The Alliance for Constitutional Sex Offense Laws (ACSOL) will lead a lobbying effort on Jan. 30 and 31 in Sacramento to discuss both the tiered registry bill and a bill that would prohibit all registrants from visiting all schools. Registrants, family members and supporters are welcome to join the effort. Training will be provided on Jan. 30 at 9 a.m. in the ACSOL office at 1215 K Street, 17th Floor, Sacramento. Following training, individuals will be organized into teams in order to meet with elected officials and staff in the…
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TX: Legislator aims to block sex offenders from getting pen pals
It’s a common refrain online: An inmate posts a want ad seeking a pen pal while describing themselves in the most flattering terms someone behind bars can come up with. The inmates often described the loneliness of being incarcerated. But, few, if any, ever disclose why they are behind bars on sites like WriteAPrisoner.com or Prisoninmatepenpal.com. Someone choosing to correspond with them could end up writing to a person convicted of most any crime. But, that may be a bit more limited under House Bill 821 as lawmakers return to Austin on…
Read MoreNew bill in Congress affecting sex offenders
There is a new bill in Congress HR 61 – Fair Chance for Youth Act of 2017 the purpose being “To provide for the expungement and sealing of youth criminal records, and for other purposes.” However, if the offense is a sex offense, that youth would not be eligible for expungement and sealing of youth criminal record. Again it seems that more than the “offense type” should play a part in any denial, but I am not in Congress. Readers should contact their representatives in DC and try to get…
Read MoreU.S. Sentencing Commission Seeks Public Comments
The U.S. Sentencing Commission is seeking public comment on proposed amendments to the federal sentencing guidelines. The deadline for public comment is February 20, 2017. One of the proposed amendments is related to first offenders and alternatives to incarceration. The Commission plays an important role in the sentencing of individuals convicted of federal sex offenses, including possession of child pornography. Written comments should be sent to the Commission by either electronic mail or U.S. mail. The E-mail address is [email protected] and mailing address is U.S. Sentencing Commission, One Columbus Circle, N.E., Suite 2-500, Washington, D.C. 20002-8002,…
Read MoreCalifornia court upholds child porn reporting law
Therapists in California can be required to report patients who have looked at child pornography on the Internet despite the therapists’ claim that their clients are entitled to confidentiality and pose no threat to children, a state appeals court ruled Monday. Full Article Decision Background:Los Angeles Drug Counselor to Therapists: Don’t Out Child Porn Patients Assembly Bill No. 1775
Read MoreSolving a sex-offender problem that’s already been solved
Politicians have a knack for taking on problems that aren’t really problems, proposing solutions that won’t really do anything and then exaggerating the significance of what they’ve just done. The latest Inland politician to do this is Sen. Connie Leyva, D-Chino, who has introduced the “Keep Kids Safe at School Act,” touted by Leyva and her staff as “important legislation to protect school children from dangerous sex offenders.” Full Article
Read More“How I Got on the Sex Offender List” — By a Mom of Three
Sometimes when I post about the Sex Offender Registry, I get comments like, “Those scum don’t deserve to EVER live a normal life!” This note below is to remind us that a study of 17,000 people on the registry by the The Georgia Sex Offender Registration Review Board found that about 5% were “clearly dangerous,” and 100 could be classified as sexual predators. Not that the other thousands and thousands of registrants were all Romeo and Juliet cases, or teens who sexted. Just that most people who have been arrested…
Read MoreMN: Minnesota’s Rational Indefinite Commitment of Sex Offenders
Minnesotans who receive the label “sex offender,” and are determined either a “sexually dangerous person” or “a person with a sexual psychopathic tendency,” now face the potential for life incarceration in a civil commitment facility. The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held the North Star State’s policy of locking up allegedly dangerous persons for an indeterminate period of time is completely rational and rooted in legitimate government interests. Full Article Related MN: Appeals Court – Sex Offender Program Constitutional (ACSOL) Collection of recent articles…. http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2017/01/06/minnesota-sex-offender-program http://www.startribune.com/let-s-use-court-ruling-to-look-anew-at-msop/409940485/ http://www.startribune.com/civil-commitment-ruling-a-setback-for-civil-rights-reforms/409940215/ http://www.postbulletin.com/opinion/our_view/our-view-sex-offender-program-still-needs-reform/article_8c195f7f-7a43-5b9d-9794-8e05ce7c966d.html http://www.startribune.com/appeals-court-got-it-wrong-in-upholding-indefinite-commitment-of-sex-offenders/409835015/
Read MoreNC: Petitions to Terminate Sex Offender Registration – Moir Tiers
Last month the supreme court decided State v. Moir. It is a case about how a state sex crime—namely, indecent liberties with a child—fits within the offense tiering system set out in the federal Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA). Full Article
Read MoreSex offenders are among the most harshly punished criminals in the state, but how often does the punishment fit the crime?
In the past few years, the growth of incarceration and the inequality perpetuated through the US carceral system have become common topics of discussion and debate among academics, politicians, and the general public. Perhaps nowhere are these debates more salient than in the state of California, which houses the largest incarcerated population in the United States. In the most recent election, five out of 18 California ballot propositions addressed topics directly or indirectly related to incarceration; including the death penalty, felony sentencing, and ammunition possession. It seems we may finally…
Read MoreCO: Colorado wasting as much as $44 million a year in sex-offender program, audit says
Colorado’s Department of Corrections is wasting as much as $44 million annually because it has not fixed problems in a treatment program intended to prepare sex offenders for release from prison, a recent state audit found.Full Article
Read MoreBest Buy Geek Squad Informant Use Has FBI on Defense in Child-Porn Case [updated]
FBI agents and prosecutors usually strut inside Santa Ana’s Ronald Reagan Federal Courthouse, knowing they’ve focused the wrath of the criminal-justice system on a particular criminal. But an unusual child-pornography-possession case has placed officials on the defensive for nearly 26 months. Questions linger about law-enforcement honesty, unconstitutional searches, underhanded use of informants and twisted logic. Given that a judge recently ruled against government demands to derail a defense lawyer’s dogged inquiry into the mess, United States of America v. ____ _ ____ is likely to produce additional courthouse embarrassments in 2017. Full Article…
Read MoreSerial child molester loses on appeal
An appeals court on Wednesday reinstated the conviction of a serial child molester from Maryland whose case was held out as a major success of a law to punish sexual predators overseas. Full Article
Read MoreFL: Column misleads about sex offenders
In Lauren Book’s Dec. 11 column, she wrote about the dangers that sexual predators pose to children and admonishes parents to be suspicious of staff at youth-serving organizations. We all want to protect children, so how could such a column be objectionable? Because it is alarmist, misleading and mostly false. Full Opinion Piece Related Lauren Book: UK abuse cases show need to safeguard children
Read MoreNE: Ruling that allowed kids in sex offender’s home spurs lawmaker
LINCOLN — Reactions ranged from bewilderment to outrage over a Nebraska Supreme Court decision earlier this year that allowed two girls to remain in the home of a felony sex offender. And the decision set a clear precedent, said Brandon Brinegar, the Kearney lawyer who represented the biological father who had tried to remove the girls from the sex offender’s residence. Brinegar said lawmakers would have to act to prevent similar rulings in the future. That’s just what a state senator from Omaha intends to do in the upcoming session…
Read MoreBill Would Ban Adults Without Kids from Playgrounds
A City Councilman in Los Angeles, Mitch O’Farrell, has proposed a bill to keep playgrounds “free of creepy activity” by not allowing anyone unaccompanied by kids to enter one. Shamefully, that is already the rule here in my burg, New York City. This has lead to the arrest of two women who dared to eat donuts on a playground bench in Brooklyn (exposing kids to potential predators AND processed food!), and to the ticketing of seven guys who were playing on chess tables too close to a Mahattan playground (tables…
Read MoreGeneral Comments January 2017
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of January 2017. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MoreMN: Appeals Court – Sex Offender Program Constitutional
Minnesota’s program for keeping sex offenders confined after they complete their prison sentences is constitutional, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday, reversing a lower-court judge who said it violates offenders’ rights because hardly anyone is ever released. Full Article Decision Related ‘A System That Is Clearly Broken’ The Latest: Official: Sex offender program needs more money
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