Category: Commentary

The Trailer: How campaign rhetoric about child porn made it to the Supreme Court hearing

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Source: washingtonpost.com 3/22/22 In this edition: Why Republicans are talking about pedophilia this week, how contempt is shaping Ohio’s U.S. Senate primary, and what’s happening in the race to replace Don Young. Treat a senator: Print out your favorite part of the newsletter and turn it into a big, scary poster. This is The Trailer. The White House dismissed it with a joke. A National Review columnist called it a “smear.” And the paid media campaigns against Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination to the Supreme Court have ignored it completely. And…

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Is the Sex Offender Registry Fair?

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Source: thecrimereport.org 3/9/22 Sexual offenses are serious crimes. There is no doubt that the intentions behind creating the laws meant to punish and deter sex offenders were noble. However, according to opponents of the sex offender registration laws, such as Human Rights Watch, there is no proof that these laws achieved the purpose they were designed for. As a former sex crimes prosecutor, I share that skepticism. It’s one reason why, after years of serving as Chief of the Sex Unit and Chief of the Child Abuse Unit in Macomb…

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9-Year-Olds Are Being Forced to Register as Sex Offenders. That Might Finally Change.

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Source: slate.com 2/1/22 It’s hard not to get emotional about child sexual abuse. The thought of anyone hurting a child in this way is so egregious that it’s no wonder society has thrown its support behind a robust criminal justice response, including lengthy prison sentences and the registration and public notification of people convicted of this type of sex crime. But what happens when the perpetrator of child sexual abuse is also a child? This isn’t a thought experiment. In the United States, up to 70 percent of sexual offenses…

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The new Bill Cosby documentary ‘We Need to Talk About Cosby’ refuses to make a case against him

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Source: news.yahoo.com 1/25/22 Showtime’s four-part series “We Need to Talk About Cosby” debuted at Sundance over the weekend. Comedian W. Kamau Bell, a self-described “child” of Cosby, directs. Unfortunately, Bell merely refuels established debates around Cosby’s complicated legacy. At the outset of “We Need to Talk About Cosby,” the new Showtime documentary about the comedian, actor, and accused rapist Bill Cosby, director W. Kamau Bell concedes that over the last few years there has been a lot of talk about the man who was once known to millions as “America’s…

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Is the Sex Offender Registry Fair?

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Source: legalreader.com 1/11/22 Failure to Register, in most states, is a serious felony, punishable by jail or prison time. The 1990s saw a significant rise in horrific sex offenses directed towards children, prompting the federal and state governments to formulate laws to help deter offenders and ensure public safety. One of these laws was the 1994 Jacob Wetterling Crimes Against Children and Sexually Violent Offender Registration Act, requiring convicted offenders to register with their local law enforcement after their release from prison. In 1996, Congress passed Meghan’s Law (a subsection…

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FAC Member Contribution: The Last to Finish Can Win the Race

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When I was in my late forties I ran two miles a day. It was a joy to run on the rural Georgia roads, enjoying the clouds overhead and the delightful smell of honeysuckle by the side of the road. I was told of a 5k race in a small town near where I lived. I’m not sure how far 5k is, but I think it’s about 3 miles. I thought, “Why not?” so I signed up and showed up that Saturday, to find it was raining. Not pouring down…

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The Collateral Consequences of Exoneration

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Source: thecrimereport.org 12/23/21 The holiday season is often a time for family gatherings, and while many will be preparing for reunions in the coming days, it is important to remember the roadblocks returning citizens face. For instance, background checks cause thousands of potential collateral consequences that can impact things like housing or employment. As my story explains, these consequences can even inappropriately spill over to a family reunification. On May 27, 1994, I lost my freedom. I was sent to prison for a crime I did not commit.. Everything I…

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Transparency Laws Let Criminal Records Become Commodities

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Source: wired.com 12/23/21 For millions of people, details from an arrest—even a mistaken one—live on after being sold to data brokers. And the state profits. In April 2018, Adnan (a pseudonym) was wrongfully arrested in Newark, New Jersey, on the basis of an incorrect arrest warrant. A brief period in jail led to the criminal court judge dismissing the incident and moving to have Adnan’s arrest record expunged. A few days later, Adnan began receiving mysterious text messages from several “reputation management” companies that promised to help him get his…

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FL: Sex offender registry laws don’t work. Here’s what might.

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Source: tampabay.com 12/16/21 The uncomfortable truth? Those who commit sexual offenses are usually not strangers. There are roughly half a million sexual assault incidents in the United States every year — and more than 11,000 in Florida alone. These numbers are troubling. So it’s no surprise that people search the sex offender registration website to make sure that no one convicted of a sexual offense lives near them or more worrisome, their children’s school, day care or neighborhood park. The premise is simple: to make people feel safer in their…

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San Francisco Court Grants Registrant’s Petition

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Source: ACSOL San Francisco Superior Court today granted a petition filed on behalf of a registrant who was assigned to Tier 1.  Local law enforcement determined that the registrant was eligible to petition and the District Attorney did not object to the petition.  The registrant was represented in court by ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “Another person has escaped the bondage of the registry,” stated Bellucci.  “We must continue to file petitions in order to maximize the number of people who are released from the registry.’ After a court grants…

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The Great (Fake) Child-Sex-Trafficking Epidemic

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Source: theatlantic.com 12/9/21 A poster in the window of Cahoots Corner Cafe—great potatoes, good coffee—advertised a family event at the Oakdale, California, rodeo grounds. There would be food trucks, carnival games, live music, a raffle, and the opportunity to support the cause of “freeing child sex slaves.” The event, called the Festival of Hope, was a fundraiser for the anti-child-sex-trafficking group Operation Underground Railroad, which was founded in Utah in 2013 and has achieved immense popularity on social media in the past year and a half, attracting an outsize share…

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Pakistan: “Chemical Castration” for Sex Offenders has flaws

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Source: dailytimes.com.pk 12/1/21 There have been growing calls for tougher punishment against sexual offenders and stronger preventive measures in the aftermath of a series of violent crimes victimizing women and children. Recently, a Cabinet meeting approved a revised bill, under which a clause providing for “chemical castration” of habitual rapists had been removed from the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2021, in the light of objections raised by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII). Using hormonal drugs to reduce sexual violence recidivism is known as chemical castration. The first reported attempt…

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Man Imprisoned for 16 Years for Raping Lovely Bones Author Is Exonerated

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Source: Emily Horowitz – reason.com – 11/29/21 Anthony Broadwater, now 61, had no idea his accuser achieved fame and fortune while he has been living as a pariah for over 20 years on the sex offender registry. Alice Sebold’s bestselling 1999 memoir Lucky tells the story of a young woman raped by a stranger while attending Syracuse University. In the book, the rapist is caught and convicted. After writing about the experience, Sebold went on to write the bestseller The Lovely Bones, a fictional account of a teenage girl raped…

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Rethinking the ‘Sex Offender’ Label

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Source: thecrimereport.org 11/23/21 Last week, on Nov. 19, members of the Colorado Sex Offender Management Board (SOMB) took a critical first step in altering the language used to label those convicted of a sexual offense while in treatment towards a “person-first” perspective. This effort was not without opposition. The victim advocates and representatives from county prosecutors unsuccessfully attempted to table the vote and even accused members of the SOMB of not following protocols. Ultimately, the SOMB settled on the phrase, “adults who commit sexual offenses.” This change does not go…

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Results of punitive, ineffective laws drafted out of unfounded fears

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Source: floridaactioncommittee.org 11/18/21 I was at the registration office and due to COVID was told to sit outdoors, a ways back from where the glass intake door is. You cannot hear what is going on there, but you can see as you sit and wait in line. As I waited, I saw that the man that was registering was escorted inside the glass door and placed in handcuffs. And I felt an overwhelming sense of sadness. I felt as if a brother in our cause was being imprisoned… again. So…

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ODU professor gains national attention for research on pedophilia; Child advocate offers perspective

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Source: wavy.com 11/5/21 An assistant professor at Old Dominion University is making waves in the community by calling for change in the way we refer to those who are sexually attracted to children. The teacher’s goal is to help people with an attraction to children seek the help that they need and then identify ways to help children. By understanding more about the group of people, the professor says we can better protect children. The controversy began last week. Dr. Allyn Walker, who is an assistant professor in the Sociology…

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The sexually violent predator next door

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Source: latimes.com 10/29/21 Lawtis Donald _____ sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl in Florida in 1969 and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. When he got out — but while still on parole — he came to California, where he sexually assaulted three more underage girls, separately, luring them each into his car by posing as a fashion photographer. Then, while he was being investigated for those crimes, he traveled to Nashville and attacked another 13-year-old girl. He was convicted of rape in both California and Tennessee and sent back…

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Sex Offenders: Fear vs. Fact on Halloween

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Source: thecrimereport.org 10/26/21 Media fearmongering over “Registered Sex Offenders” in the community has become an annual Halloween tradition in the same way as razor blades and poison in candy. Wendy Murphy (who famously stated she “never met a false rape claim” during the Duke Lacrosse case) declared in the Boston Herald that “Halloween is like Christmas for sex offenders,” and local news outlets are adding advice to consult the registry as a “safety tip.” A careful look at available research proves such fears are misplaced. But it hasn’t prevented five…

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