[themarshallproject.org – 6/19/19] “Banished,” The Marshall Project’s immersive multimedia story on the lives of sex offenders living in Miami-Dade County, Florida, who abide by some of the most restrictive housing policies in the country, has been awarded the national Edward R. Murrow Award for “Excellence in Video.” The organization was also awarded a regional Edward R. Murrow prize in the “News Documentary” category earlier in the year for “Caught: The Lives of Juvenile Justice, Episode 9,” produced in collaboration with WNYC. Deftly integrating text and video, “Banished” revealed the day-to-day…
Read MoreAuthor: R H
FL: Fort Lauderdale relaxes restrictions on where sex offenders can live
[sun-sentinel.com – 6/18/19] Fort Lauderdale city commissioners voted unanimously Tuesday to relax the city’s residency restrictions on sex offenders. Offenders will now be allowed to live close to bus stops but they are still barred from living within 1,400 feet of a school, daycare and other places children gather. The change will expand the available housing for convicted offenders from 1.4% of the city to 15.3%. It also brings Fort Lauderdale more in line with Florida state law. Dr. Amy Miller praised the ordinance as “an absolutely phenomenal step,” to…
Read MoreAL: Child sex offender-chemical castration bill sponsor State Rep. Hurst: ‘It should be surgical castration’ — Some offenders ‘ought to die’
[yellowhammernews.com – 6/13/19] Earlier this week, Gov. Kay Ivey signed HB 379 into law, which is a bill that will mandate so-called chemical castration for certain sex offenders as parole condition for early release. The law received headlines all around the country, despite Alabama joining several states, which includes California, Louisiana and Florida, with chemical castration laws already on the books. If the bill’s sponsor had his way, it would go much further. During an interview on Huntsville radio’s WVNN, State Rep. Steve Hurst (R-Munford) explained his push for the…
Read MoreACSOL’s Third Annual Conference Offered Solutions to Registrants Challenges
About 200 people, including registrants, family members and supporters, attended ACSOL’s third annual conference on June 14 and 15 in Los Angeles. The conference included plenary presentations from Professor Eric Janus, civil rights attorney Adele Nicholas, ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci and ACSOL President Chance Oberstein. The conference also featured proposed solutions to challenges faced by both registrants and their families in the form of panels that addressed employment, housing, travel, parole and LGBTQ issues. In addition, a presentation was made by Dr. Leah Chankin, a representative of the CA…
Read MoreACSOL Emotional Support Group Meeting in L.A. on Sat, June 22
ACSOL will conduct an Emotional Support Group for registrants and their loved ones on Saturday, June 22, beginning at 10 a.m. at: ACLU Building 1313 W. 8th Street Los Angeles Free parking is available under the building and there is no charge to attend the meeting. There is also a second Emotional Support Group meeting on the phone most months. If you want to attend this conference call, the group leader wants to talk with you first to ensure we don’t get inappropriate callers. He will tell you the date…
Read MoreWe look forward to seeing you at ACSOL’s conference this Friday!
I really enjoy listening to the speakers that have come and shared about legal challenges across the country. I always walk away amazed of all the info I’ve learned; I’m never disappointed. -Sherri Dear registrants, family members and supporters, Sherri enjoyed how much she learned at the conference. You can too! ACSOL’s annual conference starts this Friday on June 14! Click here to see the schedule. Click here to sign up now to make sure you get a seat! We aren’t just saying that, because we really were given a…
Read MoreNearly 1,700 Suspected Child Predators Arrested During Operation “Broken Heart”
[ojp.gov – 6/11/19] The Department of Justice today announced the arrest of almost 1,700 suspected online child sex offenders during a two-month, nationwide operation conducted by Internet Crimes Against Children task forces. The task forces identified 308 offenders who either produced child pornography or committed child sexual abuse, and 357 children who suffered recent, ongoing or historical sexual abuse or were exploited in the production of child pornography. The 61 ICAC task forces, located in all 50 states and comprised of more than 4,500 federal, state, local and tribal law…
Read MoreIsrael: Labor’s Gabbay apologizes for calling former MK a ‘sex offender’
[israelnationalnews.com – 6/10/19] The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court accepted the compromise reached between Labor Party Chairman Avi Gabbay and former Labor MK Eitan Broshi in the libel suit filed by Broshi against Gabbay. Gabbay, who called Broshi a sex offender, was ordered to publicly apologize to Broshi and pay him NIS 40,000 in compensation. Read more
Read MoreAL: Alabama governor signs chemical castration bill into law
[cnn.com – 6/10/19] Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Monday signed a bill into law that requires someone convicted of a sex offense against a child under the age of 13 to begin chemical castration a month before being released from custody. The law requires individuals convicted of such an offense to continue treatments until a court deems the treatment is no longer necessary. It says offenders must pay for the treatment, and they can’t be denied parole solely based on an inability to pay. “This bill is a step…
Read MoreA limited study done by the Department of Justice still proves that registrants have the lowest re-offense rate
[sosen.org – 6/7/19] The Department of Justice Bureau of statistics has put out another report “Recidivism of sex offenders released from state prison a nine-year follow-up 2005-14.” This is another attempt to muddy the waters by the Department of Justice in relation to the re-offense rate of people on the registry. First of all, this is not a valid study for evaluating the amount of recidivism by the 900,000+ people that are registered citizens. This is in fact a limited study of a small group of people that were…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Tennessee’s New Law: A Form of Birth Control for Registrants
Several months ago several TN Senators and Representatives were hell-bent on passing a two-fold law aimed at further punishment against registrants. The first part of the law would have increased the boundary restrictions for registrants from 1,000 ft. to 2,000 ft., thankfully, this portion of the law was abandoned. However, the second part of the law was passed and it is already bringing in to question the amount of “functioning gray matter” that these legislators actually have. Here’s the new law as it is written: State of TN /Senate…
Read MoreFL: Fort Lauderdale opening more neighborhoods to sex offenders with change in strict law
[sun-sentinel.com – 6/7/19] There are no homes at 2700 N. Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale. Although the only buildings standing are a McDonald’s and a Chick-fil-A, 110 people have registered it as an address. All of them are convicted sex offenders. This hot spot for sexual criminals is one of several along Federal Highway in northeast Fort Lauderdale, one of the few slivers in the city where a registered sex offender or sexual predator — rapists, molesters, child porn addicts — can legally reside. That will change soon. The city…
Read MoreNY: Registered sex offender living at Newfane nursing facility
[wkbw.com – 6/6/19] 7 Eyewitness News has learned a registered sex offender is living at the Newfane Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. But he had been quietly living in a local nursing home for months without any residents knowing. What’s even more concerning is how close this facility is to three schools. The registered sex offender has been living at the Newfane nursing center since January, but the state has not notified anyone until Thursday. This is the same center where the state attorney general’s office is also investigating an…
Read MoreACSOL 2019 Conference is next week! Come get your hope! Seats are still available
“I’ve participated in every ACSOL conference, and find each session to be encouraging, motivating, and educational. I’ve met new friends and learned new tools for helping my family navigate the challenges of the registry. Highly recommended!” — Daphny Dear registrants, family members and supporters, You can see above that Daphny had a great experience at past ACSOL conferences. Next week on June 14 and 15 you can experience ACSOL’s conference too! NEW: 2019 ACSOL Conference Schedule Click here to sign up now to make sure you get a seat!…
Read MoreAL: Alabama’s state legislature just passed a bill to chemically castrate child sex offenders
[insider.com – 6/5/19] Alabama’s state legislature passed a bill Tuesday that will require convicted child sex offenders to undergo chemical castration prior to their release, raising questions about the legality and ethics of castration. According to the legislation, known as House Bill 379, a person convicted of a sexual offense involving anyone under the age of 13 will be required, as a condition of parole, “to undergo chemical castration treatment in addition to any other penalty or condition prescribed by law.” The person will be obligated to pay for the…
Read MoreNY: Medicaid bought sex offenders’ erectile dysfunction drugs
[whec.com – 6/5/19] Registered sex offenders in New York received $63,000 worth of erectile dysfunction drugs and other sexual treatments courtesy of the state’s publicly funded Medicaid program, according to an audit released Wednesday. Federal rules bar Medicaid coverage of sexual treatments for all recipients, not just sex offenders. Yet state Medicaid officials approved $930,000 in improper payments for the drugs between 2012 and 2018, according to the audit released by state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and first reported by The Associated Press. According to the audit, 47 of those Medicaid…
Read MoreSouthern Baptist leaders plan to remedy ‘insufficient’ approach to abuse claims
[upi.com – 6/4/19] Southern Baptists hope to take steps at their upcoming annual meeting in Birmingham, Ala., to address continuing reports of sexual abuse in their denomination … The document also included a list of ways for state and regional groups to help churches handle sex offenders, including developing a covenant that, if violated, would limit their church attendance or access to church property. Easter said she considers offenders to be too dangerous to be permitted in a church gathering. “Predators should be ministered to by trained professionals separate from…
Read MoreMT: Attorney General’s Office secures grant to enforce sex offender registrations
[fairfieldsuntimes.com – 6/1/19] About 336 sex offenders are listed on the state registry in the Missoula area, and that’s only the number of those who are compliant with their registration. Assistant Attorney General Madison Mattioli stepped into a grant-funded position in April to address the 4,744 sex offenders statewide who are not compliant with current addresses and information on the state Department of Justice’s Sexual and Violent Registration. Read more
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