[timesunion.com – 10/14/19] Voting blocs, where people support candidates on specific issues, have long played an outsized role in New York politics – from labor unions that focus on workplace rules, to environmentalists who place clean air and water at the top of the list. But now an unusual bloc is emerging from an unexpected place: the locked sex offenders unit at one of the state’s major psychiatric hospitals. Convicted sex offenders at Central New York Psychiatric Center are joining a PAC, or political action committee, which could conceivably raise…
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ACSOL Meeting October 19 in L.A.
Please mark your calendars for ACSOL’s upcoming meeting: Saturday, Oct 19 10 a.m. ACLU Building 1313 W. 8th Street, Los Angeles (free parking below building) Registrants, friends and family and interested service providers are invited to attend these free meetings. There will be no law enforcement or media present in order to protect everyone’s privacy. The meetings start at 10 am and last about 2-3 hours. Topics of conversation include information about ACSOL’s advocacy as well as current topics and pending legal action. Please Show up, Stand up, and Speak…
Read MoreCO: Colorado considers keeping some juvenile sex offenders off registry
[thedenverchannel.com – 10/12/10] DENVER (AP) — Colorado lawmakers have advanced a proposal to place fewer convicted juveniles on the state sex offender registry and partially seal the list from the public, officials said. The draft was endorsed Thursday by an interim committee of lawmakers tasked with considering changes to how the state justice system treats people with mental illness, The Denver Post reported . The proposed changes are informed by research showing that harshly penalizing juvenile sex offenders often does nothing to improve public safety or rehabilitate the offenders, lawmakers…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Time to Dispel the Halloween Myth
It’s that time again, Halloween, pumpkins, trick or treaters, candy, Stranger Danger news coverage and the registry police. It’s hard to imagine that between law enforcement and the news media, what was once an enjoyable festive holiday for young and old alike has by all accounts been turned into a fictitious, stranger-danger, panic event of epic proportions for registrants. All these years the public’s been led to believe that children are at an increased danger at Halloween because of registrants. (Somehow the fact that the highest risk to children at…
Read MoreAustralia: WA’s sex offender laws ‘as tough as they can be’, says Premier Mark McGowan
[http://brandsauthority.com – 10/7/19] Premier Mark McGowan says WA laws are as tough as they can be in dealing with dangerous sex offenders following the release of a notorious paedophile.________, a repeat sex offender, walked free on Monday after convincing a judge he was no longer a threat to children.His release is subject to a record 61 conditions – including that he undergo chemical castration. The Premier said that as a parent he was unhappy whenever a sex offender was released from jail but said people could not be kept in…
Read MoreWhen Prison Is A Better Option
[Scott H. Greenfield at blog.simplejustice.us – 10/4/19] Years ago, I wrote of the creation of a permanent underclass. No, not the one woke people are willing to fight for. Rather, the one we’ve created because as much as we can forgive a murder, especially if it was committed by a black man because they’re in fashion at hipster cocktail parties, there is no forgiveness of a sex crime. Not when they get caught. Not when they get prosecuted. Not when they get convicted or sentenced. Not even when they get…
Read MoreKat’s blog: Hope
When I read the most recent “Janice’s Journal: The Big Picture” piece, it reminded me why so many of us have sought out websites like ACSOL, WAR, NARSOL and other advocacy group sites. Each of us was looking for HOPE. Hope that there were others like us somewhere out there that understood what we were going through. Hope that someone had answers, information or solutions to the mountain of questions and concerns we had. Hope that someone somewhere was trying to do something to change things. Hope that there was…
Read MoreMandatory registration recommended for sex offenders relocating to Jamaica
[jamaicaobserver.com – 10/3/19] KINGSTON, Jamaica — A parliamentary committee has recommended that it should be made mandatory for sex offenders who have relocated or returned to the island to register in the Sex Offender Registry in Jamaica. Failure to register will constitute an offence, which may be punishable by imprisonment. Minister of Justice, Delroy Chuck, made the disclosure as he opened debate in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, on the Report of the Joint Select Committee appointed to complete the review of the Sexual Offences Act, the Offences against…
Read MoreACSOL and NARSOL Halloween Marathon
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE . . . (October 1, 2019) CIVIL RIGHTS ORGANIZATIONS TO MONITOR POLICE ON HALLOWEEN “Cop-watch” hotline to be open for six hours Albuquerque, NM | Sacramento, CA—The National Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (NARSOL) and the Alliance for Constitutional Sexual Offense Laws (ACSOL) denounce what they believe are unconstitutional laws and blanket restrictions imposed by some state statutory schemes and supervising authorities across the country each Halloween. The organizations join together in demanding to know why every year at this time newspapers and TV news programs…
Read MoreVA: Patrick Hope column: Virginia’s sexually violent predator laws have gone too far
[richmond.com – 9/29/19] The “lock ’em up and throw away the key” era of criminal justice is over. Virginians have reassessed their views on criminal justice to better address mass incarceration weighed against costs and the likelihood to reoffend. Policies ripe for reform include: resentencing prisoners who were convicted as youth; repealing mandatory minimums; legalizing marijuana; abolishing the death penalty; ending solitary; reinstating parole; ending cash bail; and creating alternatives to incarceration. Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has a strong track record of criminal justice reform. But there’s one enforcement…
Read MoreNE: Nebraska sex offenders testify for change in registry law
[journalstar.com – 9/27/19] Twenty-eight people who were registered sex offenders, or the wife, mother, father, brother or counselor of sex offenders, lined up to give testimony to the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee on Friday, asking for changes to the Nebraska registry law. The Judiciary Committee embarked on a study of the sex offender registry law over the interim to determine if changes are needed and, if so, what they should be. The registered offenders told the committee about how the registry created life-altering situations in which they couldn’t get jobs, or…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: TN Man Avoids Registry for Second Time
A Tennessee man accused of sexual offenses for the second time, has once again avoided the registry. In 2004, ______ was accused of allegedly molesting a 15 yr. old that had been hired to babysit his children. ______ denied molesting the girl but stated he pleaded guilty to a charge of reckless aggravated assault and a misdemeanor, to spare his family (he is the father of 3) and because his attorney at that time had advised him it was in his best interest. He was sentenced to 3 yrs. probation…
Read MoreCanada: Top court to rule if mentally ill must be on sex-offender registry
[thespec.com – 9/26/19] The federal government is challenging an appeal court decision that found that the registry reinforces a stereotype that those who commit criminal acts while mentally ill never change and pose a permanent risk. News Sep 26, 2019 by Colin Perkel The Canadian Press TORONTO — The Supreme Court of Canada will have final say on the validity of laws requiring sex offenders to register when an accused is granted an absolute discharge after being found not criminally responsible. In a decision on Thursday, the high court said…
Read MoreWI: Sun Prairie 17-year-old charged with 2 felonies for allegedly sexually assaulting teammate
[channel3000.com – 9/26/19] MADISON, Wis. – A Sun Prairie teenager has been charged for an alleged incident in August when deputies said he sexually assaulted his football teammate. ______, 17, appeared in Dane County Court on Thursday, where he was charged with felony second-degree sexual assault, felony sexual exploitation of a child through filming and misdemeanor battery. In court Thursday morning, the judge ordered ____ to not have any contact with the other teens involved in the incident, not disseminate any pictures or video of the alleged victim online or…
Read MoreCA: County jail inmates announce hunger strike to protest ‘price gouging’
[calaverasenterprise.com – 9/25/19] Seventeen inmates at the Calaveras County Jail have announced their plan to initiate a hunger strike in protest of “outrageous prices” for telephone calls and commissary items including soup and ramen noodles. “Not only are we afflicted, but our families as well,” the inmates wrote in a letter to the Enterprise. “We have made attempts at every other level to have this situation resolved, to no avail. We are hoping that the public can get involved and know the real situation that is going on here.” advertisement…
Read MoreEngland: Kirkby residents protest outside home of sex offender living near to primary school
[nottinghampost.com – 9/25/19] Residents of Kirkby-in-Ashfield are protesting outside the home of a man awaiting sentence over historical child sexual offences who lives near a primary school. ______, 33, pleaded guilty to four counts of indecent assault of children under 16 – taking place in the 2000s – at Nottingham Crown Court on September 9 and has been bailed to live at his home while he awaits sentencing. Members of the community have been organising peaceful protests since September 21 and say they do not want ____living so near to…
Read MoreTN: Five year old autistic boy accused of being a sex offender
[mynbc5.com – 9/25/19] According to WTVC, East Ridge Elementary said the child overstepped his boundaries, but the boy’s mother insists he doesn’t know any better. Advertisement Summery Putnam, Nathan’s mom, said she received a call from her son’s teacher about three weeks ago. “I was sick to my stomach because first of all don’t you understand he’s a 5-year-old? He’s a child?” Putnam said. “The teacher called me and she said, ‘You need to have a talk with Nathan about boundaries.’” Putnam said Nathan’s autism makes it difficult for him…
Read MoreSouth Africa: Making Sexual Offenders Registry Public a Recipe for Disaster – Legal Expert
[allafrica.com – 9/24/19] Following the high prevalence of violence against women and children in the month of August, the question over whether the sexual offenders registry should be open to the public has been brought to the fore. Social movement Amandla.Mobi has petitioned Justice Minister Ronald Lamola to “make the sex offenders list publicly accessible online and on mobile platforms that anyone can easily access”. The petition was created 18 days ago with the goal of garnering 8 000 signatures. To date, the organisation has collected 7 842 signatures. This…
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