The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Law (ACSOL) and the registrant community is the focus of a newly published book by ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. The book, Show Up – Stand Up – Speak, offers insights and identifies trends in the registrant community. “The purpose of the book is to educate the public regarding the daily challenges faced by registrants and their loved ones,” stated Bellucci. “We believe that once the public fully understands that the registry is punishment, the public will demand that the registry be abolished.” The…
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NY: After 25 Years, It Is Past Time To Reform New York’s Sex Offender Risk Assessment System: Part I
[law.com – 1/5/21] In this article, the author outlines the significant flaws of the sex offender risk assessment instrument. A second article to be published later will explain why these deficiencies are not adequately corrected by court departure determinations. Convicted sex offenders under New York law must have their risk of reoffense assessed by courts under the Sex Offender Registration Act (“SORA” or “Megan’s Law”) with courts determining whether offenders are at low, moderate or high risk to re-offend. The rankings not only determine the length and intrusiveness of sex…
Read MoreACSOL Phone Meeting Jan 16
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 phone meeting. The meeting will be held on Saturday, January 16, beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time and will last at least two hours. This meeting will be recorded and then posted as an audio recording. A link to the recording will be at the top of our pages. Discussion topics will include: the upcoming Tiered Registry proposed SORNA regulations in-person registration during the COVID-19…
Read MoreBanishing ‘Sex Offenders’: How Meaningless Language Makes Bad Law – Guy Hamilton-Smith
[Southwestern University Law Review – papers.ssrn.com – 12/3/20] Abstract: An essay on how the term “sex offender” is functionally meaningless, and invites policy responses that are out of step with the reality of sexual harm. These policy responses, in turn, hobble our efforts to reckon with sexual harm, foreclose accountability and redemption, and elide more effective approaches. View the download page
Read MoreThe Outspoken Offender: Can You Shed The Sex Offender Stigma? [Podcast]
[radio.com – 12/29/20] “My hope is to encourage registered citizens, former inmates, and anyone facing stereotypes and social ostracism to move beyond society’s labels” A positive podcast offering advice, tips, and general commentary on a variety of issues including – – Social ostracism – Sex offender issues – Living with a felony – Second chances – Empathy and compassion – Housing and employment rejection Includes theses podcasts: “Can You Shed The Sex Offender Stigma?” “Introduction and Sex Offender Registry Myths and Facts – The Outspoken Offender” “Ways to Use Haters…
Read MoreTaiwan: Justices urged to keep forced treatment of molesters [Updated 12/31]
[taipeitimes.com – 12/31/20] Victims’ rights groups and lawmakers yesterday urged the Council of Grand Justices to uphold the involuntary psychiatric treatment of sex offenders as the council is to hand down a ruling on the practice today. … Should the council rule against involuntary treatment, the government would have to set free 68 sex offenders — 57 at the Pei Teh Hospital and 11 at the Tsaotun Pschyatric Center — Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Sandy Yeh (葉毓蘭) told a news conference in Taipei. Sex offenders have a high recidivism…
Read MoreHow Thousands of American Laws Keep People ‘Imprisoned’ Long After They’re Released
[politico.com – 12/30/20] In the run-up to the election in November, there was a pervasive belief that the fate of the nation could hinge on Florida because of its 2018 passage of Amendment 4, which reversed a permanent voting ban for 1.4 million Floridians with felony records. Then, in September, an appellate court ruled that people with felony convictions must pay all their court fines and fees before they are permitted to exercise the franchise. Activists called the decision an affront to American democracy; the vote, they argued, is the…
Read MoreIt Could Be You – Vicky Henry with Women Against Registry – Recorded Dec 16, 2020
[womenagainstregistry.org – 12/16/20] Listen to Vicky Henry with Women Against Registry The program is courtesy of “It Could Be You”, and KABF 88.3 FM Community Radio, The Voice of the People, Little Rock, Arkansas. www.kabf.org
Read MoreLA Times Editorial: End irrational sentencing
[latimes.com – 12/30/20] The explosion in California’s prison population can be traced to first-term Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature on the Uniform Determinate Sentencing Act of 1976, a bill that was supposed to remove racism and irrationality from prison terms but in the end did the opposite. Fourth-term Gov. Brown, who left office last year, understood the problem well. He presided over a prison system that has been under federal court order since 2011 to reduce unconscionable crowding — the result of gratuitous “enhancements” piled on by lawmakers and voters over…
Read MoreUK: ‘Black Panther of Oxford’ calls for racists to be put on sex offenders-style ‘race offence register’
[thesun.co.uk – 12/30/20] A LEADER of a new political party inspired by the Black Lives Matter movement has called for people accused of racism to be put on a sex offenders-style “race offenders register”. Sasha Johnson, the self-styled “Black Panther of Oxford”, said anyone added to the proposed list would be stopped from doing certain jobs or living in certain areas. Johnson, 26, a youth worker and cafe owner, gained attention over summer as a prominent figure at a number of BLM protests, and has since helped to found the…
Read MoreNV: How Public Defenders Rocked Las Vegas Judge Elections
[theappeal.org – 12/21/20] Community organizing in Nevada’s Clark County helped judicial candidates “flip the bench” to challenge cash bail and mass incarceration. When Christy Craig started working at the public defender’s office in Clark County, Nevada, in 1998, she didn’t plan to ever run for judge. “I knew that was my gig,” Craig said. “I couldn’t have been happier to be there.” Since then, Craig has represented thousands of defendants and scored landmark wins in suits against the State on issues of correctional mental health and cash bail. But soon…
Read MoreJoin the Virtual Florida Action Committee Holiday Party December 24 and 25
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 12/23/20] If you find yourself stranded for the holidays, no where to go….just pick up the phone and come to our FAC Virtual Holiday Party. TEN full hours of entertainment over TWO days! Pop-in anytime and stay as long as you want. Be part of the entertainment. if you have a special request or something you want to share, just let us know and we will give you the stage! The schedule is flexible. Share this Flyer with friends and family. One catch – You have to provide…
Read MoreNY: New York Issues First-In-Nation Moratorium On Facial Recognition In Schools
[forbes.com – 12/22/20] Topline New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill Tuesday temporarily banning the use of facial recognition in schools, making it the first state to take such a step. Key Facts The law suspends facial recognition and other biometric technology in both public and private schools until July 2022, directing the state to conduct a study and issue recommendations about whether the technology is appropriate for schools. Cuomo’s office said the study will “seek feedback from teachers and parents, as well as experts in school safety, security,…
Read MoreNew Federal COVID Bill Provides Funding for Registrant Management
[ACSOL] Congress passed a new bill yesterday that is primarily focused upon COVID issues. Hidden in that legislation, which totals more than $900 billion, is about $200 million for the management of individuals required to register as sex offenders. The largest amount of funding for the management of registrants is $179 million for expenses related to “community supervision and sex offender registration” including expenses related to a protection order. In addition, the legislation provides $20 million for “sex offender management assistance” pursuant to the Adam Walsh Act and $1 million…
Read MoreHow extreme porn has become a gateway drug into child abuse
[theguardian.com – 12/15/20] Michael Sheath has been counselling people with what he describes as “deviant sexual interests” for a long time. “I have been working with men who abuse children for 33 years. For the first 15 years I worked with child molesters and I still do that, but now I also work with downloaders of child abuse imagery and online groomers.” Sheath is principal practitioner at the Lucy Faithfull Foundation, counselling men who have been arrested for looking at child abuse images. He is on the frontline of what…
Read MoreFL: Motion to Alter or Amend filed in Ex Post Facto Plus Case
[floridaactioncommittee.org 0 12/22/20] As promised, the Ex Post Facto Plus case has not seen the end of the road. Yesterday, attorneys for the Does filed a Motion to Alter or Amend the Order. A copy of the Motion is below, but in lay terms it argues that the very recent 11th Circuit Court Case upon which the court relied should be distinguished from this one and/or the case should proceed as to the current Plaintiff’s obligations under the changes to the registry made within the statute of limitations (4 years…
Read MoreCrow introduces bill to deny Congress members’ pensions for sexual misconduct
[gazette.com – 12/21/20] U.S. Rep. Jason Crow was among the representatives on Friday to propose denying members of Congress their annual retirement payments if convicted for sexual misconduct. “As a soldier I learned that leadership starts with the example you set. I have long believed that members of Congress must be held to the same standard as our men and women in uniform,” said Crow. “However current law gives a pass to those in Congress. Sexual abuse is a crime and we must ensure it is treated like one and…
Read MoreWA: UW Seattle to host homeless Tent City 3 again [except for sex offenders]
[kiro7.com – 12/20/20] SEATTLE — The University of Washington welcomed back Tent City 3, hosting up to 70 residents for the next three months. UW said the lower occupancy will allow for social distancing and other COVID precautions. “Welcoming back Tent City 3 aligns with UW’s public mission and its commitment to helping solve the challenges of our city, state and world,” said Sally J. Clark, director of regional and community relations in a direct message to the UW News. “While organized tent cities are not a solution to homelessness,…
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