[dailymail.co.uk – 1/11/2021] County lines gangsters will ‘very quickly stop using kids’ for drug trafficking after they are placed on the sex offenders’ wing in prison, police have said. In their report the criminal justice consultancy Crest Advisory found that being placed in the separated location for prisoners with sexual convictions saw drug dealers ‘drop using kids completely’ because of the reputational damage this does. Read the full article
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Public Perceptions Of Youth Who Commit Sexual Offense Is Skewed, Our Research Shows
[jjie.org – 1/11/21] Few crimes stimulate such visceral reactions and deep-seated fears as sexual offenses. Accordingly, societal responses to sexual offending such as registration and notification laws tend to be quite punitive and highly stigmatizing for the offender. Yet these social control practices are widely considered by the public to be essential for community safety. However, given lessons learned about the linkages between moral panic and legislation in other justice contexts (e.g., juvenile “superpredators” and waiver/transfer laws), we question the degree to which public perceptions about the characteristics of persons…
Read MoreFourth Circuit Strikes Bans on Internet, Legal Pornography For Sex Offender
[fd.org – 1/10/21] The Fourth Circuit held (link is external) that conditions of supervised release banning legal pornography and internet access are too restrictive and cannot be sustained as “reasonably related” under 18 U.S.C. 3583(d)(1) and are overbroad under 18 U.S.C. 3583(d)(2). The court explained that the district court abused its discretion in imposing an outright ban on defendant possessing legal pornography or entering any location where it may be accessed. … The circuit stated that pornography use was not the basis of any violation. Further, when defendant lied about…
Read MoreIN: No Registration for Registrants From Other States If Their Crime Wouldn’t Require it in Indiana
INDIANA DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTION, et al, Defendants-Appellants. ____________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division. No. 1:16-cv-02865-RLY-TAB — Richard L. Young, Judge. ____________________ ARGUED JANUARY 14, 2020 — DECIDED JANUARY 6, 2021 ____________________ Before ROVNER, WOOD, and ST. EVE, Circuit Judges. ROVNER, Circuit Judge. Sex offender registration and notification laws have a unique place at the intersection of criminal and civil law. These civil laws impose cumbersome and often lifelong burdens on former criminal perpetrators, many of whom have finished all forms…
Read MoreVA: Virginia Crime Commission recommends eliminating all mandatory minimum sentences
[virginiamercury.com – 1/7/21] Members of the Virginia Crime Commission voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to endorse legislation stripping all mandatory minimum sentences from state code. The sweeping proposal, which lawmakers plan to introduce when the General Assembly convenes later this month, would eliminate mandatory jail and prison terms attached to 224 offenses that range from drunken driving to child rape. Lawmakers on the commission who backed the proposal — all Democrats — called it an important step to restore sentencing discretion to local judges and juries. … Most of the mandatory minimum…
Read MoreND: Should North Dakota Extend the Statue of Limitations for Prosecuting Sexual Abuse?
[hot975fm.com – 1/5/21] … But three North Dakota lawmakers are working to make sure other victims get the justice they deserve. The lawmakers had been planning bills that would extend the statute of limitations for reporting and prosecuting sex crimes before the Attorney General made his decision. Learn more about the potential bills here. Read the full article and links to the proposed bills Related: Lawmakers seek to extend North Dakota statutes of limitation in child sex abuse cases [inforum.com – 1/5/21 – REQUIRES FREE REGISTRATION] FARGO — Three state legislators, a Republican and two…
Read MoreACSOL Book Offers Insight, Identifies Trends in Registrant Community
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…
Read MoreNY: 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…
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