[politics.myajc.com – 9/11/18] On Monday, the Georgia GOP again plunged deeply into the legislative record of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, launching an ad that assailed her vote against a sex offender crackdown as “too extreme for Georgia.” The 30-second spot targets her opposition to a 2008 bill that reinstated a range of restrictions that limited offenders from living, working or loitering within 1,000 feet of a broad range of places where children gather, including schools, churches, community swimming pools and bus stops. The Republican measure was pushed as a…
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ACSOL Emotional Support Group Meeting in L.A. on Saturday, Sept 22
ACSOL will conduct an Emotional Support Group for registrants and their loved ones. They are usually held the fourth Saturday of each month, so this year they are planned for: Sep 22, Oct 27, Nov 24, Dec 22 The next meeting is Saturday, Sept 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. The meeting, which is based upon 12 Step principles, will provide registrants and their loved…
Read MoreFL: FAC Member Advised Passport Confiscated at Airport
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 9/14/18] A [Florida Action Committee] member just advised us that as he was about to board an international flight (which he properly reported under IML) he was approached by 3 US Marshalls who confiscated his passport and told him he had to get a new one with an identifier. He was not permitted to travel and he had received no prior notice that he had to update his passport. Read the original posting and the comments
Read MoreAZ: Conspiracy theories inspire vigilante justice in Tucson
[hcn.org – 9/12/18] How one man’s imagined discovery of a sex-trafficking camp in the Sonoran Desert gained life online — and in the real world. On May 31, a strange story aired on the nightly news in Tucson, Arizona. KOLD News 13 reporter Kevin Adger told viewers that a local veterans’ rights activist named Lewis Arthur had made a horrific discovery in the bushes beside a frontage road: a bunker used as a stopover by child sex traffickers. The reporter pointed out children’s clothes, an old toilet seat and a…
Read MoreBetsy DeVos is absolutely right about campus sexual assault rules
[theweek.com – 9/13/18] To push an issue, a leader usually needs to have integrity or street cred. Abraham Lincoln had the first when he led the country out of slavery. Richard Nixon, a security hawk, had the second when he made peace with China. President Donald Trump admittedly has neither when it comes to women’s issues. So his administration is hardly in any moral position to revamp the rules governing sexual assault on college campuses that President Barack Obama, a paragon of propriety, put in place. Yet Obama’s rules were…
Read MoreOR: Discovery of dog saves Oregon man from sex-crime conviction
[stltoday.com – 9/10/18] The discovery of a black Lab named Lucy led to the unravelling of a criminal case Monday against an Oregon man who had begun serving a 50-year prison sentence. Joshua Horner, a plumber from the central Oregon town of Redmond, was convicted on April 12, 2017, of sexual abuse of a minor. In the trial, the complainant testified Horner had threatened to shoot her animals if she went to the police about the alleged molestation, and said she saw him shoot and kill her dog to make…
Read MoreAcademic Study Reveals 30 States Require Visiting Registrants to Register; 22 States Don’t Remove Registrants After They Depart
Note: before you travel to another state, it is your responsibility to always read up on the latest registration regulations. Don’t depend on secondhand studies like this. Do your research so you don’t land in jail. Download Academic Study that Reveals 30 States Require Visiting Registrants to Register
Read MoreLaws Punishing Homeless People for Sleeping in Public Are Cruel and Unusual, Fed Court Rules
[nytimes.com – 9/5/18] Prosecuting homeless people for sleeping on the streets when there is no shelter available is a form of cruel and unusual punishment that violates the Constitution, a federal appeals court said this week. The case stems from two ordinances in Boise, Idaho, that make it a crime to sleep or camp in buildings, streets and other public places. Six homeless people who had been convicted under the laws sued the city in 2009, saying their constitutional rights had been violated. After years of legal wrangling, a three-judge…
Read MoreACSOL Meeting in Berkeley on Sat, Sept 15
Please mark your calendars for ACSOL’s upcoming meeting in Berkeley: Sept 15 10 a.m. Finnish Hall (upstairs meeting room) 1970 Chestnut Street Berkeley 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 up!
Read MorePA: Professor fired over child-sex conviction must be rehired by Pa. university, state court says
[pennlive.com – 8/31/18] Lock Haven University must reinstate a mathematics professor who was fired after his 28-year-old conviction for molesting two children was discovered, a Commonwealth Court panel ruled Friday. Prof. Charles Morgan can’t be allowed to teach high school students who are taking advanced placement classes at the school, however, the state judges found. That decision, outlined in an opinion by Senior Judge James Gardner Colins, upholds an arbitration ruling won on the prof’s behalf by the Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Faculties, the professors’ union. University…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: You May Be Eligible to Vote (CA)
The mid-term election will take place in about two months. And it is important that your voice as well as the voices of all eligible registrants be heard in that important election. Many, although not all, registrants in the State of California are eligible to vote. For example, you are eligible to vote if you are currently in jail provided that you are serving a misdemeanor sentence or are awaiting trial. You are also eligible to vote if you are on federal supervised release, mandatory supervision or probation. Finally, you…
Read MoreND: North Dakota works to track registered sex offenders
[inforum.com – 9/2/18] Keeping track track of sex offenders in North Dakota requires technology and the teamwork of law enforcement and communities across the state. There are among nearly 1,900 sex offenders in the state, according to Liz Brocker, a spokeswoman for the North Dakota Attorney General’s Office. A website for the Attorney General’s Office tracks the locations of sex offenders in the state, based on their residence or place of employment. Staff with the office work extensively to keep the website up to date with extensive information on offenders,…
Read MoreIndia Likely to Launch Sex Offender Data Base Next Month
[sputniknews.com – 8/31/18] The registry is aimed at helping law enforcement agencies to identify repeat offenders while making people aware of those involved in crimes that are sexual in nature, however, human rights activists are concerned the draconian step might do more harm than good. New Delhi (Sputnik) — With demands to ensure justice for sex offense victims growing louder every passing day, the government of India has decided to adopt a sex offender database. The database would store the profile and personal details of convicted offenders and also those…
Read MoreMD: Maryland joins sex-offender registry program
[washingtonpost.com – 8/26/18] HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Maryland is joining a sex-offender registry program that law enforcement officials say will make it more efficient to share records. The Herald-Mail reported Sunday that Maryland became the 17th state to join OffenderWatch last week. A statewide contract will allow every sheriff’s office, participating police departments and the Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services to use the technology. Maryland residents will also be able to register online to receive alerts and updates at no cost when offenders register within a specific radius of…
Read MoreFL: The Last Victim: One man caught in the day-care hysteria decades ago still seeks justice
[nationalreview.com – 8/23/18] On January 23, 2014, the Florida Parole Commission sent Frank Fuster a letter informing him that, owing to a recent policy change, it had determined that his initial interview was scheduled for March 2134. No, that isn’t a misprint. His first parole hearing is scheduled in 120 years. And this for a crime that, by any fair reading of the evidence, not only did Fuster not commit but never even happened. Thirty-three years ago, Fuster, along with his young wife, Ileana, was convicted of sexually abusing children…
Read MoreThe polygraph as applied: Are we focusing on technology at the expense of everything else that works?
[sajrt.blogspot.com – 8/22/18] By David S. Prescott, LICSW, Kieran McCartan, Ph.D., &Alissa Ackerman, Ph.D. Nothing divides the professional and academic community that works in the field of sexual abuse quite like the polygraph. It is a debate that has went on internationally for decades. A fascinating wrinkle in policy and the law recently came to the authors’ attention. In at least one state, there is a policy holding that people on probation cannot be sent back to prison for failing a polygraph examination. This makes sense given the current status…
Read MoreAction Alert: CA Dept. of State Hospitals Schedules Hearing on Sept. 20
The California Department of State Hospital (DSH) will conduct a public hearing on September 20 for the purpose of considering proposed amendments to regulations that limit patients” possession of, or access to, electronic property. The hearing will begin at 2 p.m. at 1600 9th Street Room 100 Sacramento ACSOL will be attending the meeting. We look forward to you joining us to stand for and write for those incarcerated in Dept of State Hospitals like Coalinga. If we only stand up for issues that directly affect us, unity is lost.…
Read MoreBermuda: Do not make sex offender registry public
[royalgazette.com – 8/23/18] Government expert: Seb Henagulph, a consultant at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute and Westgate Correctional Facility A forensic psychiatrist said there was no clear evidence to show that public sex offender registries result in a reduction in the reoffending rate — and that they could even increase the risk of further crimes. Seb Henagulph, a consultant at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute and Westgate Correctional Facility, said research showed only about 12 per cent of sex offenders go on to commit a second similar offence. He added the figure…
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