Source: nbcnews.com 9/7/23 [ACSOL note: This case is significant due to lengthy sentence.] LOS ANGELES — “That ’70s Show” star Danny Masterson was sentenced Thursday to 30 years to life in prison for raping two women more than two decades ago at his Hollywood Hills home. Masterson, 47, displayed no visible emotion after Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Charlaine Olmedo threw the book at him. “Mr. Masterson, I know that you’re sitting here steadfast in your claims of innocence, and thus no doubt feeling victimized by a justice system that…
Read MoreDay: September 7, 2023
TX: Judicial Clemency Does Not Forgive Sex Offender Registration
Source: thecrimereport.org 9/7/23 In a 6-3 decision Ex parte Danny Richard Lane, the state’s highest criminal appeals court ruled that Texas’ historical doctrine of “judicial clemency” does not forgive sex offender registration. The Texas Legislature in 1965 created this doctrine which gives a trial court the authority to, after a defendant has successfully completed the terms of probation, “set aside the verdict or permit the defendant to withdraw his plea, and shall dismiss the accusation, complaint, information or indictment against such defendant, who shall thereafter be released from all penalties…
Read MoreVT: Remorseless murderer killed former registrant and mom as a jail retirement plan
Source: berkshireeagle.com 9/7/23 BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — A man accused of killing a 79-year-old Whitingham, Vt., woman and her 52-year-old son by shooting them in their home on Route 8A is being held without bail. Christopher D. Ellis, 54, pleaded not guilty through his attorney Wednesday to two counts of first-degree murder and an additional charge of operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent. He was arraigned in Windham Superior Court, Criminal Division. Judge John Treadwell ordered Ellis held without bail. Treadwell said the court would not schedule a weight of…
Read MoreIL: ‘I Call It Pretend Freedom’: Older Adults Coming Out of Illinois Prisons Face Steep Roadblocks in Their Reentry Journey
Source: goodmenproject.com 9/7/23 At least 17,000 adults age 50 and older have been released from Illinois prisons since 2014, and thousands more are in line to come out soon. Older adults are less likely to reoffend than their younger counterparts but face more hurdles to successful reentry. Before he was released from prison, Bob Covelli told everyone he knew the three things he wanted most once he got out: a job, an apartment, and a kitten. “I’m less anxious, and I’m less angry when I hear a cat purring,” he…
Read MoreSex Offender Registry Reform Is a Harm Reduction Issue
Source: filtermag.org 9/7/23 In the United States, anyone convicted of a sex offense is punished with two criminal sentences. The first is the one they serve in prison. The second begins when the first ends, and they are forced to enroll in a Sex Offender Registry (SOR). SOR restrictions aren’t one-size-fits-all, because there isn’t just one registry—there are many. They exist at federal, state and municipal levels, creating a nightmarish tangle of legal requirements under which people can be prosecuted for violating SOR restrictions that don’t even exist in the…
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