[latimes.com – 8/19/19] The New York City medical examiner’s ruling that sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in jail has prompted a lot of hand-wringing about conditions in the facility where he was held. But if the nation had been paying attention, no one would have been particularly surprised by what happened. The United States is in the midst of a prison suicide epidemic. In 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, suicides accounted for about 1.6% of overall U.S. deaths. That same year, the latest for…
Read MoreCategory: General News
Disneyland and Fingerprints
[austinstartups.com – 8/27/19] It may surprise many people but the Walt Disney Corporation is an enthusiastic and early adopter of biometric technology. All the way back in 1996, Disney added a magnetic stripe to their park pass. Instead of the bar-coded laminate photo IDs traditionally used, the new pass had no photo and minimal printed information. The magnetic stripe stored pass information plus it added one new piece of information: a biometric “finger scan” (fingerprint). Disney didn’t provide clear information on what was happening when a guest made the “peace…
Read MoreThe Truth About True Crime with Amanda Knox
[art19.com] SundanceTV: TV & Film Society & Culture True Crime Amanda Knox Documentary Podcast Vigilantes. They’re our heroes, our dark reflection, our cultural obsession. This season, Amanda Knox explores multiple stories of vigilante justice, starting with the still-unsolved murder of a small town’s tormentor — the story at the heart of the SundanceTV docu-series No One Saw a Thing. From murderous gang hunters and vengeful fathers to real-life avengers and internet cat-fishers, join Knox as she examines justice outside of the law. The views, information or opinions expressed during this podcast…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Shaming Accomplishes Nothing
In the past month we’ve read articles about shame, Florida Shaming/Could Your Real Estate Agent be a Sex Offender, Nigeria: NAPTIP Launches SO Registry to Name & Shame Rapists, Arkansas: the shaming of registrants by barring them from participating in Halloween activities. Shame: A painful feeling that’s a mix of regret, self-hate and dishonor, according to the dictionary. Shame, it’s a powerful tool used against registrants to make certain that they feel continued guilt and humiliation for their past offenses. Shame, can be an ongoing cruel punishment which often seems…
Read MoreACSOL Emotional Support Group Meetings Available: Sat, August 24 in L.A.; Most Thursdays in Sac; Monthly on the phone
Emotional Support Group meetings will be held for those convicted of a sex offense and their loved ones. This meeting, which is based upon the format of 12 Step meetings, provides registrants and their loved ones with an opportunity to discuss personal challenges and share their experiences, strengths and hopes, with each other. Attendance is limited to individuals required to register, family members, and friends. Media, law enforcement, parole, etc. are not allowed to attend meetings. There is no cost to attend. No reservations are required. Click here to see…
Read MoreAfter Epstein death, glaring loopholes in national sex offender registry raise concerns
Amid the fallout from the death of Jeffrey Epstein – compounded by sharp questions as to why he was able to live such a lavish and unencumbered life despite being a registered sex offender – scrutiny has turned to the National Sex Offender Registry, its discrepancies and its lack of uniformity – all of which the disgraced financier may have exploited. Full Article
Read MoreKat’s Blog: We Will Not Be Silenced Anymore
“Until there is 50-50 representation, we should make no decisions.” “If we are going to make these decisions we should have equal representation at the table”. Both of these comments were made by Senator Lauren Book during a recent “Facing South Florida” interview, the topic was women’s rights and abortion rights. It appears that Ms. Book only agrees with “50-50 and equal representation at the table” when it comes to certain issues, certainly not those including the registry and sex offenses. So it truly was a triumph when the 4th…
Read MoreHow Social Media Shapes Our Identity
[newyorker.com – 8/8/19] The Internet constantly confronts us with evidence of our past. Are we losing the chance to remake ourselves? … Humans have always tried to cope with the difficulty of memory, to turn it “from an intolerable horror to something which is reassuringly innocuous and familiar.” Social media just makes us more adept at it. On the other hand, Eichhorn writes, such media can prevent those who wish to break with their past from doing so cleanly. … This is of particular import for those who yearn to…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Law Enforcement Denies Registrants Full Access to AA Meetings
You’re a registrant on parole with an alcohol/substance abuse problem. You want to help yourself by attending AA, NA or some other supportive type group meetings. Your PO thinks it’s a fine idea, however, you may be prevented from fully participating in the AA program and it’s not AA who’s preventing it, it may be your PO. It’s not only in real estate where “location” is everything. Due to the endless boundary lines or buffer zones that registrants must navigate, wanting to attend an AA meeting can become a logistical…
Read MoreBrian Banks Review: A Harrowing True Story of False Accusation
[movieweb.com – 7/30/19] The story of Brian Banks is especially pertinent in the #MeToo era. A high school football player in Long Beach, California, Banks was falsely accused of rape by a classmate. He was railroaded into a plea deal by the district attorney, then stunned by a lengthy jail sentence for a crime he did not commit. A promising athlete’s life was destroyed by flimsy he said, she said evidence. The film Brian Banks recounts the incident, his time in prison, and the extraordinary lengths he went to clear…
Read MoreGeneral Comments August 2019
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of August 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 MoreA Tale of Two Jeffreys: How the Virgin Islands Welcomed a Rich Sex Offender—and Punished a Poor One
[thedailybeast.com – 7/28/19] From the Virgin Islands comes a tale of two Jeffreys, and the difference great wealth can make when it comes to sex crimes—until it doesn’t. Both Jeffreys were convicted of shameful crimes that required them to register as sex offenders in whatever state or jurisdiction they resided. Jeffrey _____ pleaded guilty in Florida to engaging a minor in prostitution in a 2007 plea deal only a super-rich guy could have swung. He did 18 months locked up, mostly in a private wing of the Palm Beach County…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: Accusations Against the Deceased
Last week I wrote about the accused and their accusers. But they were all living. What happens when fresh accusations of sexual offenses are leveled against those who are deceased? In East TN a young man recently accused a priest and a former bishop in the Diocese of Knoxville of sexual offenses which he says occurred in the 1990’s. (The lawsuit also contends that a Catholic School music teacher, still living, had also attempted to be inappropriate with the accuser. While this teacher remains employed by the school, the diocese…
Read MoreKat’s Blog: The Truth Lies Somewhere in the Middle
On Wednesday, Massachusetts criminal prosecutors dropped their case against actor Kevin Spacey. Spacey had faced a criminal charge of indecent assault and battery in connection with a reported July 2016 incident at the Club Car restaurant/bar in Nantucket. His accuser, an 18 yr. old busboy at the restaurant, had accused Spacey of groping him. The accuser’s mother, a former TV anchor, filed the complaint more than a year after the alleged incident supposedly occurred. Spacey pled “not guilty” and faced up to five years in prison if convicted. The alleged…
Read MoreThe Inequity of Sex Offender Registries
There are more than 900,000 people on the sex offenders registry and growing, but studies show that the sex offender registries do not reduce recidivism and prevent sex crimes and laws restricting where offenders can find housing and employment make it almost impossible for many on the registry to reintegrate into society, ostracizing them and essentially creating a life sentence for those who have already paid for their crimes and in some cases, first time offenders. Guy Hamilton-Smith, a legal fellow for the Sex Offense Litigation and Policy Resource Center…
Read MoreWhen autistic people commit sexual crimes
[spectrumnews.org – 7/17/19] Many first-time sex offenders on the spectrum may not understand the laws they break. How should their crimes be treated? For years, Nick Dubin couldn’t bring himself to say the word ‘gay,’ but part of him wondered: Was he gay? Dubin has autism. And growing up in the suburbs of Detroit, Michigan, he had been mercilessly taunted by his peers, some of whom had called him gay simply because he was different. But what if he actually was homosexual? As an adult, Dubin found some men attractive,…
Read MoreSex Offender Registries Don’t Keep Kids Safe, But Politicians Keep Expanding Them Anyway
The first time ____ ____ got evicted was in 2015. He was living with his wife and two sons in suburban Nashville when his probation officer called his landlord and informed him that Winters was a registered sex offender. The previous year, when he was 24 years old, ____ had been arrested for downloading a three-minute porn clip. The file description said the girl in the video was 16; the prosecutor said she was 14. He was charged with attempted sexual exploitation of a minor and, because he had used…
Read MoreNew Survey: Understanding the role of trauma and later sexual offending
[floridaactioncommittee.org – 7/15/19] My name is Melissa Grady and I a faculty member at the Catholic University of America’s National Catholic School of Social Service. I along with my colleague Jill Levenson, professor at Barry University in Florida, are conducting a study aimed at understanding the role of trauma and later sexual offending. There are two surveys associated with this study. The first is one for practitioners who work with individuals who have sexually offended (ISOs). The second survey is for ISOs and have received treatment focused on this issue.…
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