Author: R H

U.K. expands ‘Turing’s Law’ to pardon past same-sex convictions

R H

Source: nbcnews.com 1/5/22 In a long-awaited triumph for the U.K.’s LGBTQ community, the government on Tuesday announced that anyone convicted of consensual same-sex activity under now-defunct laws will soon be eligible to be pardoned and have their records wiped clean.  This week’s announcement follows a less-expansive 2017 measure that was limited to nine former offenses that targeted gay and bisexual men. The new amendment will widen the criteria to anyone officially warned or convicted for an abolished civil or military offense that was imposed due to consensual gay sex.  British…

Read More

Canada: Opinion: Quick-fix laws following horrific crimes are seldom effective

R H

Source: edmontonjournal.com 1/4/22 On Sept. 17, 2021, Mchale Busch, 24, and her son, Noah were tragically confirmed dead. The accused, Robert Keith Major, 53, is facing two charges of first-degree murder and two counts of indignity to human remains. In response, Cody McConnell, Busch’s partner and Noah’s father, and his family are calling for changes to Alberta’s Personal Information Protection Act to allow a landlord the ability to ask for consent to collect personal information. This would allow tenants to know if there is a registered sex offender in their…

Read More

ID: Sex offender freed after appeal

R H

Source: cdapress.com 1/4/22 COEUR d’ALENE — A man previously convicted of sexually abusing two children is free after the Idaho Supreme Court ruled that he was deprived of his right to a fair trial. A jury convicted 39-year-old Robert J. Farrell-Quigle in 2018 of two counts of lewd conduct with a minor under the age of 16, a felony punishable by up to life in prison. First District Judge John Luster sentenced Farrell-Quigle to 25 years in prison, with 12 years fixed and 13 years indeterminate. That meant Farrell-Quigle would…

Read More

ALI Leaders to Consider Revised Model Penal Code

R H

Source: ACSOL The leadership of the American Law Institute is scheduled to consider during its meeting on January 20 and January 21 the revised model penal code approved overwhelmingly by its members in June 2021.  The revised model penal code includes recommendations that state penal codes be changed in a number of ways, including but not limited to, reducing the number of sex offenses that require registration, limiting registration to a maximum of 15 years, and making the registry available only to law enforcement. After ALI members voted in favor…

Read More

SC: It’s 2022 and these gay men are still on the sex offender registry for consensual sex

R H

Source: queerty.com 1/3/22 A lawsuit filed last month revealed that at least 19 people are still required to register as sex offenders due to past convictions under South Carolina’s “buggery” law for having consensual gay sex. The SC law, along with other states’ anti-sodomy laws, were made invalid in 2003, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas’ anti-sodomy law was unconstitutional. While pardons were granted for those targeted by the laws, the convictions still require them to remain on the sex offenders list in South Carolina and two other…

Read More

FL: Homeless offenders in Brevard County struggle to find resources and shelter

R H

Source: floridatoday.com 1/3/22 Jason ____ is sitting in Brevard County Jail waiting to appear before a judge on a charge of violating parole. He’d rather be anywhere else, but the reality is he’s not wanted many other places. A charge against him made in 1998 at 15 years old, of which he was convicted in 2000, has marked him as a sex offender. He is one of 735 registered sex offenders in Brevard County, according to statistics from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. That status makes Jason something of a…

Read More

VA: Professor’s redefinition of pedophilia could help offenders demand rights

R H

Source: nypost.com 1/1/22 On Nov. 8, Old Dominion sociology and criminology professor Allyn Walker gave an interview in which he asserted the need to destigmatize pedophiles by redefining them as “minor-attracted persons” (MAPs). Walker stated, “We have a tendency to want to categorize people with these attractions as evil or morally corrupt,” and that when people “hear the term ‘pedophile,’ they automatically assume that it means a sex offender, and that isn’t true.” Shortly after this interview, students at Old Dominion protested over the professor’s attempt to obfuscate the nature…

Read More

IL: Changes will deny probation for some child pornographers

R H

Source: wgem.com 12/29/21 QUINCY (WGEM) – There’s a change to a law that has to do with possession of child pornography. Legislators closed a loophole that allowed family members found to be in possession of child pornography to escape jail time. Starting on Jan. 1, possession of child pornography when the child is a household or family member is a non-probational offense. This means the offender will serve jail time if convicted. Previously, this category of offenders could receive a sentence of probation for their pornography conviction. Read the full…

Read More

Utah Action Alert: Support Senate Bill 52 to lessen restrictions on sex offenders

R H

Source: ksl.com 12/30/21 SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that could come up in the 2022 legislative session would change restrictions for sex offenders. The bill is sponsored by Utah state Sen. Mike Kennedy, R-Alpine. The bill that could come up in next month’s legislative session would amend the state’s sex offender registry. Senate Bill 0052 would allow registered sex offenders to go to places like schools and parks, if they are with an adult. Also, if passed, the bill would replace the term “sex offender” with “registrant.” Read the…

Read More

PA: Another Blow to SORNA I with Failure to Register Conviction Relief

R H

Source: parsol.org 12/28/21 December 22, 2021 has seen the release of many case opinions from the PA Supreme Court (SCOPA) with Commonwealth v. David Santana being the biggest win for our advocacy efforts. In a 5-2 decision, SCOPA affirmed the Superior Court’s opinion that “Mr. Santana’s registration requirement under SORNA was an after-the-fact punishment, and therefore unconstitutional. Accordingly, he had no duty to comply with those requirements and his conviction for ignoring them, under 18 Pa.C.S.A. § 4915.1(a)(3) [failure to provide accurate information], was a manifest injustice and must be…

Read More

The Collateral Consequences of Exoneration

R H

Source: thecrimereport.org 12/23/21 The holiday season is often a time for family gatherings, and while many will be preparing for reunions in the coming days, it is important to remember the roadblocks returning citizens face. For instance, background checks cause thousands of potential collateral consequences that can impact things like housing or employment. As my story explains, these consequences can even inappropriately spill over to a family reunification. On May 27, 1994, I lost my freedom. I was sent to prison for a crime I did not commit.. Everything I…

Read More

Antigua: Sex offense registry to be established

R H

Source: antiguaobserver.com 12/27/21 Attorney General Steadroy Benjamin says residents will soon be alerted when a sex offender moves into their neighborhood by the creation of a sex offenders registry. … Now, the AG says that once convicted, the names of all sexual offenders will be placed on a public registry from early next year. Read the full article  

Read More

MI: Former Detroit City Council president just before prison release: ‘What I did was wrong’

R H

Source: freep.com 12/24/21 Clouds hovered overhead on the morning Charles Pugh, 50, took his first steps to freedom outside the doors of the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility into the brisk December air. Pugh was met by his friends and family who were waiting to pick him up in Ionia from the place where he had spent the last 5½ years following his 2016 convictions on two felony counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a child under 16. “What I did was wrong,” Pugh admitted to the Detroit Free Press…

Read More

Transparency Laws Let Criminal Records Become Commodities

R H

Source: wired.com 12/23/21 For millions of people, details from an arrest—even a mistaken one—live on after being sold to data brokers. And the state profits. In April 2018, Adnan (a pseudonym) was wrongfully arrested in Newark, New Jersey, on the basis of an incorrect arrest warrant. A brief period in jail led to the criminal court judge dismissing the incident and moving to have Adnan’s arrest record expunged. A few days later, Adnan began receiving mysterious text messages from several “reputation management” companies that promised to help him get his…

Read More

SC: Lawsuit: SC man says he still has to register as sex offender for having sex with another man

R H

Source: live5news.com 12/22/21 CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – A South Carolina man is suing Attorney General Alan Wilson and SLED Chief Mark Keel, claiming that he still has to register as a sex offender for a buggery charge in which he says he was convicted, and later pardoned, for having consensual sex with another man. The man, identified as “John Doe” in the lawsuit, says he was convicted for the charge in 2001, two years before the Supreme Court ruled that laws that criminalized homosexual sex violated due process and are…

Read More

ACSOL President Honored in Wall Street Journal

R H

Source: ACSOL ACSOL President Chance Oberstein was recently honored in the Wall Street Journal after being selected as a recipient of the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.  This award is provided to individuals based upon their career longevity, philanthropic endeavors and lasting contributions.   “We congratulate Chance Oberstein for this well deserved recognition,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci.  “ACSOL is indeed fortunate to have Chance serve as president of the board of directors for more than five years.” During Mr. Oberstein’s tenure as president, ACSOL has successfully challenged residency…

Read More

CO: Colorado board reverses controversial change to “sex offender” label

R H

Source: denverpost.com 12/20/21 Under pressure from the governor and the state’s public safety director, Colorado’s Sex Offender Management Board has reversed its controversial November decision to scrap the term “sex offenders” in its own guiding principles in favor of “adults who commit sexual offenses.” The board, commonly referred to as the SOMB, voted 16-2 on Dec. 17 to “table” the language-change matter and refer it back to a subcommittee. It’s possible the board votes again to change terminology in the future, but the tabling means it’s not likely to happen…

Read More