
Read MoreALI Council Approves Most of Model Penal Code
The Council of the American Law Institute (ALI) has approved most of the model penal code (MPC) adopted by its members. The Council’s approval took place during its meeting held this week following a decision in January to delay consideration of the model penal code. The most significant portions of the MPC include: (1) significant reduction in the number of offenses that require registration, (2) maximum registration period of 15 years, (3) elimination of all public registries and (4) prohibition against many collateral consequences. “The American Law Institute is to…
Read MoreMS: AG Fitch Continues to Fight ALI Proposal to Weaken Laws on Sexual Assault, Human Trafficking, and Sex Offender Registration
Source: mageenews.com 3/2/22 Attorney General Lynn Fitch this week wrote The American Law Institute (ALI) to ask its members to again defer consideration of proposed revisions to Section 213 of the Model Penal Code (MPC) that would weaken the ability of States to prosecute sexual assault, abuse, and exploitation; human trafficking; and sex offender registration. “Laws against child exploitation, human trafficking, and sexual assault need to be tough to protect the young and vulnerable from predators,” said Attorney General Lynn Fitch. “The ALI is weakening the laws, just when we…
Read MoreACSOL March 19, 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, March 19, 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 show…
Read MoreBiden’s SCOTUS nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson once argued judicial system is ‘unfair’ to sexual predators
Source: thepostmillennial.com 2/28/21 President Joe Biden’s Supreme Court nominee Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson once authored an unsigned “Note” in the Harvard Law Review arguing that America’s judicial system is “unfair” to sexual predators, according to findings discovered by an American Accountability Foundation investigation. Jackson argued the unconstitutionality of certain preventative measures adopted as common practices by state governments and applied to confirmed sex offenders. Per the Harvard Law Review article “Prevention Versus Punishment: Toward a Principled Distinction in the Restraint of Released Sex Offenders,” she argued that America’s judicial approaches…
Read MoreGeneral Comments Mar 2022
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of Mar 2022. 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 MoreMS: SB2448 Blocks Medically Frail Prisoners Who Committed Sex Offenses From Being Paroled to Special Care Facilities
Source: mississippitoday.org 2/28/22 Mississippi Republicans have balked at expanding Medicaid, but are embracing legislation that would take advantage of the federal program to pay for healthcare for very sick incarcerated people… … Sex offenders and people on death row would not be eligible. Read the full article
Read MoreSC: Bill sets parameters for South Carolina sex offenders to get off registry [create new three-tier registry]
Source: wspa.com 2/25/22 COLUMBIA, S.C. (WBTW) — A proposed bill in the South Carolina Senate would set out guidelines for convicted rapists to petition a court to be removed from the sex offender registry. The bill is in response to a South Carolina Supreme Court ruling last year stating that it’s unconstitutional for the state to not have a process that would allow sex offenders to be removed from the registry. The bill was proposed by Sen. Greg Hembree (R-Horry County) on Feb. 16 and remains in the Senate Committee…
Read MoreSotomayor has constitutional concerns in case of sex offender who couldn’t find housing
Source: abajournal.com 2/23/22 U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor is expressing “serious constitutional concerns” in the case of a sex offender forced to spend additional time in prison because he couldn’t find housing far enough away from schools in New York City. Sotomayor raised her concerns in a Feb. 22 statement regarding the Supreme Court’s decision to deny certiorari in the case of Angel ____. Sotomayor said she agreed that Angel’s cert petition doesn’t satisfy the court’s criteria for hearing cases. But she raised questions about the effects of a…
Read MoreSex-Offender Laws Sent a Man to Prison Over a Prayer Livestream
Source: wired.com 2/23/22 Jason wasn’t sure what to do. After an alleged sexting incident in 2012 snowballed into a felony conviction in his southern state, he was forced to register as a sex offender and barred from using a computer or smartphone. Over time, the conditions of his probation were reduced to a patchwork of technology-related restrictions: He was allowed to use email, but he was initially not allowed to send text messages. He could use the internet, but he was not allowed to have a social media account, and…
Read MoreTX: Automatic license plate readers helping to deter crime and track registrants in Houston-area cities
Source: khou.com 2/21/22 HOUSTON — Some Houston-area cities are fighting crime by installing virtual gates around their communities. Dozens of cameras are taking millions of pictures of driver’s license plates each month. One local police chief said the technology helped catch 25 times as many suspects in wanted vehicles as the year before. Each time a vehicle passes one of the automatic license plate reading cameras in the Memorial Villages, a picture is taken. … In addition to stolen vehicles and missing persons, the Memorial Villages Police Department is alerted…
Read More‘Staggering’ study reveals 46% of unemployed U.S. men have criminal convictions
Source: science.org 2/18/22 One in three adults in the United States has been arrested at least once, a strikingly high number compared with many other countries. Now, a new study reveals one of the implications of that figure: Nearly half of unemployed U.S. men have a criminal conviction by age 35, which makes it harder to get a job, according to an analysis of survey data. The findings suggest having a criminal justice history is pushing many men to the sidelines of the job market, says sociologist Sarah Esther Lageson…
Read MoreW.A.R. Room Event on Feb 22: Margaret Love of the Collateral Consequences Resource Center
Source: Women Against Registry (W.A.R.) Margaret Love is the Executive Director and Editor of the Collateral Consequences Resource Center. She is a former U.S. Pardon Attorney who, in her private practice in Washington, D.C., represents applicants for executive clemency. She is lead co-author of Collateral Consequence of Criminal Conviction: Law, Policy & Practice (NACDL/West, 3rd ed. 2018-2019) Margaret created and regularly updates the Restoration of Rights Project database. Date: February 22 Time: 5:00 PM Pacific Time, 7:00 PM Central Time You must register to attend! Click here to register for…
Read MoreCA: Tiered Registry Law Presentation Focus of CASOMB Meeting
Source: ACSOL The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) today listened to a lengthy, in-depth presentation regarding the Tiered Registry Law and its implementation. The presentation was delivered by attorneys Michele Kumaus of the San Diego Public Defenders Office and Ana Santiago of the San Diego District Attorneys Office. According to the attorneys, a total of 143 petitions for removal from the registry have been filed on behalf of registrants in San Diego County. Of that total, 69 have been granted and 11 have been denied. The remaining petitions are…
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