Source: startribune.com 10/10/23 [ACSOL note: we are posting this to show how an unusually long delay of charges is possible, even reaching to another state] Since 2012, the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office and its law enforcement partners have been chipping away at their backlog of sexual assault kits holding evidence in unsolved cases. By Paul Walsh Star Tribune Testing of DNA evidence nearly 20 years after it was collected has led to a man’s arrest on allegations that he raped a woman in a vehicle. Shawn P. ____, 48, was charged…
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ME: Maine town residents tell leaders they want residency restrictions due to imaginary reoffense rates
Source: wgme.com 10/9/23 An Orrington Select Board meeting last month devolved into an explosive half-hour debate between residents and officials about where sex offenders should be allowed to live within the town. Residents assumed that restrictions on how close registered sex offenders could live to places such as schools and parks were set statewide. But it wasn’t until an offender moved to Orrington this summer that many realized the town does not have those laws in place. … residents were surprised to learn that Maine does not have a state-wide…
Read MoreAction Alert for Illinois: Take action now to reduce and repeal registries, decriminalize housing, and let people live in available homes
Source: Illinois Voices for Reform and Chicago 400 A message from Adele Nicholas, Executive Director, Illinois Voices for Reform: Illinois residents, please click here to support SB2158 now! Everyone needs a place to live. People who’ve done their time should have the opportunity to establish stable homes for themselves and their families. Illinois’ wasteful and counterproductive registry and residency laws too often prevent people on the registry from building a foundation for a positive future. It’s time to stand up for real change. You can help us get there! Our…
Read MoreMO: Hazelwood man’s Halloween displays were lavish. A sex offender law forced him to quit
Source: stltoday.com 10/9/23 ST. LOUIS — Thomas Sanderson’s Halloween festivities were a neighborhood tradition. For more than two decades, the Hazelwood resident put together a “lavish display” featuring animatronic figures and creatures, lights, music, fog machines, a bonfire and — of course — candy. But on Halloween in 2022, a half-dozen police cars descended upon Sanderson’s property and asked to search his home. Sanderson had been convicted of a sex offense in 2006, and police argued he had violated a state law that prohibits people on the sex offender registry…
Read MoreCA: Lake County Probation Department hosts Resilient Re-entry event
Source: lakeconews.com 10/7/23 LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lake County Probation Department, in collaboration with the Lake County Campus of Woodland Community College, hosted a Resilient Re-entry event designed to provide valuable resources and guidance to justice-involved individuals. The event aimed to facilitate the reintegration of justice-involved individuals into society by offering a range of services, including record expungement, information about college education opportunities, and even free tattoo removal services. Additionally, attendees had the valuable opportunity to learn from inspirational keynote speakers who have successfully transitioned from incarceration to leading…
Read MoreCA: Large Online Retailer Settles Suit for FCRA Violation
Source: pre-employ.com An online retailer recently announced it reached an agreement in a California federal court. This agreement ends a lawsuit with a former associate. According to the case, the associate accused the retailer of illegally using information about a past conviction to deny him a full-time job. The online retailer did not detail the terms of the agreement. However, it did file a notice stating that it had agreed to settle the lawsuit under the California Fair Chance Act (FCA). The FCA first took effect in January 2018, intending…
Read MoreACSOL News Alert: Federal Lawsuit Challenges Missouri Halloween Sign Requirement
A lawsuit was filed in a federal district court this week challenging a state law in Missouri that requires registrants to post a sign on the front door of their home on Halloween. The plaintiff in the case, Thomas J. Sanderson, was arrested last year for violating that and other requirements of the state law at issue. The basis of the legal challenge is the First Amendment that not only allows citizens to speak but also protects citizens from compelled speech which has been defined as a requirement to utter…
Read MoreWA: Portland man arrested in Clark County sting acquitted of child sex abuse in new trial
Source: columbian.com 10/2/23 A Portland man was acquitted last month after being granted a new trial on appeal, nearly five years after he was convicted in connection with an undercover child sex sting. A Clark County Superior Court jury Sept. 8 acquitted Jace Hambrick, 27, of attempted second-degree rape of a child and communicating with a minor for immoral purposes. He was one of several people arrested in February 2017 after responding to an advertisement posted by an interagency task force posing as minors online. In Hambrick’s case, he responded…
Read MoreIN: County to increase fees for out-of-county sex offenders
Source: wkkg.com 10/3/23 Convicted sexual and violent offenders who come in to Bartholomew County to work or for other activities would now pay more to be entered into the county’s sex offender registry under a change being considered by the county commissioners. Under the existing rules those who lived outside Bartholomew County, but travelled here for various activities were only paying $5 annually to be added to the registry, while in-county residents had to pay $50 annually. Read the full article
Read MoreIL: Illinois legislator tells prison agency ‘do your job’ on sex offender notification
Source: thecentersquare.com 10/3/23 A Republican state legislator says she has no interest in the idea of changing the state’s sex offender notification system that was the subject of a recent audit finding with the Illinois Department of Corrections. The compliance audit released last week looks at IDOC for two years ending June 30, 2022. In total, there were 46 findings and 40 repeat findings. The findings include a failure to notify victims and local law enforcement after releasing sex offenders, including those who committed a predatory criminal sexual assault of a child,…
Read MoreFL: County and municipal codes stricter than state’s may not be enforceable
Source: mainstreetdailynews.com 9/26/23 The Newberry City Commission is looking for… … Currently, Newberry’s code does not allow sexual offenders to reside within 1,000 feet, and predators 1,500 feet, of a state-defined “protected place,” defined to be schools, childcare facilities, parks, playgrounds and any other gathering place for children. The city of Williston limits both to live 2,500 feet away from protected places, while state statute limits both sexual offenders and predators to a minimum of 1,000 feet from protected places. Courtesy city of Newberry Newberry’s existing code-specified 1,500-foot perimeters around…
Read MoreWA: State panel in damage control after confusion about eliminating sex offender notifications
Source: komonews.com 10/2/23 KING COUNTY, Wash. — A state advisory panel is doing damage control after recommendations regarding sex offenders stirred outrage in the community. The recommendations are for community notifications to be eliminated when convicted sex offenders are released from prison and return to society. … The MPC has found that community notification actually undermines public safety. It also recommends that sex offender registries should be reserved for law enforcement and not be made available to the public. The reasoning is that the attention notifications and registries bring can…
Read MoreACSOL Conference Features Challenge to SORNA Regulations
ACSOL’s conference will feature a presentation on Sunday, October 15, regarding the pending lawsuit challenging SORNA regulations. The presentation will be made in person by lead attorney Caleb Kruckenberg of the Pacific Legal Foundation. “Significant progress has already been made in the lawsuit that challenges SORNA regulations,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “Attorney Kruckenberg will share with us at the conference the current status of that case as well as his future plans which could lead to a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court.” The SORNA regulations being challenged…
Read MoreMT: Montana decision that Sexual or Violent Offender Registration Act (SVORA) is punitive and cannot be applied retroactively
Source: law.justia.com 6/14/23 The THE STATE OF MONTANA Supreme Court reversed the order of the district court denying Defendant’s motion to dismiss the State’s felony charge against him for failure to register as a sexual offender, holding that the Sexual or Violent Offender Registration Act (SVORA), as amended since 2007, was punitive in nature. Defendant was convicted of sexual assault in 1994 and served and discharged his sentence. At the time, SVORA, known then as Montana’s Sexual offender Registration Act, required Defendant to maintain registration for ten years. When the legislature amended…
Read MoreMI: Police arrest 2 men in killing of Pontiac man known for fooling sexual predators Kylie Martin Detroit Free Press
Source: freep.com 9/30/23 Police have arrested two men in the Friday killing of a 40-year-old Pontiac man who often posed as a minor on social media in attempts to catch sexual predators. Robert Wayne Lee, who ran a popular Facebook page with 11,000 followers using the moniker “Boopac Shakur,” confronted two males, ages 17 and 18, seated in a Pontiac restaurant near the corner of North Perry and MLK Boulevard about 10:30 p.m. Friday, according to the Oakland County Sheriff’s office. Lee accused one of the men of being a…
Read MoreWA: Washington panel considers outlawing community notification of sex offenders
Source: thecentersquare.com 9/28/23 (The Center Square) – Earlier this year, a decision to house convicted sex offenders in cities such as Enumclaw without notifying the community drew outrage from local residents. Now, the State Sex Offender Policy Board is considering recommendations to the Legislature that could include making it illegal to notify communities when a sex offender moves into the area on the grounds that such policies undermine public safety. Created in 2008, the Sex Offender Policy Board is composed of 13 members appointed by Gov. Jay Inslee. Its role…
Read MoreThe Evolving Landscape of Administrative Law [including SORNA]
Source: jdsupra.com 9/25/23 Shay Dvoretzky, Emily Kennedy Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP+ Follow Contact Key Points The U.S. Supreme Court’s October 2023 term may bring fundamental changes to administrative law, including by possibly overruling Chevron. Decisions in recent years demonstrate the Court’s skepticism of administrative power and increasing willingness to question government regulation. New limits on agency power may create opportunities for businesses to challenge unfavorable regulations, but they also may open the door to attacks on long-standing rules that businesses find helpful and predictable. One of the…
Read MoreFL: Death penalty in child rapes among new Florida laws soon to take effect
Source: orlandosentinel.com 9/26/23 A new law that could lead to imposing the death penalty on people who rape children under age 12 will take effect Sunday, along with other laws passed during the 2023 legislative session. Other measures taking effect could lead to putting local governments on the hook for attorney fees when ordinances are deemed “arbitrary or unreasonable;” increase penalties on fans who interfere with sporting events; and require teens to at least have learner’s permits to drive golf carts on public roads. The laws passed during the legislative…
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