Year: 2023

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

R H

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…

Read More

ACSOL Conference Features Challenge to SORNA Regulations

R H

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…

Read More

MT: Montana decision that Sexual or Violent Offender Registration Act (SVORA) is punitive and cannot be applied retroactively

R H

Source: law.justia.com 6/14/23 The THE STATE OF MONTANA Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court denying Defendant’s motion to dismiss the State’s felony charge against him for failure to register as a sexual offender, holding that the Sexual or Violent Offender Registration Act (SVORA), as amended since 2007, was punitive in nature. Defendant was convicted of sexual assault in 1994 and served and discharged his sentence. At the time, SVORA, known then as Montana’s Sexual offender Registration Act, required Defendant to maintain registration for ten years. When the legislature amended…

Read More

MI: Police arrest 2 men in killing of Pontiac man known for fooling sexual predators Kylie Martin Detroit Free Press

R H

Source: freep.com 9/30/23 Police have arrested two men in the Friday killing of a 40-year-old Pontiac man who often posed as a minor on social media in attempts to catch sexual predators. Robert Wayne Lee, who ran a popular Facebook page with 11,000 followers using the moniker “Boopac Shakur,” confronted two males, ages 17 and 18, seated in a Pontiac restaurant near the corner of North Perry and MLK Boulevard about 10:30 p.m. Friday, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s office. Lee accused one of the men of being a…

Read More

WA: Washington panel considers outlawing community notification of sex offenders

R H

Source: thecentersquare.com 9/28/23 (The Center Square) – Earlier this year, a decision to house convicted sex offenders in cities such as Enumclaw without notifying the community drew outrage from local residents. Now, the State Sex Offender Policy Board is considering recommendations to the Legislature that could include making it illegal to notify communities when a sex offender moves into the area on the grounds that such policies undermine public safety. Created in 2008, the Sex Offender Policy Board is composed of 13 members appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee. Its role…

Read More

Exceptional Punishments No one should be made to give up their rights in exchange for being spared from prison.

webmaster

By Kate Weisburd  The same scene unfolds in criminal courtrooms across the country every day. After someone has been found guilty by a jury or pled guilty, a judge imposes a sentence. The judge sometimes sentences them to prison, but often the judge sends them to a halfway house, treatment program, or other form of court supervision outside of prison. As punishments, these non-prison sentences involve a litany of rules and restrictions that strip people of basic constitutional rights. Over the years, I have collected and analyzed hundreds of public records containing…

Read More

The Evolving Landscape of Administrative Law [including SORNA]

R H

Source: jdsupra.com 9/25/23 Shay Dvoretzky, Emily Kennedy Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP+ Follow Contact Key Points The U.S. Supreme Court’s October 2023 term may bring fundamental changes to administrative law, including by possibly overruling Chevron. Decisions in recent years demonstrate the Court’s skepticism of administrative power and increasing willingness to question government regulation. New limits on agency power may create opportunities for businesses to challenge unfavorable regulations, but they also may open the door to attacks on long-standing rules that businesses find helpful and predictable. One of the…

Read More

FL: Death penalty in child rapes among new Florida laws soon to take effect

R H

Source: orlandosentinel.com 9/26/23 A new law that could lead to imposing the death penalty on people who rape children under age 12 will take effect Sunday, along with other laws passed during the 2023 legislative session. Other measures taking effect could lead to putting local governments on the hook for attorney fees when ordinances are deemed “arbitrary or unreasonable;” increase penalties on fans who interfere with sporting events; and require teens to at least have learner’s permits to drive golf carts on public roads. The laws passed during the legislative…

Read More

Edinburgh, Scotland: Man who raped girl, 13, appeals conviction

webmaster

A rapist given community service after attacking a 13-year-old girl says he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice. Lawyers for Sean Hogg, 21, told the appeal court that the judge misdirected the jury during his trial and the conviction should be quashed. Hogg was found guilty of attacking his young victim multiple times in Dalkeith Country Park in 2018, when he was 17. He avoided prison after judge Lord Lake consulted Scotland’s new sentencing guidelines for people aged under 25. Donald Findlay KC told the Court of Criminal Appeal…

Read More

Utah judge orders trial for registered sex offender charged with failing to disclose HOA presidency

webmaster

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A Utah County judge ordered a convicted child sex offender who is required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life to stand trial on charges he failed to disclose he was president of his homeowner’s association. 2News Investigates has been reporting on Paul Bryant for almost two years now. In 2016 Bryant took a plea deal and was convicted of three first-degree felonies for attempted aggravated sexual abuse of his adopted children. A few years after he was released from jail…

Read More

SCOTUS: Florida man subject to lifetime sex-offender registration requirements argues that he is “in custody” for purposes of federal post-conviction laws

webmaster

By Kalvis Golde The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here.   A person held in state prison can challenge the constitutionality of their criminal conviction in federal court through a legal tool known as a writ of habeas corpus. Habeas relief is available to anyone “in custody,” which the Supreme Court has interpreted to mean not only physical confinement but also other restrictions such as parole and release pending trial. This week, we…

Read More

Charleston sex offender sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison after sting arrest

webmaster

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- A Charleston man has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison following a fall 2020 arrest for explicit conservations with an undercover police officer he thought was a teenage boy. Therence Jamison, 58, was sentenced after pleading guilty to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. According to prosecutors, Jamison — who is a registered sex offender — exchanged sexually explicit messages with whom he believed to be a 14-year-old boy on an online dating app. In November 2020, Jamison arranged to meet the boy at…

Read More

Janice’s Journal: The Glass Is Half Full

R H

Is the glass half empty or is the glass half full?  It’s a question many have asked when they believe not all of their needs or desires have been met.  The answer to that question often depends upon whether the person who asked it is an optimist or a pessimist. I am an optimist and I declare that the glass is half full.  That is, the California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) has approved two proposed changes identified by the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) and CASOMB plans…

Read More

CASOMB Recommends Tier Reductions!

R H

The California Sex Offender Management Board (CASOMB) today approved two tier reductions that would benefit thousands of individuals convicted of either felony possession of child pornography or lewd or lascivious acts with a person 14 or 15 years old.  CASOMB is expected to share the news of its approvals with the state legislature later this calendar year.  The changes will not become law, however, until the legislature passes a bill that includes CASOMB’s approvals. Specifically, CASOMB today approved the reduction from Tier 3, the highest tier, to Tier 1, the…

Read More

OH: 2 police officers being investigated after telling a father his 11-year-old daughter could face child porn charges for sending images to a man online

R H

Source: cnn.com 9/21/23 The police chief in Columbus, Ohio, is condemning an incident in which two officers told a father his 11-year-old daughter could face child porn charges for sending images to a man online. Chief Elaine Bryant said as soon as the department learned of the incident, captured on doorbell camera video, it “immediately reached out to the father to apologize, and to assure him that this matter was being fully investigated – both the actions of this officer, and more importantly, any crime committed against his child.” Bryant…

Read More

VA: Parents demand removal of Chesapeake PTA president, citing sex-offender spouse

R H

Source: 13newsnow.com 9/20/23 CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Concerned parents in Chesapeake are sounding the alarm about a registered sex offender they say is married to a local PTA president and has attended at least one school-related event. In an email sent to 13News Now and an online petition signed by more than 200 people, parents of students at Greenbrier primary and intermediate schools are lobbying for the removal of their Parent Teacher Association president. The petition, which was created on Change.org September 12, alleges the PTA president is married to a…

Read More

CA: Gavin Newsom Can Sign a Bill to End Price-Gouging in California Prisons

R H

Source: theappeal.org 9/18/23 California prison canteens currently sell essential items—such as snacks and medication—at a markup of between 65 and 200 percent.   With just one signature, California Governor Gavin Newsom can significantly curtail the state’s long-standing practice of price-gouging imprisoned people for vital items like toothbrushes or deodorant. Last week, the Basic Affordable Supplies for Incarcerated Californians Act, or the BASIC Act, overwhelmingly passed the state Senate and Assembly. The bill is now with the governor, who has until October 14 to sign it. If signed into law, the…

Read More