Author: R H

CA: Judge Dismisses Lawsuit Over Underage Nude Scene in 1968 Film ‘Romeo and Juliet’

R H

Source: news.yahoo.com/Rolling Stone 5/26/23 Los Angeles County judge Alison Mackenzie confirmed she would grant Paramount Pictures’ motion to throw out a lawsuit over a nude scene in the 1968 film Romeo and Juliet, citing the First Amendment. Earlier this year, lead actors Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting sued Paramount for sexual exploitation and child abuse over the use of nude footage in the movie, which was captured when they were 15 and 16, respectively. In the suit, the actors claimed that their consent was violated by the film’s director Franco Zeffirelli, who…

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CO: Federal judge allows 2 men to sue over lack of access to sex offender treatment

R H

Source:  coloradopolitics.com 5/25/23 Incarceration without access to treatment ‘alters the conditions of an inmate’s confinement in a way that can only set back his rehabilitation,’ wrote Judge Nina Wang Two men incarcerated for sex offenses, who have been moved around to various facilities where they were unable to participate in legally required treatment, may sue Colorado corrections officials for violating their constitutional rights, a federal judge ruled this week. Gino ___ and Brian ___ filed suit last year, alleging the only thing preventing them from being paroled is their failure…

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MI: Michigan sex offenders seek individual liability for enforcement of vacated rules

R H

5/30/23 UPDATE: MI: Michigan sex offenders lose appeal to hold state officials liable for registry rules   Source: courthousenews.com 5/3/23 A lower court found state officials immune over their continued enforcement of unconstitutional sex offender registration requirements. CINCINNATI (CN) — A class of anonymous sex offenders urged the Sixth Circuit on Wednesday to reverse a judgment that granted several state officials immunity. The class had brought a federal lawsuit in 2021 over a series of amendments to Michigan’s Sex Offenders Registration Act, otherwise known as SORA. Importantly, the 2006 and…

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OR, WA: Housing restrictions are leaving more PNW sex offenders homeless

R H

Source: crosscut.com 5/25/23 In his 15 years housing people coming out of prison, Mike Cross has had to turn many people away. Cross, director of Oregon City-based nonprofit Free on the Outside, which provides housing and recovery for formerly incarcerated individuals, knows what strings to pull to get people housed. While working in Hillsboro west of Portland, he successfully sheltered people of all criminal backgrounds. But those he turns away often have one thing in common: Their names are on Oregon’s Sex Offender Registry. “I got housing for guys that…

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CA: Former LAPD officer charged with sexually assaulting 4 children dies in custody

R H

Source: ktla.com 5/22/23 A former officer with the Los Angeles Police Department who was charged with eight counts of lewd acts with a child after allegedly sexually assaulting four boys has died in custody, authorities announced Monday.   Paul ___, who had been taken into custody less than two weeks ago, was transported to an L.A. County medical center on May 20 for a pre-existing medical condition. The 46-year-old died while receiving treatment, officials with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department told KTLA.  The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office…

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IL: Nearly 2,000 children in Illinois were sexually abused by Catholic clergy, state finds

R H

Source: nbcnews.com 5/23/23 CHICAGO — An Illinois attorney general’s office investigation released Tuesday found that 451 Catholic clergy sexually abused nearly 2,000 children in the state over a nearly 70-year period, which was more than four times the 103 individuals the church named when the state began its review in 2018. Attorney General Kwame Raoul said at a news conference that investigators found that Catholic clergy abused 1,997 children in Illinois between 1950 and 2019, though he acknowledged that the statute of limitations has expired in many cases and that those abusers…

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For Some Convicted Sex Offenders, Finishing Their Sentences Doesn’t Mean They Get To Go Home

R H

Source: route-fifty.com 5/22/23 Several states are civilly committing sex offenders when their prison terms end. The Bureau of Justice Statistics may soon begin collecting data about the practice—and finally shed some light on how widespread and effective it is. Looking to confine sexual offenders deemed a continuing risk to the public, lawmakers in 20 states, plus Washington, D.C., and Congress, passed laws around the turn of the millennium allowing for the involuntary civil commitment of these convicted offenders when their prison terms ended. But nearly a quarter of a century…

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Civil Commitment Does More Harm Than Good

R H

Source: truthdig.com 5/22/23 Civil commitment facilities actually foster the traumatic and violent conditions that they are supposed to prevent. As if serving a prison sentence wasn’t punishment enough, 20 states and the federal Bureau of Prisons detain over 6,000 people, mostly men, who have been convicted of sex offenses in prison-like “civil commitment” facilities beyond the terms of their criminal sentence. Around the turn of the millennium, 20 states, Washington D.C., and the federal government passed “Sexually Violent Persons” legislation that created a new way for these jurisdictions to keep people locked up — even indefinitely…

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Janice’s Journal: Best Way to Serve and Protect Victims is to Better Serve Offenders

R H

The United Kingdom (U.K.) is not known for having an open mind regarding individuals required to register.  Instead, the U.K. is known for stopping and returning to the country-of-origin individuals required to register even if the individuals have entered the U.K. via airport on their way to another destination.  In such cases, the U.K. has returned the individuals to their country-of-origin at the individuals’ expense. Therefore, it was surprising, perhaps even shocking, to hear the voice of reason in a government report issued recently in the U.K.  First, the report…

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ACSOL Online Meeting June 24, 2023

R H

Please join ACSOL Executive Director and civil rights attorney Janice Bellucci as well as ACSOL board member and criminal defense attorney Chance Oberstein for our next meeting.  The meeting will be held on Saturday, June 24, online on Zoom beginning at 10 a.m. Pacific time, 1:00 PM Eastern, and will last at least two hours. You can use the Zoom app or call in using a Zoom phone number. There is no registration needed for this meeting. You can use the Zoom app to see Janice and Chance and choose…

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Europe: Commission unveils law to fight child sexual abuse online amid swelling privacy fears

R H

Source: politico.eu 5/11/23 The European Commission on Wednesday proposed a law to force digital companies to find, report and remove online child sexual abuse material circulating on their platforms. As reported by POLITICO, Google, Apple, and Meta’s WhatsApp and Instagram could be faced with court orders to hunt down photos and videos of child abuse or else face hefty fines of up to 6 percent of their global revenue. Companies would also have to clamp down on grooming — conversations where offenders try to inappropriately connect with children. The proposals…

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MI: Plan for sex offender to live and work in Oakland County during parole is too close to Macomb Co. victim, prosecutor says

R H

Source: theoaklandpress.com 5/19/23 An assistant Macomb County prosecutor has asked the state Supreme Court last week to set 100 miles as the standard of a released prisoner to reside away from their victim. … The current parole plan is for McBrayer to live 16 miles away in Auburn Hills and work in landscaping in Waterford Township, both in Oakland County, and be restricted from entering Macomb County. “What irresistibly and keenly grabs our attention is because the Parole Board is proposing to place him 16 miles away when Michigan has…

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KY: Mixed Messages of Sex offenders in Ashcamp

R H

Source: news-expressky.com 5/19/23 When businesses pick up additional profit centers, it’s called line extension. … The extension of services that WestCare has embarked upon since 2019 is a halfway house for registered sex offenders. In a quick search of sex offenders in the 41512 zip code, which includes Ashcamp, there are 156 registered sex offenders. And over 80 of those have the same address; 10057 Elkhorn Creek Road, which is the same address for WestCare. … The halfway house provides a place for sex offenders who have committed crimes, served…

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AZ: Data suggest changes for sex offense policies

R H

Source: azcapitoltimes.com 5/18/23 Based on a false premise, Justice Anthony Kennedy asserted in the case of Smith v Doe 538 U.S. 84 (2003) that “the risk of recidivism posed by sex offenders is frightening and high,” as high as 80% for those who are untreated. This, he contended, made it vital that the public be able to identify these individuals in the interest of public safety. Justice Kennedy’s statements were wrong then and they are wrong now. They were based on an article in a lay publication, Psychology Today, not…

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CA: Former Teacher Pleads Guilty To Child Porn Possession

R H

Source: patch.com 5/15/23 ANAHEIM, CA — A former Anaheim elementary school teacher and high school wrestling coach pleaded guilty Monday to possessing child pornography. Richard ____, 45, of Anaheim, pleaded guilty to a count of possession of child pornography. ____ is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 18 in federal court in Santa Ana. ____ previously worked as a fourth-grade teacher at Crescent Elementary School and was a volunteer boys’ wrestling coach at Canyon High School in Anaheim, according to federal prosecutors. Read the full article  

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TX: Council on Sex Offender Treatment (CSOT) Ethics Committee Agenda for June 9

R H

Source: hhs.texas.gov This meeting will be webcast. Members of the public may attend the meeting in person at the address above or access a live stream of the meeting at https://texashhsmeetings.org/HHSWebcast. Select the tab for the Winters Live on the date and time for this meeting. Please e-mail [email protected] you have any problems with the webcasting function. This meeting will be conducted via videoconference call in accordance with the requirements of Texas Government Code Section 551.127. The member of the Ethics Committee presiding over the meeting will be physically present…

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