Month: October 2023

CT: New Fairfield proposes ordinance to ban sex offenders from public places frequented by children

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Source: newstimes.com 10/16/23 NEW FAIRFIELD — The town is proposing a new ordinance that, if adopted, would ban convicted sex offenders from public places frequented by children. With the goal of preserving and promoting “the health, safety and general welfare of the children” and protecting them from “the threat of sexual abuse from sex offenders,” the proposed ordinance would “enact reasonable regulations restricting sex offenders from entering child safety zones,” according to the text of New Fairfield’s draft sex offender ordinance. The idea for the ordinance came from local law enforcement,  First…

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ACSOL 2023 Conference a Huge Success

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ACSOL Conference a Huge Success More than 150 people attended ACSOL’s conference held on October 14 and October 15 at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles. Conference attendees included registrants and family members from many states including Florida, Texas and Illinois.  The conference featured keynote speakers, panels on a variety of topics and ongoing opportunities to network for both registrants and their families. The conference was led by ACSOL President Catherine Carpenter, who is a law professor and more at Southwestern Law School.  Professor Carpenter hosted the conference and moderated…

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MO: Motion for TRO Filed to Stop Missouri Halloween Sign Requirement

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A motion for Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) was filed today in federal district court asking the court to stop enforcement of a Missouri state law that requires registrants to post a sign on the front door of their home on Halloween.  If the motion is granted, enforcement of the Halloween sign requirement could be stopped statewide. “It was important to make this request today so that the court could issue its ruling prior to Halloween,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci, who is now the lead attorney in the case. …

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Should We Welcome Sex Offenders into Our Churches?

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Source: christianitytoday.com 10/5/23 One pastor and his staff considered whether their congregation should accept people with a history of abuse. On Sunday mornings at New York Chinese Alliance Church, where I pastor, several different ethnic congregations come to listen to God’s Word in their mother tongues. Parents drop off their youngsters for children’s worship and Sunday school. Youth gather for fellowship and Bible study. Our seasoned ushers always try to welcome every familiar face and newcomer into the house of God with a warm smile. And while their primary goal…

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MN: CA suspect in 2003 St. Paul rape is charged after testing of DNA evidence

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Source: startribune.com 10/10/23 [ACSOL note: we are posting this to show how an unusually long delay of charges is possible, even reaching to another state] Since 2012, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office and its law enforcement partners have been chipping away at their backlog of sexual assault kits holding evidence in unsolved cases.   By Paul Walsh Star Tribune Testing of DNA evidence nearly 20 years after it was collected has led to a man’s arrest on allegations that he raped a woman in a vehicle. Shawn P. ____, 48, was charged…

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ME: Maine town residents tell leaders they want residency restrictions due to imaginary reoffense rates

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Source: wgme.com 10/9/23 An Orrington Select Board meeting last month devolved into an explosive half-hour debate between residents and officials about where sex offenders should be allowed to live within the town. Residents assumed that restrictions on how close registered sex offenders could live to places such as schools and parks were set statewide. But it wasn’t until an offender moved to Orrington this summer that many realized the town does not have those laws in place. … residents were surprised to learn that Maine does not have a state-wide…

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Action Alert for Illinois: Take action now to reduce and repeal registries, decriminalize housing, and let people live in available homes

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Source: Illinois Voices for Reform and Chicago 400 A message from Adele Nicholas, Executive Director, Illinois Voices for Reform: Illinois residents, please click here to support SB2158 now! Everyone needs a place to live. People who’ve done their time should have the opportunity to establish stable homes for themselves and their families. Illinois’ wasteful and counterproductive registry and residency laws too often prevent people on the registry from building a foundation for a positive future. It’s time to stand up for real change. You can help us get there! Our…

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MO: Hazelwood man’s Halloween displays were lavish. A sex offender law forced him to quit

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Source: stltoday.com 10/9/23 ST. LOUIS — Thomas Sanderson’s Halloween festivities were a neighborhood tradition. For more than two decades, the Hazelwood resident put together a “lavish display” featuring animatronic figures and creatures, lights, music, fog machines, a bonfire and — of course — candy. But on Halloween in 2022, a half-dozen police cars descended upon Sanderson’s property and asked to search his home. Sanderson had been convicted of a sex offense in 2006, and police argued he had violated a state law that prohibits people on the sex offender registry…

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CA: Lake County Probation Department hosts Resilient Re-entry event

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Source: lakeconews.com 10/7/23 LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lake County Probation Department, in collaboration with the Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College, hosted a Resilient Re-entry event designed to provide valuable resources and guidance to justice-involved individuals. The event aimed to facilitate the reintegration of justice-involved individuals into society by offering a range of services, including record expungement, information about college education opportunities, and even free tattoo removal services. Additionally, attendees had the valuable opportunity to learn from inspirational keynote speakers who have successfully transitioned from incarceration to leading…

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CA: Large Online Retailer Settles Suit for FCRA Violation

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Source: pre-employ.com An online retailer recently announced it reached an agreement in a California federal court. This agreement ends a lawsuit with a former associate. According to the case, the associate accused the retailer of illegally using information about a past conviction to deny him a full-time job. The online retailer did not detail the terms of the agreement. However, it did file a notice stating that it had agreed to settle the lawsuit under the California Fair Chance Act (FCA). The FCA first took effect in January 2018, intending…

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ACSOL News Alert: Federal Lawsuit Challenges Missouri Halloween Sign Requirement

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A lawsuit was filed in a federal district court this week challenging a state law in Missouri that requires registrants to post a sign on the front door of their home on Halloween.  The plaintiff in the case, Thomas J. Sanderson, was arrested last year for violating that and other requirements of the state law at issue. The basis of the legal challenge is the First Amendment that not only allows citizens to speak but also protects citizens from compelled speech which has been defined as a requirement to utter…

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WA: Portland man arrested in Clark County sting acquitted of child sex abuse in new trial

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Source: columbian.com 10/2/23 A Portland man was acquitted last month after being granted a new trial on appeal, nearly five years after he was convicted in connection with an undercover child sex sting. A Clark County Superior Court jury Sept. 8 acquitted Jace Hambrick, 27, of attempted second-degree rape of a child and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. He was one of several people arrested in February 2017 after responding to an advertisement posted by an interagency task force posing as minors online. In Hambrick’s case, he responded…

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IN: County to increase fees for out-of-county sex offenders

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Source: wkkg.com 10/3/23 Convicted sexual and violent offenders who come in to Bartholomew County to work or for other activities would now pay more to be entered into the county’s sex offender registry under a change being considered by the county commissioners. Under the existing rules those who lived outside Bartholomew County, but travelled here for various activities were only paying $5 annually to be added to the registry, while in-county residents had to pay $50 annually. Read the full article  

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IL: Illinois legislator tells prison agency ‘do your job’ on sex offender notification

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Source: thecentersquare.com 10/3/23 A Republican state legislator says she has no interest in the idea of changing the state’s sex offender notification system that was the subject of a recent audit finding with the Illinois Department of Corrections.  The compliance audit released last week looks at IDOC for two years ending June 30, 2022. In total, there were 46 findings and 40 repeat findings. The findings include a failure to notify victims and local law enforcement after releasing sex offenders, including those who committed a predatory criminal sexual assault of a child,…

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FL: County and municipal codes stricter than state’s may not be enforceable

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Source: mainstreetdailynews.com 9/26/23 The Newberry City Commission is looking for… … Currently, Newberry’s code does not allow sexual offenders to reside within 1,000 feet, and predators 1,500 feet, of a state-defined “protected place,” defined to be schools, childcare facilities, parks, playgrounds and any other gathering place for children.  The city of Williston limits both to live 2,500 feet away from protected places, while state statute limits both sexual offenders and predators to a minimum of 1,000 feet from protected places.  Courtesy city of Newberry Newberry’s existing code-specified 1,500-foot perimeters around…

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WA: State panel in damage control after confusion about eliminating sex offender notifications

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Source: komonews.com 10/2/23 KING COUNTY, Wash. — A state advisory panel is doing damage control after recommendations regarding sex offenders stirred outrage in the community. The recommendations are for community notifications to be eliminated when convicted sex offenders are released from prison and return to society.  … The MPC has found that community notification actually undermines public safety. It also recommends that sex offender registries should be reserved for law enforcement and not be made available to the public. The reasoning is that the attention notifications and registries bring can…

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ACSOL Conference Features Challenge to SORNA Regulations

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ACSOL’s conference will feature a presentation on Sunday, October 15, regarding the pending lawsuit challenging SORNA regulations.  The presentation will be made in person by lead attorney Caleb Kruckenberg of the Pacific Legal Foundation. “Significant progress has already been made in the lawsuit that challenges SORNA regulations,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “Attorney Kruckenberg will share with us at the conference the current status of that case as well as his future plans which could lead to a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.” The SORNA regulations being challenged…

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