Author: R H

FL: ‘Literally nowhere else they can go’: Homeless camp shutdown leaves people with few options

R H

Source: floridatoday.com 12/9/21 Joshua Werbicki has made a home in the woods at 4820 Highway 192 near Melbourne. His driver’s license lists the campsite as his permanent residence. The GPS monitor he must wear as part of his probation requires him to stay at the camp at night. But Werbicki and approximately 12 others say they were told the property owner now wants the site bulldozed this week. They said they were originally given until 8 a.m. Wednesday to vacate by the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office. At least seven of them have GPS…

Read More

New Zealand: Prison would be ‘utterly disastrous’ for man caught with child exploitation images, judge says

R H

Source: stuff.co.nz 12/9/21 A man who dumped a laptop on which he downloaded thousands of child exploitation images has avoided jail after a judge said it would not surprise him if the defendant “did not survive a sentence of imprisonment”. Jasper James Gallacher​ ____, 30, was sentenced to six months’ community detention, along with two years of intensive supervision, in the Christchurch District Court on Thursday. Read the full article  

Read More

Pakistan: Supreme Court says Child pornography suspects do not deserve bail

R H

Source: geo.tv 11/27/21 Rejecting the bail application of a suspect Saturday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan stated that people involved in spreading child pornography videos on social media do not deserve bail. “The trial court must announce the verdict in the case against the suspect soon,” ordered the Supreme Court. Read the full article  

Read More

IA: Iowa Supreme Court says State has ‘no duty’ to end what sex offenders call ‘silent mandatory minimum’

R H

Source: desmoinesregister.com 12/7/21 Do prisoners have a right to be paroled? And if so, do they have a right to access programming required to be eligible for parole? As a new decision from the Iowa Supreme Court shows, there’s no easy answer to either question. The court’s ruling, issued before Thanksgiving, denied an effort by seven Iowa prisoners to challenge what they described in court filings as a “Catch-22” that forces some inmates to wait far longer than others to complete their sentences. The issue before the court involved Iowa’s…

Read More

Janice’s Journal: 23 Years of Registration For a Rape That Didn’t Happen

R H

What if I told you that I know a man who spent 23 years on the registry for a rape that didn’t happen?  Your first instinct might be to deny that could occur.  After all, there are safeguards in the criminal justice system that should not allow it. First, the police must have evidence in order to arrest a man.  Second, the prosecutors must have evidence in order to try him.  Third, the public defenders must provide the man with sound legal advice regarding whether or not to enter a…

Read More

FL: Florida Supreme Court makes it risky for a defendant to tell a judge ‘I’m innocent’

R H

Source: floridabulldog.org 12/7/21 The Florida Supreme Court is sending this message to criminal defendants: If you think you were wrongly convicted, keep it to yourself. Ignoring long-standing law, the justices decided that when defendants dare to dispute their guilt instead of owning the crime, state trial judges may pile on extra prison time. The court ruled last Thursday in the case of Alvin Davis, a 43-year-old black man with a lengthy rap sheet that includes convictions for attempted murder, robbery and aggravated battery with a deadly weapon. After a jury…

Read More

FL: Sex offender freed from prison moves in near family pool in The Villages!

R H

Source: villages-news.com 12/4/21 A 60-year-old sex offender released last month from a Florida prison has moved in with his mother near a family swimming pool in The Villages. Edward ______ was released Nov. 25 from a state prison. He has registered a permanent address at 1312 La Estrellita Way in the Village of Santiago, not far from the El Santiago swimming pool and recreation center, according to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Read the full article  

Read More

LA: Lutcher Man Charged with Failure to Report International Travel as a Sex Offender

R H

Source: justice.gov 12/3/21 NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane A. Evans announced that WILLIE ______, age 56, was charged on Friday, December 3, 2021, by grand jury indictment with two counts of failure to report international travel as a sex offender under the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). If convicted, WILLIE ______ faces a maximum term of 10 years in prison, up to a $250,000.00 fine, a term of supervised release of between 5 years and life, and a $100 mandatory special assessment fee. Read the full…

Read More

TN: To end retroactive punishment, a judge has ordered the removal of eight men from the sex offender registry

R H

Source: washingtonnewsday.com 12/4/21 To end retroactive punishment, a judge has ordered the removal of eight men from the sex offender registry. To stop their retroactive sanctions, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger ordered the removal of eight individuals from the sex offender list. In her order on Friday, Trauger said, “Tennessee officials continue to defy the Constitution’s guarantees.” “The same analysis applies… to Tennessee’s own, very comparable scheme and practices, according to federal district courts in this state. Officials in Tennessee have continued to apply the state’s long-held-to-be-illegal policy on others…

Read More

CA: Number of Petitions Granted Continues to Grow

R H

Source: ACSOL Contra Costa County today granted the first petition under its consideration.  The petition was submitted on behalf of a registrant convicted of PC 288(a) about 25 years ago who had successfully registered for more than 20 years.  Prior to today’s hearing, the relevant registration office determined that the registrant was eligible to submit his petition.  During today’s hearing, the District Attorney’s office stated it had no objection to the petition being granted. “Today was a great day not only for the registrant whose requirement to register has been…

Read More

CIA Files Say Staffers Committed Sex Crimes Involving Children. They Weren’t Prosecuted.

R H

Source: buzzfeednews.com 12/1/21 Declassified CIA inspector general reports show a pattern of abuse and a repeated decision by federal prosecutors not to hold agency personnel accountable. Over the past 14 years, the Central Intelligence Agency has secretly amassed credible evidence that at least 10 of its employees and contractors committed sexual crimes involving children. Though most of these cases were referred to US attorneys for prosecution, only one of the individuals was ever charged with a crime. Prosecutors sent the rest of the cases back to the CIA to handle…

Read More

NY: Author Alice Sebold apologizes to man cleared in 1981 rape

R H

Source: local10.com 11/30/21 Author Alice Sebold publicly apologized Tuesday to the man who was exonerated last week in the 1981 rape that was the basis for her memoir “Lucky” and said she was struggling with the role she played “within a system that sent an innocent man to jail.” Anthony Broadwater, 61, was convicted in 1982 of raping Sebold when she was a student at Syracuse University. He served 16 years in prison. His conviction was overturned Nov. 22 after prosecutors reexamined the case and determined there were serious flaws…

Read More

Pakistan: “Chemical Castration” for Sex Offenders has flaws

R H

Source: dailytimes.com.pk 12/1/21 There have been growing calls for tougher punishment against sexual offenders and stronger preventive measures in the aftermath of a series of violent crimes victimizing women and children. Recently, a Cabinet meeting approved a revised bill, under which a clause providing for “chemical castration” of habitual rapists had been removed from the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2021, in the light of objections raised by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII). Using hormonal drugs to reduce sexual violence recidivism is known as chemical castration. The first reported attempt…

Read More

FL: Guaranteed income program breaks down barriers for formerly incarcerated [including registrants!]

R H

Source: alligator.org 11/22/21 Community Spring fellows believe a criminal sentence shouldn’t impact lives after people serve their time. The nonprofit organization, which is known for breaking down structural poverty and supporting low-income people through monetary support, is running Just Income GNV. The privately funded pilot program, designed by formerly incarcerated individuals, assists formerly incarcerated people re-enter society with a guaranteed income. Community Spring hires fellows, specifically those who have been impacted by poverty, to identify systemic forces that spur further economic difficulties. The 2020-2021 fellowship class created the Just Income…

Read More

Man Imprisoned for 16 Years for Raping Lovely Bones Author Is Exonerated

R H

Source: Emily Horowitz – reason.com – 11/29/21 Anthony Broadwater, now 61, had no idea his accuser achieved fame and fortune while he has been living as a pariah for over 20 years on the sex offender registry. Alice Sebold’s bestselling 1999 memoir Lucky tells the story of a young woman raped by a stranger while attending Syracuse University. In the book, the rapist is caught and convicted. After writing about the experience, Sebold went on to write the bestseller The Lovely Bones, a fictional account of a teenage girl raped…

Read More

UK: Town is shocked to find that hundreds of registered sex offenders are living among us

R H

Source: wigantoday.net 11/26/21 Police forces, probation services and other government agencies keep tabs on dangerous criminals in communities across England and Wales using management plans known as multi-agency public protection (MMAPPA) arrangement. Ministry of Justice data shows 3,662 people convicted of sex crimes were being managed under MAPPAs in the Greater Manchester policing area at the end of March. … But the figures show that sex offenders were cautioned or convicted more than 1,640 times for breaching notification requirements in 2020-21 – 184 of the breaches were recorded in Greater…

Read More

VA: Virginia professor to step down after backlash to research on ‘minor-attracted’ people

R H

Source: nbcnews.com 11/24/21 An academic in Virginia whose research on “minor-attracted people” sparked threats and a petition calling for their removal announced their resignation Wednesday, university officials and the scholar said in a joint statement. Allyn Walker will remain on leave until they step down as an assistant professor of criminal justice and sociology at Old Dominion University in May. “We have concluded that this outcome is the best way to move forward,” university President Brian Hemphill said in the statement. He added that he hoped the move will help…

Read More