U.S. Sentencing Commission Seeks Comment On Proposals Addressing The Impact Of Acquitted Conduct, Youthful Convictions, And Other Issues

WASHINGTON, D.C. ― Today the U.S. Sentencing Commission voted to seek comment on several proposals that would, among other things, limit the federal courts’ consideration of acquitted conduct and youthful convictions under the federal sentencing guidelines. The bipartisan Commission voted today to publish for public comment several options to address the use of acquitted conduct for sentencing purposes. The proposed amendment comes after the Commission took up the issue during last year’s abbreviated amendment cycle but determined that more time and public comment was needed before promulgating amendments. The U.S. Supreme Court…

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OH: Ohio prosecutors broke rules to win convictions and got away with it

Source: npr.org 12/14/23 Ernie Haynes never imagined that taking care of his three grandsons after his daughter’s drug overdose death would turn him into a felon at the hands of a longtime Ohio prosecutor known to sidestep the rules intended to protect a defendant’s rights in criminal trials. A week after his daughter died in December 2017, the court granted temporary custody of the children to their biological father, a man Haynes said also struggled with drug addiction. When Haynes refused to give up his grandchildren, Wood County authorities arrested…

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U.S. Probation System a “Quagmire” That Sets Defendants Up to Fail

Source: prisonlegalnews.org 11/15/23 An article published in Reason on January 26, 2023, cited numerous problems in probation systems nationwide, describing them as a “quagmire.” For the article, the magazine, a publication of the Libertarian California-based Reason Foundation, profiled Jennifer Schroeder, who was handed a drug charge in Minnesota and ended up placed on probation for 40 years. There she joined over three million Americans who were on probation at the end of 2020, according to the federal Bureau of Justice Statistics. That’s over half the total number of people under…

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3 Myths About Hiring People with Criminal Records

Source: hbr.org 12/13/2023 Summary.    Research suggests that generalized fears about hiring people with a criminal history — such as fear they’ll commit another crime — are tough to square with the facts. An expansion of what’s often called “second-chance” or…Employers are desperate to recruit hundreds of thousands of workers who seemingly have vanished from the workforce. People with criminal histories represent a large pool of labor that could fill the gap. So why aren’t more managers hiring them?   We consistently hear of several fears: Fear the person will commit…

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CA Court Denies Government’s Demurrer

Source: ACSOL A judge in Los Angeles Superior Court today denied a demurrer filed by the government in a case that challenges CDCR’s blanket policy that requires all registrants on parole to continue treatment the entire time they are on parole.  Treatment includes group counseling, individual counseling and/or polygraph examinations. According to the lawsuit, CDCR’s policy is in violation of state law because that law requires CDCR to assess on a case-by-case basis whether a registrant requires more than one year of treatment.  The state law also allows superior court…

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Report: “Mass Supervision” Driving Mass Incarceration

Source: prisonlegalnews.org 11/15/23 A May 2023 report by Prison Policy Initiative (PPI) counts nearly 3.7 million Americans on probation or parole – nearly twice the nation’s total imprisoned population. This “mass supervision” brings the total number under control of the nation’s criminal justice system to about 5.5 million people – over 2,100 of every 100,000 citizens aged 18 and over. While touted as alternatives to incarceration, probation and parole do not operate apart from it – in fact, they often end up driving it. Violations of probation and parole accounted…

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US DOJ SMART Office SORNA Case Law Study 2023 revisited

Source: Florida Action Committee and US DOJ 12/10/23 The US DOJ updates this publication each July.  Previous year’s issues have been written up.  Even if covered already, please find a reminder to take a look at this document.  Recent case decisions and the anticipation of potential new case activity are good reasons to revisit this publication.   The document does a fair job of compiling and organizing case law.  It helps seeing cases listed by federal district and state.  Relevant topics are also included.  Some search functions can be done, but…

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UK accuses Meta of empowering child sexual abusers with encryption rollout

Source: theguardian.com 12/7/23 Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta has been accused by the UK government of empowering child sexual abusers after the tech firm began rolling out the automatic encryption of all messages on its Facebook and Messenger platforms. The home secretary, James Cleverly, described the move as a “significant step back” for child safety after Meta said it would introduce end-to-end encryption on the apps. The move means that only the sender and receiver of messages on the platforms will be able to access their content.   Cleverly said: “Law enforcement,…

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IL: Sex offenders on probation challenge Illinois policy on contact with children

Source: courthousenews.com 12/7/23 The parolees complain they have to wait months or more before a therapist deems them fit to see their own children — and can’t even speak to them by phone before then. CHICAGO (CN) ­­— Sex offenders on supervised release argued before a Seventh Circuit panel Thursday that Illinois’ policy limiting when they can see their children is unconstitutional and should be overturned. The parolees filed a class action against the Illinois Department of Corrections in 2018 over a policy that forbade sex offenders from contacting their…

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TN: Tennessee argues to reinstate sex offender registry requirements at Sixth Circuit

Source: courthousenews.com 12/7/23 CINCINNATI (CN) — Reporting requirements for sex offenders convicted before 1995, which can include in-person reporting, administrative fees and movement restrictions, do not violate the ex post facto clause of the U.S. Constitution, the Volunteer State argued Thursday at a federal appeals court. The state sought to overturn the ruling of a federal judge who found the exhaustive regulations punitive in nature when applied to individuals convicted before the registration system was established. A class of convicted sex offenders filed suit in 2021 and claimed the onerous…

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The government is launching a review of the porn industry – here’s what that means

Source: cosmopolitan.com 12/8/23 The porn industry is to be scrutinised as part of a government review that hopes to tackle abuse, exploitation, and the harmful impact of pornography, it has been announced. From human trafficking to illegal pornography and questions around age limitations when it comes to accessing to graphic content, efforts into how to tackle the dangers associated with the online sex industry has been something women’s charities have long been calling for. The Pornography Review, which has been announced by the government on 1 December, follows the passing…

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AL: Warning from father of teen who took his own life after being sextorted online

Source: wbrc.com 10/4/23 BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) – A grieving dad is hoping the story of his son’s loss and traumatic last few hours can be a warning to us as parents of teens, and prevent another tragedy like the one his family is now enduring. “Coming up on that one-year anniversary, it’s another day, that’s all it is, another day, but that day will be difficult, it will be hard,” says Brian Montgomery, a father whose life changed completely, and with no warning, one year ago. “It was a normal…

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UK: Behind the Crime: The Silent Suffering of a Sex Offender’s Family

Source: bnn.network 12/4/23 On a day that was meant to usher in a joyous celebration, a mother named Sarah found her world crumbling. Her husband, the father of her children, was arrested in a police raid on charges of involvement in child sexual abuse material. The chilling discovery of hundreds of illegal images, including Category A content, the most egregious forms of child pornography, was made on her husband’s computer. This event, occurring a day before her son’s birthday, left an indelible imprint on Sarah’s life and her family’s future.…

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IA: Prisoner advocates feel more hopeless after sex offense civil commitment presentation

Source: newtondailynews.com 12/5/23 Families and advocates of incarcerated individuals at Newton Correctional Facility had been waiting months for the Iowa Board of Corrections to provide some semblance of an answer to their questions regarding the state’s civil commitment program. It was finally put on the agenda. Open for all to see. Although the department of corrections and its board members acknowledged their concerns, advocates left the meeting last month feeling hopeless. Despite a presentation about the sex offender civil commitment referral process from its program manager, Ken Pirc, those in…

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OH: LGBTQ+ advocates worried about vague language in Ohio’s new ‘grooming’ bill

Source: ohiocapitaljournal.com 12/4/23 A new bill in the Ohio House aiming to punish sexual grooming may have vague enough language that it harms LGBTQ+ youth, some advocates worry. Community is essential for many LGBTQ+ teens. Kaleidoscope Youth Center (KYC) aims to provide that by holding educational programming and discussion groups. “They’re looking for those mentorship-type relationships that all of us need,” said Erin Upchurch, KYC executive director. But now, Upchurch fears a new bill in the Ohio House may target her organization. “The whole idea of it being so vague —…

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The Disturbing True Story Behind the Movie “May December”

Source: menshealth.com 12/3/23 Todd Haynes’ new film May December stars Julianne Moore and Charles Melton as a married couple with a complicated history (to say the least), and Natalie Portman as an actress who inserts themselves into their lives while preparing to perform in a movie about the beginning of their relationship. The detail which makes this marriage so unusual, and which drives much of the deeply unsettling dynamics throughout the film, is the fact that Moore’s character Gracie met her now-husband, Joe, when she was 36 and he was…

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FL: V.M. Ybor residents get little help with sex offender problem

Source: wfla.com 12/1/23 TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — The residents of V.M. Ybor have been coming to Tampa City Council for years to ask that something be done about a high concentration of convicted sex offenders living in their neighborhood. On Thursday, the city council held a workshop to talk about the issue, but the results were not what residents were hoping for. “Would that make any of you feel safe having 72 of these harmful individuals living within a quarter mile of your house?” V.M. Ybor resident Kelly Grimsdale asked…

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