Abstract: The purported purpose of sex offender post-release regulations (e.g., community notification and residency restrictions) is the reduction of sex offender recidivism. On their face, these laws seem well-designed and likely to be effective. A simple economic framework of offender behavior can be used to formalize these basic intuitions: in essence, post-release regulations either increase the probability of detection or increase the immediate cost of engaging in the prohibited activity (or both), and so should reduce the likelihood of criminal behavior. These laws aim to incapacitate people outside of prison. Yet,…
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Registrant Travel Action Group (RTAG) International Travel Matrix Update
The Travel Matrix is a list of nations along with information about how they handle entrance of visiting or moving registrants (Registered Sex Offenders) and their families. We compile this information from various sources including Travel Experience Reports submitted by users of this website. This list is kept as current and thorough as possible, but individual experiences may vary. This list is informational and in no way implies any guarantee. If you have information to contribute, please submit one or more Travel Experience Reports or contact us to share other…
Read MoreOK: On His First Day Out Of Prison, A Convicted Sex Offender Faces Uncertain Future
____ ____ was scared to get out of prison. He was serving a six-and-a-half-year sentence in Lawton, Oklahoma, for having sex with an underage teenager. Now, one of about 800,000 registered sex offenders in the United States, ____ faces the challenge of assimilating back into society. He was in his mid-30s and asking some pretty daunting questions: Where would he live? Who would hire him? How would he explain his past to people? Full Article and Audio
Read MoreHebephilia flunks Frye test
In a strongly worded rejection of hebephilia, a New York judge has ruled that the controversial diagnosis cannot be used in legal proceedings because of “overwhelming opposition” to its validity among the psychiatric community. Full Article
Read MoreCalifornia gang database plagued with errors, unsubstantiated entries, state auditor finds
A California gang database maintained by law enforcement agencies is rife with unsubstantiated entries, names that should have been purged long ago and glaring errors, a state audit released Thursday found. Full Article
Read MoreShedding light on the dark field
IN AN office in Epsom in southern England, the phone rings. Calls come in from men who have been arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children; those who are fathers will probably have been barred from seeing their children unsupervised until their trials. Or the caller may be a mother whose adolescent son has been charged with molesting a child; if he has siblings social workers may insist that the family is broken up. Some calls are from men desperate to talk to someone about their own sexual…
Read MoreImpact of the Sex Offender Registry on the Family
Filmmaker, Matt Duhamel offers workable solutions from social workers and leaders to better minimize trauma for the registered sex offenders and their families. Watch on youtube Film Page
Read MoreThe U.S. Is Still Dealing With the Murder of Adam Walsh
On July 27, 1981, 6-year-old Adam Walsh went to a Sears in a Hollywood, Fla., mall with his mother. As she browsed, he played video games a few aisles away. When she returned, he was gone. Full Article
Read MoreRemarks by USMS Deputy Director David L. Harlow on the 10-year Commemoration of Adam Walsh Act SMART Symposium July 27, 2016
I am so pleased to be here and to witness again firsthand the incredible work being done by many different, yet all vital, agencies and organizations. Through the continuous hard work of the Department of Justice’s Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering and Tracking (SMART) Office and this Symposium, progress continues to be made to obstruct the violent and destructive behavior of sexual predators worldwide. … 1. Research shows that sexual crimes reported to police decline by an average of 13% within a jurisdiction after enacting a registry. … 2. Research shows registrants are more…
Read MoreEven violent crime victims say our prisons are making crime worse
A first-of-its-kind national survey finds that victims of crime say they want to see shorter prison sentences, less spending on prisons and a greater focus on the rehabilitation of criminals. Full Article
Read MoreInjustice: How the Sex Offender Registry Destroys LGBT Rights
It’s hard to believe that until recently, there were still laws on the books that made it illegal to be gay. Our legal system may no longer explicitly prohibit same-sex relationships, but we have found new ways to criminalize queer kids. We label them as sex offenders. Across the country, children are put on sex-offense registries for behaviors that range from “playing doctor” to streaking to having consensual sex with peers a few years apart in age. The statistics are scary: out of 800,000 people on registries, one out…
Read MoreGeneral Comments August 2016
Comments that are not specific to a certain post should go here, for the month of August 2016. Contributions should relate to the cause and goals of this organization and please, keep it courteous and civil.
Read MorePunishment That Doesn’t Fit the Crime
San Francisco — When ____ ____ was 10 years old, he and his older brother initiated a touching “game” with their 8-year-old sister. “None of us knew what we were doing,” he said, and he soon forgot about the episode. But later that year, 1998, his sister’s teacher found out and notified the authorities. Just weeks after ____’s 11th birthday, police officers handcuffed him outside his fifth-grade classroom. ____ and his parents agreed to a guilty plea in exchange for two years of probation, which he spent in a foster home. (His brother…
Read MorePeaceful Protest in Oakland Attracts More Than 40 People
More than 40 people today participated in a peaceful protest held outside the federal district court in Oakland. Participants included registrants and supporters from California as well as several other states, including Florida, Missouri and Oregon. Today’s protest included the burning of sex offender registration cards by six registrants led by CA RSOL Treasurer Frank Lindsay. Today’s protest was a tremendous success,” stated CA RSOL President Janice Bellucci. “We effectively communicated to the public and to the media our position that the International Megan’s Law (IML) violates the U.S. Constitution.” The protest immediately followed…
Read MoreIL: Sex offenders sue, saying registry laws keep them from church, living with family
A 77-year-old man says he’s been forced out of his home, had to move out of state and can’t visit his daughter’s family because of a crime he committed long ago. Full Article
Read MoreA Defender Office for Supreme Court Advocacy?
An “independent federal public defender office charged with representing poor defendants before the United States Supreme Court” is necessary to fill gaps in legal services to the poor and “better balance the scales of justice between the government and the defendants,” Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said earlier this month. Full Article
Read MoreHow a Plano legislator’s remarks bred strict sex offender laws
Recent research has challenged long-held assumptions that convicted sex offenders are very likely to commit new sex crimes and questioned how those assumptions were reached in the first place. Prior to that, though, one Texas legislator’s words were particularly influential on sex offender laws across the country. (Italics added for clarity.) July 1997: State Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, a former schoolteacher and proponent of the state’s strict 1995 Ashley’s Laws for sex offenders, attends a conference in Bellevue, Wash., about sex offender registries. She begins her speech by noting that…
Read MoreNV: Sex offender list case off Las Vegas court docket
LAS VEGAS (AP) – A state court in Las Vegas won’t hear arguments about a sex offender registry until the Nevada Supreme Court considers constitutional questions raised by lawyers representing 17 unnamed plaintiffs. Court officials said Monday the Tuesday hearing in Clark County District Court was canceled. Full Article
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