Source: reason.com 6/4/24 When Daniel Brown was released early from federal prison in 2020, 15 years into a 42-year sentence for drug and firearm possession offenses, he was determined not to squander the chance he had been given. By most outward measures, he’s accomplished that. He’s stayed out of trouble. He’s a project manager at a construction company and married with children. But like the vast majority of people convicted of a federal offense, Brown was also sentenced to supervision following his release, 10 years of it. That means that…
Read MoreAuthor: R H
CO: How Did a Local From a Prominent American Indian Tribe Get Stuck in a Sex Offender System That Could Keep Him Behind Bars for Life?
Source: 5280.com June 2024 Most mornings last year, John Red Cloud would rise before daybreak in his home on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, in southwest South Dakota. He’d walk to the porch of his house and peer out at the shadows of undulating, grassy hills in the distance. Eventually, dawn would spread across the reservation, illuminating the ancestral land where Red Cloud had been born and raised and now was rebuilding his life. On those mornings, Red Cloud stretched his arms skyward and gave thanks to his creator. After…
Read MoreLA: Louisiana Passes Surgical Castration Bill for Child Molesters, waiting for Governor’s signature
Source: nytimes.com 6/4/24 Judges in Louisiana could order people who are convicted of sex crimes against children to undergo surgical castration under a bill that state lawmakers passed overwhelmingly on Monday. While Louisiana and a few other states, including California, Texas and Florida, have long allowed chemical castration, the option to punish sex offenders via surgical castration — which is far more intrusive — appears to be the first in the country, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures and prisoners’ advocacy groups. The bill now awaits the signature of…
Read MoreCourt Grants ACSOL Motion to Intervene in CA SVP Case
Source: ACSOL A judge in California Placer County Superior Court has granted a motion filed by the Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) to intervene in the case of William Stephenson who has been designated a sexually violent predator (SVP). Intervention allows ACSOL to assist Mr. Stephenson in his quest to be placed in a residence in Placer County, his county of domicile, or another location. Due in large part to opposition from the District Attorney of Placer County, Mr. Stephenson has already waited for more than 850 days…
Read MoreACSOL Online Meeting June 15, 2024
You are invited to join ACSOL Executive Director and civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci and an ACSOL board member for our next meeting. The meeting will be held on Saturday June 15 online on Zoom beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time, 1:00 PM Eastern, and will last at least two hours. You can use the Zoom app or you can call in using a Zoom phone number. There is no registration needed for this meeting. No government officials are allowed to attend the meetings. This meeting will be recorded. Within a…
Read MoreTrump’s case casts a spotlight on movement to restore voting rights to those convicted of felonies
Source: apnews.com 5/31/24 [ACSOL is posting this non-partisan article about voting rights because it affects registrants] WASHINGTON (AP) — Republican-led states have historically made it difficult for those convicted of a felony to vote or barred it altogether. Now the Republicans’ presumptive nominee for president, who lives in one of those states, is among them. Donald Trump’s conviction in the New York hush money case puts a spotlight on a wider movement to restore rights that has been gaining momentum in recent years, with the notable exception of Trump’s newly…
Read MoreThe US might restrict social media in prisons and inmates are worried: ‘I may lose my voice soon’
Source: theguardian.com 5/28/24 A proposed change to US prison rules is threatening to punish inmates for using social media or directing others to do so on their behalf, severing what some view as a vital link to the outside world. Delores Eggerson manages her son’s social media accounts while he serves a life sentence in Arkansas. For almost 22 years, she’s logged into his Facebook from her home in Manville, Texas, screenshotting messages from old classmates, or photos from family reunions. It’s become her way of feeling connected – a…
Read MoreCA: Beware of attorneys offering applications for gubernatorial pardons
Source: ACSOL Beware of attorneys offering to submit applications for gubernatorial pardons in California based upon the promise that a pardon will remove you from the registry. The California Department of Justice recently announced that it “will not terminate the requirement to register on the basis of a gubernatorial pardon unless it includes a finding of innocence.” The announcement is reflected on the Governor’s website Any attorney promising that a pardon without a finding of innocence will terminate the requirement to register is incorrect and should not be taking your…
Read MoreNY: Supreme Court rules for NRA in New York government coercion battle
Source: nbcnews.com 5/30/24 [ACSOL is posting this as it could relate to eventually making the registry non-public] WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the National Rifle Association can pursue a claim that a New York state official’s efforts to encourage companies to end ties with the gun rights group constituted unlawful coercion. The justices unanimously found that the NRA can move forward with arguments that its free speech rights under the Constitution’s First Amendment were violated by the actions of Maria Vullo, then the superintendent of the New York state Department…
Read MoreCA: CDCR Agrees to Change Treatment Requirements for Registrants on Parole
Source: ACSOL The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) has agreed in writing to change treatment requirements for registrants while on parole. As a result of this agreement, the number of registrants who are discharged early from parole is expected to increase significantly. The improvements to which CDCR have agreed include the possibility of ending treatment in as little as one year. The improvements also require parole officers and treatment providers to decide after the first year of treatment and then once a year after the initial decision whether…
Read MoreNY: RAA Applauds NYCLU & Plantiffs for Lawsuit Challenging Banishment Law
Source: restorativeactionalliance.org 5/29/24 Restorative Action Alliance (RAA) applauds the brave plaintiffs and legal professionals of the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) who have recently brought a class action lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of New York Executive Law § 259-c (14), known as “SARA.” This banishment law affects thousands of individuals with certain sex offense convictions preventing them from being in proximity to restaurants, stores, parking lots and other spaces that are within 1,000 feet of a school. The Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (“DOCCS”) also applies SARA to prohibit…
Read MoreMI: Police use license plate readers to arrest 6, including Wyandotte teacher, in undercover sex sting
Source: detroitnews.com 5/29/24 Six people, including a teacher in Wyandotte and two Venezuelan nationals, have been arrested on sex and prostitution charges after Taylor police and Homeland Security officials posed undercover and then used license plate readers and live-time cameras to pinpoint the suspects. The arrests stemmed from an investigation that ran from April 24-26 and involved both Taylor police and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Investigators used license plate readers to track alleged predators after they arranged online to meet the officers who’d posed as 14- and 15-year-old…
Read MoreSC: South Carolina family of boy, 13, who died by suicide sues Snapchat over sextortion scheme
Source: foxnews.com 5/26/24 A South Carolina mother is suing Snapchat after her 13-year-old son died by suicide last year. The family says young Timothy Barnett took his own life April 6, 2023, at his Sumter home after he fell victim to a sextortion scheme on the social media app. “On April 6 … it was a typical morning,” Betsy Hauptman, Timothy’s mother, told Fox News Digital. “My husband and I were waking up. The alarm went off at about 6:15. My husband got up first. He walked out the door.…
Read MoreInternational Living 2024
This post is intended as a place for discussions about International Living ONLY. Please give your account of a country’s expenses, environment, requirements, advantages, limitations, and so on. Each year we will start a new page, just like we do for International Travel.
Read MoreAlabama Court Rules Residency Restrictions Violate Constitution
Source: ACSOL A federal district ruled yesterday that a state law in Alabama that restricts where registrants may live violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The court’s ruling was made in a 162-page decision that carefully reviewed the language of that state law as well as its impact upon more than 20,000 individuals required to register. According to the court, one part of the challenged residency restrictions adversely could affect the ability of registrants to attend church, participate in political events, visit family and access public libraries. Another…
Read MoreGet the Facts on Mass Incarceration
Source: sentencingproject.org 5/22/24 Report highlights the growth in state and federal prison populations since the early 1970s, and its far reaching effect on families, communities, and society as a whole. The United States is unparalleled historically and ranks among the highest worldwide in its dependence on incarceration.1 Over five million people in total are under supervision by the criminal legal system.2 Of these, nearly two million people, disproportionately Black, are living in prisons and jails instead of their communities. Compare this to the figures of the early 1970s when this…
Read MoreEditorial: A felony conviction should not come with a life sentence on voting rights
Source: latimes.com 5/20/24 Voting is not a privilege. It’s a right. But one group of citizens has been long denied that right in parts of the country. In half the states, including California, people convicted of felonies who have served their time in prison re-enter their communities with the right to vote automatically and immediately restored. In Vermont, Maine and the District of Columbia, people retain their right to vote even when incarcerated. But the other 25 states have at least some temporary voting restrictions on people formerly incarcerated on…
Read MoreA Widely Used Criminal Justice Algorithm For Assessing Child Pornography Recidivism Is Flawed
Source: scientificamerican.com 5/20/24 The CPORT algorithm, commonly used to estimate the risk that a child pornography offender will offend again, hasn’t been validated for use in the U.S. In today’s criminal justice system, there are more than 400 algorithms on the market that inform important legal decisions like sentencing and parole. Much like insurance companies use algorithms to set premiums, judges use risk assessment algorithms to estimate the likelihood someone will become a repeat offender when they render prison sentences. Generally speaking, lower-risk offenders can and do receive shorter prison…
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