[Boston 25 News] The Massachusetts Sex Offender Registry Board is under scrutiny for losing track of hundreds of sex offenders. Just last month, the state auditor testified on Beacon Hill the state sex offender registry board does not have addresses for more than 1,700 sex offenders. Now, one local agency is using a new tool to track them. The Chelsea Police Department is the first in Massachusetts to use the program that’s both an investigative tool and a public alert system. Read more
Read MoreAuthor: R H
VA: Petition claims DNA proves innocence of Virginia man sentenced to 100 years for 1990 rape of 10-year-old girl
[Richmond Times-Dispatch] DNA proves a Virginia Beach man is innocent of the brutal 1990 rape of a 10-year-old girl who now doubts her courtroom identification of him as the assailant, contends a petition filed with the Virginia Supreme Court. ________, 45, convicted of rape, abduction, forcible sodomy and malicious wounding by a jury in 1991 and sentenced to 100 years in prison, has maintained his innocence, according to his lawyers with the Innocence Project at the University of Virginia School of Law. Read more
Read MoreNE: Sex offender support group reaches out to former offenders [video]
[KETV Omaha] KETV’s third newscast about Nebraskans Unafraid Watch video
Read MoreIL: For Illinois Sex Offenders, Six Years Can Turn Into Life In Prison
[WBEZ News radio] J.D. Lindenmeier completed his six-year prison sentence in 2011, but he hasn’t been released because he has nowhere to go. Inmates call these extra years behind bars “dead time.” The Rockford native committed a sex crime, and in order to get out of prison he has to meet the state’s long list of rigid parole requirements for those convicted of predatory criminal sexual assault. He could remain behind bars for the rest of his life if he doesn’t find appropriate housing. For Lindenmeier, that means finding a…
Read MoreJanice’s Journal: Say “No” to the Scarlet Letter
The federal government has done it again. They have issued not one, but two, press releases that reveal both the proposed language and the placement of a “unique identifier” on the passports of some registrants. How many registrants? Although the exact number is unknown, it is estimated to include hundreds of thousands of American citizens. That bears repeating. Hundreds of thousands of Americans will be issued a Scarlet letter by the federal government. A mark that will limit if, and where, they can travel both overseas and domestically. On what…
Read MoreWe’re Putting Sex Offender Stamps on Passports. Here’s Why It Won’t Curb Sex Tourism & Trafficking
[InjusticeToday.com] On October 30th, the State Department announced that passports of people who are required to register as sex offenders because of an offense involving a minor will be marked with a “unique identifier” that will read: The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor, and is a covered sex offender pursuant to 22 United States Code Section 212b(c)(l). The law which occasions this requirement, International Megan’s Law (IML), was enacted in 2016 under President Obama. In addition to the identifier requirement, IML allows for existing passports…
Read MoreWI: Court forces cities to revise sex offender rules
[Wisconsin Journal Sentinel] In the interests of added protection, communities created restrictions on where convicted child sex offenders can live upon release, but something was left out of the political mix. In short, nothing in those ordinances addressed how the rights of sex offenders might be left unprotected under the U.S. Constitution, and as a result, those local restrictions have started to fray at the edges due to a 2017 federal court decision Following a successful lawsuit filed against Pleasant Prairie, which had required a 3,000-foot safety zone around places…
Read MoreNotes from the Handbasket: neighborly behavior, NextDoor
[handbasketnotes.blogspot.com] NextDoor, a private social network for neighborhoods, is a popular means of letting neighbors know if you have a washer and dryer to sell or if you want to buy a camper. NextDoor lets people ask for plumber recommendations and post information about crime in the area. A handy app for the neighborly…unless your address is on the sex offender registry. No one who lives at a registered address is allowed to join NextDoor. Not the registrant, not the spouse. No one at that address. Read more
Read MorePOSTPONED: ACSOL will NOT fight bad parole conditions in L.A. 11/27
The date for the hearing in the ACLU case which was originally scheduled for Nov. 27 in Los Angeles has been delayed due to government request, so we will not be at the courthouse on Nov 27. There is not yet a new date. We will notify you as soon as we know what the new hearing date will be.
Read MoreJustice Department declares war on ACLU attorneys who oppose Trump
[slate.com] On Friday, the Department of Justice filed an astonishing appeal with the Supreme Court, urging the justices to intervene in the Jane Doe case that seemed to have ended last week. Doe, an undocumented 17-year-old in a federally funded Texas shelter, was denied abortion access by the Trump administration, which argues that it can force undocumented minors to carry unwanted pregnancies to term. On Oct. 24, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled that Doe must be allowed to terminate her pregnancy, which she…
Read MoreShould Cruise Ships Allow Sexual Offenders to Sail?
[Huffington Post] Should cruise lines permit convicted sex offenders on their ships? Carnival the world’s largest cruise line is very careful, at least according to its website particular about who it will let on- if they are working on the ship as a vendor or crew member. According to Carnival’s website-it runs background checks at a seller expense which includes the following checks: Read more
Read MoreState Department revoking passports of child sex offenders
[NY Daily News] In compliance with a law passed last year, the federal government is curbing the liberties of convicted child sex offenders. On Wednesday, the State Department said it will begin revoking passports belonging to these individuals, forcing them to apply for a new document. Additionally, the updated passports will include a message on the inside back cover stating, “The bearer was convicted of a sex offense against a minor, and is a covered sex offender pursuant to (U.S. law).” Read more
Read MoreU.S. Passports of Child Sex Offenders Will Note Their Convictions
[New York Times] The passports of Americans convicted of sex offenses against a child will soon bear a mark of their crimes. The State Department announced this week that a sentence noting their conviction would be added to the back inside cover of offenders’ passports. Once the State Department receives their names from the Department of Homeland Security, it will begin notifying affected sex offenders that their passports were being revoked and reissued with the new language. Smaller passport cards, which can be used only for very limited international travel,…
Read MoreTrump administration reduces support for prisoner halfway houses
[Reuters] The administration of President Donald Trump has been quietly cutting support for halfway houses for federal prisoners, severing contracts with as many as 16 facilities in recent months, prompting concern that some inmates are being forced to stay behind bars longer than necessary. The Federal Bureau of Prisons spokesman Justin Long confirmed the cuts in response to an email inquiry from Reuters, and said they only affect areas with small populations or underutilized centers. “The Bureau remains firmly committed to these practices, but has had to make some modifications…
Read MoreCA: Initiative Would Expand DNA Gathering, Restrict Early Parole
[CBS Sacramento] A Democratic lawmaker on Monday proposed a ballot measure that would bar certain convicted rapists and sex traffickers from earning credits to reduce their sentences and expand the list of crimes for which a perpetrator’s DNA is collected. Assemblyman Jim Cooper of Elk Grove said he’s taking the measure to California voters because Democratic leaders repeatedly stonewalled legislation to enact similar changes. “This initiative holds bad people accountable,” Cooper said at a news conference outside the Capitol flanked by prosecutors and law enforcement officers. Read more
Read MoreOH: Ohio judges can dismiss sex charges against kids under 13, justices rule
[The Columbus Dispatch] Juvenile court rules empower judges to dismiss some sex charges against children under age 13 charged with molesting a child close to their age, the Ohio Supreme Court declared Wednesday. The court was divided on the Franklin County case, voting 4-3 to overturn a decision by the Franklin County Court of Appeals. The 2013 case involved a 12-year-old boy charged with three delinquency counts of gross sexual imposition for conduct with a boy who was nearly 10 years old. Read more
Read MoreNM: Halloween Sex Offender Scare Is Largely Myth
[Albuquerque Journal] The spookiest time of the year is fast approaching, and you have likely already heard about local law enforcement officers preparing to keep your area free of danger on Halloween night. They may be visiting schools to counsel kids on safe practices, they may be warning drivers about watching out for children on Halloween night, and in communities across America officers are fanning out to knock on the doors of registered sex offenders. The idea behind police visits to local S.O.s (as sex offenders are referred to) is…
Read MoreNY: Police Reportedly Claim a Brooklyn Teen Consented to Sex in Custody. That’s Impossible.
[theintercept.com] On September 28, attorney Michael David filed notice of a claim against the New York Police Department, the City of New York, and two unnamed police officers, referred to as John and Jim Doe. These plainclothes cops, alleged the claim, “brutally sexually assaulted and raped” his 18-year-old female client. David told me that within a day, he needed to amend the claim: The officers had been identified by police in the press as Brooklyn South narcotics detectives Richard Hall and Edward Martins. “What was strange,” said David, “was that…
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