[salon.com] How would you describe a sex offender? In all likelihood, you would describe a monster — someone who lurks behind bushes and rapes unsuspecting women or abuses children. And that is how sex offenders are portrayed in the media. For most of us, much of what we know about sex offenders comes from movies, TV shows and news stories. However, those stories are often sensationalized portrayals — or cases that are the exception to the rule — rather than the norm. While cases like these do exist, they remain…
Read MoreAuthor: R H
FL: Four years after being called out on poor public policy, Florida is STILL putting children at risk
[sosen.org] On April 14, 2014, A national coalition of members of CURE, CURE-SORT, FAC, USA Fair and WAR members joined together to ask Florida legislators, “Why are the many children and families of former offenders being placed in danger from missed opportunities of effective legislation?” “Are the children of citizens on the sex offender registry less valuable to law makers?” Nearly four full years later, we are still awaiting a satisfactory answer. As of May 24, 2017, there were 69,917 people listed on the Florida state sex offender registry and…
Read MorePA: State to consider overhaul to sex offender registration law again
[buckscountycouriertimes.com] The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing on a bill Monday. Nearly eight years ago, Bucks County resident Steve Gordon left state prison after completing a 10-year sentence for sexually assaulting a woman, but he was not quite a free man. His conviction for aggravated indecent sexual assault meant that Pennsylvania State Police would be keeping tabs on him for another decade. A little more than five years ago, though, Gordon, now 71, suddenly had state police monitoring him for the rest of his life, after state lawmakers…
Read MoreOK: Oklahoma lawmaker pushes bill for ‘chemical castration’ of sex offenders
[theguardian.com] A Republican lawmaker is pushing to add Oklahoma to the list of states in which so-called chemical castration is an option for certain sex offenders. State representative Rick West, a first-term lawmaker from Heavener, said he filed the bill at the request of a constituent and that he fully intends to push for its passage. It is likely to face strong opposition, even in a conservative state. If approved, Oklahoma would join at least seven other states that have laws allowing courts to order chemical treatments that reduce male…
Read MoreIA: Iowa court: offensive text photos aren’t indecent exposure
[thestate.com] DES MOINES, Iowa The Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday that text messaging a photo of one’s genitals to another person is not indecent exposure under state law. The court ruled found that to meet the definition of the Iowa law as written, such an offensive display must be done in the physical presence of the offended person. “While we acknowledge that one can be offended by a sexually explicit image transmitted via text message, it is much easier to ‘look away’ from that image than it is to avoid…
Read MoreLifeTimes Magazine: A positive magazine for registrants
[lifeonlist.org] When it comes to America’s sex-offense registry regime, there’s a lot to get outraged about. Indignation over its everyday cruelties serves a function when it moves us to action. But bad news isn’t everything. There’s a lot of good to point to among those living under the system. I learn that every time I meet a registrant or one of their family members who’s running a thriving business, started a support group, or spending every week visiting legislators. Last month the first issue of a new magazine came out…
Read MoreProf. Janus establishes center devoted to sex-offender litigation, policy
[mitchellhamline.edu] Mitchell Hamline School of Law is pleased to announce the creation of a center devoted to tracking litigation and encouraging effective public policy related to sexual offenders. Directed by Professor Eric Janus, a leading national expert on sexual violence law and policy, the Sex Offense Litigation and Policy Resource Center collects and disseminates information about cases related to sex-offender policy and laws. Supported by a grant from the Vital Projects Fund, the center seeks to facilitate communication, sharing, and the development of strategies among lawyers, advocates, and academics who…
Read MoreIL: Illinois Appellate Court Rules Lifetime Sex Offender Registration “Grossly Disproportionate Punishment” for 21 Year Old
[floridaactioncommittee.org] The opinion in People v. Tetter, which came out a couple days ago, is another great decision to add to our growing list of cases where courts have found the registry to be “punishment” and conditions of the registry have crossed the line into irrational. Kyle Tetter was 21 when he met a girl on an online social media app. Her profile said she was 18. Even though he later learned she was 16, they continued the consensual relationship and eventually she became pregnant and her mother reported him…
Read MoreIL: Class worked to break the cycle of sex offenses
[news.illinoisstate.edu] The criminal justice majors in Shelly Clevenger’s course studying sex offenses are usually prepared for a final project that is out-of-the-ordinary. “I’ve had a lot of these same students in my other classes, so they know their projects will be a little quirky,” said Clevenger, whose innovative teaching has been honored by the American Society of Criminology. “I wanted something that will help them communicate with their audience.” For the future members of law enforcement, that means connecting not only with those who are vulnerable to sexual offenses, but…
Read More‘Glee’ Star Mark Salling Dead of Apparent Suicide
[yahoo.com] Mark Salling has reportedly died in an apparent suicide weeks before being sentenced to prison for possession of child pornography. He was 35. TMZ, The Blast and E! all reported his death. LAPD PIO told PEOPLE that officers responded to a death investigation at the 11900 block of Big Tujunga Cyn Road Tuesday morning at 8:50 a.m. but could not identify Salling. The Glee star pleaded guilty to possession of child pornography involving a prepubescent minor Oct. 4, 2017. After striking a plea deal in December, he was due…
Read MoreCO: Greeley’s Alternative Homes for Youth works to rehabilitate juvenile sex offenders
[greeleytribune.com] Shayna Miller’s goal every day is to help the kids she works with do something in which they can take pride. That can include volunteer work, gardening, schoolwork, art and more. She hopes that way they’ll realize they can be more than the crime they committed. Miller is the executive director of Alternative Homes for Youth in Greeley, a nonprofit agency that works to teach, support and model healthy life skills to youth and families. About 60 percent of the boys in the program have committed a sexual offense,…
Read MoreNH: Bill seeks to expand sex offender registry
[seattletimes.com] CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — More people would have to register as sex offenders in New Hampshire under a bill making its way through the House. Republican Rep. Yvonne Dean-Bailey of Northwood has introduced legislation that would require registration by those convicted of distributing private sexual images without someone’s consent. Current law requires registration for a variety of crimes, including sexual assault. Read more
Read MoreIA: Iowa legislator wants to move the goal posts
[handbasketnotes.blogspot.com] Iowa state representative Dean Fisher wants to solve an imaginary problem. Tier IV Sex Offender Registry – House File 163. This is a bill that I introduced during the 2017 session which I am continuing to work on. This bill addresses the problem of sex offenders that “time out” of the registry after a set number of years (usually 10 years) and then move to a new area of the state or move into Iowa from another state. Is it a problem when someone successfully serves the sentence handed…
Read MoreWA: Home helps Walla Walla sex offenders stay on straight and narrow
[union-bulletin.com] About 860,000 registered sex offenders were living in the United States in 2016, according to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Washington state Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs said Friday that 19,600 of those offenders are in this state. Today 124 of those live in Walla Walla County: 87 in the city, 17 in College Place, and the rest scattered up to Burbank. Seven sex offenders here are listed as homeless. Some of those, almost all low-level offenders, live in an ordinary-looking house in the Eastgate…
Read MoreFederal Judge Denies TRO at Coalinga
A federal judge on Friday denied a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) requested on behalf of patients at Coalinga State Hospital to stop the confiscation and destruction of their personal electronics, including computers and electronic storage devices. The judge made his decision from the bench after more than an hour of oral argument from attorneys representing both the patients and the state hospital. “This decision will significantly harm hundreds of patients at Coalinga State Hospital who will lose important legal documents, treatment records and personal writings including novels and poetry,” stated…
Read MoreThere’s A Line Between Justice And Vengeance. Larry Nassar’s Judge Crossed It.
[yahoo.com] Rosemarie Aquilina, the judge who presided over the astounding sentencing hearing of former USA Gymnastics team doctor Larry Nassar this month, has emerged as a heroine for victims of sexual assault. Her decision to allow 156 women and girls to address their alleged abuser in court, with their emotional testimony streamed live across the nation, created an invaluable opportunity for catharsis, and directed vital attention to what is likely the worst sex abuse scandal in U.S. sports history. But Aquilina’s manner during sentencing, in which she said she was…
Read MoreMN: Minnesota Federal District Court Enjoins West St. Paul Sex Offender Ordinance
[floridaactioncommittee.org] In a decision issued today, the Federal Court for the District of Minnesota granted a preliminary injunction against the enforcement of a West St. Paul sex offender residency restriction. Calling it a close call in light of 8th Circuit precedent that previously found SORRs constitutional, the Judge found that the West St. Paul Ordinance is significantly more restrictive than those upheld by the Eighth Circuit and was persuaded by the recent persuasive precedent from other federal circuits (including our 11th Circuit) which found otherwise. Read more
Read MoreFL: I count too!
[floridaactioncommittee.org] Last night I lay awake in bed with a puzzle racking my brain. How can I finish the sentence “sex offenders shouldn’t be allowed to vote, because ____”? It’s an exercise I go through often, and certainly during every legislation session, where someone comes up with a new “sex offender” rule and I try to play devil’s advocate and come up with some previously unforeseeable scenario, where I can make the rule seem rational. Sex offenders can’t be garbage men? OK… how about ‘sex offenders shouldn’t be allowed to…
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