Source: salon.com 4/24/24 Most youth who exhibit problematic sexual behavior don’t need punishment. They need help Adult sex offenders are criminals who need to be brought to justice to maintain public safety. But we need to be careful about extending that same principle to children who hurt other kids. Most youth who exhibit problematic sexual behavior don’t need punishment. They need help. It’s time for the public and our legal system to catch up with the growing literature on the causes of such behavior and how to stop it, rather…
Read MoreMonth: April 2024
IL: DOC can’t outright ban parents convicted of sex offenses from speaking on the phone to their children while they are on supervised release
Source: courthousenews.com 4/19/24 CHICAGO — The Seventh Circuit ruled that the Illinois Department of Corrections may not outright ban parents convicted of sex offenses from speaking on the phone to their children while they are on supervised release. The government may implement call monitoring to minimize the risk of abuse as an alternative to the ban. Read the full ruling (click on “Read the ruling here”)
Read MoreQAnon Was Born Out of the Sex Ad Moral Panic That Took Down Backpage.com
Source: theintercept.com 4/27/24 For years, the political establishment opportunistically railed against sex trafficking. Then came Pizzagate. Americans adore a moral panic. During the Red Scare, we believed that Soviet agents were everywhere, having secretly infiltrated all levels of society. In the 1950s, the U.S. government banned switchblades over unfounded fears that we were in the throes of “West Side Story”-style knife violence. The Satanic Panic convinced Americans of the 1980s that absurd claims of ritual abuse and sacrifice were somehow credible. Around the same time, there was “stranger danger” —…
Read MorePolice Officers Cannot Violate The Fourth Amendment Law
Source: theopinionpages.com 4/25/24 It is a felony and a federal crime to impersonate someone else and intercept private communications intended for them, 18 U.S. Code § 2511. There is no exception for police, and no exception if written permission is obtained. Yet impersonating others online is the basis for police sting operations across the country. Law enforcement must be able to investigate criminal activity, but they cannot commit their own crimes while doing so. It is now customary for officers to violate Fourth Amendment law, and it is happening more…
Read MoreLouisiana Residents Emergency 4/28 Call to Action (CTA): fight bills HB 166 (forced vasectomy) and SB 371 (forced surgical castration)
Source of the email ACSOL received: UV4SOR.org (contact@uv4sor.org) Fellow Advocates, We have an Emergency Call to Action (CTA) and need your voice to oppose HB 166 (forced vasectomy) and SB 371 (forced surgical castration) currently before the Louisiana Legislature. We are doing both bills together as one CTA in the interest of time and the similarities (and heinous nature) of these 2 bills. The Senate and House Reconvene Monday at 1:00 PM CDT, so we need your response to be sitting in their inboxes or on their voicemails by 4/29…
Read MoreSextortion: A Growing Crime Against Men
Source: psychologytoday.com 12/30/23 Men are being targeted for sextortion at increased rates in the U.S. and beyond. Key points Sextortion is a form of image-based sexual abuse that is growing nationwide. During COVID-19, men experienced higher rates of sextortion than women. Sextortion has negative psychological, physical, and social consequences for victims. “And then all of a sudden I got messages late at night with all sorts of threats” said Alex. “Um, things about sharing [intimate] photos about the things we had. And threatening me.” Alex continued “Depression set in. I…
Read MoreMN: Study: Minnesota’s sex offender civil commitment system is ‘failed investment’
Source: startribune.com 4/24/24 The state is spending more than $110 million this year on a sex offender program that locks up about 730 people. A new report calls for an end to the 30-year-old system. Minnesota involuntarily commits more people for sex offenses than anywhere else in the nation per capita, but authors of a new report say the more than $100 million-a-year program fails to meaningfully address sexual violence or recognize the humanity of those it locks up. Twenty states civilly commit sex offenders. Among those, Minnesota is “notorious”…
Read MoreAsk Amy: I discovered my neighbor is a sexual offender. Should I tell the neighborhood?
Source: cleveland.com 4/26/24 Dear Amy: I have a neighbor who was previously convicted of a sexual offense involving a “child.” He served time in jail. I don’t know the exact circumstances, but I do understand that the term “child” may include a person as young as an infant and as old as a teenager. The sexual offender is married with two young children. I know that he and his wife want to keep his history private. However, the other neighbors around where I live are not aware of the situation…
Read MoreCountry Music Star Jimmie Allen Says He Contemplated Suicide Following Sexual Abuse Allegations
Source: hollywoodreporter.com 4/24/24 Jimmie Allen revealed he contemplated suicide following the sexual abuse allegations against him last year as a way to financially provide for his family. In May 2023, the country music artist’s former manager, identified only as Jane Doe, alleged he raped and sexually abused her several times. In a statement released at the time, Allen claimed the two had a consensual sexual relationship that lasted for two years. “It is deeply troubling and hurtful that someone I counted as one of my closest friends, colleagues and confidants would make allegations…
Read MoreResource: Fact Checked by Woodhull to counter harmful misinformation about sex and sexuality
Source: woodhullfoundation.org 4/25/24 WOODHULL INITIATIVE FACT CHECKS S*X MYTHS AND MISINFORMATION WITH ANALYSIS AND DATA (Washington, DC, April 25, 2024) The Woodhull Freedom Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting sexual rights as human rights, is leading the charge to counter harmful misinformation about sex and sexuality that is rampant both on social media and in our political discourse. Woodhull’s newly launched Fact Checked by Woodhull program uses peer-reviewed research, compiled and analyzed by professional researchers, to debunk myths weaponized to justify the repression of sex, sexuality, and gender expression. The first set…
Read MoreWI: Seventh Circuit considers challenges to Wisconsin sex offender laws
Source: courthousenews.com 4/18/24 One case challenged who gets defined as a sex offender, while another raised questions about where sex offenders can feasibly live while on supervised release. MADISON, Wis. (CN) — The Badger State’s sex offender laws faced scrutiny on Thursday, with a Seventh Circuit panel hearing back-to-back arguments against them in the state capital. The first two cases of the day were brought by people listed on the Wisconsin sex offender registry. Plaintiffs in both cases argued — through the same attorney but for very different reasons…
Read MoreThe American Kennel Club’s pedophile problem
Source: Business Insider 4/24/24 [ACSOL is posting this to show pedophile hysteria in the media] The girl was 14 and attending a Dallas dog show. She and her family were talking to a prominent handler and longtime family friend, Adam Wilkerson, 31, when he asked her to help him get coffee for the group. Instead, he brought her to an empty hall closet and instructed her to touch his exposed penis. She began working as Wilkerson’s assistant a few months later. She’d been showing dogs since she was a toddler,…
Read MoreCA: Dozens arrested in Sacramento County child sex crimes sting operation
Source: kcra.com 4/22/24 One suspect was a San Jose fire captain, another was a Sunday school teacher and one was a US postal service employee SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. —Two dozen men were arrested in a three-day sting operation in Sacramento County, according to the sheriff’s office. The operation was aimed at finding people setting up meetings with children under the age of 13 with the intention of having sex with them. The sheriff’s office said the suspects range from men in their 20s to 70s. Officials said several of the…
Read MoreNew Title IX Rules Erase Campus Due Process Protections
Source: reason.com 4/19/24 The new rules allow students to be found guilty of assaulting a classmate without ever seeing the full evidence against them. On Friday, the Biden administration unveiled final Title IX regulations, nearly two years after the administration proposed dramatic changes to how colleges handle sexual assault allegations. The new rules largely mirror proposed regulations released last year and will effectively reversing Trump-era due process reforms. According to the final regulations, accused students will lose their right to a guaranteed live hearing with the opportunity to have a…
Read MoreACSOL Online Meeting May 18, 2024
You are invited to join ACSOL Executive Director and civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci and an ACSOL board member for our next meeting. The meeting will be held on Saturday May 18 online 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 you can call in using a Zoom phone number. There is no registration needed for this meeting. No government officials are allowed to attend the meetings. This meeting will be recorded [FOR TECHNICAL…
Read MoreNY: Concerned Watertown mom wants increased residency restrictions
Source: thedailynewsonline.com 4/19/24 WATERTOWN — A mother of a 4-year-old boy had no idea that a registered sex offender who was convicted of sexually abusing three children was living next to her and across the street from a home day care business. The young mother, Sierra Penrose, is now working on reviving a state Senate bill that would prohibit sex offenders from living near such daycares. The bill, which was first proposed a decade ago, hasn’t gained traction, even though it’s been reintroduced several times. The proposed legislation would…
Read MoreCA: Gov. Newsom signals support for bill targeting consumers of child sex trafficking industry
Source: kcra.com 4/18/24 SACRAMENTO, Calif. —Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signaled his support for a proposal targeting the consumers of child sex trafficking in California, but he suggested he has concerns about changes that were abruptly made to the proposal this week. “I look forward to getting this bill on my desk in a way that I’ll sign it, but we have some work to do,” Newsom said in a virtual news conference Thursday in response to KCRA 3’s question on the proposal. Republican State Senator Shannon Grove introduced the…
Read MoreCA: Bill to make purchasing children for sex a felony in California moves forward, but with some changes
Source: kcra.com 4/16/24 SACRAMENTO, Calif. —A key California Senate committee on Tuesday moved forward with a proposal to make purchasing a child for sex a felony in the state, but it was not necessarily a smooth process for the bill’s author. Because of that, it raises new questions about the future of the proposal. Democratic committee members forced Republican author State Sen. Shannon Grove to make changes to Senate Bill 1414 to only allow the felony classification for the purchase of minors under the age of 16. The Senate Public…
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