[ca.news.yahoo.com – 11/20/20] OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada has affirmed that Ontario’s sex-offender registry regime violates the constitutional rights of people found not criminally responsible for their actions by reason of mental disorder. The decision came Friday in the case of an Ontario man who was found not criminally responsible in June 2002 for sexually assaulting his then-wife, and other charges, due to a manic episode. Read the full article
Read MoreAuthor: R H
NY: Federal District Court limits ban on social media for registrants
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK [Excerpt from page 1:] While the Court appreciates the State’s compelling interest and laudable efforts to protect children from sex offender recidivists on the internet, New York’s attempt to advance this interest via blanket restrictions cannot be squared with the significant freedom of speech rights at stake. For the following reasons, Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction is GRANTED. While parole officers remain free to impose individualized restrictions on supervisees based on the Registrant’s specific circumstances and risk of recidivating using…
Read MoreACSOL Phone Meeting Nov 21
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, Nov 21, beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time and will last at least two hours. Discussion topics will include: proposed SORNA regulations in-person registration during the COVID-19 pandemic the upcoming Tiered Registry residency restrictions overseas and domestic travel other current topics and pending legal action throughout the nation. Please Show Up, Stand Up and Speak Up!…
Read MoreCommunity supervision, once intended to help offenders, contributes more to mass incarceration
[usatoday.com – 11/19/20] Justice officials are recognizing that community supervision can be a tripwire that perpetuates incarceration based on crimeless technical violations Miriam Aroni Krinsky and Vincent Schiraldi Opinion contributors One of the first people to die of COVID-19 in New York City’s notorious Rikers Island jail system was Raymond Rivera — a 55-year-old father and husband who lost his life in April. The “offense” that ultimately resulted in a death sentence for Rivera? Leaving a drug program without permission — a minor technical violation of the parole he was on for stealing a motorcycle…
Read MoreCA: District Attorney to push 85% of cases to next year [potential petition delays]
[thesungazette.com – 11/18/20] VISALIA – Prosecutors are hard to come by in Tulare County nowadays, and the work is beginning to pile up. … Coming down the pike are petitions asking to change an offenders sex registration status. For decades those convicted of sex crimes with a minor were forced to register as a sex offender for life. Beginning Jan. 1, 2021 convicted adults will be handed a tier of 10 years, 20 years or life on the sex registration list. And which tier a person falls into will be…
Read MoreKY: A third Louisville police officer has pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of a minor in Explorer program
[wdrb.com – 11/16/20] LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — A third Louisville Metro Police officer has pleaded guilty to sexual abusing a minor while serving as a mentor in the department’s youth Explorer program. Former Officer Brad ____ faces up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine after pleading guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday to a misdemeanor charge of sexual abuse. ____ , who resigned from the department earlier this month, will be sentenced March 10, and prosecutors indicated they would recommend six months incarceration. The judge will…
Read MoreAR: Cop kills dog during sex offender compliance check at wrong home
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 11/17/20] Officer James Freeman of Greenbrier, Arkansas was doing a sex offender compliance check on private property when the homeowner’s dog barked at him. So Freeman shot the dog. Read the full article and watch the video
Read MoreNIJ: Tracking Sex Offenders: Federal Law, Resources Have Led to Marked Improvement of State Registries, But More Work Is Needed
[nij.ojp.gov – 11/13/20] Communities want to know when convicted sex offenders are living in their midst. For a quarter century, federal law has guaranteed communities the right to know. In 1994, Congress mandated that all states develop sex offender registries. Two years later, Megan’s Law provided that sex offender information must be made public. In the ensuing decade, sex offender laws and registries sprang up in all states — but not always with the full impact intended. In some instances, technology deficits limited information sharing across registries and jurisdictions, a…
Read MoreDutch police give ‘stop paedophile hunts’ warning after Arnhem death
[bbc.com – 11/13/20] A Dutch police chief has called for an end to “paedophile hunting” after a 73-year-old retired teacher was beaten up by teenagers and died of his injuries. Oscar Dros said there was a risk more people could die and he appealed for justice to be left to the authorities. The man from the eastern city of Arnhem was lured into having sexual contact with a minor while in a gay chatroom. Authorities said he was aware the boy was underage. But there was no evidence of past…
Read MoreWhen Hate Speech Leads to Violence
[thecrimereport.org – 11/13/20] by Derek W. Logue I recently received an email from the wife of a person listed on the public sex offense registry in a small town in Washington State. She was immensely concerned about seeing a pickup truck parked at a local business sporting a decal portraying a man shooting a kneeling man, execution-style, in the back of the head, with the caption reading, “Shoot Your Local Pedophile.” (The truck also displayed a #SaveOurChildren sticker, a QAnon slogan adopted from Anita Bryant’s defunct anti-homosexuality crusades.) She voiced…
Read MoreCA: Sex Offender Compliance Checks Conducted In Marin County
[msn.com – 11/13/20] MARIN COUNTY, CA — Authorities this week checked to see if sex offenders in Marin County were in compliance with the terms of their probation. Marin County sheriff’s detectives, county probation officers and California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation K9 units conducted unannounced searches Tuesday across the county, contacting 19 registered and non-registrant sex offenders. One offender admitted using illegal substances and was arrested, according to the Marin County Probation Department. After searching his home, officers seized his electronic devices for further investigation. A court date to…
Read MoreConfidential Volunteers for Doctoral Research on Sexual Misconduct Needed [UPDATED 11/28]
[Joseph De Gearo at Adelphi University, NY – adelphi.edu] We are exploring the perceptions of men accused of sexual misconduct during college. The goal of our research is to improve policy, prevention and education. The volunteer would be interviewed confidentially for about an hour by Zoom or phone. If you are male accused of sexual misconduct during college and are willing to volunteer, please contact me: Joe De Gearo [email protected] [updated 11/28/20] (516) 993-0024
Read MoreFacebook page requires no evidence to call men sexual abusers
[thepostmillennial.com – 11/11/20] This summer, we witnessed a new wave of #MeToo sexual misconduct accusations on social media targeting powerful men in various industries in the province of Quebec. Like the previous instance of online indictments of sexual harassment, few professed victims could present proof supporting their allegations’ validity. And so, we were told to “believe all victims,” even when evidence was absent. Not satisfied with the current Quebec’s legal process, Delphine Bergeron and an unnamed collaborator decided to curate a public list of potential sexual harassers’ names. The administrators…
Read MoreFL: Disney World Vacation Leads to Fight Over Florida Sex Offender Law
[wjno.iheart.com – 11/10/20] TALLAHASSEE — A Pennsylvania man has filed a challenge to a Florida law that has kept him on a sexual-offender registry after a 10-day family vacation to Disney World in 2015. The man, identified in court documents as John Doe, reported to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office when he came to Florida because he was on a Pennsylvania registry at the time as a result of a child-pornography conviction in 2002. Doe was removed from the Pennsylvania registry in 2016 but has remained registered as a sex…
Read MoreCA: ACSOL Lawsuit alleges Irvine sex offender rule conflicts with state law
[ocregister.com – 11/6/20] An Irvine resident who is on the state’s sex offender registry is challenging a city rule that prevents him from taking his own child to a public park, according to a lawsuit he filed and an attorney representing him. Irvine’s municipal code requires people on the registry who were convicted of an offense involving a minor to get written permission from the police chief to enter any city park or recreation facility; violation of the rule is a misdemeanor that could carry a fine or jail time.…
Read MoreIL: Name Change for Transgender Sex Offender Debated at Seventh Circuit
[courthousenews.com – 11/6/20] CHICAGO (CN) — A Seventh Circuit panel heard arguments Friday over whether a Wisconsin law barring convicted sex offenders from changing their name amounts to free speech infringement. The underlying lawsuit was brought in Milwaukee federal court in May 2019 by Karen Krebs, a transgender woman from Kenosha, Wisconsin, who cannot change her name due to a 1992 conviction which required her to register as a sex offender. Wisconsin law makes it a Class H felony for anyone who is required to register as a sex offender…
Read MoreOH: Landlord with convicted rapist as tenant tests nationwide eviction moratorium
[beaconjournal.com – 11/4/20] When Norton resident Charles Fowler discovered he had a Barberton tenant with a criminal record that included rape living at one of his rental properties, he knew he had a problem. For one, there was a nationwide moratorium on evictions. The ban was first passed by Congress earlier this year as a response to rising unemployment during the coronavirus pandemic. That ban expired, but the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an order extending it until Dec. 31. .. He contacted U.S. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez’s…
Read MoreOK: Sex-Offense Registry Sweeps Intended to Boost Support for Cops Unwittingly Spread COVID-19
[shadowproof.com – 11/2/20] The Oklahoma City Police Department pulled off a social media coup on July 7. “Meet the top 10 most wanted individuals being sought by our Sex Offender Registration Unit,” the department posted on its Facebook page. “It’s important we keep tabs on these guys (and gal), so help us find them.” The post engaged a huge number of readers, receiving 1,500 shares and nearly 500 comments. Told dangerous people were loose on city streets, readers responded. “[She] works at [a local store] I’m fucking sick!” posted one.…
Read More