Source: theconversation.com Before his sentencing in March 2025, a convicted child rapist asked for a judgment that would have set him free in 2027. The Kansas resident received 25 years with no chance of parole. The reason? Jessica’s Law, which Kansas lawmakers passed in 2006. Kansas was one of the first states to follow Florida’s initial enactment of Jessica’s Law 20 years ago in response to the rape and murder of 9-year-old Jessica “Jessie” Lunsford in Homosassa, Florida. Forty-four other states have followed, altering how America polices, punishes and paroles pedophiles. Although the law differs…
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They Served Their Time. But They May Still Die in State Custody.
Source: theappeal.org 4/21/25 In half the country, sex offense civil commitment incarcerates people after they complete their prison sentences. Eliseo Padrón is a 50-year-old Mexican American man from St. Paul, Minnesota. Padrón told The Appeal he grew up surrounded by gang culture. He spent his early adulthood in and out of prison. “Living that lifestyle led to me doing a lot of things that I regret,” Padrón says. He was convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in 1995. After he violated his parole terms by returning late to the halfway…
Read MoreGuilty by Association: How Our Convictions Affect Our Families
Source: prisonjournalismproject.org 4/15/25 When a person is convicted, it is easy to forget they are more than a felon. They are someone’s son or daughter. They might even be someone’s father or mother. They are also someone’s friend. A person might be sitting alone at the defendant’s table, but there are more people involved in the aftermath of a verdict. The conviction process affects everyone in a person’s social circle. In October 2021, I pleaded guilty to a sex crime — one count of possession of child pornography. I was…
Read MoreMy Release Came with Another Set of Shackles
Source: prisonerswithchildren.org 3/25/25 Being released from incarceration was supposed to be a step toward freedom, but the reality of wearing an ankle monitor made it feel like another form of imprisonment. The heavy, restrictive device clamped around my ankle was more than just an inconvenience—it was painful, physically damaging, and emotionally degrading. One of the first issues I encountered was the physical harm caused by the monitor. The device was bulky, and with every step, it rubbed against my skin. Within days, painful blisters formed, making walking difficult. The irritation…
Read MoreThe never-ending sentence: How parole and probation fuel mass incarceration
Source: theconversation.com 4/2/25 The U.S. operates one of the largest and most punitive criminal justice systems in the world. On any given day, 1.9 million people are incarcerated in more than 6,000 federal, state and local facilities. Another 3.7 million remain under what scholars call “correctional control” through probation or parole supervision. That means one out of every 60 Americans is entangled in the system — one of the highest rates globally. Yet despite its vast reach, the criminal justice system often fails at its most basic goal: preventing people from being rearrested, reconvicted or reincarcerated. Criminal justice…
Read MoreApartheid’s shadow vs. America’s Stain: which country’s sex offender registry leads on human rights?
Source: Florida Action Committee 3/20/25 On one side we have the United States – the “land of the free”, “with liberty and justice for all” and the self-appointed global moral compass. On the other side we have South Africa, a nation historically scarred by apartheid, oppression and human rights violations. Which country is showing the world what real progress looks like? In this case, South Africa, is putting the U.S. to shame when it comes to respecting human rights and insight into effective criminal justice. Earlier this year South Africa…
Read MoreThe ineffective registry: SOLPRC’s Policy Brief on Sex Offense Registration and Notification (SORN) Laws
Source: mitchellhamline.edu 3/1/25 The Sex Offense Litigation and Policy Resource Center has published a policy brief on Sex Offense Registration and Notification (SORN) Laws. Download the policy brief From the Executive Summary: The modern sex offense registry was borne out of the belief that a public registry listing people who had been convicted of a sex offense would make communities safer. That premise was wrong. We now have thirty years of data concluding that public registries do not work as intended—in fact, there is evidence that public registries actually increase registrant…
Read MoreAZ: Arizona’s sex offender registry harms communities and families
Source: azcapitoltimes.com 3/13/25 In an era where evidence-based policy is increasingly valued, Arizona continues to maintain a sexual offense registry system that fails to deliver on its promises while creating serious collateral damage. Our current approach, originally designed to protect communities, has evolved into a system that paradoxically undermines public safety while devastating lives. As Arizona lawmakers consider criminal justice reforms, it’s time to fundamentally reassess this flawed system. Arizona’s registry fails victims Contrary to popular belief, the registry system often works against the interests of survivors. Sexual harm is…
Read MoreThe Untouchables: How Prosecutorial Immunity Breeds Injustice
Source: cato.org 3/11/25 Last month, a Maryland judge declared a mistrial in the case of Charles Smith, who was charged in connection with a 2023 mass shooting in Annapolis. The judge found that Assistant District Attorney Anne Colt Leitess mischaracterized evidence and blatantly disregarded the rules of evidence during the high-profile trial. Whether this was a deliberate choice or the byproduct of deficient trial skills—exacerbated by a culture of plea-driven mass adjudication that has almost completely displaced constitutionally prescribed jury trials—the result revealed an intolerable lack of due process for the defendant. Thanks to…
Read MoreWicked Riches: Victims’ compensation rewards liars and cheats
Source: bettinaarndt.substack.com 2/26/25 What a story! Our media was agog at the recent NSW police announcement that they had exposed a $1.3 billion scheme for making fraudulent child sexual abuse claims. All the major media outlets excitedly reported on this huge “claim farming” scheme which recruited former young offenders, prison inmates and school students to file fake sex abuse compensation claims. At one prison, a third of the inmates had submitted claims. The investigation revealed 4,000 faked claims, with the many law firms involved paying the claim farmers a benefit of…
Read MoreCan YouTube group’s child-predator busts hold up in court? Attorneys are skeptical they will
Source: palmbeachpost.com 2/6/25 Among the issues the predator cases will face: Did those arrested know their rights? Did the YouTubers collect enough evidence? Was there entrapment? WEST PALM BEACH — By late January, nearly two dozen men awaited trial on the suspicion that they drove to Delray Beach in hopes of raping a child. None was caught by police. Instead, a team of civilian “predator catchers” — adult YouTubers who pose online as children in hopes of identifying would-be pedophiles — lured each to a public place, confronted them with the…
Read MoreNo One Prepares You for the Sex Offender Registry Phone Scams
Source: filtermag.org 2/5/25 In April 2024 I picked up a call from an unknown number at the grocery store where I work. The first few moments were enough to send shocks of terror through my body. “Jeff Noland? This is Officer Walker with Davidson County Police Department. We have a warrant out on you.” My mind raced. What did I do? I can’t go back to prison. I can’t ever go back to prison. I won’t make it out alive this time. The person on the other end of the call…
Read MoreNever eat the candy on your pillow: Life as an undesirable
Source: prismreports.org 1/28/25 Many so-called undesirables in prison fit into social categories like nerds, geeks, and weirdos. Just like on the outside, they are bullied and unaccepted Dear Reader, Prisons often lack humanity and are places where hope is far from abundant, and emotions are usually restrained. Lingering like a ghost in the corner, expressions of pain are often frowned upon by officers and incarcerated people alike, so trauma spreads inward and often goes unnoticed. This reality is even more pronounced when the person experiencing the trauma is considered one…
Read MoreThe Corruption and Scandal Behind Ped*phile-Hunting Series ‘To Catch a Predator’
Source: thedailybeast.com 1/26/25 During its three-year run on NBC, “To Catch a Predator” turned busting online pedophiles into blockbuster TV. Was the show a quest for justice—or just sordid, exploitative TV? PARK CITY, Utah—Jimmy Kimmel aptly summed up Dateline NBC’s To Catch a Predator as “Punk’d for Pedophiles,” and during its 2004-2007 run, it became a national phenomenon. A candid-camera sting operation designed to ensnare and arrest adult men who were planning to have sex with minors, the show was a reality-TV trailblazer, taking the formula pioneered by Cops and using it to shine a spotlight…
Read MoreHomeowners, Beware: Warrantless Police Raids and Searches Could Soon Be on the Rise
Source: rutherford.org 1/24/25 WASHINGTON, DC —The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to protect homeowners from warrantless searches by police based merely on a suspicion that a person on probation or parole resides on the premises. In refusing to hear an appeal in Bailey v. Arkansas, the Supreme Court let stand a lower court ruling that could, as Rutherford Institute attorneys warned in their amicus brief, establish a slippery slope that allows police to carry out warrantless searches when police merely suspect but do not know or have probable cause to believe…
Read MoreND: Bill would allow sex offenders to petition to remove themselves from state registry
Source: inforum.com 1/17/25 MINOT — House Bill 1231, introduced by state Rep. Jason Dockter, would create a petition through which convicted sex offenders could petition the courts to remove themselves from the state’s offender registry, which Attorney General Drew Wrigley’s office maintains. This is an excellent idea. We ought to do away with the offender registry, as it is a resource-hogging exercise in futility, but let’s talk about the legislation before us first. “After seven years of registration, a sexual offender assigned a low-risk level by the attorney general may petition the sentencing…
Read MoreVigilantism and the Sex Offender Registry
Source: merionwest.com 12/20/24 “Social media and online articles about these incidents boast ten or even 20 comments praising the vigilante for each one condemning the act of violence. Portez Smith arrived outside Jesse Grover’s Pennsylvania duplex early on Sunday, November 17th of this year, yelling through the closed door, “Grover, you’re a f—ing pedophile.” When Grover opened the door, Smith pulled out a gun and shot him to death. Grover was registered on Pennsylvania’s sex offender registry as a Tier I offender. This holiday season, Grover leaves behind his wife,…
Read MoreThe perils of moving to another state – even after you’re removed from your own state’s registry
Source: a2twozee.blogspot.com 12/3/24 By Atwo Zee, Registered Traveler A recent NARSOL Digest (Oct/Nov 2024) “Legal Corner” article (Page 5) discussed the case of a man who successfully had himself removed from Michigan’s registry, then moved to Alabama. Three years later he was arrested in Alabama on a failure to register felony. Now he asks from his prison cell, how can this be? “I should not be in prison for failure to register because I have no registration obligation.” The Digest’s answer is on point: “Unfortunately, when you left Michigan, that state no longer…
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