____ ____ ____, 29, is a married father of two. He’s enrolled in Peninsula College’s Composites Recycling program, and is a member of the school’s Carbon Club. He’s also a level-three sex offender. Full Article
Read MoreCategory: General News
Men are not monsters
[foxnews.com (!)] Last week three of my four boys were herded into school-sponsored assemblies and asked to stand, raise their hands and pledge to never, ever hurt a woman. While their female classmates remained seated, my boys faced intense pressure to say: I promise To never ever Hit, hurt, or otherwise harm A woman, girl, or child. I understand That I am bigger and stronger Than many women, girls, and children. Therefore it is my DUTY To NEVER HARM them, Protect, Respect, Honor, and Love them No matter what. Aghast,…
Read MorePlea bargaining should not be an option for offenders in sex crimes
In the U.S., individuals accused of sexually based crimes are legally able to accept a plea deal that allows them to have reduced sentencing penalties. This is wrong and should not be allowed to the extent that it is currently bargained for. Full Editorial
Read MoreYoung Sex Offenders Shouldn’t Have to Register; It’s Ineffective and Hurts Everyone Around Them
Sex offender registration policies were initially developed for adults with sexual offenses, but have recently been extended to include youth with sexual offenses as well. At first glance, sex offender registration and notification (hereafter referred to as SORN) may make us feel safer, produce relief knowing that these individuals are being punished. Full Opinion Piece
Read MoreAn Unexpected Journey by Nick Dubin, Mitigation Consultant
[foglightstrategies.org] PREFACE Nick Dubin, PsyD, is a consultant who helps with Foglight Strategies’ mitigation efforts. Nick has a Doctorate in Psychology and Masters in Special Education. He also has an Autism Spectrum Disorder, which is characterized in part by a difficulty in intuiting why certain courses of behavior are inappropriate. Nick, like many others before and after his case, had his life shattered when he was federally charged with the possession of child pornography. Nick was evaluated to be a low re-offense risk. Despite this, federal prosecutors went forward with…
Read MoreAn Open Letter to My Colleagues in Law Enforcement: Ending the Abusive Policy of Putting Children on Sex Offender Registries
[linkedin.com] by Robert Shilling Retired – Former Head of Crimes against Children at INTERPOL Dear Colleagues, Just like you, helping victims has been a passion for me. We do our job to prevent victimization, but we also do our job to “solve problems.” Too often we see solutions that are nothing more than “whack-a-mole” in their design and outcomes, chasing the problem from one area to another. This does not solve the problem. It exacerbates it. But in too many states, we are repeating this kind of negative cycle with the…
Read MoreThe Supreme Court May Revive a Legal Theory Last Used to Strike Down New Deal Laws
[UPDATED links 3/9/18] [slate.com] On Monday, the Supreme Court agreed to hear Gundy v. United States, a constitutional challenge to federal sex offender regulations. If, like me, you believe that America’s current sex offender regime is draconian, unjust, and counterproductive, that might sound like good news! And perhaps it is. But there’s one aspect of the court’s grant that may be very bad news from progressive viewpoint: It will only consider whether the policy in question violates the nondelegation doctrine—a hazy legal principle last used to strike down New Deal legislation in 1935. Full…
Read MoreThe Sex Offender Registry: Vengeful, unconstitutional and due for full repeal
The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that at least 95 percent of all state prisoners will be released from prison at some point. However, convicted sex-offenders almost exclusively face the vengeful, additional punishment of registration under the Sex Offender Registry and Notification Act (SORNA). Full Opinion Piece
Read MoreDiscredited Sex Assault Research Infects U.S. Legal System
When a toxin enters a biological ecosystem, its effect is magnified as it moves up the food chain. Even if it can be cut off at the source, the ever-widening distribution of its increasingly harmful form can cause problems for decades. Misinformation functions in a similar fashion, gaining traction as it’s repeated by increasingly high-profile individuals who venture ever further from the source material. In this manner, distortion about the facts of sexual assault has affected the training of judges, prosecutors, and other law enforcement officials. It is how misleading…
Read MoreTherapists’ Perceptions of Their Encounter With Sex Offenders [paper]
[researchgate.net] Haneen Elias and Muhammad M. Haj-Yahia February 2016 Abstract Despite the increasing interest in therapists’ responses to their encounter with sex offenders, there is a lack of research on their subjective perceptions of this encounter and on their experience working with this client population. The study presented in this article is part of a larger qualitative research project conducted among 19 social workers (12 were women and 7 were men; their ages ranged from 30 to 66 years; 15 of them were Jewish and 4 were Arab). In-depth semi-structured…
Read MoreGeneral Comments March 2018
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of March 2018. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MoreHow one lawyer proves her faith in criminal rehabilitation
[mystatesman.com] Any criminal justice system has two purposes: The first is to punish those who have broken the law; the second is to bring about rehabilitation in the lawbreaker, so that he or she will turn his back on a life of crime and embrace a law-abiding life in society. The first is accomplished largely within the closed ranks of the legal system, through courts, convictions, punishments, and time served, either behind bars or under community supervision. The second can only take place within the broader system of society and…
Read MoreThe Evolution of Unconstitutionality in Sex Offender Registration Laws by Catherine L. Carpenter [paper]
[papers.ssrn.com] Abstract More is not always better. Consider sex offender registration laws. Initially anchored by rational basis, registration schemes have spiraled out of control because legislators, eager to please a fearful public, have been given unfettered freedom by a deferential judiciary. This particular article does not challenge the state’s legislative power to enact sex offender registration laws. Instead, this piece posits that, even if sex offender registration schemes were initially constitutional, serially amended sex offender registration schemes – what this piece dubs super-registration schemes – are not. Their emergence over…
Read MoreReason and the Soho Forum Want to Know, Do We Abolish the Registry?
[UPDATED links 2/21/18] [sexlawandpolicy.org] Dr. Emily Horowitz, noted sex offense policy researcher, and Marci Hamilton, child safety advocate, went toe-to-toe in an engaging debate Monday night, which may be a first of its kind on the need for sex offender registries. On the resolution for whether the laws requiring those convicted of sex offenses to put their names in a registry should be abolished, Dr. Emily Horowitz argued the affirmative and Ms. Marci Hamilton the negative. Even though Dr. Horowitz crafted a well-reasoned argument against the use of sex offender…
Read MoreShould the Sex Offender Registry Be Abolished? A Live Debate.
Should the sex offender registry be abolished? Watch a live debate at the Soho Forum between Emily Horowitz, a sociologist at St. Francis College, and Marci Hamilton from the University of Pennsylvania and CHILD USA. Video Emily Horowitz was the Featured Speaker / Keynote Presenter at the 2017 ACSOL Conference and will return as a speaker / presenter to the 2018 ACSOL Conference. Related NY: “All Sex Offender Registries Should Be Abolished”: Reason/Soho Forum Debate
Read MoreVA: It’s Time to Reduce, Reconstruct, Reclassify, Rethink and Reform the Virginia Sex Offender Registry
[restoringintegritytovirginiaregistry.blogspot.com] Action Item for EVRYONE! A Virginia Court of Appeals Ruling was Based on One Word in Virginia Code § 9.1-903. that Virginia Has Never Implemented, So the Ruling is Incorrect. Almost a week and a half ago the Court of Appeals of Virginia made a ruling that a Virginia Sex Offender Registry mandate/requirement is NOT punitive. I only learned of this ruling yesterday when I found an article on VA Lawyers Weekly that I was unable to read because I don’t have a subscription. Sex offender registry law not…
Read MoreIs It Better To Do Something versus Nothing? [Podcast]
[registrymatters.co] Episode 10 Is it better to do something versus nothing? Can you do more harm than good by a poorly thought out action than by sitting on the sidelines? That is the topic we’ll be covering tonight. Larry and Andy are discussing if there is some level of harm that can be done by taking action prematurely rather than waiting. An example of this is filing a challenge before there is sufficient evidence to support it. Waiting might produce other challenges that would bolster the case significantly. Additionally, a…
Read MoreState Department Revokes Second Passport
The State Department has revoked the passport of a second California registrant. Similar to the first known revocation, a State Department letter dated January 22, 2018, informed the registrant that he is “not entitled to a U.S. passport that does not contain the passport endorsement required pursuant to” the International Megan’s Law (IML). The letter also informed the registrant that he could apply for a new passport which includes the endorsement required by the IML provided that the registrant pays “all required fees”. Unlike the first known registrant whose passport was revoked after he completed an overseas…
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