[Note from Janice: I recommend this. Emily is a part of ACSOL] Dear Veterans, There is still time to participate in our study on veterans who have been convicted of a sex crime. Thank you to those who have already participated in this research project. As of January 8, 2020, we have received 164 completed surveys; however, we still need more veterans on the registry to complete the survey. Our goal is to have a minimum of 250-300 completed surveys by the end of the month. If you have yet…
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General Comments January 2020
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of January 2020. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil. This section is not intended for posting links to news articles without additional relevant comment.
Read MoreWhat is the Purpose of Sex Offense Registries?
Two days ago, the Union-Recorder in Georgia published a bizarre editorial. The editorial board noted that the state’s sex offender registry system drives people into homelessness and deprived them of counseling and employment opportunities, but laments this fact only insofar as it allows registrants to “fly under the radar” and makes them “more difficult to track.” Georgia’s registry system, according to the authors, “places too much trust in the honor system” because requiring people to self-register “places too much confidence” in the registrant. They acknowledge that there are “strong penalties”…
Read MoreBlack victims demeaned in named violent crime laws
The slayings of Reagan Tokes and Alianna DeFreeze had much in common. Both were abducted, raped and killed in Ohio in 2017. Tokes was a 21-year-old college student, DeFreeze a 14-year-old seventh grader. Both their killers, previously convicted sex offenders, were subsequently found guilty. Yet only one victim got a law with her name on it — Tokes, who was white. That disparity in so-called namesake laws represents a national trend: White crime victims are much more likely to get crime bills named after them than black victims. Full Article
Read MoreTinder Lets Known Sex Offenders Use the App. It’s Not the Only One.
Match Group, which owns most major online dating services, screens for sexual predators on Match — but not on Tinder, OkCupid or PlentyofFish. A spokesperson said, “There are definitely registered sex offenders on our free products.” Full Article
Read MoreGeneral Comments December 2019
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of December 2019. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil. This section is not intended for posting links to news articles without additional relevant comment.
Read MoreSurvey of Veterans on the Registry
[Approved by Janice] To: military veterans who are on the sex offense registry Emily Horowitz, Ph.D. Professor & Chair, Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice Co-Director, Post-Prison Education Program St. Francis College 180 Remsen Street Brooklyn, NY 11201 | 718-489-5446 | [email protected] November 15, 2019 Dear Veterans, First, we want to thank you for serving our country. We are seeking military veterans who are on the sex offense registry to participate in a research project titled: Veterans with Sex Offense Convictions: A Preliminary Investigation. The research is being conducted by…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Future Risk
We hear a lot of talk about the “unfairness” of the registry, how everyone on it is “treated the same” no matter what their offense. Lumping all registrants under the “sex offender” label is wrong, especially when there’s so many offenses under the umbrella, high risk, low risk and even no risk offenses that may be at opposite ends of the spectrum. Released from incarceration, many registrants are mandated to attend one-size-fits-all “sex offender” treatment groups. There they are continuously reminded of their “sex offender” label and the need for…
Read MoreICE HSI opens Angel Watch Center to combat child sex tourism, announces FY19 child exploitation investigative results
On Thursday, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) held a ribbon-cutting ceremony at HSI’s new Angel Watch Center (AWC) in Fairfax, Virginia. As part of the ceremony, ICE Acting Director Matthew Albence explained that HSI special agents initiated more than 4,200 child exploitation cases in fiscal year 2019, resulting in approximately 3,771 criminal arrests, an increase of 18 percent compared to fiscal year 2018. … “If only a fraction of notifications to foreign countries save a child from having to carry the lasting scars of sexual…
Read MoreData shows upswing in child exploitation cases
Homeland Security investigators who uncover child exploitation initiated more than 4,000 cases around the world in the 2019 budget year, resulting in thousands of arrests and the identification of more than 1,000 victims, according to new data obtained by The Associated Press. … On Thursday, officials plan to unveil a new center based at ICE’s Washington headquarters tasked with alerting other countries when U.S. sex offenders are traveling there. The new center will include representatives from the U.S. Marshals office and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Full Article
Read MoreCA: Sex crimes by cops an outgrowth of their ‘power and coercive authority,’ expert says
[ocregister.com – 11/12/19] LAPD officers who took advantage of their power imbalance to commit sexual assaults fit national trends, says prominent criminologist. LAPD officers Luis Valenzuela and James C. Nichols sexually assaulted a woman at this McDonald’s parking lot, located at 405 N Alvarado St. at W. Temple St. in Los Angeles. They were on duty using a black Jetta. Photographed on Monday, Sept. 23, 2019. (Photo by Cindy Yamanaka, The Press-Enterprise/SCNG) By Olga Grigoryants | [email protected] and Sarah Favot | Los Angeles Daily News PUBLISHED: November 12, 2019 at…
Read MoreGeneral Comments November 2019
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of November 2019. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil. This section is not intended for posting links to news articles without additional relevant comment.
Read MoreHalloween and Stranger Danger
[bostonreview.net – 10/31/19] Do you believe in the boogeyman? This is the pivotal question of the Halloween movie franchise. The tension around naming the movies’ antagonist foregrounds the problem of seeing him: “it” or “him,” “thing” or “human,” “The Shape” or “Michael Myers”? Even if you have never seen the original 1978 movie, you know the plot. On Halloween 1963, six-year-old Michael Myers kills his older sister after she has sex with her boyfriend. Cut to 1978, and Myers, after being locked in an asylum for fifteen years, escapes back…
Read MoreArmy sex offender argues that prison’s ban on contact with his children violated rights
A soldier convicted of a sex crime involving a child will argue in the military’s top court next week that a prison policy preventing him from contact with his own children violated his rights and unduly punished him. Full Article
Read MoreHalloween and the Sex Offender Myth: Part I (Updated with Part II)
Part II (October 23): https://baltimorepostexaminer.com/halloween-and-the-sex-offender-myth-part-ii/2019/10/23 Part I (October 19): I often wonder why we don’t dress our kids up as sex offenders. We dress them up as serial killers, witches, goblins, and other horrible monsters. We let our little girls dress up in fishnet stockings, short skirts, and heavy makeup. My own child wants to be a fallen angel. What is a fallen angel but a devil? At first, the sex offender comment makes me a big jerk, highly offensive, yet if one calms down and thinks about it, why…
Read MoreJPMorgan Chase Hired 2,100 People With Criminal Records In 2018 (And Will Hire More)
[forbes.com – 10/21/19] Topline: JPMorgan Chase announced an expansion of its efforts to hire people with criminal backgrounds Monday, continuing the trend of big companies “banning the box” and giving people second chances. JPMorgan Chase hired 2,100 people with criminal records in 2018, which equals about 10% of their total hires last year. The bank knows those people have records, because they conduct background checks on applicants after a job offer has been made. Applicants with criminal records are being considered for entry-level jobs like account servicing and transaction processing,…
Read MoreA Q&A on Megan’s Law: Should it apply to child offenders?
Dr. Elizabeth J. Letourneau did the first study looking at the consequences of Megan’s Law on juveniles. She found that kids rarely commit a second offense, and that the people they are most likely to hurt are themselves. She spoke with Julie O’Connor of the Star-Ledger’s editorial board. Below is an edited transcript. Full ArticleFull Article
Read MoreWhen Prison Is A Better Option
[Scott H. Greenfield at blog.simplejustice.us – 10/4/19] Years ago, I wrote of the creation of a permanent underclass. No, not the one woke people are willing to fight for. Rather, the one we’ve created because as much as we can forgive a murder, especially if it was committed by a black man because they’re in fashion at hipster cocktail parties, there is no forgiveness of a sex crime. Not when they get caught. Not when they get prosecuted. Not when they get convicted or sentenced. Not even when they get…
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