Category: Janice’s Journal

The requirement to wear a GPS device is often levied upon individuals required to register.  That requirement, however, is usually temporary and lasts no longer than the time in which a registrant is supervised under parole. The duration of that requirement was dramatically changed, however, in a recent decision issued by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals regarding a Wisconsin law that requires individuals convicted of a sex offense on two or more separate occasions to wear a GPS for life.  In that decision, the Court approved this Draconian requirement. …

It’s happening again.  A group of angry, uninformed members of the public are attacking a home where registrants on parole are living. The location this time is Fairfield, California, located between Sacramento and San Francisco.  The angry mob’s weapons of choice are loud protests outside the home as well as the posting of signs at the home, down the street from the home and even at the places where some of the registrants work.   Members of the angry mob have also honked their car horns for 15 minutes or longer…

A recent TV news show on a completely different topic recently introduced me to the phrase, “Fear Obscures Fact.”  That short phrase struck a nerve as it concisely explains one of the major obstacles in the registrant community. There is a plethora of data in studies and reports from both government and academia stating the facts.  For example, the rate of re-offense for individuals required to register is very low and continues to decrease the more time they spend in the community.  This rate of re-offense is as low as…

The new SORNA regulations became effective today. We do not like them and yet they are here. The question is what are we going to do about it? It is important that every registrant remember that although the new SORNA regulations are now effective, most registrants have not yet received a government notice that their registration requirements have been changed. Without that notice, registrants have an affirmative defense if they are charged with violating any of the regulations. This is not a time to panic. However, it is a time…

Perhaps it is fitting that the proposed SORNA regulations, which were dormant for more than a year, have resurfaced during the week before Halloween. That is because the proposed regulations can be viewed as a creature often reported to be seen on Halloween, that is, a vampire. Vampires come in many shapes and sizes. For example, there are vampire bats which are small in size but are capable of killing much larger animals, even humans. There is also Count Dracula, a vampire, who may or may not have lived, but…