A group of attorneys general are fighting a 2017 court ruling that declared Colorado’s sex offender registry “cruel and unusual.” Full Article Related Attorney General Hunter Leads 10th Circuit States in Opposing Ruling that Colorado Sex Offender Registration is Unconstitutional (AG Press Release) To read the brief, click here.
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VT: Supreme Court says sex offenders can have porn
The Vermont Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the state cannot uniformly declare pornography off-limits to sex offenders. The decision does allow a sex offender’s probation to include such restrictions, but only if they are deemed specifically appropriate to the individual offender. Full Article
Read MoreDOJ SMART: Case Law Updates
Through the course of the year, the SMART Office follows state and federal case law about sex offender registration and notification, tracking the latest opinions, trends and arguments. We aim to publish a summary for informational purposes annually. Archived issues are available below. Case Law Updates
Read MoreThe Boy On The Bus: When Sex Offender Registries Aren’t Enough
My husband carries a photo of me in his wallet tucked behind credit cards, his driver’s license and carefully folded bills. I ask him to give it to me as we stand in the reception area of the jail in Tama County, Iowa, in December 2015. He looks ready to ask: Why? Then, he silently pulls it from his wallet. Full Essay
Read MoreDamaging Justice to Make a Point About Rape
There’s currently a campaign to recall a Superior Court judge in my county. Judge Aaron Persky presided over the 2016 trial of Stanford student Brock Turner, who was ultimately convicted of digitally penetrating an unconscious woman on campus. With Turner a young first-timer with no previous police record, the Probation Department recommended a sentence of six months in jail and three years’ probation, focused on rehabilitation. As is typical, the judge followed this recommendation. California law also requires that Turner register as a sex offender for the rest of his…
Read MoreBriefing the Supreme Court: Promoting Science or Myth?
The Supreme Court recently decided, in Packingham v. North Carolina, whether North Carolina’s ban on the use of social networking websites by registered sex offenders is constitutional. The principal legal issue in the case was whether the ban violates the First Amendment’s right to freedom of speech. The Supreme Court found the law unconstitutional for that reason. Yet another issue arose in the briefing and oral arguments before the Supreme Court. The litigants and certain amici curiae engaged in some debate about whether such a restriction is necessary in the…
Read MoreGeneral Comments April 2018
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of April 2018. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MoreHow Sex Offender Registries Can Result in Vigilante Murder
Some Canadian conservatives are pushing for more public sex offender registries. But there is a history of deadly violence associated with them. Full Article
Read MoreACSOL Conference to Feature National Experts
The second annual ACSOL conference to be held on June 15 and June 16 will feature national experts Laurie Jo Reynolds, Dr. Ilan Meyer and Anokhi Shah. The conference will be held at Southwestern Law School, 3050 Wilshire Boulevard, in downtown Los Angeles. “Laurie Jo Reynolds is an activist, a social justice professor and an artist who understands the challenges registrants and their families face every day,” stated ACSOL Executive Director Janice Bellucci. “She is sure to inspire us all.” Dr. Ilan Meyer is a Distinguished Senior Scholar for Public…
Read MoreMonitoring the Use of Electronic Monitoring
One February night in 2009, our phone rang. It was two in the morning. My 95-year-old mother was on the line. She told me she was having chest pains, thought she was having a heart attack, and had already called 911. Since she lived less than a mile away, my immediate response should have been to rush to her side. Instead, I dialed the 1-800 number anyone on parole on an electronic monitoring device is required to call. The operator picked up after 15 minutes and told me I needed the…
Read MoreWhat BYP100 Director Charlene Carruthers Wishes She Knew About Community Organizing
[teenvogue.com] I wasn’t born a leader; I was agitated into choosing leadership by growing up on the South Side of Chicago. I didn’t wake up at 18 understanding what white supremacy, patriarchy, anti-blackness, and capitalism meant. Self-study, comrades, elders, and people I met in the streets taught me how to understand the world and gave me the room to imagine a radically different future… … Understanding power is essential. We can change the people and the leadership — but if we don’t change the structure, values, purpose, and vision of…
Read MoreCraigslist Shuts Down Personals Section After Congress Passes Bill On Trafficking
You can still find furniture or a roommate on Craigslist. But ads seeking romance or sexual connections are no longer going to be available, after Craigslist took down the “personals” section Friday for its U.S. site. The company says it made the change because Congress has passed the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, meant to crack down on sex trafficking of children. It was approved by a landslide in the Senate earlier this week, as NPR’s Alina Selyukh has reported, but has been met with criticism by free speech advocates…
Read MoreSome are just ‘the Wrong Sort of Victims’
[thewarrzone.blogspot.co.uk] Recently, I’ve been reflecting on the whole issue of ‘victimhood’ and one thing is clear – there are different types of victims. While there are some who attract widespread popular support, both from agents of the state and from the public at large – particularly those adults who claim to have been abused in childhood – there are others who are deemed merely worthy of being swatted away, like irritating flies or gnats. It seems to me that victims of false allegations are usually slotted into this latter category.…
Read MoreNew book dispels myths about sex offenders
[UPDATED LINKS 4/19/18] [salemweeklynews.com] Even amid the national outcry about sex abuse and sexual harassment, very little is known about sex offenders or the treatments that best help them. Arguably the least understood population of the criminal justice system, sex offenders are subject to some of the country’s most punitive sentencing laws and their incarceration, life after prison and rehabilitation efforts are often misguided. Two Salem people with decades of experience with offenders in professional and prison settings have written a riveting new book , SO, The New Scarlett Letters…
Read MoreWhen The Abuser Is A Child, Too
In 2005, a 17-year-old, Amie Zyla, made a plea to members of the House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations. Zyla had been sexually assaulted at age 8 by a 14-year-old friend of the family. Nine years after was convicted in juvenile court, Zyla was horrified to see him on the local news. He had been arrested for luring children into his apartment and videotaping dozens of them in his shower. “We cannot sit back and allow kids to continue to be hurt,” she told the subcommittee. “The…
Read MoreNC: Questions keep convicted sex-offender parent from attending his child’s basketball games
[journalnow.com] ______, a sex offender, is being investigated by the Surry County Sheriff’s Office for going onto the campus of Millennium Charter Academy to watch his child play basketball, officials say. ____ was attending basketball games at the school this winter, and volunteered to run the clock under an agreement with the school that allows him to be on campus as long as he is under supervision. Someone raised an alarm with the Surry County Sheriff’s Office, and for now ____ and the school have mutually agreed that ____ won’t…
Read More‘Living beyond the label’
____ ____ ____, 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 MoreMen 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,…
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