[KCUR 89.3 Missouri] In a rare complaint against an elected prosecutor, the Missouri agency responsible for investigating allegations of lawyer wrongdoing has recommended that Platte County Prosecuting Attorney Eric Zahnd be punished for professional misconduct. The matter now goes before a disciplinary hearing panel – two lawyers and one non-lawyer – which will hear evidence and recommend what discipline, if any, to impose. The Missouri Supreme Court is authorized to review the panel’s decision and impose punishment ranging from a public reprimand and suspension to disbarment. It’s highly unusual for…
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It Could Be You Registered for a Sex Crime [Radio Interview Recording]
[Sex Law and Policy Center and KABF 88.3 FM Arkansas] The reality is that it’s incredibly easy to be registered for a sex crime. Lenore Skenazy of Free Range Kids discussed how your child is more likely to be victimized by the registry than by someone on the registry, at a recent conference. There is a load of truth to her claim, and it points to a much larger issue. These registries are punishment, and the lengths of punishment are only bound by the creativity of policymakers. In no way…
Read MoreCall To Action: Miami-Dade Homeless Encampment [Florida Action Committee]
[Florida Action Committee] After years of posting about the growing encampment of transient sex offenders in Miami-Dade County, it has taken some recent bad media exposure for the County to do something about it. And who do they appoint to spearhead the effort to relocate them? Ron Book! The same person who caused them to be homeless in the first place! Read more
Read MorePsychologist sues California prisons over anti-LGBT harassment
[Forensic Psychologist] Prisons are not known as bastions of healing energy. One of the challenges faced by prison clinicians in the violent and hypermasculine culture of prison is how to uphold their professional ethics when they witness abuse of prisoners by staff. Psychologists may feel internally conflicted, but they rarely file formal complaints that might jeopardize their careers or even their personal safety. So a lawsuit brought by a California psychologist against the Department of Corrections for alleged harassment of sexual minority prisoners is both rare and potentially groundbreaking. …
Read MoreUnder legal threat, Victorville to repeal sex offender residency rules
[Victorville Daily Press] With threat of a lawsuit hanging over its head, the city will repeal local residency restrictions for registered sex offenders and defer to existing state regulations. The move is not unexpected. Cities across California have been forced to bow to pressure from sex offender law reformists in recent years, while courts have simultaneously limited local regulatory authority. In December 2014, the City Council reluctantly agreed to align its local ordinance restricting the movements of registered sex offenders with the statewide regulations already in effect. That decision came…
Read MoreCA Action Alert: Support SB 421 – Call Assy Approp. Committee
The CA Assembly Appropriations Committee will be hearing the Tiered Registry bill—Senate Bill 421–on August 23. For many reasons, ACSOL is not planning on attending this hearing and we do not recommend you attend either. However, all registrants and supporters should call ALL the Assembly Appropriations Committee members at their Sacramento office. Here is a link to the members and their phone numbers: http://apro.assembly.ca.gov/membersstaff The deadline for calling is August 22, the day before the hearing. Tell the staff person that you know the Assembly Member will hear the bill in…
Read MoreTaping began today! A Women Against Registry and Metamora Films Project
www.womenagainstregistry.org A message from the Women Against Registry (WAR) National Directors: W.A.R. is Becoming a Major Player For those of you who might not be aware, Women Against Registry is taking part in the 4th International Conference on Hate Studies in October, 2017. The conference, sponsored by Gonzaga University, will be held on the school’s campus in Spokane, WA. WAR’s participation, following on the heels of our own successful conference, signals an increase in our visibility and our influence within the community. This exposure will ultimately further our ability…
Read MoreMetro officer who pleaded guilty to child porn presumably commits suicide
[KVVU-TV Las Vegas] A Metro police officer who pleaded guilty to child pornography charges earlier this year has died at the age of 25, one day before he was supposed to answer for his crimes. Investigators said Officer Ruben Delgadillo was using software to share one of the largest stashes of child pornography in Nevada. He was 24 years old when he was arrested last Aug. and faced the up to 45 years in prison. Officers said Delgadillo told them he knew he had a problem and felt guilty comparing himself to sex…
Read MoreSex offender’s plan goes up in smoke
[Battle Creek Enquirer] A convicted sex offender’s plan to open a business next to a toy store in downtown Battle Creek has hit a major stumbling block. Reece Adkins’ business partner, Cindy Dian, contacted the building owner, John Hennink, on Thursday and asked if the lease could be dissolved. Hennink said yes. Adkins, who pleaded guilty to second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under 13 in May 2000, was planning to open Cereal City Food Auction, … Read more
Read MoreFort council amends sexual offender domicile restrictions
[Daily Jefferson County Union] To comply with recent federal court rulings, the Fort Atkinson City Council has amended its ordinance restricting the placement of sex offenders. At its meeting Tuesday, the council removed the domicile restriction from the ordinance that had prevented convicted offenders who did not live in Fort Atkinson at the time of their offense from moving into the city once released. When adopted in February 2016, many other municipalities were including the domicile restriction in their ordinances. Since then, in a federal case titled Hoffman v. the…
Read MoreCruel and Unusual: The Case Against Registering Kids as Sex Offenders
[Impact Justice] America’s kids have racked up some big wins in the nation’s most august court. The victory lap began in 2005 when the Supreme Court banned the death penalty for juveniles. (Roper v. Simons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005).) In 2010, the Court barred mandatory life without parole for juveniles, except those convicted of murder. (Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010).) Two years later, the Court eliminated this exclusion, reasoning that a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release violates juveniles’ constitutional protections against “cruel…
Read MoreWas judge in Palo Alto sex case swayed by fear of Brock Turner fallout?
[The Mercury News] PALO ALTO — ____ ____ thought everything was set: he’d struck a deal to serve a year in county jail for having sex with a 15-year-old girl who claimed she was an adult. But when the victim showed up at ____’s sentencing hearing to ask that he be sent to state prison and required to register as a sex offender for life, the case took a surprising turn. In a rare move, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Chiarello pulled the plug on the deal…
Read MoreAre Sex Offender Registries Too Strict?
[Newsweek] Public sex offender registries are at the forefront of what I’ve described in my research as a “war on sex.” Offenders convicted of sex crimes are now singled out for surveillance and restrictions far more punitive than those who commit other types of crime. More than 800,000 Americans are now registered sex offenders. Tracking them has created a booming surveillance industry. In my work on sex offender registries, I have found that black men in the U.S. were registered at rates twice that of white men—resembling disparities found in…
Read MoreSex Offender, 81, Jumps Off Joliet Bridge, Drowns: Police
[Joliet Patch] JOLIET, IL — An 81-year-old man who was a convicted sex offender took his own life on Friday morning by jumping off the downtown Cass Street Bridge, police said. A call came into the Joliet Police Department’s communications center at 6:59 a.m. in reference to someone who jumped into the Des Plaines River. A few officers were in the immediate area. They quickly accessed a police boat and tried to save the man from drowning. “As the officers observed the man in the water, he attempted to be…
Read MoreWA: Seattle set to prevent landlords from considering applicants’ criminal records
[The Seattle Times] Seattle set to prevent landlords from considering applicants’ criminal records. Seattle landlords would be almost completely prohibited from screening prospective tenants based on their criminal histories, under a proposed ordinance approved by a City Council committee Tuesday. The only people who could be denied housing based on their criminal histories would be those listed on sex-offender registries because of adult convictions. And landlords denying housing to such sex offenders would still need to state a legitimate business reason for doing so. Read more
Read MoreCA Write-In Action Alert by Sept 1: Guidelines for writing in support of Prop 57 applying to registrants
California’s Proposition 57 is one of the most significant criminal justice reforms in our state’s history. Passed by an overwhelming majority of voters in November 2016, Proposition 57 promises many benefits for Registrants and their families, as well as other incarcerated individuals. However, the benefits of Proposition 57 will not be realized unless the regulations implementing them are consistent with Proposition 57’s purpose and intent. The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) is the state agency responsible for drafting and implementing the regulations under Proposition 57. CDCR has issued…
Read MoreMN: Study gives hope for children with sexual behavior problems
[Star Tribune] It’s common to feel many emotions when faced with the prospect of children as victims, or perpetrators, of sexual violence: Horror. Grief. Anger. Shame. One emotion we rarely dare to feel is hope. But findings from a new, myth-busting study by the Minnesota Coalition Against Sexual Assault (MNCASA) give us hope in abundance for these children, their families and society. The project, funded by Raliance, a nonprofit that distributes funds from the National Football League, examined how Minnesota identifies and treats children with sexual behavior problems, as well…
Read MoreMO: City Union Mission sues Jackson County sheriff over arrest threats
[The Kansas City Star] The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office is targeting some sex offenders for arrest at the City Union Mission because it sits near a park, according to a federal lawsuit alleging that the practice violates the charity’s constitutionally protected rights of religious freedom. The suit centers on how the sheriff’s office interprets a Missouri law that prohibits certain offenders from “loitering” within 500 feet of a public park that contains a pool or playground equipment. The mission operates several facilities in the 1100 block of East 10th Street…
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