Author: webmaster

Exceptional Punishments No one should be made to give up their rights in exchange for being spared from prison.

webmaster

By Kate Weisburd  The same scene unfolds in criminal courtrooms across the country every day. After someone has been found guilty by a jury or pled guilty, a judge imposes a sentence. The judge sometimes sentences them to prison, but often the judge sends them to a halfway house, treatment program, or other form of court supervision outside of prison. As punishments, these non-prison sentences involve a litany of rules and restrictions that strip people of basic constitutional rights. Over the years, I have collected and analyzed hundreds of public records containing…

Read More

Edinburgh, Scotland: Man who raped girl, 13, appeals conviction

webmaster

A rapist given community service after attacking a 13-year-old girl says he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice. Lawyers for Sean Hogg, 21, told the appeal court that the judge misdirected the jury during his trial and the conviction should be quashed. Hogg was found guilty of attacking his young victim multiple times in Dalkeith Country Park in 2018, when he was 17. He avoided prison after judge Lord Lake consulted Scotland’s new sentencing guidelines for people aged under 25. Donald Findlay KC told the Court of Criminal Appeal…

Read More

Utah judge orders trial for registered sex offender charged with failing to disclose HOA presidency

webmaster

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — A Utah County judge ordered a convicted child sex offender who is required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life to stand trial on charges he failed to disclose he was president of his homeowner’s association. 2News Investigates has been reporting on Paul Bryant for almost two years now. In 2016 Bryant took a plea deal and was convicted of three first-degree felonies for attempted aggravated sexual abuse of his adopted children. A few years after he was released from jail…

Read More

SCOTUS: Florida man subject to lifetime sex-offender registration requirements argues that he is “in custody” for purposes of federal post-conviction laws

webmaster

By Kalvis Golde The Petitions of the Week column highlights a selection of cert petitions recently filed in the Supreme Court. A list of all petitions we’re watching is available here.   A person held in state prison can challenge the constitutionality of their criminal conviction in federal court through a legal tool known as a writ of habeas corpus. Habeas relief is available to anyone “in custody,” which the Supreme Court has interpreted to mean not only physical confinement but also other restrictions such as parole and release pending trial. This week, we…

Read More

Charleston sex offender sentenced to nearly 20 years in federal prison after sting arrest

webmaster

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD)- A Charleston man has been sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison following a fall 2020 arrest for explicit conservations with an undercover police officer he thought was a teenage boy. Therence Jamison, 58, was sentenced after pleading guilty to attempted coercion and enticement of a minor. According to prosecutors, Jamison — who is a registered sex offender — exchanged sexually explicit messages with whom he believed to be a 14-year-old boy on an online dating app. In November 2020, Jamison arranged to meet the boy at…

Read More

ACSOL Protests County’s Attempt to Block Release of Registrant

webmaster

ACSOL today protested the attempts of Placer County to block release of registrant William Stephenson, who has been designated a sexually violent predator (SVP) in that county.  The protest took place outside Placer County Superior Court about an hour before a hearing was held regarding the registrant’s release.  ACSOL leaders Sherri Harlow and Janice Bellucci were interviewed by local media including KCRA3, CBS13 and Fox News.  Roger Hunnicutt, a member of the Family Safety Foundation board of directors, also joined the protest.   “We showed up, stood up and spoke…

Read More

How the Supreme Court has promoted myths about sex offense registries

webmaster

Twenty years ago, the justices deemed registration preventive rather than punitive. By  Jacob Sullum   Mar 1, 2023, 12:30pm CDT This Sunday, March 5, marks the 20th anniversary of Smith v. Doe, a U.S. Supreme Court decision that approved retroactive application of Alaska’s sex offense registry, deeming it preventive rather than punitive. That ruling helped propagate several pernicious myths underlying a policy that every state has adopted without regard to its justice or effectiveness. Writing for the majority in Smith, Justice Anthony Kennedy took it for granted that collecting and disseminating information…

Read More

International Travel 2023

webmaster

This post is intended as a place for discussions about International Travel ONLY. We added a new post for this year in order to keep the discussion manageable.  For more information and previous discussions on the topic, please see the pages in the International Travel menu named International Travel [year number]  Click here for the latest International Travel Information and Resources  

Read More

US cannot disarm people convicted of non-violent crimes – federal appeals court ruled

webmaster

(Reuters) -The U.S. government cannot ban people convicted of non-violent crimes from possessing guns, a federal appeals court ruled on Tuesday. The 11-4 ruling from the Philadelphia-based 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is the latest defeat for gun control laws in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year expanding gun rights nationwide. The decision stems from a 2020 lawsuit by a Pennsylvania man, Bryan Range, who was barred under federal law from possessing a gun after pleading guilty to welfare fraud. He claimed the prohibition violated…

Read More

New California Appellate Court Ruling Could Have Deadly Consequences

webmaster

A San Francisco Appellate Court recently ruled that parole agents do not have to comply with the knock-notice rule under Penal Code section 1531 when making routine parole-compliance checks. They are now permitted to barge into a parolee’s residence without first knocking and announcing their presence. This shocking new decision runs counter to previous court rulings that held that parole agents must comply with the knock-notice law for parole and even probation searches. Unfortunately, this new ruling could have deadly consequences. On March 13, 2020, while executing a “no-knock” search warrant at…

Read More

Exposure to HIV Removed from Offenses Requiring Sex Offender Registration in Tennessee 

webmaster

People living with HIV convicted of criminal exposure can request to terminate registration requirements with the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (NEW YORK) – On May 17, 2023, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed Senate Bill 0807/House Bill 832 into law after it passed the House and Senate in April. The law removes criminal exposure to HIV from the list of violent sexual offenses where a conviction required an individual to register as a sex offender for life. The law will go into effect on July 1, 2023.  Tennessee is one of 30 states that have…

Read More

PARSOL Responds to May 23, 2023 SCOPA Hearing

webmaster

HARRISBURG, PA – The Pennsylvania Association for Rational Sexual Offense Laws (PARSOL) strongly urges the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania to uphold Chester County Judge Allison Bell Royer’s finding in the case of Comm. v. George Torsilieri that Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) is unconstitutional.  Royer found that “SORNA is unconstitutional both facially and as applied to this Defendant on the bases that it employs an irrebuttable presumption that is not universally applicable and because its punitive nature offends Alleyne and Apprendi; results in a criminal…

Read More

ACSOL Seeking Information Regarding Parolees Required to Repeat Treatment Programs

webmaster

ACSOL is seeking information regarding registrants on parole who have been required to complete more than one treatment program.  CDCR recently admitted in court that they require registrants on parole to continue treatment programs the entire time while on parole.  One California court has ruled that this policy is contrary to state law.   According to statistics from CA Department of Justice, there are more than 7,000 registrants currently on parole.  The parole period for most registrants is 5 to 10 years, however, some registrants are on parole for up to…

Read More