R H, Author at ACSOL - Page 100 of 224

FL: As sex offenders around Tampa Bay age, where will they go for nursing care?

June 9, 2022 R H

Source: tampabay.com 6/9/22 John ___ spends his hours in a shed-sized room in St. Petersburg. Wipes, hospital dressing gowns and diapers are stocked haphazardly along narrow wooden shelves. John ’s feet, propped up on a large camel-colored reclining chair where he lies, are cracked and yellow. The recliner engulfs the cramped room, its edges almost touching the walls. A fly flits greedily about his motionless body. “I’m probably going to die here in my house,” he said. John, 75, had a stroke in 2013 that left him partially paralyzed. But…

Federal Lawsuit Claims Former Public Defender Committed Legal Malpractice

June 8, 2022 R H

A lawsuit was filed today in federal district court that claims an attorney formerly employed by the Contra Costa county public defender’s office committed legal malpractice when he recommended that an 18-year-old high school student plead no contest to an allegation of forcible rape that was not supported by physical evidence. That attorney is a current judge in Contra Costa Superior Court. After the student entered that plea, he was released from jail but was required to register as a sex offender for more than 22 years. During that time,…

FL: Martin County sheriff wants to push out registrants who were pushed out of other counties

June 7, 2022 R H

Source: wptv.com 6/7/22 MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — Martin County commissioners Tuesday will consider expanding the distance registered sex offenders in the county have to live from playgrounds, schools and day care centers. Current registered sex offenders living in the county would be grandfathered into the new rule, if it is approved. Sheriff William Snyder is asking the county to change the requirement from 1,000 feet to 2,500 feet away. … “The reason we’re doing that is because we’ve interviewed predators and offenders coming in to register, which they’re required to…

IL: Controversy in Joliet highlights difficulty of housing sex offenders who have completed their sentences

June 6, 2022 R H

Source: chicagotribune.com 6/6/22 At a public meeting in Joliet, residents stood up and spoke out against an apartment building that houses sex offenders in a city neighborhood — with one resident lamenting that she wouldn’t let children play outside unless she was on her lunch break, according to a video taken by an attendee. Other residents, according to accounts of some at the meeting, advocated for violence against the sex offenders, threatening homicide and arson. The heated public meeting Wednesday, which centered around an apartment building that houses about six…

Congress can’t punt its lawmaking responsibility to the attorney general

June 6, 2022 R H

Source: thehill.com 6/6/22 Congress makes the law; you are innocent until proven guilty; and everyone is entitled to due process of law. These are elementary principles of American government that we all learn in grade school. But they are threatened when Congress gives the U.S. attorney general unilateral power to write the criminal laws his office is charged with enforcing. It shouldn’t be controversial to say that someone must not go to prison unless he broke a law written by Congress (or a state legislature). But Attorney General Merrick Garland…

ACSOL June 25, 2022 Meeting

June 5, 2022June 26, 2022 R H

Please join ACSOL Executive Director and civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci as well as ACSOL President and criminal defense attorney Chance Oberstein for our next meeting. The meeting will be held on Saturday, June 25, 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 call in using a Zoom phone number. There is no registration needed for this meeting. You can use the Zoom app to see Janice and Chance and choose to show…

Evangelical Christian zealot Kirk Cameron Claims Public Schools Are ‘Grooming’ Kids For ‘Sexual Chaos’ In Bonkers Video

June 4, 2022 R H

Source: comicsands.com 6/1/22 Getting kids out of public schools is a huge talking point lately. Parents are questioning whether their kids are safe as shootings and other acts of violence have become terrifyingly common. They’re questioning the education they’ll get as many states have embraced policies that mean they don’t actually have to teach the truth because it might make White students “uncomfortable.” They’re questioning whether their kids will get to eat, or maybe end up suffering at their teachers hands. Child actor turned Evangelical Christian zealot Kirk Cameron is…

Emily Horowitz: The Real Monsters – Sex offender registries don’t make us any safer. Abolishing them would.

June 3, 2022 R H

Source: inquest.org 6/3/22 Watching the Senate hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, I was struck by how Republican senators pounced on the judge’s thoughtful, considered, and mainstream sex offense sentencing. My research examines why our sex offense policies are based on fear-driven myths and how excessive criminal-legal responses do not genuinely and effectively address sexual violence — and do create new harm. And at the time, based on this knowledge, I wrote about the spectacle, where politicians like Josh Hawley accused Jackson of “endangering our children” and not…

NY: Don’t ‘discriminate’ against sex offenders, Adelphi University says

June 2, 2022 R H

Source: thecollegefix.com 6/2/22 University urges non-discrimination against racial minorities, people with disabilities and sex offenders A private university in New York told students, faculty and staff to not discriminate against someone based on a history of sexual offenses. A poster at the university, obtained by The College Fix, has a list of categories and a statement that “I will not discriminate.” The poster has the university’s name on it. People should “not discriminate” against someone based on sex, race, disability or religion according to the poster, nor someone’s “sexual offender…

IL: Joliet Officials Attempting To Shut Down Sex Offender Housing Unit

May 31, 2022 R H

Source: patch.com 5/31/22 JOLIET, IL — Joliet city officials on Tuesday announced that they will attempt to eliminate housing for sex offenders in an attempt to minimize the presence of those convicted of sex crimes. … “It is absurd that anyone at any level of government would think (sex offender housing) is a good idea,” O’Dekirk said in a statement issued on Tuesday. “The City’s Legal Department has been instructed to take all appropriate action to shut this down. I believe placing five sex offenders at one location in any…

ME: Lindsey Daggett doesn’t care that residency restrictions don’t work. She wants them for “justice”

May 31, 2022May 31, 2022 R H

Source: bangordailynews.com 5/31/22 Lindsey Daggett was 15 years old when she confided in a family member that she had been sexually abused. The man who had molested her for nine years was her mother’s boyfriend. … A bill to require statewide residency restrictions for offenders of sex crimes against children didn’t go forward in the fall because the Maine Legislature was only considering emergency legislation. If reelected, Sen. Marianne Moore, R-Calais, said she plans to submit the bill again, at Daggett’s urging. … “I was tired of being ashamed and…

Janice’s Journal: The Wheels of Justice are Moving

May 27, 2022 R H

The wheels of justice are moving in California and across the nation. Perhaps the wheels of justice will take us to The Tipping Point where the public will recognize there is no need for registries and that those currently listed on a registry as well as their families will be allowed to lead peaceful and productive lives. In California, a significant lawsuit was filed in federal court this week that challenges the SORNA regulations that became effective earlier this year. The lawsuit includes a request for an injunction which, if…

DE: Proposed sex offender registry legislation doesn’t make communities safer

May 27, 2022 R H

Source: delawareonline.com 5/27/22 House Bill 306 is before the Delaware State Legislature. For the 4,500-plus Delawareans who appear on the state Sex Offender Registry the proposed legislation changes the “Restrictions” designation on the front of their driver’s licenses from the current “Y” to “SO.” The bill retains the words “Sex Offender” that already appear on the back of licenses. HB306 proposes nothing to make the public safer. Delaware drivers licenses use federally compliant standards, and law enforcement technology provides immediate knowledge of a person’s registry status without relying on any specific…

CA: San Jose teen’s death hours after scam is part of troubling increase in ‘sextortion’ cases, FBI says

May 23, 2022May 26, 2022 R H

Source: abc7news.com 5/21/22 SAN JOSE, Calif. — Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts or mental health matters, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 to connect with a trained counselor or visit the NSPL site. Ryan Last received a message on a school night in February from someone he believed to be a girl. Within hours, the 17-year-old, straight-A student and Boy Scout had died by suicide, CNN reported. “Somebody reached out to him pretending to be a girl, and they started…

Southern Baptists Refused to Act on Abuse, Despite Secret List of Pastors

May 23, 2022May 25, 2022 R H

UPDATED 5/24/22: Southern Baptist leaders say they will release list of alleged sex abusers [washingtonpost.com] Source: christianitytoday.com 5/22/22 Armed with a secret list of more than 700 abusive pastors, Southern Baptist leaders chose to protect the denomination from lawsuits rather than protect the people in their churches from further abuse. Survivors, advocates, and some Southern Baptists themselves spent more than 15 years calling for ways to keep sexual predators from moving quietly from one flock to another. The men who controlled the Executive Committee (EC)—which runs day-to-day operations of the…

Eliminating licensing barriers–except for registrants–opens new pathways to economic opportunities

May 22, 2022 R H

Source: oklahoman.com 5/22/22 Amid growing labor shortages, once overlooked barriers to entry are finally getting their due. Today, one of the biggest obstacles to economic opportunity in Oklahoma is occupational licensing, which affects almost one-fifth of the state’s workforce. Worse, many licenses come with hefty requirements. On average, a license for lower- and middle-income occupations forces Oklahomans to complete nearly 400 days of training and experience, pay $234 in fees, and pass two exams. Licensing laws are particularly daunting for people with criminal records, who face a dramatically higher unemployment rate. And without a steady…